Yes. It is that day again. The shortest day of the year. No light, no light. The sun rose in Tampere 9:42 and has set 15:03 which may not sound that horrible but trust me, it is. And I don't even live that north, sun does rise. But it's dark as the sun doesn't rise that high. It's just lurking there, somewhere little over the horizon so the cycle of the daylight goes: dark, dark, dark, not completely dark but still dark, the gloomy sun doesn't feel up to it, do I really have to rise today? -sun, oh okay I'll try -sun, here I maybeperhapsmight come -sun, did I see a shimmer but still dark, freakishly bright if it's not cloudy and there's snow on the ground but still low sun so everyone's blinded, yeah that's enough I'm going back to bed -sun, has the day already ended, dark, dark, dark.
Anyway, as I'm a child of light, born when the sun doesn't set, the darkness feels really hard and depressing. But then again comforting as you don't have the constant feeling in the back of your head that you are supposed to be happy and smiling and go out because it's warm and the sun doesn't set at all. The time of the year the people fondly call mörön perse, a bogeymans ass, gives people the right to forget smiling, not talk but only grunt your answers if someone insists on asking stuff and the right to dig deeper in to your comforting pit, to roll a huge rock to block the entrance to your dark cave.
My first short movie isn't actually a short although it is short. It's a clip from the most famous Finnish children's series called Moomin. This is for all you who may not know anything about moomins and because it has the mörkö (groke) in it, it suits this time of year perfectly.
So the time of the year is now as dark as in the ass of mörkö. And that statement actually has a temperature default in it too. Cold. Either freezing cold or wet and cold which in my opinion is the worse one.
But let's get down to business. The genuine shorts.
I love it how everything but the man himself is made out of paper and cardboard. You don't see that that much anymore. Everything is 3D or computer animated and it's really hard sometimes to find a good old school modeling clay, paper, doll or hand drawn animation. But I did and this was an excellent animation to start with.
A film, may it be short or long, has to have something that captures my attention. If I start to feel bored the magic is gone. I don't mean that the story needs to be hyperactive or fast or some really genius plot, although that always helps, sometimes the simplest predictable story can also be good if it's done well. And boy oh boy do I love pretty pictures. This short sure was full of them. Each frame is a work of art, a pretty painting that you could hang on the wall of your picturesque house. Btw, look at those trees in the beginning of the short!
Speaking of a plot or in some cases, multiple plots cut to pieces and put together to make the ultimate plot added with a bit of hyperactivity, this one really tickled my brain. I do not dislike 3D animated films. I think the best animation will use all means possible, all means needed to make the message heard. What ever that may be.
Some short films may have a clearer message. I particularly liked the way the scenes are set in this animation. Just like in a theater! What a clever way to go forward to the next scene and tell a story. A story that has a very important message.
But I think that story didn't have enough deaths in it. Let's fix that.
The daily job of death is essential, but let's make things a little more insane.
Throughout the history, the pursuit of the crown, any crown has always been bloody.
The last two shorts are not animations. I'm done with them for now. And I'm also done with the pons asinorums, bridges of asses.
The last two both deal with self appreciation. Self value. But in a very different way. The first one is just so fairy tail like that it makes me puke. I recommend The Clue to anyone who craves for a happy end.
The second one on the other hand, is perhaps not something you would like to watch with children. Small children anyway. Or a bit older ones either. Any age that you consider to be a child. Nevertheless, depending on the aspect, this also has a happy ending. Satisfaction Guaranteed sure reminds me of my Inktober drawings Sour Pressure.
Happy winter solstice everyone!
More animations and short films:
@insaneworks/it-s-that-short-movie-time-of-the-year-again
@insaneworks/what-to-watch-short-oh-so-short-part-1
@insaneworks/winter-solstice-short-day-short-films
@insaneworks/animations-some-cute-but-violent