Oscar nominated animated short: Feral

Feral

Short description (Official description from Vimeo):
A wild boy is found in the woods by a solitary hunter and brought back to civilization. Alienated by a strange new environment, the boy tries to adapt by using the same strategies that kept him safe in the forest.


Credits:
Directed and animated by Daniel Sousa
Music and sound design by Dan Golden


Shot (from Vimeo) :

Interview with the Director/ Animator:
http://blog.creative-capital.org/2013/01/in-focus-daniel-sousas-animated-film-feral/


Additional information:
The trailer is free to watch of course, but if you want to watch the full film it's a mere $1 to rent, and $2 to buy the video on Vimeo on demand here.


The official trailer:



My personal opinion (no spoilers):
Rather than following conventional narratives, he approaches filmmaking from a painter’s perspective. He focuses on states of mind, evoking the fragility of fleeting moments, memories and perceptions. (Quoted from director/animator's website)
No one can deny that this film does exactly that! The story is about a feral boy who's brought back to the civilized world and finds himself in a sort of limbo. It is like a painting very much in the sense that a lot is left unsaid and leaves the viewers to make their own conclusions. The visual metaphors are amazing in this regard.

The art direction of this film is what hooked me! It's just gorgeous. It reminds me of children's drawings, but fleshed out. The animation quality is not really consistent throughout, probably because it was animated by different people, which bothered me slightly but might not catch anyone else's attention. Some of the animations are really beautiful in their simplicity though.

I haven't yet seen all the other Oscar nominations, so it's hard to judge right now, but I think this could be capable of winning, but at the same time I have my doubts. Oscar winners in the past have had an ability to connect with its viewers on a personal level, but this is meant to be a passive experience, we're the outsiders looking in. So if this is the winner, it will be an unconventional one.