You would think that life as a stone would be boring, right? Wrong! After I saw Das Wheel (The Rocks) I realised, you could have a blast of a time! Imagine using a pine nut as a hand grenade, which you can throw near by your victim. only instead of an explosion a tree would spring in a matter of seconds, or what seems to seconds to you.
This is one of the most clever concepts I’ve seen in an animation, the idea of time and how absurd longevity makes Earth feel like a completely different planet with different rules of physics. I can see a lot of thought went into this and the planning must have been fun in itself.
This piece was created by four students of the Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg in Germany crafted this masterful work of art. Das Rad was written and directed by Chris Stenner, Arvid Uibel and Heidi Wittlinger. This is a text book award winning animation, combining the best tricks of stop-motion, puppetry and computer graphics. It was won too many awards to list here but if you’re curious please visit the official website.
Learning new things is always great, and if you can learn them with a smile in your face is even better. The way this short educational film was written disguises the fact that you’re learning, it bursts with charisma. I haven’t seen much made from the team behind this production but I can see there was a fantastic connection between them and the passion just shows. The humour is not too slapstick or patronising, is just the right amount so you can enjoy it, even if you know the facts mentioned in it, you just want to see it through.
This quirky film was written and directed by Denis van Waerebeke for the ‘Bon appétit’ exhibition, which is aimed at children between 9 and 14 years old. Designed by Nathalie Prunier and animated by Jimmy Audoin. The sound design was created by Ruelgo with the voice of Mark Jane.
If you go to Denis’ website, make sure to check out the videos of “Guignols de l’info” you’ll be glad you clicked the play button, with a feast of funny, fast paced, live footage + puppets + compositing madness. Is over 10 years old, I haven’t seen it before, probably because is quite French matters related, but still is quite a treat.
