Twin Islands: A Beautiful Animated Short About Twins, Gods and the Curse of Symmetry

When the gods wish to punish us… and if you’re twins, then your run the risk of double trouble.  This animated short from Rubika students tells the story of a pair of twins who are rescued by the gods and are gifted a place to live.  Twin Island East for one, and Twin Island West for the other.  The only problem is that the gods (twins themselves) ordain that everything must go two by two in a kind of cult of symmetry.  That leads to a big problem when the queen of Twin Island West gives birth… and it isn’t twins!

To find out what happens, watch the video the below.  This very professionally made animation is the work of directors Manon Sailly, Charlotte Sarfati, Christine Jaudoin, Lara Cochetel, Raphaël Huot, and Fanny Teisson with music and sound design by Valentin Lafort. Voices are by Daphné Westelynck, Robert Bennett, and Eon Ballinger.  There is a little twist in the tale, so watch to the very end!

What NOT to Do If You Crash Land on an Alien Planet – A Brilliant Animated Short by ESMA Students

Lurks should be a training video for the Intergalactic Federation of Planets called “What NOT to do if you crash land on a mysterious alien planet” because the protagonist does so many things wrong.  You would think that she has never watched a horror film before – and this trope-laden animated short by ESMA graduation students deliverers them one after another (after another).  Now, reading back, that doesn’t look like much of a plug for this, but I found it immensely entertaining (although I desperately wanted some sort of final twist in the tale, right at the end, which did not appear but which could have raised the bar here, in terms of structure and storytelling). 

The planet, spacecraft and character animation (especially the monsters) are extremely well realised, especially considering this is a student film.  There are any number of technically very difficult sequences in this short, and hats off to the team for delivering them with great aplomb.  Altogether, a chilling cautionary tale of how to survive an alien environment – or not.  The students who created this are Kelssy Abdou , Ikram Benmaza, Mélodie Carn, Amanda Cere, Adrien Chaumier, Maëlle Couzinier, Maëline Dalous, Victor Del Campo and Aglaée Pons. Music was by Valentin Guay with sound created by Tristan Le Bozec, Guilhem Favard and Jose Vicente.  Well done to everyone involved in the project.

Temptation – Will Dave the Bungling Bear Get his Tasty Treats?

Meet Dave. Dave is a bear.  And he is hungry – always hungry.  And there is candy and other sweet treats everywhere.  Of course, in time-honoured toon tradition, he must have a nemesis who stands in his gluttonous path.  But spare a thought for Dave – he has two, in the shape of compulsive hoarder Roy the Squirrel and Audrey, the “Fearless Leader” of the local scout pack.  Oh dear. Poor Dave.  Will he ever manage to get his furry mitts on the goodies or will Roy and Audrey forever stand in his way?

He certainly has his work cut out for him, as did the bunch of Rubika students who produced this outstanding (and gleefully violent) animated short. The film was created by Camille Canonne (who came up with the original idea), Laura Bouillet, Michael Hoft, Catherine Le Quang, Pauline Raffin and Martin Villert, with music and sound design by Julien Auclair and Arthur Romain. Voice performances are provided by Arthur Romain, Julien Auclair and Coralie Vallias.  This is a superlative piece of animated glee, especially when you take into account that these are students working on a limited budget.  Fantastic – take a look below.