Interplanetary travel over Zoom: An interview with Chrysalis Director Rachel Macindoe Baker

by Alina Ivanova

Chrysalis (Rachel Macindoe Baker, 2025)

Appearing as an animated avatar on the Zoom call and in a blink becoming a person on screen, meeting Chrysalis (2025) director, Rachel Macindoe Baker, was already a special experience.

She’s based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) in Aotearoa New Zealand, and her short film is one of two animated shorts in the MWFF this year. It was a refreshing joy to see its Victorian Premiere during the ‘Freshly Squeezed Shorts 2’.

In desert reds and oranges, her film follows the adventure of a recluse living in ancient ruins and collecting artifacts. Her conscientious routine tinkering and scavenging forever changes when a mysterious stone begins to glow.

There is incredible breadth of imagination and wonder in this animated film, and though there are endless possibilities in animation, Baker made sure each element in the soft world building had purpose.

The planet she imagined was inspired by insects, and a core aspect of the narrative is driven by the fact that the planet is very dry due to having long seasonal cycles without rain.  

“Weather is such a strong symbol of change. It's called Chrysalis, so there's this idea of a metamorphosis of some kind. And regrowth is part of that.” Baker said.

These aspects influenced her recluse protagonist who was trying to control everything around her and keep the relics in the past.

“So having a great flood, like a great cleansing, being a way of taking [that control] away from her, but also being something hopeful”

Chrysalis is ambitious in its vast landscapes and far-reaching horizons, but there is also an openness in its narrative. The lore of the ruins and what engraved runes symbolise aren’t explained. The films lends itself to the interpretation of the viewer, and by the end, you’re inspired to imagine what adventures may follow.

“I had fun, like imagining what would happen next. The whole point of that story is that…[it] isn't known what's out there, but [the protagonist] takes that risk anyway. So, I feel like if I was to create a sequel or like expand that further, it would almost make this film feel redundant,” Baker said.

The scope of animation and ability to dissect each scene and layer of a frame gives a lot of creative agency to the director. Baker shared how she had two roles: being an animator and being a director, and how leading an animation project is different to working with real-life actors.

“When you're filming with a camera, you're almost reinterpreting something that already exists, but with animation it's so broad. So, you have to be really careful with kind of giving yourself limitations so that you don't go completely overboard with the idea”

Baker has an abundance of experience and talent with animation. She began animating in primary school using Powerpoint, and later got into 2D animation as a teenager. In her career, she’s worked as a VFX animator and has crossed over from 2D to 3D. In Chrysalis, she even created an Unreal Engine to render her work in real time.

From all this experience, Baker advises emerging animators to be confident in pitching their ideas and humble when receiving feedback.

“It's really important not just for the sake of the story, but also like building trust between you and your team. You need to have that flexibility there.”

With animation being a more accessible mode, it’s easy to get lost in the technology and new developments in the field. But having the high-tech software and tools isn’t the core part of animation.

“When you're young, you think that if you find the perfect software, if you learn all the buttons and how to press all the things, you'll make [the film] really good. But I think what's really most important and what will be your drive is if you find a story that you really like, then the technology just becomes like a tool for you to use to get to that point,” Baker said.

Stories are what give meaning and relevance to our lives and how we see the world. And just like in Chrysalis, our world is changing too.

Though the future is hard to predict and can feel grim and bleak, Baker has hope that humanity will continue moving forward and building on things. She’s also optimistic about the film industry.

“One of the things that we're seeing at the moment actually is just how much independent film and animation is really popping off because the technology is just so accessible now.”

As Baker’s protagonist goes towards an unknown future on a mysterious planet, we as well navigate Earth and all the adventures it holds.