In a reference to his own animated film of 2007 (which I have not seen), the animator Jeff Chiba Stearns brings together 15 Canadian animators to each animate a small part of this short film. The brief is that each animated part of their day onto post-it notes by created a "to do list" as a jumping off point. The sequences were created independently but edited together into this one project.
As an idea this is a good one and it serves as a communal creative experience even if the parts were created in isolation. On this level I applaud it and wish I was even a little as creative as those involved here – and you know there is a but coming here. The "but" is that the parts don't create a bigger better whole and although they flow from one to another, they stand and fall on their own. The result of this is that any given second of the film is all about the specific part that is flitting by there and then. This puts a lot of pressure on the animators to impress you with creativity and skill in just a few seconds and mostly this doesn't work. A couple of segments are engaging on their own, but too many don't offer much more than fitting into the rest of the segments.
It is a shame because the idea is good and must have felt like a nice project to be part of, but I think maybe the brief was too specific, the time allowed too short and generally the project too restrictive in these regards. There are some very good sequences in here but sadly too many that really didn't make an impression or offer much to the casual viewer.
As an idea this is a good one and it serves as a communal creative experience even if the parts were created in isolation. On this level I applaud it and wish I was even a little as creative as those involved here – and you know there is a but coming here. The "but" is that the parts don't create a bigger better whole and although they flow from one to another, they stand and fall on their own. The result of this is that any given second of the film is all about the specific part that is flitting by there and then. This puts a lot of pressure on the animators to impress you with creativity and skill in just a few seconds and mostly this doesn't work. A couple of segments are engaging on their own, but too many don't offer much more than fitting into the rest of the segments.
It is a shame because the idea is good and must have felt like a nice project to be part of, but I think maybe the brief was too specific, the time allowed too short and generally the project too restrictive in these regards. There are some very good sequences in here but sadly too many that really didn't make an impression or offer much to the casual viewer.
