Dark Forest

Dark Forest (2024) is an object-theatre short film created in Unreal Engine. It follows a small white sphere as it becomes lost in a shadowed forest and is forced to flee an unseen threat.

The film is loosely inspired by the “dark forest” theory of the internet - a metaphor for how the open web can feel increasingly hostile, surveilled, or performative, pushing people away from public posting and into smaller, harder-to-find spaces (private group chats, niche forums, invite-only communities) where subculture and community continue to grow. In this sense, the internet isn’t empty - it’s just quieter, with much of its activity happening out of sight.

I built the project in Unreal Engine, handling worldbuilding, cameras, lighting, sequencing, and Blueprint-based programming.