26 November 2011

Wing It


Sherman is trying to be the first man to fly – but it is proving a difficult (if not impossible) task and he has found himself a source of ridicule in the media.

Yet across the gulf of space, intellects not so vast and cool yet very sympathetic, have been regarding this inventor with compassionate eyes, and quickly but with little foresight draw their plans to help him together. And late in the nineteenth century comes the great intervention.

Apologies to HG Wells for paraphrasing the opening paragraph of War of the Worlds so poorly but this must surely be the antithesis of his work. These aliens only want to help, not to conquer – but it may not be the kind of help that poor Sherman (or our planet) needs! This is obviously a parallel universe without such a thing as the prime directive - these aliens seem quite happy to meddle (in a pretty amateur way it must be said) with the affairs of an undeveloped culture! They do seem, however, to have come to the conclusion that it is best to help out while undercover...

This Short Film Animation Project has been created by students of The Animation School in South Africa to gain vital work experience. During their time working on Wing It, they studied scripting and on-set production including post production where such skills as editing, sound recording, special effects creation and compositing are learned. The (long!) credits are at the end of this animated short movie but Wing It stands as a testament to the talent both of the students and their teachers.