REVIEW: Animation adds variety to Logan Film Festival
Animation is a truly wonderful medium. Unfortunately, it’s often overlooked because it carries the stigma of being just for kids. Some fail to realize just how much filmmakers can accomplish with it as opposed to live-action. Characters and sets can be convincingly over-the-top, and the stylization provides for some unique films. Not to mention, voice work can be much easier to implement than dealing with bad actors.
On top of these advantages, abstract concepts and sophistication often go hand in hand with line art and designs. Look no further than more mature fare such as “Akira” and “Ghost in the Shell” to see my point.
Imagine my delight and surprise when I noticed this year’s Logan Film Festival had a set of animated shorts playing on a Saturday afternoon. Each short brought something new to the table with enthralling designs, clever ideas and a genuine dose of heart. I laughed and got my heartstrings pulled in the span of an hour. Not too shabby.
It should be noted, however, that some of the shorts were clearly better than others, but even the less effective ones still weren’t a complete waste of time. On the contrary: Everything in this set of animated shorts, good or bad, serves a purpose and showcases the potential the animators and voice actors possess.
The first in the series is a Taiwanese entry called “Old Angel.” A scrawny, bunny-like angel ventures into a forest and discovers an obese, lazy angel who has forgotten how to fly. With gentle persuasion and coaxing, the little angel eventually teaches the worn out angel how to fly again, out of the trees and into the sunset. The song playing in the background matches the onscreen action with beautiful accompanying lyrics, and the style looks akin to a JRPG game on modern video game systems. Surreal and deliberate, this is a good start.
“I’ll be Your Mirror,” another Taiwanese short, came next. With no plot, the imagery is contained within a set of presumably religious writings. Spectacular to look at for sure, but not much else.
“Love” is a story about a romance involving buttons. Though not bad, it doesn’t leave much of an impression. The animation technique doesn’t distinguish itself a lot. To be fair, it was the shortest of the bunch at two minutes in length.
“King Tigermore in Strawberry Fields” is as bizarre as the title implies. Two children play chess and one of the pieces gains life and morphs into a tiger. The tiger then takes the little boy at the chess table on a ride as classical music plays in the background, almost like a segment from “Fantasia.” Though the style left something to be desired, the characters were fun to look at.
“Tailed,” the most heartfelt short by far, conveys the story of a ghost who hasn’t left his house in many decades. His daily routine consists of scaring the paperboy and examining the objects in the house. A puppy dog shows up and disrupts this routine, but the ghost slowly warms up to the presence of the dog and even teams up with it to scare the unfortunate paperboy. The computer animation worked nicely for this one, and surprisingly the sentimental ending didn’t bother me much, either.
“Green Acres,” though extremely simplistic, had me laughing start to finish. A determined tortoise is trying to penetrate a fortress of an obsessive gunman, who has the only water hole for miles around. The gunman is so paranoid he even shoots a little bug that comes near. Slapstick and comedic timing perfectly mesh in this short, and the unexpected outcome of the tortoise versus the man thoroughly delights.
“Light Me Up” had a professional touch the other shorts seemed to lack but it often relegated itself to puns and a couple of cheap jokes. It combines live action and animation to pretty good effect, similarly to an episode of “Spongebob Squarepants.” The Wattsons, a family of light bulbs, get into an argument. Should Louie strive to inherit the family business from his mother and father or cross the street to work in a theater as a spotlight? Some of the jokes are uproarious, but others elicit groans.
“My Home” closes out the short set. It’s an Oneida Native American story about a turtle who must convince a beaver to live in harmony with the land and not dam up the turtle’s home for personal gain. This one starts slow, but once it picks up steam, it’s rather enjoyable and the lesson it provides is especially good for children. The computer animation works well overall and the few laughs it has certainly helps.
Some of these shorts are available to watch on www.loganfilmfestival.com and the rest should make it to YouTube pretty soon.
– Sam McConkie is a senior in the technical and professional writing program at USU. He is a keen writer and has been a dedicated gamer for years. Sam can be reached at sambonemcconkie@gmail.com