Popper’s charisma is challenged as he wakes up to endure his first full day at a mental hospital. Apprehensive by nature, Popper looks for ways he can find absurdity in his interactions. After being awoken by nightmarish thoughts of lab rats being experimented on, Popper begins his day by first being faced with an apologetic therapist with a short list of generalized methods of treatment. Popper wakes up on the therapist’s couch after sleeping for the majority of their session. When awakened, he is hesitant to express his emotions, only to be plagued with a false sense of sympathy from the therapist, as well as a recommendation to “breathe”. Popper continues the day, participating in a chaotic group therapy session where he meets a grounded and knowledgeable patient named Scooter, and later deals with an intimidating and careless psychiatrist. Popper’s resilience is constantly tested throughout the day, and he is on the brink of losing motivation for recovery, although Scooter seems to be a guiding force with just enough wisdom for Popper to cling on to.
LANGUAGE : English COUNTRY : USA YEAR : 2025 DURATION : 11m DIRECTOR, WRITER, PRODUCER : Sean Michael Blanchard CO-PRODUCER : Tati Chavitage ANIMATION, MUSIC, SOUND SCORE, VOICE : Sean Michael Blanchard NIGHTMARE SEQUENCE ANIMATION : Natalie Peracchio Tommy by Bijijoo used in short hallway sequence
Director statement : Popper is a character I created by simply looking in the mirror. He holds all of my fundamental core values and views on life, and is a vessel for me to explore mundanity through a different lens.
This project’s conception developed as a response to a very difficult period of time I had with my mental health. While attending Emerson College’s MFA program in Film and Media Art, I began experiencing heightened anxiety that deterred me from making connections, and properly collaborating with others. Animation became a coping mechanism for me. It allowed me to work creatively in isolation, spending hundreds of hours drawing alone in my room. During this time I took part in a program at a mental hospital, which is the story that You’re Watching Popper came to be.
During my time at the mental facility I kept a journal. This became a vital part of the writing process, as I was able to properly access the head space I was in during this time. I wanted the story to reflect myself, but also the community I was met with, for better or for worse. You’re Watching Popper is a never ending story that I will work to tell more of. It exemplifies the struggles and hopelessness felt with mental disorders, the feelings of isolation and disappointment when being a patient, and the beauty and importance of community and human connection.
Bio : Sean Blanchard is a multimedia artist based in Boston, Massachusetts. He primarily works in the fields of comedic writing and animation, with past works in experimental analog film and sculpture installations. His work is an accumulation of the world through his lens and ownership, with his personality, internal thoughts, and physical expressions constantly being constructed in response to the media he engages with. Blanchard is a hoarder of all things he finds funny, unpredictable, and unique, and repurposes them into his work. As a self-described “collage artist”, Blanchard’s work, while often incorporating elements of visual collage, is always accumulated through a collage of thought. Finding elements from various storytelling techniques, he works to fight notions of genre-based thinking and create stories that feel polished, while containing the mundanity, humor, tragedy, and despair that reality often holds. Blanchard holds a B.A. in both Communications and Film Media from the University of Rhode Island and an M.F.A. in Film and Media Arts from Emerson College.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
