A stylish short revolving around three people in a desert and a mysterious box that draws them into a life or death conflict.
Dead End brings another exquisite student animated film from the Netherlands, this time by four students at the Utrecht School of Arts; Ruud Coenen, Luc Thijssen, Frank van Vugt and Stein Louisse.
We got inspired by the films of Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino. Also films like Mad Max were a great inspiration for the setting and the mise en scene of Dead End. We wanted to create an exciting short, and to achieve that, we didn’t hesitate to put some violence in the short. Despite that, it shouldn’t overrule the other aspects of the animation.
Morbidly violent. But some heavy violence is sometimes acceptable, taken right from its Tarantino inspirations, mixed with an immense suspense the exaggerated violence almost lightens the mood of the animated film.
Eventually the animation shouldn’t be taken too serious. Our primary focus was on making an animation with some cool shots and entertain the audience for a few minutes. Hopefully we did a good job, but you have to decide that for yourself after watching.
To our opinion the animation was pretty darn cool. The story is quite simple but keeps an intense rhythm and an audience attached during its short duration.
And of course we can’t finish this one without saying: “What’s in the damn box?”