JOLENE (2025)
Directed by Kirsten Mills
- Duration: 9min 25sec
- Medium: 2D Hand-Drawn Animation
- Genre: Western/ Fantasy
Trailer
An outlaw named Skaz gets dragged into a fight with a group of hunters after
his bounty. In his attempt to escape, his beloved horse Jolene gets shot and killed in the
crossfire. Skaz will try everything he can to bring her back, even dabble in the dark ways of necromancy.
Artist Statement
In Jolene I wanted to explore a deep bond between two characters in a way that was personally
relevant to my experiences and thoughts on relationships with others. To achieve this, I wanted to
depict a character losing someone extremely important to them, and exploring how that loss
impacts their behavior and actions.
How do they emotionally and physically react? How does
grief affect them? To what lengths will they try to fix a hopeless case for someone they love and
what are they willing to sacrifice to accomplish that? Simultaneously, at what point is that
tenacity fueled by selfish reasons or born of genuine love? I believe these themes are interesting
to explore in the context of a cowboy and his steed, as it’s a common western genre trope to
depict their bond as sacred and precious.
Pre-Production/ Visual Development
Credits
Direction, Story and Sound Design: Kirsten Mills
Composer: Caleb Chuang
Cast: Cody Howells (Head Hunter), Spencer Swift (The Necromancer)
Animation Team: Lead – Kirsten Mills, Alexis Sawyun Han, Alycia Yuk Yen Chan, Hannah Sy, Jaiden Su, James Sun, Jason Edwards, Julie Ma, Lorien Allan, Lydia Rogers, Madeleine Yiu, Roben Teasdale, Silvan Ghahri,
Layout Team: Annette Li, Alycia Yuk Yen Chan, Kirsten Mills
Compositing and Editing: Kirsten Mills
Special Thanks to Senuri Bhagchandani, Bonnie Mah, Rubén Möller, Lucas Green, Ewan Green, all of my amazing friends :D, my family, the 2D + Experimental graduating class of 2025, 2D Animation faculty and the Animation and Sound Lab techs.
