Hikikomori — Short Film by William Knies
08. Artworks/08.01

Hikikomori

Short Film

+ Personal Work

Hikikomori is the Japanese term for people who withdraw completely from society, shutting themselves in their room for six months or longer. It’s a growing phenomenon in Japan and other developed societies, and leading to an accelerated population decline. With more and more people living alone for various reasons, technologies such as VR gaming, holograms and sex robots have been researched and developed to simulate human intimacy. Hikikomori became my way to show the conflict between that simulation and real human needs. The film follows one man through three panels on the same timeline: the outside world, his room, and the virtual world he escapes into. The bright simulation contrasts with his gloomy, simple reality, pulling him further away from the real world. The film doesn’t judge this lifestyle. It imagines a near future where VR makes leaving the house optional, and asks what that means for how we connect with each other. Medium: 3D Animation Specifications: 1920x1080 pixels (16:9 landscape), 02 min 25 sec

Conceptualizing
Art Direction
3D Modeling
3D Animation
Character Design
Cloth Simulation
Storytelling
Post-Production

08.01.01Research

Before choosing a subject, I looked back at my own work. Classmates kept describing my 3D pieces as lonely, as if the characters lived in their own world. Loneliness and isolation turned out to be the thread running through all of it.

I revisited a second-year project on hyperreality that never came through visually, and dug deeper. Side paths like the Fermi Paradox and the Tetris Effect led me to Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation and his four stages from reality to hyperreality. Researching how technology affects relationships, I found hikikomori.

Hikikomori — Research by William Knies

08.01.02Structure

The structure is based on Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation, which describes four stages of reality:

The Exhibition Space
reality as it is
The Outside
romanticized reality, a realistic 3D world
The Room
illusion, his isolated routine
Virtual Reality
hyperreality, the dreamlike world he visits to meet his VR companion

The film was planned as a three-projection installation. When COVID hit, only one visitor at a time was allowed into my exhibition space, so I reworked it into a single looping film.

Hikikomori — Structure by William Knies

08.01.03The Outside

Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Outside by William Knies

08.01.04The Room

Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies
Hikikomori — The Room by William Knies

08.01.05VR World

Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies
Hikikomori — VR World by William Knies