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:
Boar Attack (2006), 4:00., directed by Jay White, Canada. Contact: Jay White, Sly Cedar Visual Arts [W] www.slycedar.com [E] Gogomax49@gmail.com

Damaged Goods (2008), 9:24, directed by Barnaby Barford, UK. Contact: Christine Ponzevera, Nexus Prods., 113-114 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JN UK [T] +44 20 7749 7500 [F] +44 20 7749 7501 [W] www.nexusproductions.com [E] Christine@nexusproductions.com

ERGO (2008), 12:28, directed by Géza M. Tóth, Hungary. Contact: KEDD Animation Studio, Ms. Niki Karasz, Production Manager, Hungary H-1027 Budapest, Frankel Leo u. 7. [T] +36 1 201 9118 [Mobile] +36 70 520 6431 [W] www.kedd.net [E] kedd@kedd.net

Milk Teeth (2007), 11:22, directed by Tibor Banoczki, Hungary. Contact: Mr. Hemant Sharda, National Film and Television School, Station Road, Beaconsfield, Bucks HP91LG; [E] hsharda@nfts.co.uk

Rosa Rosa (2008), 8:41, directed by Felix Dufour-Laperrière, 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

Stories about wild pigs roaming the German forests prompted Jay White to make Boar Attack, an almost singular effort. © Jay White.

Boar Attack
It's a scary world out there. Death, disease, poverty, famine... As if those weren't enough to worry about, Jay White has found a new fear to keep you awake at night: wild pigs.

Boar Attack is an odd narrative, with a young German man reflecting upon his father's disappearance, and, without emotion, cataloguing the various fates that could have befallen him. Perhaps an insect infected him with an incurable disease. Maybe it was a simple case of diarrhea? Or maybe, just maybe, a wild pig got him.

Jay White's film, with the exception of Maria Vaira's score, is a one-man operation. The original concept came from a series of drawings created on a single sketchbook page inspired by the year that he spent in Berlin while creating animation for German television. While exploring the forests around the city, he asked his co-workers about dangerous animals that lived in the woods, such as bears. Much to his surprise, he learned that the most dangerous animal that he was likely to encounter would be a wild pig, which have been known to charge people at unexpected speeds, causing injury and sometimes even breaking bones. White ran with this notion and assembled a story around the idea that even the most unexpected sources can lead to chaos and destruction.

White created the film in a log cabin studio in Canada's Yukon Territory, east of Alaska. Water was delivered to the studio by truck, but White was responsible for chopping his own wood to provide heat for the cabin, which, oddly enough, had high-speed Internet and electricity, but no electric heat. His characters are animated in Softimage|XSI. The looping textures were added to make each character appear hand-drawn throughout the film. Other elements were hand-drawn with ink and painted with watercolor, and the compositing and effects were created using Adobe After Effects, and the film was edited in Premiere. Even the voice of the narrator was provided by White, who dusted off his best German accent for the occasion.

It's a beautiful, poetic film, despite, or possibly because of, its unusual subject matter. White is a multi-talented artist, and we can only hope that his future efforts yield equally enjoyable results. And that wild pigs don't get him.

Damaged Goods proves all you need is love. And possibly, some Krazy Glue. © Nexus Prods.

Damaged Goods
What if Toy Story had taken place a century ago? It's hard to say, but it might have looked something like Damaged Goods, a short film directed by Barnaby Barford for Nexus Prods.

Utilizing the classic "boy meets girl" framework, Damaged Goods follows the plight of a young, poor boy who falls madly in love with a beautiful girl who's out of his league -- and his reach. The protagonists in this love story are ceramic statuettes, and their world is a cluttered bric-a-brac shop inhabited by dancing girls, elegant women, circus folk and base villains. There is triumph, and there is tragedy, the kind that, according to the filmmakers, "inevitably occurs when high culture falls for low."

It's a charming story, told with all the flair and melodrama that should accompany statuettes of this vintage. The soundtrack hits all the right notes throughout, with appropriate flourishes for the circus, romantic music for love scenes, and tunes that evoke sheer evil when the villain of the piece rears his head.

Barford's film is primarily stop-motion with some 2D animation, followed by digital post-production. It's not particularly groundbreaking, but it's well staged, well scored, and the story is engaging. And sometimes, that's all you really need. That, and some Krazy Glue.