Papagno

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  Papagno by Ercole Zaccaria

Inspiration

The project draws inspiration from vintage 2D animated storytelling, blending poetic simplicity with a surreal emotional tone. Rather than relying on dystopian imagery, this version explores the quiet beauty of an elderly man’s longing as he watches a seagull rise into the sky.

What it does

The film unfolds as a continuous one-shot sequence: an elderly man looks up, notices a seagull, and begins to follow it as it flies higher and higher. His steps slowly turn into a symbolic journey — a transition from earth to sky, from weight to lightness, from memory to release. The seagull becomes a guide, leading him through an intimate, dreamlike ascent.

How we built it

Midjourney to create the visual concepts and aesthetic Kling to animate the movement and the one-shot flight sequence Hailuo to refine transitions and bring emotional continuity to the scene

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge was preserving character consistency and stylistic coherence during the long, continuous upward movement. Keeping the elderly man and the seagull visually stable across frames required precise prompting and careful animation control.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Winner at the NYC GenArt Hackathon — Hailuo, Oink (Best Narrative)

What we learned

The project explores the idea of following something fragile and free in moments of uncertainty, revealing how a simple act — watching a seagull rise — can become a metaphor for hope, escape, and quiet transformation.

What's next for Papagno

film cartoon 2d

Built With

• elevenlab
• hailuo
• kling