WORTH WATCHING

Watch: The Universe Breaks Apart in Animated Short Film 'Armstrong'

by Alex Billington
May 15, 2020
Source: YouTube

Time to get super weird! Armstrong is a mesmerizing, one-of-a-kind animated short film from filmmaker Russ Etheridge based in Brighton, England. The story is about a woman working in a factory who watches her crush from afar. One day, the moon disappears and her world breaks into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. Etheridge explains the idea "came from our desire to tell a fantastical story in the vein of Hindu mythology, where anything can happen and celestial bodies often interact with human beings. In an episode of Hindu epic narrative the Mahabharata, the moon is stolen by one of the gods. This made us wonder - how might the sudden absence of the moon affect the world? We began to experiment with the idea of things falling apart, into their component pieces and the story began to take shape." But it's the visuals and the geometric shapes that make up this world that make the short really stand out. Utterly delightful, and just a bit funky.

Thanks to Short of the Week for the tip on this. Brief description from YouTube: "As a shy woman secretly watches her crush from across the factory floor, the moon disappears and her world breaks into pieces like a giant jigsaw puzzle." Armstrong is directed by Brighton-based animation filmmaker Russ Etheridge - you can see more of his work on Vimeo, follow him @russ_ether, or check out his official website. The script is written by Ayndrilla Singharay & Russ Etheridge. Featuring sound and music by Mutant Jukebox. "With an aesthetic partially inspired by Indian artist Jamini Roy, Etheridge felt that taking design cues from the painter's work, 'simplifying and exaggerating colours', would help build upon the classical motifs in the short. 'I felt this resonated well with our concept and helped in developing my own style for the film', the director explained." For more info, visit SOTW or Russ' website. For more shorts, click here. Your thoughts?

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