Forgiveness
Synopsis
Caitlyn receives a beautiful glass dandelion orb from her best friend Adelaide as a symbol of their friendship. Caitlyn’s younger sister Josephine snatches the gift and runs away, tossing it into the air and dropping it, causing the glass orb to roll down a hill and shatter into pieces. Josephine feels ashamed but cannot bring herself to tell her sister what happened.
Word spreads. Caitlyn soon finds out what happened to her precious gift, and anger boils up inside her. But as she sees the sorrow and shame etched on Josephine’s face, something in Caitlyn softens. Instead of lashing out, she embraces her little sister, feeling the warmth of forgiveness and love. Even though the gift is gone, the bond between the sisters is stronger than ever.
Cast and crew
Caitlyn………….PENELOPE
Adelaide…………….CLAIRE
Josephine……………..ELISE
Celia………………….BRYNN
Mae…………………JUSTINE
Special Thanks to
ABBY, CHARIS, ELIZA, HEATHER, HENRY,
JAZZY, JOSIAH, KATIE, MARK, NORA
Music composed using AIVA
Courtesy of Waking Word Inc.
Written by
JUSTINE & JIMMY ENO
Technical Supervisor
MARK CHATTERTON
Produced by
JUSTINE ENO
Directed by
JIMMY ENO
Technical specs
Project Type: Short
Genres: Family, Pantomime
Runtime: 7 minutes 43 seconds
Completion Date: October 14, 2023
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Shooting Format: Digital
Aspect Ratio: 1.85.1
Film Color: Color
Budget: $500
The music
The entire musical score of Forgiveness was produced using AIVA, an Artificial Intelligence music generation assistant. Each song started with a set of guiding parameters (style, major, tempo) which informed the creation of the AI track. Then we customized and arranged each track to further fit the needs of the film. In short, AI generated the foundation of each song, and then we refined it.
Listen to a couple songs from Forgiveness here:
“Dandelion”
“Siren”
The inspiration
There was a magical style of films from the late 1920s and early 1930s, during the late silent-era, which blended the pantomime storytelling of silent films with the newly incorporated innovations of syncronized sound. Films such as City Lights (Chaplin) and Spite Marriage (Keaton) showcased a style of cinema that disappeared as quickly as it arrived, only to be glimpsed again decades later by the great French filmmaker Jacques Tati in films like Traffic and Playtime.
Forgiveness explores morality through the art of pantomime. Yes, it’s “silent,” but it’s filled to the brim with sound, and while little is spoken, much is said.
Continuing the story
Forgiveness was the first step in a much larger project, a children’s show that explores morality through pantomime, called the Mini Morals. Production of the pilot episode, which includes Forgiveness and two additional stories) is complete. The remaining episodes are in production. We’re grateful to have the cast and crew of Forgiveness, along with new faces, to continue exploring the world and style we started with the short film.
The Mini Morals children’s show will consist of a series of 26-minute episodes and is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2025.