TOGA VIRILIS

CONCEPT TRAILER FOR A CINEMATIC HYBRID REALISM SERIES

mp4, 00:02:59, 4096 × 2304 (DCI 4K), 24 fps, Runway (Seedance 2, Aleph 2, Nano Banana), ChatGPT Image 2, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop

TOGA VIRILIS is a concept for a series about a trans college freshman Harper. He copes with sharing a dorm floor with US military cadets by escaping into an AI-generated Ancient Rome, where masculinity feels simpler and he is best friends with young Scipio Africanus, a famous historical figure — until a real cadet who looks like Scipio forces him to to confront what “manhood” really means. In the end, Harper confronts his anxiety and discovers that the world is more survivable and more complicated than his fear told him. Harper finds unexpected allies and acceptance that allow him to define his own flavor of “man.” The series is set in the near future, against the backdrop of modern military conflicts and instability alongside tremendous technological advances.

The story is based on a script I wrote for a graphic novel.

Much of character and set design is based on the sketches and concept pages of the comic, see below: