Slumberless

"Slumberless" happens to be another animation that attempts to mix 3D computer and stop motion together, only to be a little more successful as compared to "Etoile". The story focuses on a sleep deprived man who also continues to grieve over the loss of a loved one, one night however he is paid a visit by a strange creature.

I always heard that puppets from Mackinnon and Saunders tend to cost an arm and a leg, and so I can't really imagine how much the budget was for this animation short. If I remembered correctly, only the creature's wings were animated in 3D (Or was it the other way round?). Either way, I suppose the mixture of techniques doesn't look as awkward in this animation due to there being lesser 3D effects used, and perhaps even the dark lighting, that can better hide any possible flaws.

The ending was a little odd, I assumed that the creature was in some way a harbinger of death (Or just some scary as frag sleep fairy...), instead of helping the human fall asleep, he pretty much just puts him to rest from what I can see, in the nicest possible way at least (I mean, who doesn't mind turning into a mist of glitter and soft lights when they die?), as a way to repay him for helping him. Though I do believe that much more time and effort would have been needed if the creator had attempted a different ending where the human had lived on (The one that I have been thinking of that is).

Despite the somewhat rushed story, it still was a pretty little animation (Not surprising really especially since he was able to get high quality puppets for it), it had a nice and compelling atmosphere to it, with an effective enough soundtrack. Overall, I enjoyed it.