On My Mind (Animated Short Film)

A loser-in-love's struggle to move on is personified by a crow.

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Second year film completed at UCLA Animation Workshop.
Written, animated, directed by Shirley Zhou
Featuring voices by Shellah Hunter, William Rowe, Kimlinh Tran, and Jackson De Loach
Original Soundtrack by Stephen Spies and Kate Bacich

❗ Please do not re-upload my films without permission 🙏 ❗

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Hi all! I'm finally sharing a new film on this channel, something that feels both exciting and terrifying at the same time haha. This was my first film as a grad student, and a project very near and dear to my heart.

-AWARDS-
Chaktomuk Short Film Festival 2018 - Audience Choice
SHORT to the Point - Best Animated Short Film
Asians on Film Festival - Best Animation
Fresno State's Asian Pacific Islander Film Fest - People's Choice
Rome Elephant Film Awards 2018
UCLA Director's Spotlight 2018

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-OFFICIAL SELECTIONS-
Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) 2019
Blackbird Film Festival 2019
Anim!Arte - International Student Animation Festival of Brazil
CMS International Children’s Film Festival 2019
Boston Asian American Film Festival
Ploiesti International Film Festival
Inshort Film Festival
KingstOOn 2019

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Follow me for sneak peaks and WIPs of my other short films

[arrowmi]

Thanks so much for watching! Check out how this film was made:

Original Soundtrack

Original Soundtrack (Acoustic Version)

[alexh.]

side note: i love when the bird is just vibing and dancing on her head while she’s brushing her teeth or working

[taniacamille]

Lowkey rooting for the guy who remembered her favorite coffee

[_lunaresca]

The boy and the dog from "Noose" is at the back on 1:45 That just made me smile. I really liked Noose! Also, love this one too!

[emmichen]

Man, to end a breakup with “you’ve been a great sport!” Feels like you were dating your coach or brother

[pinkcat]

0:36 if that were me: YEAH COFFEE IS ON YOU! *Throws coffee at him*

[kenzieanduno]

This is how my year has turned out. still working on getting rid of my crows but it's going slowly but surely. another great film thank you arrowmi.

[izzybluebell]

4:44 Oh don't mind me, just a regular crow swaying my head back and forth to the music of your inability to move on.



Lol, but it's such a cute crow though.

[FavoriteKen]

I just noticed that she goes through the 5 stages of grief:
Denial 0:43
Anger 1:50
Bargaining 3:13
Depression 4:00
Acceptance 5:53

[yes]

1:45 Good to see the boy from noose is finally starting to fit in

[shlogo]

Wow. This is actually incredible!  Amazing storytelling.

[longtoesmcgee]

“You can’t stop the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting on your hair.”

- Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

[sylvieshuu]

I think we've all got some crows following us to accept. Another lovely film arrowmi!

[dwarflanternsharkfriend]

Someone's probably already mentioned this, but I love the detail of the photo of her and ex bf being removed after the breakup, and slowly being replaced by other photos like her with her friends. It's the little deets (like the boy and the dog from noose showing up) that really make these types of animations shine!

[bunnymike]

*I can't be the only one who got scared when the voice acting randomly popped up*

[aluminio]

Beautiful! I love that the crow represents the problems of moving on. The more room the crow gives her, the less her ex is on her mind. And in the end she was able to move on. I watched Noose and it had such symbolism as well. Congratulations on your success! Your films are a true beauty of symbolism and art. 💕💗

[littlelemon]

I know the crow is supposed to represent a bad thing, but it's actually kind of cute :c

[samanthaspsychiccabin]

I can't help but feel like the crow is symbolic for intrusive thoughts. Constantly following you, shooting loud words to quickly ruin your mood, sometimes they're so loud that its painful and feel like they're pecking at your head. Notice how when she starts feeling happier the crow isn't there, or it's in the background (almost as if to represent that even in your happy moments the thoughts are still playing in the back of your mind, even if you don't see it) but when she sees her ex at 5:25, the crow comes right back perched on her head.

[zhengzhichen]

Just a random guy leaving a comment here.










So I've been suicidal again recently, hence loads of YouTube watching in the past few months without much socialisation. I was searching 'gay animation' ('cause I'm gay... lol) on YouTube minutes ago with an expectation to find something similar to 'In a Heartbeat'. Your 'Noose' showed up among the search results and I clicked it — such a coincidence. You said you were working on a new piece in the description of 'Noose' so I came to your channel to check what you've been up to. Coincidentally, you just uploaded this less than an hour ago. It's so funny 'cause I've been missing my ex boyfriend a lot recently. I don't know, it seems that fate brought me to your works.

It seems weird to share my messed up life here but hey... Good job on these two animation pieces, and hope you're having a great day! :) (...me awkwardly leaving the comment section...)

[Soloee_]

I love how easy it is to understand what's going on, and that the message is really clear. I don't think anyone had to go to the comments to see what the 'hidden' message was. The bird is a really clever idea and perfect symbolism. Well done!