Charlie Penn
MacKillop College Port Macquarie
EYE OF THE MOTH
Time-Based Forms
3D animation using Blender, sound design
As a person who has suffered from anxiety, I often feel the pressure to fit in and the weight of being watched in many different settings. Eye of the Moth represents these sensations in a first-person 3D animation, where shifting environments convey tension and brief moments of relief. The moth, with its eye-patterned wings, and the battery motifs communicate vulnerability, exhaustion and persistent anxious thought. Through immersive sound, movement and symbolic imagery, my body of work investigates how observation, internal and external, shapes perception and identity, and the subtle, constant ways anxiety affects daily life.
Marker's Commentary
Eye of the Moth is a time-based, 3D animation that materialises the psychological experience of anxiety. The audience is immersed in a claustrophobic world of endless corridors, urban side streets, and dark forests, observed from a first-person perspective. Each environment disorients the viewer, bombarding them with a collage of sound and imagery that heightens the tension. This sophisticated work utilises repeated motifs of eyes to represent mass surveillance, batteries to suggest emotional exhaustion, and artificial light to symbolise the uncontrollable pull of technology. The intensity of the visuals and erratic tracking shots are amplified through the sound effects of anxious breathing, a throbbing heartbeat, and static noise. The body of work narrative reveals that just as the moth is drawn to the light, so too are we captivated by novelty and distraction.