Become this Way

storytelling Digital Art concept Character design short film sketch cartoon Drawing digital illustration

All stories starts with a "What if" and so one day I was watching a robot vacuum cleaner cleaning... and I came up with:

What if a Vacuum Cleaner wants to be a fish?

I worked on this project during my two weeks Summer School for VIsual Storytelling at Gobelins, I created the story, the visuals and a final presentation for the project.

Video of the PP Presentation made to present the story and the project to Gobelins teachers

So how's the story? Here is a sum!

In a living room filled with inventions, a cute vacuum robot cleans diligently while a girl works on fixing a quirky machine. As the robot catches a glimpse of the ocean on television, it begins dreaming of the sea and to become a fish.

In a new day, the girl is amazed by the robot’s programming progress displayed on her computer. After showing affection to the robot and dreaming to win the Engineering competition and finally make her father proud, she leaves the house. The robot, left alone, watches a television program about red shrimps and, wishing to mimic their color, uses a painting machine which malfunctions, leaving him splattered in red and causing a mess, much to the girl’s dismay.

Inspired by fish fins on TV, the robot instructs a 3D printer to print new parts for him, but unaware of his new dimensions, he accidentally breaks a glass table while exploring, leading to another disaster.

Attracted by sounds of water from a malfunctioning washing machine, the robot cautiously approaches and touches the water, realizing that it can handle water exposure. The girl comes home to find the robot happily watching ocean programs, discovering he had hidden his oceanic aspirations in his reports.

At an Inventor International Competition, the robot, seeing a machine in a water pool, rushes to explore underwater capabilities but malfunctions, causing a scene and distress at the event. The girl is reprimanded by her father, leaving her distressed.

Back home, the girl attempts to delete the robot’s ocean-related data, but upon reading his reports expressing fear and sadness, and seeing her as a 'monster,' she has a change of heart. She unplugs him from the computer and they reconcile.

In the final scene, the narrative shifts to an aquarium where the now bright red, fin-equipped robot happily swims among fishes and greets children. The girl, accompanied by her father who finally hugs her, touch the glass as to touch the robot one last time before leaving.

Visual Development