Postcards Between Worlds

Concept

In 2065, environmental collapse has divided humanity. A suffocating blanket of toxic smoke covers the earth. Your survival depends on your wealth—the poor suffocate in the heat and smog, while the rich escape into AI-generated alternate realities, living in fabricated utopias.

Speculative Future

Set in 2065, this speculative narrative follows two people who exchange postcards across an impossible divide—separated by both distance and wealth. One dwells in abundance while the other clings to survival.

To build their world, we asked: How did they meet? What binds them still? Where does utopia end and dystopia begin? These questions shaped the contours of their divided existence and the thread of longing that connects them

Narrative drawn from lived experiences

At the same time, the story is not entirely speculative or rooted in the future. It draws heavily from my own lived experience. Growing up in Delhi, India, I witnessed how every October, a thick blanket of smog envelops the city, obscuring everything from view. We would get days off from school because of the pollution, which has only worsened over the years. This ever-present environmental reality serves as a stark reminder of our surroundings' fragility and heavily informs the narrative's world-building, blending fiction with the lived consequences of environmental degradation. The story is also shaped by the class differences that divide society. Ultimately, this is a story about overcoming these divides—about how people from different backgrounds show love through different means.

Translating the story into Postcards

With a clear vision for the story, the next challenge was translating it into postcards. How many should there be? What story does the final postcard tell? How does the tone evolve? Where are the characters when they send each postcard? These questions guided the narrative's shape. Each postcard reveals an altered visual scene reflecting the sender's environment. There are three postcards from each character, and one anonymous postcard at the end—left open for the viewer to interpret.

These postcards are deeply personal windows into the characters' lives and relationship, layered with warmth, love, and conflict. Through each one, they share fragments of their world. Despite the physical and societal barriers separating them, the warmth in their messages reflects their profound connection. Yet their differing circumstances create tension—they cannot be together. The contrast between privilege and relentless struggle runs beneath every exchange. The person in utopia is willing to give up everything to fight for their love. The person in dystopia is growing flowers for the other, even as their world deteriorates.

Visual Environments

All environments are modeled in Unreal Engine. TouchDesigner visual effects and color grading create a transition from utopia to dystopia. The project is compiled as an archive book, with postcards interspersed among pressed flowers, leaves, images, and digital artifacts. Both characters try to see the world through the other's eyes to find each other. One sends dreamy images, while the other reveals the harsh reality of their world.

Credits

The songs tiny dancer by Elton John and Unknown/Nth by Hozier were used within this project.