RACHEL E. JOHNSON
SHORT FILMS (SELECTED WORK)
SHORT FILMS (SELECTED WORK)
2022, Run Time 17:52 Minutes
Waiting for Spring is a sci-fi ghost story, set on the first habitat on Mars called HORTUS, built in an underground lava tube. Sara is a pragmatic botanist, unable to move on from the reminders of her lost love Caleb. Caleb is a communications engineer who died in an accident in the Greenhouse, and is briefly brought back to life before he fades back into the darkness. In the wake of discovering life on Mars, Sara must confront the choices she’s made and the love that she’s lost.
Mars Lava Tube and Mars Habitat Greenhouse sets were built on the Goathouse Studios Annex Soundstage. All other Mars Habitat Interiors were filmed on location at Mountain View Mortuary and Cemetery in Altadena.
Director: Ryan Michael Brown
Producer: Roman Musheghyan
Cinematographer: Yuk Hong Law
Production Designer: Rachel E. Johnson
Editor: Chenxing Zhang
Art Directors: Eimi Thompson and Zero Zhang
Photo Credit: Angela Mikayelyan
Photo Credit: Angela Mikayelyan
Photo Credit: Angela Mikayelyan
Photo Credit: Angela Mikayelyan
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2021, Run Time 3:09 Minutes
Vidya, a teenage Indian-American girl, and her mother, Malini, sort through her grandmother’s antique trunk. At first, Vidya is bored and uninterested. But when she tries on her grandmother’s sari, her mind drifts off into a reverie, where she goes back in time and meets her grandmother as a young woman. Vidya follows Indra as she goes about her day, and she grows to love and appreciate her family’s heritage and traditions.
Indra’s Indian home was inspired by the Chettinad style homes in southern India.
All sets were built on the WB Soundstage, AFI Conservatory.
Director: Duran Jones
Producers: Venk Potula and Nagee Brown
Cinematographer: Lakmé Iyengar
Production Designer: Rachel E. Johnson
Editor: Jessica Petersen
Art Director: Janhavi Naik
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Photo Credit: Jor-el Vaasborg
Photo Credit: Jor-el Vaasborg
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Photo Credit: Jor-el Vaasborg
Photo Credit: Jor-el Vaasborg
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Set on the AFI WB Soundstage
Drawn in Vectorworks
2019, Run Time 13:36 Minutes
Horizon, the sole engineer aboard a starship designed to house several generations of humans over a centuries-long voyage, must decide between hope and hopelessness when he discovers that the life support systems are failing.
All sets were built on the WB Soundstage, AFI Conservatory.
Director: Daniel Egbert
Screenwriter: Matthew Katz-Overstreet
Producer: Ahmad Alerwi
Cinematographer: Sydney Camille Barfield
Production Designer: Rachel E. Johnson
Editor: Li “Mary” Ma
Art Director: Marc De Bertier
HORIZON walks out and stands at a railing overlooking the starship THE LAST HOPE VIII, comprised of three different “strips”, business, residential, and agricultural, stretching away for nearly a mile. At the end: Space.
The whole pattern wraps around the inside of a tube shape — land curving up along the sides and meeting above their heads. Spiraling along the inside of the tube is a series of lights meant to replicate sunlight.
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Soft moonlight filters into a small greenhouse garden room — various small, sickly, potted plants rest on shelves.
HORIZON, late 30’s, a mechanical engineer with the callouses to prove it, wears a stained jumpsuit rolled down to the waist.
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HORIZON’S legs stick out from under a hefty piece of machinery. The room is filled with similar machines.
STORM, late teens, sits nearby, dressed in the same jumpsuit as HORIZON.
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HORIZON enters the life support room, alone, moonlight spilling in behind him until the doors close. He looks at the machine — the cause of all his concern — for a long beat.
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STORM watches HORIZON as he walks toward the door that opens up into space.
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The Last Hope VIII is designed to house several generations of humans over a centuries-long voyage to another solar system. Horizon, the sole engineer aboard the ship must decide between hope and hopelessness when he discovers that the life support systems are failing.
The Life Support Room has the most important systems that keep the generation ship running. It is where Horizon spends most of his day, along with his apprentice, Storm. Horizon attempts to repair the systems, and keep the ship running, but the hardware is overtaxed and falling apart — leading to a decrease in the quality of life on the ship. Later, against the Council’s wishes, Horizon breaks the system, making his repairs permanent.
These chambers are where the elected Council of representatives meet and conduct important business. When Horizon and Storm report the failing condition of the life support systems, the Council demands that the systems be set back to their “optimal” settings to preserve the quality of life, at the cost of complete ship-wide failure within the next 50 years.
This door separates the safety of the interior of the ship from the cold, harsh vacuum of space. After disobeying the Council, Horizon is executed via ejection through the airlock door and into space. A viewing window allows Storm one last chance to see Horizon and say goodbye.
