Filmmaker Statement

Before We Squeak was created in a rapid burst of energy over just two to three weeks for the Tiny Man Short Film Festival, responding to the theme of "Bugs." The film explores an unsettling, surreal encounter between a sleeping character and a grotesque insect that invades their space, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare. The project was a deeply collaborative effort, shaped by an unconventional workflow that blended different techniques. We built a 3D model of the room as a reference for animation, painted traditional backgrounds by hand, and crafted the sound and music in an experimental process—mixing eerie melodies with organic textures from everyday objects like rocks. This intuitive and improvised approach was essential in bringing the film to life within such a short timeframe, allowing us to work efficiently without the constraints of a conventional pipeline.