Last night, a bunch of Platformers and I (along with a lot of the general public, some of whom are really hot men, by the way) went to The Dirty End for a short meeting but mainly to see Shorts on Walls, an evening of short animated films shown on walls (hence the title).

All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat)

We were sat on the hardest of plastic chairs but regular weight-shifting compensated for that, and as everyone’s heads jostled for position, the first film, “1984″, began with a serious amount of foreboding music which set the mood. The film itself was beautifully crafted – charcoal drawings, being re-done over and over again upon the same sheet of paper to create each frame. There was (what I would personally consider) a “warning” before the culminating scenes, set in The Ministry of Love, saying that they were excruciating but you couldn’t take your eyes off of them. I decided to look away before they started. I was glad, as all I could hear were moans and screams of a man in pain, saying things like “Kill me now!” so I was pleased I had avoided giving myself nightmares. But do not be put off by lack of backbone – I am afraid of stupid things, like the girl from The Ring. Do you know how I calm myself? No, not by telling myself it’s not real, but by telling myself “Oh, it’s okay, you haven’t watched the video, she hasn’t phoned you up, you haven’t had any creepy dreams where you’ve woken up with a weird burn on your arm, you’ll be fine!” because I am literally pathetic. The rest of the film (which I did watch, I promise) was just visually stunning and not your standard animation – it really made you think about the human effort that went into it and it was bloody brilliant.

Another excellent film was “Best”, which was a portrait of George Best, from his days as a small boy, kicking a football around, to his worst times, in prison. The theme that ran through the film was that Best was constantly being photographed, be it by his family or by the papparazzi, who hounded him and his family. There is one papparazzo who is repeated often in the film, giving the impression that they are all the same, like vultures, just waiting for their next victim. The animation is superb, and I would really, really recommend seeing it.

Another couple of films I would just like to mention were “Refrigeration” by Matt Waruszynski, a fabulous short about an old lady who enjoyed the company of kitchen appliances wearing fluorescent vests, “A Mad Harvest” by Anita Shukla, which is about how fireworks protect farmers from wolves with an incredibly strong environmental message, and the brilliant “All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat)” by Louis Hudson – a tragic love story performed by a tiny man who lives inside a cat, and falls in love with the owner. There is more to it than that, but I think you should investigate for yourselves.

Don’t let FLATPACK pass you by!