The Driver

Black and white illustration of a vintage steam-powered train amidst rocks, with various film festival laurels and awards above, and the text 'The Driver' in both English and a symbol writing below. 
Logline:

In a desolate world a train is rushing to an unknown destination.

Stills:

Short animated film
2020
03’17’’
2D animation

A stylized illustration of a steam-powered vehicle with a large coal or ore hopper on top, emitting smoke and steam, featuring large spoked wheels and an arrow pointing to a dial or gauge.
Black and white cartoon-style illustration of a vintage steam train emitting smoke, crossing rugged terrain with a mountain and full moon in the background.
Silhouette of a vintage toy cannon and wheels against a bright, cloudy sky with a mountainous landscape in the background.
A large explosion or bright burst of light with smoke and clouds around it against a cloudy sky.
Silhouette of an industrial steampunk-style machine with smokestacks emitting dark smoke, set against a cloudy sky.
Black and white illustration of mountain peaks with a cloudy sky in the background.

The design for the train is inspired by a locomotive train.

Black and white photo of a vintage steam locomotive train on tracks, with various mechanical parts visible.
Black and white industrial illustration of a train engine on wheels with a funnel and smokestack, labeled 'The Driver' and 'Pre-Production' at the top, with the word 'Train' at the bottom right, by Daniel Wesseik.
Black and white illustration of a vintage train in three stages of construction, labeled 'The Driver' and 'Pre-Production', with the word 'Train' at the bottom right corner by Daniel Wesseik.

Cryptic text created for the world of the film.
The text is in dialogue with J.R.R. Tolkien’s black tongue of Mordor. The idea of the language in The Driver was to create a language of suffering.

Image showing a sequence of cryptic symbols and text titled 'THE DRIVER' and 'PRE-PRODUCTION', with the author's name Daniel Wesseik at the bottom right. The symbols resemble stylized script or code, with a line of text labeled 'CRYPTIC TEXT' at the bottom left.

For the film's setting, I created a series of mountains that together form the dry, desert-like environment.

the driver-presskit-square-mountains tex.jpg
the driver-presskit-square-mountains1.jpg
the driver-presskit-square-mountains2.jpg
the driver-presskit-square-mountains3.jpg 
Compositing: