đź“Ś Project Information
Title: Next Stop: HomeTheme: Urban Solitude, Multicultural Connection, and Friendship
Tools Used: GPT-4 (story development and script), GPT 4 (visual storytelling and images), Notion (project planning and organization)
🛠️ This Is How We Did It
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Story Development
The emotional arc — from isolation to subtle connection — was crafted using GPT-4, focusing on tone, pacing, and silent intimacy across cultures.
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Scene Planning
Notion structured the visual and narrative beats, helping to storyboard each scene and track the evolving emotional dynamics between Yuna and Arjun.
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Visual Storytelling
Each scene was illustrated using GPT-4o, stylized to evoke softness, quiet detail, and cultural authenticity. Visual metaphors — like empty seats and mirrored meals — were intentionally used to convey internal shifts.
🎬 The Project
A lonely sketchbook leads to an unexpected friendship in the heart of Seoul.
In Next Stop: Home, two strangers meet not through words, but through art, food, and presence.
Through a series of quiet encounters on subway rides and around the city, a Korean office worker and an Indian artist form a friendship that softens the edges of urban isolation.
Concept
In the midst of Seoul’s crowded subways, a lonely Korean office worker, Yuna, discovers a forgotten sketchbook. This leads her to Arjun, an Indian artist. Without exchanging words, they form a quiet friendship through art, food, and shared silence — a bond that slowly warms her isolated world.
The Commute of one
Caption: A young Korean woman (Yuna), dressed in office attire, sits alone in a crowded subway. Everyone is on their phones. She stares blankly out the window, detached, wearing headphones. Neon lights reflect on the window. Her reflection looks sadder than she does.
The Forgotten Sketchbook
Caption: As people leave, Yuna notices a sketchbook left behind. It’s open to a page showing a colorful portrait of the subway. She picks it up. Her expression changes — curiosity replaces numbness.
A Chance Meeting
Caption: The next day, Yuna sees an Indian man, around her age, sketching again in the same subway car. She holds up the sketchbook. They make eye contact. He smiles, surprised and grateful. No words exchanged — just shared warmth.
Small Acts of Connection
Caption: A few subway rides later, Yuna and the man (named Arjun) sit next to each other, sketching together — she mimics his strokes playfully. Around them, the subway is still impersonal, but this moment is theirs.
Cultural Contrast, Shared Silence
Caption: Montage-style image. Yuna and Arjun explore the city together:
- A Korean street food stall (he tries Tteokbokki).
- An Indian restaurant (she tries pani puri).
- Both scenes are mirrored visually — different settings, same laughter.
Rooftop Escape
Caption: They sit on a rooftop under the Seoul skyline, sketching. One sketchpad shows a drawing of them together. The city glows below, but up here, it’s quiet and peaceful. They lean slightly into each other — not romance, but comfort.
Breaking Routine: One Empty Seat
Caption: A subway car. Yuna enters alone this time. There’s one empty seat next to her, but Arjun is not there. She looks at the seat. Her sketchpad is open on her lap. Bittersweet feeling.
A Message in Color
Caption: At a subway stop, she finds a folded handmade postcard taped to the window. It’s from Arjun — a watercolor of her sketching with the line:
“Next stop: whenever we meet again.”
She smiles. The lights flicker. She’s alone — but not lonely anymore.
🪞 Reflection
The story closes not with reunion, but reflection.
Yuna learns that meaningful connections don’t have to be lifelong or loud — sometimes, they live in shared silence, in drawings, and in memory.
Arjun may be gone for now, but the part of her that felt disconnected has changed. She’s softened. Open. Present.
The urban loneliness remains, but so does the warm echo of something real — making the city feel a little less cold.