WORTH WATCHING

Watch: Mesmerizing Ice Harvest Stop-Motion 'Freeze Frame' Short

by Alex Billington
January 4, 2021
Source: Vimeo

"The most absurd technique since the invention of the moving image." Let's kick off the New Year with a mesmerizing and unique stop-motion short Freeze Frame by animator / filmmaker Soetkin Verstegen based in Brussels. "This chilly 5-minute experimental animation was literally created out of ice sculptures and puppets frozen inside frames of ice!" Freeze Frame is described by Soetkin as "miniature cinema inside an ice cube", with an old school, grainy black & white look and feel. It's also described as "a playful puzzle with formal ideas around early cinema, decay and preservation." I love coming across short films that are unlike anything else I've ever seen, because innovation often comes from experimentation. This is not only a study in preservation, but also an intriguing examination of the art of ice harvesting. A long, lost profession. Each shot of the workers is just as stunning as the one before, with the cold mist enveloping them in white.

Thanks to Colossal for the tip on this one. Official description for the short: "Freeze frame: the most absurd technique since the invention of the moving image. Through an elaborate process of duplicating the same image over and over again, it creates the illusion of stillness. Identical figures perform the hopeless task of preserving blocks of ice. The repetitive movements reanimate the animals captured inside." Freeze Frame is a short film made by Belgian filmmaker / animator Soetkin Verstegen - see more of her work on Vimeo or visit her official website. With the support of Akademie Schloss Solitude, Germany; Saari Residency - Kone Foundation, Finland; Atelier 105 residency - Light Cone, France. Featuring sound by Andrea Martignoni & Michał Krajczok. The film won a number of awards at various film festivals throughout 2020. For more info on the film, visit Short of the Week or Soetkin's website. To discover more shorts, click here. Your thoughts?

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