Pongo Labyrinth [VTuber KawaiiMermaid120’s Final Livestream], 11min., USA
Directed by Nathan William Frost
An eerie glitchy stop-motion video made by Nathan Frost about a Virtual YouTuber’s final livestream.
Get to know the filmmaker:
What motivated you to make this film?:
I was inspired to make Pongo Labyrinth from growing up on the internet and seeing it evolve and devolve in real time. Mostly devolve, through online parasocial relationships of creators and Silicon Valley algorithms used to suppressed people In actual need of help. This new era of the internet has led to creators having to bend a knee to algorithms and be someone they’re not. Creators are forced to make quick and sanitized art to keep up with the algorithm. It leads to burnout and kills creativity. It also leads to creators getting addicted to likes and followers as a source of dopamine. Due to the abusive algorithm, some creators lean into their audience/viewers’ support for their own benefit. They become obsessed with power. Only then will viewers see the creators’ true colors as the persona starts to slip, one way or another. I made Pongo Labyrinth to express that mind-numbing horror of losing one’s true self on the internet.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?:
Pongo Labyrinth took a year to make from the idea stage to the ten minute and 30 second finished work. The idea of an orangutan in a fleshy landscape came to me while at college in biology class for some reason.
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