Dark Matter Story Pitch

Concept frames and storyboards of an abstract story developed as a personal project.

Logline:
Growing up during the heat of the space race, Yelena, in pursuit of becoming a cosmonaut in 1980's USSR, faces conservative walls and glass ceilings, and even risks losing the woman she loves.
A Yuri Gagarin memorial coin (the first man in space) she finds at a national monument serves as a continued reminder of choices between lofty goals and relationships.

Proof-of-concept animation of Yelena pushing off of Mir Space Station toward the Pillars of Creation nebula.

(Composited footage is a public domain rendering from the European Southern Observatory.)

Photoshop + After Effects