SIBINAAYAGAM

FILMOGRAPHY​

HIGHLIGHTED CREDITS

■ACTION ■ANIMATION ■COMING-OF-AGE ■SHORT-FILM

PONNI (2021)

(POST-PRODUCTION)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ WRITER  ◉ VFX SUPERVISOR

Set in late 18th century Western Ghats forest of Southern India, a 13 yr old princess of the Athirapally village must rise up to her responsibility and defend her home & people from an invading British troop.

PONNI is a 10-minute performance captured short animated film that uses traditional and custom built pipelines with cutting edge technology to deliver an impactful and epic story.

This project is the 1st virtual production thesis to be made at USC School of Cinematic Art’s Production Division and is a collaboration with the Animation and Interactive Divisions as well. 

Michael Fink (Academy Award winning VFX Supervisor), John Brennan (Virtual Production Lead on Jungle Book, Lion King, Ready Player One etc.) and Raymond Massa (Facial Capture Specialist on LOTR, Avatar, King Kong, Adventures of Tintin, Deadpool etc.) are mentors on the project.

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■DRAMA ■CLASSIC ■SHORT-FILM

IMMIGRANT (2020)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR  ◉ PRODUCER  ◉ CINEMATOGRAPHER

A hardworking artist is faced with reality of leaving the country due to immigration issues, leaving behind the love of his life. But he had decided not to reveal this to her until the day of his departure; how will she take this sudden revelation? 

IMMIGRANT is a 5-minute classical drama short inspired by the 50s Hollywood style of filmmaking.

This project was filmed with just 1 crew member (Sibi) and the 2 actors making it the most compact project Sibi has directed on yet. Most notably an iPhone 11 Pro on a tripod was used to film instead of a traditional camera.

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■ACTION ■SHORT-FILM

SUNSET RUMBLE (2019)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR  ◉ VFX SUPERVISOR

A bride with a dark past must confront her ex-boyfriend to save her fiance who had been kidnapped from the alter.

SUNSET RUMBLE is a 3-minute rooftop action piece that was choreographed and filmed within 5 hours. 

This was the 1st project at USC School of Cinematic Arts to use live camera tracking technology. It was shot by Student Academy Winner, Emre Ökten on a single sided green screen stage – quite the task to light and shoot multiple angles inside 3 hours. It was filmed handheld despite recommendations against it but the workflow’s success stands as testament to the powerful technology that is easily accessible today. 

This project also set forth a major curriculum change in the Directing in Virtual World Class by Prof. Michael Fink (Academy Award winning VFX Supervisor) due to the potential of live camera tracking systems.

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■CRIME-INVESTIGATION ■DRAMA ■SHORT-FILM

THE WRAITH (2019)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR

A murder suspect is caught on the run by the police and interrogated for charges regarding the killing of a young girl and two other suspects.

THE WRAITH is a 5-minute crime interrogation short that focuses on the art of blocking and shot composition with minimal setups to tell a story.

This project was shot overnight in a motel with a full crew and 10 actors making it an exciting challenge for Sibi to direct on such a set for the first time.

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■DRAMA ■SHORT-FILM

A.B.D. (2020)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ ACTOR

A young CEO and his girlfriend, who is on the board of directors find their world idealogies clashing. Both of them have their own agenda but would their love for each other suffer from it?

A.B.D. is a 3-minute dramatic short scene that is an excerpt of a feature script written by Sibi Naayagam.

This was one of two recent projects that Sibi both directed and starred in. Such a double endeavor is quite tough, especially for a director who comes from a visual background than a performance background. It was a great opportunity for Sibi to challenge his acting skill after his short training at Brown Studios in the Meisner Technique for acting.

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■THRILLER ■SHORT-FILM

STUDY BUDDY (2018)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR  ◉ VFX SUPERVISOR

A student trying prepare for upcoming exams meets a mysterious girl in the library and her reality crumbles soon after. Can she escape from it?

STUDY BUDDY is a 5-minute silent thriller that focuses on visual storytelling. It predominantly explores the concept of space, color and rhythm in the composition of shots.

This was shot entirely in a single morning with a small crew. The highlight of the piece is its use of visual elements as suggested by Bruce Block in the book, ‘The Visual Story’.

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■SPORTS ■SHORT-FILM

CRICKET FREAK (2020)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ ACTOR

An enthusiastic newcomer to the USC Cricket Club Team unexpectedly clashes with his coach and gets a one time opportunity to prove himself for a place in the playing XI. Will he succeed?

CRICKET FREAK is a 5-minute sports short that is inspired by Sibi’s personal struggles over the years in cricket. Cricket is his first love but he was almost always the underdog and often overlooked due to his unconventional style of play and thought process.

This is the only project Sibi has gone to film without a script in hand. With only a solid structure in mind, all the scenes and dialogues were improvised on the day of. This was due to non-actors playing the parts of the cricketers and the coach. Everyone seen on-screen are part of the USC Cricket Club Team and their enthusiasm to be part of this piece is what made it possible.

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■DRAMA ■ADAPTATION ■SHORT-FILM

FAMILIAL BOND (2019)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR

A successful working woman is excited to meet her brother after many years of silence. The reunion takes a rough turn when he reveals an ugly truth about his past. How will she react?

FAMILIAL BOND is a 5 minute short adaptation inspired by a scene from ‘You Can Count on Me’.

This has the most dialogues in a short that Sibi has directed. A dramatic piece focusing on the characters and the moment alone, this paved way for Sibi’s love for character dramas.

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■CRIME-INVEsTIGATION ■DRAMA ■SHORT-FILM

THE CONFESSION (2017)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR  ◉ CINEMATOGRAPHER

A murder convict, under arrest for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, must go on trail in less than 24hrs. The defense has run out of all conventional methods to get a confession and are forced to try an out-of-the-box approach with a doppleganger of his ex-girlfriend. Will they get the confession?

THE CONFESSION is a 6-minute short inspired by the many crime shows on Network TV.

This entire short was filmed on a single night. Originally scheduled to film on 2 nights for a total of 5 scenes, due to a last minute important change to the script, production was called off for the first day. This put great pressure on Sibi due to a high number of setups required. The first scene had over 12 setups and the final scene had 50+ setups. Despite all odds Sibi managed to shoot and direct this piece in a single night.

This was the last such experience Sibi had due his growing belief that proper scheduling and prep allows for greater quality in output. But this piece stands as testament to Sibi’s ability to think of his feet and excellent judgement of coverage for a successful edit.

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■DRAMA ■SHORT-FILM

THE WALTZ OF DEATH (2017)

◉ DIRECTOR  ◉ EDITOR  ◉ PRODUCER  ◉ CINEMATOGRAPHER  ◉ VFX SUPERVISOR

A self-made rich businessman mourns the tragic loss of his loving wife and daughter, reliving his past through his thoughts. As his desire to live slowly expires, the crescendo of memories builds towards a shocking supernatural experience. Will he succumb to his pain or choose to move on?

THE WALTZ OF DEATH is a 6-minute dramatic short that was a tribute to Sibi’s association with renowned Indian Director Sudha Kongara as her assistant. She taught him the importance of personal and emotional storytelling at a time when his focus was only on the packaging of blockbuster filmmaking than the heart inside it.

This was Sibi’s first short on US soil. He chose to move away from his comfort zone and make this film as he believed his journey for the next few years was all about learning despite successes or failures.

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