Sprockets Film Festival

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday, my CyberArts class and I went to the Sprockets Film Festival at the Sheppard Cineplex Odeon. There, we watched a series of short films made by Film School graduates and students. These films included a variety of different genres such as animation, documentary and more. After watching these short films (and having lunch), we watched a animated french film called "U".


At the sprockets Film Festival we watched a series of short films; Animal, The Art of Drowning, On the Bus, Forget myself, The Freshwater Plague, Toxic Ingredients, Bonefeather, Iran: A Nation of Bloggers, Nanu and S'oublier. In these films I liked that each film had a different theme, they weren't all the same. I also liked that most of the films had interesting shooting angles. One thing I couldn't help wondering is how they made the animations. Some of the animations were pretty long so I wonder how long it took them to make that 5 minute film, or that 3 minute film. When I watched the film "the art of drowning" It looked really complicated. The maker of the film was also there at the screening and so one of my friends asked him what medium he used. He told us that he used mostly a pen/pencil and paper. Thinking of that it makes me wonder how exactly the makers had patience to make their films. The non-animation films also make me wonder, how they thought of the concepts and how they made their film with the little equipment they had. It's interesting when youthink about it. My favourite film out of these would have to be Bonefeather. This is because it had humour to it and it made me enjoy the length of time I was watching it! The theme of two obnoxious birds fighting over a female bird was very entertaining. It had the whole audience laughing. It was a good pick me up. I also liked the the film included bright colours for the birds to give it a bright and cheerful mood. I have yet to guess what type of medium was used.


The second film that I mentioned we watched was called "U". It was about the friendship of of two beings. A princess named Mona and a unicorn named "U". When Mona was a child she was often upset because she had to listen to the rantings of her guardians (her parents had died earlier), she felt that everything was her fault. Then one day, crying, she met a unicorn named "U". From then on they became sister-like best friends. A couple of years later they meet a family of travelers called the "Yeah Yeah's" which include four siblings and their mother and father. Meeting one of the sons of this family, a musician cat, she finds out what love is. But being in love causes a drift between her friendship with "U"...

I personally really liked the film "U". I can say this french film is different then the western animations we have today. "U" was a bit more open and descriptive with its content. For example; at one part it described kissing. This is different from Western animations because most western animations are meant for children and do not show mature content. Another more obvious difference would be the language. The film used french while western animations mostly use English. There are probably more differences but I fail to see them at this moment, looks like I will have to watch some more animations and compare.

Wrapping it up, I can proudly say that I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the Sprockets Film Festival!