Living Like a Human
2024
Duration: 2:00
experimental animated short film
Living Like a Human is an experimental animated short film presented as a fake game commentary. The inspiration comes from my real-life experience. After losing my SIM card, I was completely stuck in the physical world.😭
The film deliberately retains an unrendered, raw 3D interface to construct a city permeated with a sense of alienation. In this highly ordered space, a "digital identity" has become the sole passport for survival; without it, one regresses into a "primitive being🐒" rejected by the social system.
This project attempts to gently dissect the delicate relationship between modern technology and humanity. When verification codes replace living, breathing individuals, and when the system begins to covertly shape our behaviors and habits, people often choose to tacitly comply.
This is not because we are completely unaware. Rather, in this era, to maintain that indispensable convenience and the satisfaction of our desires, we have unconsciously surrendered a piece of our true selves.
Video Embed
Video Stills
Still 01 The player enters this life simulation world, starting in what looks like an ordinary shopping mall
Still 02 Shopping is denied at checkout. The clerk coldly reminds the player that a "digital ID" is required
Still 03 Boarding a bus without an ID, the player is treated like a "monkey" as passengers take photos and mock them with monkey noise
Still 04 The player is forced to visit a crowded "ID Center." A poster absurdly shows the evolution from a monkey, to a computer, to a "human."
Still 05 To regain a human identity, the player must sit at a computer and obediently complete a 9-grid CAPTCHA test to get an ID
Still 06After getting the ID, the world instantly becomes normal. The player steps outside, waves a hand, and a car immediately pulls up.