Within the world of animation, most experimentation occurs within short-format productions, whether they are high-budgeted commercials, low-budgeted independent shorts or something in-between. The growing number of short film festivals around the world attests to the vitality of these works, but there are few other venues for their exhibition, nor are they often reviewed. As a result, distribution tends to be difficult and irregular. On a regular basis, Animation World Magazine will highlight some of the most interesting of these films.

This month:
Hot Seat (2008), 5:55, directed by Janet Perlman (Canada/United States). Contact: Ron Diamond, Acme Filmworks. [T] 323. 464.7805 [F] 323. 464.6614 [W] www.acmefilmworks.com [E] acmeinfo@acmefilmworks.com

Mutt (2008), 7:00, directed by Glen Hunwick (Australia). Contact: Beth Frey, producer, Circe Film, Level 1, 21 William Street, Balaclava VIC 3183, Australia. [T] +61 3 9525 8486 [F] +61 3 95258416 [W] www.circefilms.com [E] blackout@bigpond.net.au

The Necktie (Le noeud cravate) (2008), 12:17, directed by Jean-François Lévesque (Canada). Contact: Johanne St-Arnauld, Director General, Distribution, National Film Board of Canada. [T] 514.283.2703 [F] 514.496.1895 [W] www.nfb.ca [E] customerservice@nfb.ca

Oktapodi (2007), 2:27. directed by Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier (France) and Emud Mokhberi (United States). Contact: Julien Bocabeille [W] boksplace.blogspot.com [E] bokbok01@gmail.com; François-Xavier Chanioux [W] fxchanioux.blogspot.com [E] fixchan@hotmail.fr; Olivier Delabarre [W] olibaredelavier.blogspot.com [E] olibaredelavier@yahoo.com; Thierry Marchand [W] thmarchand.blogspot.com [E] th.marchand@gmx.net; Quentin Marmier [W] quentin-marmier.blogspot.com [E] Quentin.marmier@wanadoo.fr; Emud Mokhberi [W] www.emud.org [E] emud@ucla.edu: Kenny Wood (composer) [W] www.kennywood.com [E] kenwood64@hotmail.fr; Gobelins, l'ecole de l'image [producer] [W] www.gobelins.fr; Marie-France Zumofen [E] mfzumofen@gobelins.fr

Hot Seat, produced for Liberty Mutual's Responsibility Project for the Hill Holiday Agency, takes the office musical chair game to its logical extreme. © Liberty Mutual.

Hot Seat
The difference between prosperity and anarchy can be something as simple as a single carrot.

The latest short from Acme Filmworks, Hot Seat, shows us a typical day in a typical American office... that happens to be staffed entirely by rabbits. They're rewarded with carrot-shaped achievement trophies and motivated by literal and figurative carrots dangling just out of reach, which, really, isn't all that different than any other office set-up. The day-to-day perplexities of office culture reduce adults to grade school behavior, from petty feuds to lunchroom politics to one of the most basic issues of human interaction: "Move your feet, lose your seat."

Every office that I've ever worked in, and that anyone has ever worked in, has one bad office chair. If you go on vacation or take a sick day, odds are very good that the not-so-great chair in your cubicle has been replaced with the absolute-worst chair in your absence. Hot Seat takes this practice to its logical extreme, which is that even turning your back for a second will result in losing status and a decent place to sit. The game of "musical chairs" escalates until one rabbit -- and one carrot -- decide to make a stand and set things right.

Hot Seat was produced for Liberty Mutual's Responsibility Project for the Hill Holiday Agency. The insurance company has commissioned films that illustrate the concept of "responsibility" as it impacts individuals and the world around them. The complete Hot Seat and other films can be viewed at www.responsibilityproject.com.

The artwork in Hot Seat was drawn directly in the computer using a Cintiq, with the Toon Boom Studio drawing program used for animation. The backgrounds were created in Photoshop, and Final Cut was used for timing and reworking scenes as director Janet Perlman progressed. The designs and animation are very simple, but they serve the story, which is as universal as... well, that one bad chair that's in every single office space, everywhere.

Disclaimer: Ron Diamond, executive producer of Acme Filmworks, is also co-founder and publisher of AWN.

A staggering amount of work went into Mutt. The character designs are expressive, the action is fluid, and the story is engaging. © 2008 The Australian Film Commission, Circe Films and Glen Art Prods.

Mutt
Every dog has his day. Every cow and every farmer... that's another story.

Mutt, not surprisingly, is the story of a dog, its owner and a cow, isolated on a remote Australian farm. The character's motivations are very straightforward -- the dog just wants someone to play with him, the farmer wants to make enough money from his cow to continue to survive, and the cow just wants to be. The cow stands still, stares blankly, chews her cud and delivers a small amount of milk that the farmer sells to a delivery man, which appears to be his only human contact.

The farmer's lack of attention to his dog leads to disaster, as the dog turns to the nearly mindless cow for companionship, which sets off a chain of events that may doom the entire farm. As in Hot Seat, a few small steps taken before things get completely out of hand can make a big difference.

The film's writer/director, Glen Hunwick, has extensive experience in stop-motion animation over the past decade, and it shows. The character designs are simple yet expressive, the action is fluid, and the story is straightforward and engaging. The stop motion animation was achieved over the course several months, with some sequences re-staged as much as 18 months after initial filming. Some setups in the film took up to two days to dress, light and create support rigging for characters, particularly when extreme motions such as walking or running were required. The rigging was then removed digitally in post-production, and additional background elements and effects were also added following the principal photography.