Chronostasis

Chronostasis is named for the perceptual illusion where the first moment after your eyes snap to something new feels stretched out, as if a clock's second hand had briefly frozen. This film was my final project for Still and Moving Images at the end of my first year of college, and it carries that idea into the frame: a study of time that seems to hesitate before it moves again.

At its core, the film is about being controlled by time versus learning to control it. It follows a character moving through their day at the mercy of the clock, rushed from one moment to the next, until they realize they can slow down and appreciate the small things — in this case, nature — rather than let time dictate the pace.

It was my first real attempt at treating a short film as a formal exercise — building a visual language out of stillness and motion rather than plot alone, and seeing how far a small idea could stretch when every shot has to earn its place.