DREAMSOUL

A COSMIC TALE IN PLAZA ESPANYA

All of us have a limited time in this world; perhaps love and dreams are so grand that they never fully disappear. Set against the iconic backdrop of Barcelona's Plaza Espanya, this visually striking animated short explores the delicate boundary between life and the ethereal through the universal language of music. Having grown up in Barcelona, the magic fountains of Montjuïc and the monumental Venetian Towers were a defining symbol of my childhood, making it the perfect setting for this cosmic battle.

Beneath its vibrant colors, the story carries a profound message: people who leave us are never truly gone; they live on in our memories and our hearts. When an unexpected event shatters the reality of two young musicians, a luminous spirit awakens to defy mortality. Like a majestically growing tree, a pure feeling becomes an unstoppable force. As shadows gather over the city to restore the natural order, a mesmerizing test unfolds to see whether art and love can transcend our inevitable fate.

ONE MINUTE PER MONTH: THE KRITA MARATHON

This project was an absolute marathon of solitary passion. "Dreamsoul" was entirely self-produced, with every frame meticulously hand-drawn and digitally animated using Krita software. It took three solid months of grueling work from the initial sketches to the final render. Because it relied purely on traditional frame-by-frame animation, the pacing was notoriously slow—averaging about one minute of completed, fully edited footage per month. I was the sole creator acting as writer, director, lead animator, visual effects artist, and post-production editor.

MY RØDE REEL 2018 & THE SOUNDTRACK

Music is the soul of this short. The central theme was actually the very first track I ever composed for what would later evolve into my musical album JOURNEY. To elevate the piece for the short film, I hired a suite of incredibly talented musicians via Fiverr: Jess Diggins on violin, Gio Maucieri on drums, and Kirine on vocals. The blend of their live instruments with my original composition created a perfect, soaring soundscape.

The effort paid off spectacularly when the film won Best Soundtrack at the MY RØDE REEL 2018 contest. Because my collaborators utilized RØDE microphones during their recording sessions, it perfectly aligned with the festival's ethos. The massive prize package (valued at around 10,000 to 15,000 euros) included high-end LED panels, an arsenal of microphones, and the gigantic BLASTDRIVE SFX library—assets that deeply empowered my future productions. I even kept a RØDE NT1 and NT3, which ironically ended up launching my subsequent career in professional voice-over work.