Nina Gantz’ Bafta-winning short animation relates the deliciously dark and humorous story of a man haunted by his depraved desires.
Created through woollen stop-motion puppetry, hand-drawn animation is overlaid to capture pathos in the character’s facial features. This combination, Nina says, “allowed me to soften the violent nature of certain moments in the film and with hand drawn animation for the faces, so I could make the characters more expressive.”
With the light flashing before his eyes, Edmond’s voyage through the looking glass is realised through a series of inventive dreamlike transitions: the eye of a fish becomes a peephole, tent flaps become a uterus. As the scene changes, Edmond moves both through the physical and the imagined.
As the film progresses, the cause for his anxieties, hermit lifestyle and suicidal tendencies gradually becomes clear. Unnerving undertones are accented by comedic moments, cleverly edited into the mix by Nina Rac to delay the inevitable revelation.
“I don’t know if you ever had this feeling when you love someone so much that you would like to take a bite of them? Or feel you want to squish the life out of a cute puppy? That’s where the idea for the character of Edmond came from. Its a recognisable feeling, only he goes a bit too far,” says Nina Gantz.
Lead stop-motion animation is delivered by Adam Watts, who freelances for Aardman and Disney, while Ian Forbes directs photography with a wide-angle aspect and cinematic flair.
Nina Gantz is a graduate of Academy of Art and Design St. Joost, Breda before attending National Film and Television School in the UK where she completed Edmond as her graduation piece. She recently formed a collaborative duo with fellow NFTS graduate Simon Cartwright, who was nominated for the Bafta award the same year for his short animation Manoman. They are currently working on a series of stop-motion commercials and a new film.
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Jamie joined It’s Nice That back in May 2016 as an editorial assistant. And, after a seven-year sojourn away planning advertising campaigns for the likes of The LEGO Group and Converse, he came back to look after New Business & Partnerships here at It’s Nice That. Get in touch with him to discuss new business opportunities, and how we can work together on creative partnerships, insights, experiences or advertising.