“Children see magic because they look for it.” - Christopher Moore, prolific writer of comic fantasy

‘Sighting' was created in response to the forced cancellation of a planned major Brass Button Original in early 2020. With the world in an ongoing state of confusion and no date in sight for when filming could take place, Max took his knowledge of motion graphics and taught himself character animation, creating this piece solo over only 2 weeks from ideation to release.

The film was inspired by childhood experiences of seeing things at the bottom of the garden, and also a viewing of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’.

The film seeks to send the audience on a journey, experiencing the events of the film through the child’s eyes. Giving the short its unique style is the heavy use of silhouette, meant to invoke a mysterious atmosphere, as well as a heavily sci-fi inspired colour palette and use of artificial anamorphic lens distortions to lend an almost stereotypically cinematic feel.