Student
Risk
Amanda Cleworth
University of technology (UTS)
Two Kids, comically dressed as adults play a board game, however this one isn’t about scoring points.
At least not for the animals that live whose lives change with every move.
The kids are tasked with saving endangered animals by relocating them to new environments. Simple enough.
But with every move, things start to go wrong. A species doesn’t adapt like they expected.
A delicate ecosystem tips into chaos. No matter how hard they try, the pieces never quite fall into place.
The game itself is chaotic in nature, contrasting that of the neat, straight lined kids who probably barely understand the rules.
They still want to help though! Attempting to make the right moves but failing fantastically in the process.
The visual divide between these two worlds speaks volumes; our interventions in nature are never as clean-cut as we like to think.
The film plays with contrast, not just in visuals, but in tone as well.
Comedy sneaks in, making the weighty subject easier to digest, but the raw, gritty message lingers beneath it.
As the story reaches the climax, strategy devolves into chaos, and the kids are called to dinner.
As an audience we are ripped out of the almost goofy scenery and left with the slow ticking of the clock as it counts down, even with the kids not there.
And that’s the point. There’s no easy answer, no perfect move.
We step in, we try and we fumble. And when it gets too complicated, we turn away. But nature keeps playing, with or without us.
Time keeps ticking down, and soon it's going to run out.
SOFTWARE
Harmony Toon Boom Premium, Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro