[the story of what happened after] I STOPPED WORRYING ABOUT THINGS

A man stops worrying about things and develops into an efficient and allegedly superior being. But things do not turn out the way he expected.

with Daniel Knussmann

written, shot & directed by Konstantin Enste
camera assistant: Alexander Hansen
sound & set assistant: Leif Plath
devices & concept art: Kai Hiebl
set-design & clouds: Konstantin Enste

I came up with this story during a period in which I wished to be more productive in various aspects of life, including creating short films. I had written several concepts but struggled to fully commit to any because something always felt off.

Eventually, I was so frustrated with myself and started thinking about what would happen if I just abandoned overthinking and concerns, and simply get shit done.
The resulting narrative is a product of this mindset – essentially a thought experiment, where I process ideas without excessive judgment. The idea for the concluding scene emerged from the notion of being more of an observer than a articipant—an admittedly naive and somewhat paralyzing concept, if adopted by
everyone.

Originally, the idea possessed a darker and more melancholic tone. However, it felt better to infuse it with a touch of positivity to maintain a bittersweet yet somewhat light-hearted atmosphere.

The construction of the main set was time-intensive but allowed for a lot of customization. I aimed for a retro look with retro-futuristic machines. A colleague
created concept art for the different stages in the film, which greatly helped in getting a better feel for the idea. He also built the main device.
The addition of the lizard people came later in the process. The goal was to give their scenes a darker, mobster-like appearance, which led me to create a low-key
environment. However, it took me a bit of time to discover that adding plants to create a jungle-like setting would do the trick for me.

Regarding the clouds, my initial plan was to film everything as miniatures directly incamera. However, I quickly realized the challenges and lack of flexibility in doing so. This led me to decide to capture only the primary clouds as miniatures and incorporate the rest during post-production. Luckily, these scenes were not intended to be highly realistic. Instead, I aimed for a DIY charm, which aligned perfectly with my very limited VFX and compositing skills.