CG HENRi robot in brain engine room.
Concept drawing of HENRi robot.
Detail of HENRi robot’s face.
CG HENRi robot on science lab table.
Main corridor model set.
Main corridor lighting test.
Director Eli Sasich adjusting SAM droid for a shot.
Pythagoras ship layout.
Design sketch for Pythagoras.
Painting the four foot Pythagoras model ship.
Pythagoras model lit and ready for filming.
Filming the Pythagoras model with motion control.
Sleeping quarters set.
Filming in the brain room / engine room.
HENRi brain apparatus in engine room.
Writer/Director Eli Sasich setting up a shot.
Insert shots of full-scale HENRi robot for build sequence.
Insert full-scale HENRi head for build sequence.
Insert full-scale HENRi head with practical sparks.
HENRi puppet in “thinking man” position.
Filming the quarter-scale cockpit set.
Quarter-scale cockpit set through the monitor.
Full-scale insert HENRi head painted and ready.
Shooting the quarter-scale corridor set.
HENRi rod-puppet used in a handful of shots.
S.A.M. – Systems Assistance & Mechanic RC-controlled droid model.
Quarter-scale cockpit set "frosted" look.
Quarter-scale mechanical arms puppeteered from above the set.
Quarter-scale HENRi puppet ready for "corkscrew" motion-control shot.
Storyboard frame of “thinking man” scene.
Storyboard frame of HENRi.
HENRi is an emotionally powerful short film, which explores human existence at the most fundamental, personal level—what it means to be a conscious individual.
Hundreds of years in the future, a derelict spacecraft, controlled and powered by a human brain, floats aimlessly in the outer reaches of space. HENRI, the name of the ship's power system, is an acronym which stands for Hybrid Electronic / Neuron Responsive Intelligence, and was the first of Earth’s Neuro-Tech space exploration research vessels. Trapped in the cold, mechanical prison of the vessel, the “brain,” which has no recollection or concept of self, gradually begins to experience disjointed images of its former life—images it cannot understand. Carrying the remains of a crew long dead, and becoming increasingly self-aware, HENRI experiences the instinctual desire to be free. Yearning for freedom and yet unable to move, the brain devises a plan to build itself a mechanical body from parts of the ship. Maybe then it will understand the images it is seeing—maybe then it will feel alive.
Writer / Director Eli Sasich has an extensive background in film production, and his portfolio includes narrative, and experimental films, documentaries, and commercials. He loves genre movies, especially the sci-fi films from the 70s and 80s.
Written and Directed by Eli Sasich (email)
Produced by Jefferson Richard and Dominic Fratto
Starring Keir Dullea and Margot Kidder
Director of Photography Tim Angulo Music by Kevin Riepl
Effects by Clark Schaffer and Blufire Studios
