Sitting in front of a computer screen may not be the most exciting way to celebrate receiving an award from a renowned film festival.
But for Justin Lee, Aerik Bertulfo and David Diba, San Jose State class of 2020 alumni, the medium through which they find out doesn’t matter. Every message they received about having their 2D-animation film, “First Born,” shown in a film festival is an exciting reminder that their work is being acknowledged by the professional film industry.
“First Born” is a 2D-animation film about a young kung fu enthusiast named Arthur who feels overshadowed by his younger sister, Aurora. In order to impress his father, Arthur must perfect a routine for an upcoming kung fu competition.
“I didn’t have a second to think we were going to do well [in the film festivals] at all,” Diba said over the phone. “It was just me and my friends trying to make the coolest thing possible.”
Although Lee, Bertulfo and Diba didn’t create “First Born” to compete for awards, the film was widely recognized at local and national film festivals.
Their film was featured in 20 film festivals since its completion in May and accumulated seven awards over the summer, including a bronze medal from the Independent Shorts Award for the month of May for best animated short.
Under normal circumstances, Lee, Bertulfo and Diba said they would’ve attended each festival in person and watched their film with an audience of friends, family and animation industry professionals. But with current social distancing guidelines, the festivals have been showing “First Born” and other featured films on various streaming devices.
The film was created by Lee, Bertulfo and Diba as a final thesis project for SJSU’s animation and illustration Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program.
According to SJSU’s animation and illustration website, BFA students are required to complete a thesis project as a graduation requirement. Students can choose to make short films, video games or graphic comic books.
Once the thesis is completed, students are encouraged by professors to apply for art festivals.
Lee, Bertulfo and Diba met as underclassmen in the BFA program at SJSU. They eventually became roommates and produced the majority of “First Born” from their one-bedroom apartment.
The inspiration to create a film about sibling rivalry came from a remark Bertulfo’s mom made to him during a family dinner. Bertulfo’s younger sister told the family that she was a top student in her math class, an accomplishment Bertulfo didn’t achieve at her age.
“I look at my mom and she looks at me and she said, ‘Oh Aerik, it’s OK if you’re not in first place,’ ” he said over the phone.
When Bertulfo told Lee about the conversation, the two of them decided to center the film around the pressure first-born children face to be exceptional.
When it came to finishing the short film, Lee said the university’s campus closure in March actually helped increase the pace of the animation’s production.
“If the pandemic didn’t happen, we would have probably been going out more to celebrate our last year of college,“ Lee said over the phone. “Since we didn’t have that, we used all of the time on our short film.”
After March, the three created what Lee described as, “an on-going routine” of eating meals, watching inspirational films and working on “First Born.”
They discussed the film even while half asleep on their bunk beds, only several feet away from two small desks they called their studio.
Animation and illustration seniors can enlist the aid of students in other departments like music and theatre to help with their thesis projects.
Although the animation process picked up speed during the
shelter-in-place mandate, the film’s musical production was inconvenienced despite help from SJSU music education alumnus Arnie Co, who was a senior and the film’s music composer at the time.
Co said he could no longer conduct live performances for the film because of social distancing regulations. Despite that, he enlisted the help of several non-SJSU friends to record the music.
When the film was completed, the animation and illustration BFA program hosted a viewing of the class of 2020’s thesis projects from the department via the video streaming platform Twitch. Lee said they were overwhelmed with positive feedback from classmates and crew members.
“[The film] is so beautiful,” animation and illustration senior Pearl Kaewpanya said over the phone. Kaewpanya worked on “First Born” as a background painter. She was responsible for coloring in the locations of each scene.
“I’m proud of the team. Especially knowing how much work they put in it and seeing the whole film coming together from the beginning,” she said. “I had no doubt that it was going to do well.”
Lee said that while the rest of the world was being negatively affected by the pandemic,
shelter-in-place mandates gave the trio an opportunity to create a project they will remember for years after graduation.
“We just got to find that silver lining during the pandemic,” he said.
