Few modeling reels we’ve seen convey as much intensity of emotion as 3D Animation & Visual Effects graduate Arjun Gedam‘s VFS reel. It personifies the internal struggle of a man pushed to the very brink, in a gorgeous, painterly, and truly affecting way.

We wanted to know why he decided on this approach for his reel, and Arjun, who now works at an animation studio in his hometown in India, was kind enough to give us some insight.

Like any student anywhere, he experienced bouts of homesickness while studying at VFS, and his art proved to be an outlet.

“I have been drawing since my childhood days, and drawing had become a form of expression for me at times,” Arjun says. “Basically, I got subjected to lot of loneliness and homesickness when I was in Vancouver, as it is my first time to be away from family and country… As I was searching for the concept for my demo reel, I had to vent these feelings and emotions in some form. So I thought, ‘Who else can get lonely?’ Then this thought that old people also get lonely when their kids grow up and just don’t care about them.”

Story is king in the animation programs at VFS, and this modeling reel is no exception. “I actually thumbnailed a backstory and then thought about someone who has just lost his all his purpose, all his family, this feeling of hopelessness, is pushed to the brink of his emotional threshold, and then I drew a concept drawing which held all the emotions, which was the root of the whole story.”

The second part of his reel seems like the polar opposite – it’s inspired by Peter Jackson’s King Kong – but to Arjun, it’s all part of the same need for self-expression. “I saw the movie King Kong where he was struggling and shouting, and I said, ‘Hey, that’s cool. I want make King Kong’ so that I could still vent the anger in the form of shouting as well as make it feel entertaining.”

You can see Arjun’s amazing reel below. It’s an intense experience, so viewer discretion is advised.