This a film about evolution, using gray modeling clay and stop motion. It begins in the middle because life seems to have already evolved in some form. As each incarnation comes into being, there is more and more of a focus on one little species getting the better of another--usually devouring it. I'm not sure what the filmmaker meant at the conclusion, but I suspect it's that no matter how far we have evolved, our primitive being longs to return and start over again.
2 Reviews
Fascinating stop-motion animation using clay shaped forms developing over time into species
llltdesq3 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This cartoon was nominated for the Academy Award for Animation, Short Subject, losing to the incomparable The Dot and the Line. There will be spoilers ahead:
This is a student film, produced by Eliot Noyes while he was studying at Harvard University. It may well be the first student film nominated for the Academy Award for short animation. I certainly don't recall any earlier.
It uses clay and stop-motion (sort of a primitive Gumby-style animation) to show changes in life over time. It has a very well-chosen jazz piece as its score. It works very well with the animation. Everything, including the credits, is shaped with clay.
The film begins with some indistinct shapes and images before a face is formed and then obliterated. A worm comes on the scene and then some other smaller shapes and worms come along. There's a great deal of movement and interaction in the early stages.
About four minutes in, a larger creature comes on stage and starts eating things. This remains a major theme for much of the rest of the short-one thing eating or trying to eat another thing. The fun in the short comes from recognizing the shapes.
The last couple of minutes or so is a series of rapid transformations, with one creature turning into another. It's rather fascinating, with the creatures and shapes becoming more and more fanciful towards the end. Eating is still part of the short, but it isn't quite as prevalent. The closing bit is rather funny.
This short deserves to be more widely seen. Recommended.
This is a student film, produced by Eliot Noyes while he was studying at Harvard University. It may well be the first student film nominated for the Academy Award for short animation. I certainly don't recall any earlier.
It uses clay and stop-motion (sort of a primitive Gumby-style animation) to show changes in life over time. It has a very well-chosen jazz piece as its score. It works very well with the animation. Everything, including the credits, is shaped with clay.
The film begins with some indistinct shapes and images before a face is formed and then obliterated. A worm comes on the scene and then some other smaller shapes and worms come along. There's a great deal of movement and interaction in the early stages.
About four minutes in, a larger creature comes on stage and starts eating things. This remains a major theme for much of the rest of the short-one thing eating or trying to eat another thing. The fun in the short comes from recognizing the shapes.
The last couple of minutes or so is a series of rapid transformations, with one creature turning into another. It's rather fascinating, with the creatures and shapes becoming more and more fanciful towards the end. Eating is still part of the short, but it isn't quite as prevalent. The closing bit is rather funny.
This short deserves to be more widely seen. Recommended.
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