The Maker

Very cool! 'The Maker' may only last for about 4 minutes, though it sure does squeeze a lot in in that tiny run time. The stop-motion is exquisite, the music superb. The story is, in the end, simple but rather good. Credit to Christopher Kezelos & Co. I admittedly haven't seen many at all (~54), but this is the best short I've seen thus far.

////// s/o the crew: Christopher Kezelo Paul Halley Matthew Horrex Mark Cordina David Cox Mark Eliott Ciara Ferrao-Read Max Grieg Mohini Herse Al Ikeda Christine Kezelos Jim Kezelos Mark Lagana Susan McClymont Jack McGrath Gabrielle Smith Amanda Louise Spayd Olivier Strobel Grace Tan Elle Triantafillou.

A rabbit is looking at an hourglass. The hourglass spins and the sand begins to fall. The rabbit opens a book and kneads clay to make a mask of his own face. Then he takes out a piece of cloth and begins sewing. He fills it with cotton, forms it, attaches the mask to the stuffed animal, and lives with it. The rabbit plays the violin and makes the stuffed animal listen. Then the stuffed animal gets up and starts moving. They hug, and at the same time, all the sand in the hourglass falls out. Then the rabbit disappears. Soon the sand starts falling again.

I think the plot of this film is very good. In the first half of the film, it is not clear why the rabbit is making a stuffed animal that looks exactly like himself. However, the last scene reveals the reason why he is making it. There is no dialogue in this film, but the music makes the rabbit seem impatient. I like this film because I feel that the balance between the music and the flow of the story is very good. This film is very short and beautifully put together, and I recommend everyone to see it.

This enigmatic stop-motion short focuses on a rabbit-like creature who begins the elusive process of creation when a mysterious sand timer turns itself over. Though I feel as though the picture's destination (and overall theme) is pretty evident from its opening moments, there's no denying the thick and almost uneasy air of ambiguity that surrounds each element of the narrative. Everything is just slightly off, uncanny but not distressing, and the creature design is at once cute and creepy. The visuals are very Tim Burton-esque and they're complimented nicely by a wonderful violin-based score that weaves its way into the very fabric of the film itself. The short is simple and to the point, yet it's draped in a palpable atmosphere and is compelling from its opening moments. It's really charming in its own, oddball way and it's even somewhat profound. 'The Maker (2011)' is a beautiful effort overall.

This short film runs for about five minutes, and packs a good amount into that brief runtime. It's about a strange-looking rabbit kind of creature making something similar to itself in appearance, with that not really becoming clear until the end. At that point, you're intentionally left with some questions, and forced to think back about the whole thing and pull whatever meanings you'd like from it.

I liked the style of it all more than what the story ended up being, as it's very well-presented and edited, and it uses music well throughout. Given it's so short (I've probably spent more time trying to write a review about it than I spent watching it), and that it's on YouTube, I feel like it's worth checking out for anyone who likes unusual animation.

This is a really WELL DONE short-film and totally worth your 5 mins; that applies to me, at least. This left me wanting more. I don't know what to make of it, dunno what the message is, I want answers! And I want them now!!

It's amazing how much work went into making a 5 min video and content like this makes you feel that filmmaking is NOT easy.

Nothing but respect!