Green Apple is a short film by director Gavin Cornelius Edmonds.
Set in 2014, the film is a poignant exploration of the coming-of-age experience within the context of virtual spaces. As the first generation of creatives live our entire lives under the influence of digital communication, we recognize the profound impact these virtual realms have had on our identities, relationships, and experiences. We want to accurately represent those feelings in this film.
Green Apple follows Miles, a 12-year-old boy, as he navigates his suburban life in 2014. Heavily influenced by YouTube and internet gaming culture, Miles and his friends--Alfonso and Drew--love to pass the time playing “Pixelworld.” Pixelworld is an open-world fantasy sandbox game that encourages creativity and social collaboration. The preteen characters set off on a journey searching for a copy of the game, while facing the harsh realities of growing into their teenage years.
Using virtual production, “Green Apple” includes multiple sequences in which the boys are actually "there" inside the video game, exploring the pixelated trees, beaches, and treasures within. The film jumps back and forth between this hyperreal world and the suburban one, physically representing the escapism found in gaming with friends as a young pre-teen.
Coming-of-age period pieces are not new; each generation has their defining youthful film. This is a story of young boys coming to terms with what the world expects of them. Only now, the world is not real. It exists in an abstract of binary; a digital space.
There seems to be a lack of authentic films that accurately represents such a pivotal experience of growing up for many people in Generation Z. Some of our generation’s fondest memories were made in places that physically don't exist, with people we never physically met. In video games, YouTube, and chat-boards we found our closest friends and discovered who we were. That’s all Green Apple is: a classic story re-told for the next generation.