IN THE SHADOWS

StarLight Arcadia:

It was supposed to be a simple mission!

A quick pit stop for the spacecraft. But when Nate’s shadow comes to life, electronics start going haywire. Now stranded in the middle of space, his only company is Cosmo, a robot he doesn’t trust.

The horizontal poster for StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by Nico Isaque. Nate, Cosmo, and Nate's evil shadow.The horizontal poster for StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by Nico Isaque. Nate, Cosmo, and Nate's evil shadow.

Check out IN THE SHADOWS on YouTube!

About the Film

StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS is an award-winning 2D animated short created by Chapman University graduate Nico Isaque as a senior thesis film, finishing production despite the setbacks of a global pandemic. A retro-futuristic take on fantasy space travel, the film is inspired by sci-fi cartoons of decades passed. IN THE SHADOWS itself masquerades as lost media, a ’90s pilot episode recorded onto a VHS.

What’s Next

With its 11-minute runtime, IN THE SHADOWS functions as a pilot episode for the proposed series StarLight Arcadia (SLA), a project spanning six story arcs within an elaborate neon world. The film occurs at the midpoint of Nate and Cosmo’s journey, acting as a microcosm to the project as a whole. If it left you wondering how those two ended up alone in the depths of space… Well, it’s kind of a long story. To learn more about what a full series might look like, check out the StarLight Arcadia webpage.

✦ Support the project

Help out StarLight Arcadia in a major way by talking about it on your social media of choice and tagging #SLA

BEHIND THE SCENES

PRODUCTION ILLUSTRATION

From 2019, featuring the close-to-but-not-quite finalized character designs

The character turnaround for Nate from StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by cyon_animation
The character turnaround for Nate from StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by cyon_animation
The character turnaround for Cosmo from StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by cyon_animation
The character turnaround for Cosmo from StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by cyon_animation

TURNAROUND

Nate’s finalized character design

TURNAROUND

Cosmo’s finalized character design

Original score by Brandon Chun

The album cover for the original soundtrack of StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by Nico Isaque.The album cover for the original soundtrack of StarLight Arcadia: IN THE SHADOWS, a film by Nico Isaque.

The IN THE SHADOWS soundtrack album is available on Bandcamp!

The first ever piece of test animation completed for the film

…and its final version!

ANIMATION DEVELOPMENT

Early rough animation

…and its final version!

FUN FACT

The text that scrolls in Cosmo’s eyes was written by Nico’s sister, a computer scientist. Jenna’s faux code reveals the procedures Cosmo goes through as he analyzes a star.

Click the image to view the text in its entirety!

The emergency helmet is a self-healing elastomer deployable in a pinch

HELMET

Concept Art (2019)

Finished Shot (2024)

After its initial concept art, the blaster was 3D modeled in Autodesk Maya to be used as a reference

BLASTER

The entire spacecraft and its relevant interior locations were also 3D modeled and subsequently used to create layouts

LAYOUTS

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an overwhelming number of thesis films could not be completed. During the shutdown, seniors could not access filmmaking resources; thus, for the 2020 graduates, a livestream entirely replaced the school’s annual in-person screening. Though disappointing, seniors were allowed to screen their incomplete films and were given the rare opportunity to include an intro video, as they would not have a chance to speak onstage.

While IN THE SHADOWS would eventually see completion after continued solo dedication to the project, the intro video itself remains a fun piece of trivia.

INTRO VIDEO

DID YOU KNOW? IN THE SHADOWS has a Facebook page

Learn more about the world of StarLight Arcadia

Film Festivals and Awards

Prior to its YouTube debut, IN THE SHADOWS participated in dozens of festivals worldwide. It has appeared in the following events. Notable screenings are denoted in bold.

Nico Isaque Barrett
@cyon_animation