A nineteen year old kid finds himself alone in a hostile desert, scared as hell and trained to react.
The guys from Ornana are back once again with another stunning short film, one that we’ve been eyeing for quite some time now. Teased by the trailer a while back, the film that blew minds at SXSW last year has finally reached all our homes. True to their animation routes that they introduced with ‘(notes on) Biology‘, their new film ‘Confusion Through Sand’ uses the traditional hand-drawn animation techniques based live-action sequences they filmed. The film explores a fascinating use of camera movement and transitions, which somehow immerses us into almost forgetting we are watching an animated film.
This film started with a lot of conversations we began having as the young men that we had graduated high school with were returning from combat duty. We all went to high schools in the south, and we couldn’t find a lot of the stories we were told being reflected in the arts. You’d catch pieces of it, but we wanted to add that body of conversation.
Ornana always spoils us with a complete film experience from beginning to end, not leaving any details or cinematic elements behind. But where they shine just as much as their animations styles is in their immaculate and beyond attentive sound design. Watching their feature length film ‘euphonia‘ is strong evidence of it. The frightening and sometimes quiet combat soundscapes are what give this film
true military experience.
We read as much as we could and sought out veterans to listen to. This film doesn’t take directly from those stories, but leans on them in its nature and tone.
Here’s a little sneak at how Danny Madden brought this little masterpiece together.