Another review of selected animation shorts from the recent TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) DigiCon6 Award animation entries from Singapore. You can actually watch all 19 entries from the Viddsee website here. To find out more about the competition, check out our previous introduction.
First up is Oasis. Oasis is directed by Sacha Goedegebure. You can watch Oasis via this link.
***
A normal journey home
turned mini adventure for George, this animation throws surprises at viewers
one after another.
The sequence of events
was well thought out and definitely helps this clip stand out from a pool of
typical animation sequences and that makes you want to stay throughout the
whole journey. The storyline keeps things exciting for viewers as it brings
viewers along for a bumpy ride, but leaves you with more questions than answers
when it ends. The animation provides viewers with a space for their imagination
to fill in the gaps, instead of simply buying into whatever the animation is
showing and that increases the interaction between both parties.
Partnered with a
variety of sound effects throughout the five minute clip, the excitement and
emotional impact was enhanced. The choices made for sound effects were
definitely clever and they definitely manipulated my feelings to the way they
want me to feel.
However, beyond all
that, the one thing that really impressed me about this animation clip will be
the amount of detail that was being put into everything. Being set in the
desert, one would assume that the animators would pick the easy way out and
just create a flat image to represent the hills of sand that envelopes the
entire background. But I found out how wrong I was when I was greeted by a
sand-textured background with rocks scattered around. The team’s eye for detail
went beyond the background and you can see the amount of effort they put in to
George’s attire, the strange petty thief that appears and even the precious
blue diamond.
Review by Dawn Teo
Dawn has dabbled in the arts since young and doing theatre since she was 14 and she has been a part of more than ten productions locally. Just completing an editorial internship with Youth.SG, Dawn hopes to write more to hone her skills in expressing herself through words.