Dogshaped

Emma Lazenby and Eleanor Glover's "Dogshaped" focuses on crow's attempts of getting taking in by a human owner, who deeply desires to have a pet dog of her own, just like many others do whenever she pays a visit to the park, after getting immediately rejected by the human, the crow then disguises himself as a dog, which seems to go well, but not for long...

What particularly stands out for "Dogshaped" is the unique style of animation used for it, this animation is a mixture of stop-motion, cut-outs, 2D, live action and shadow puppets. When the shadow puppets first came into view, we all found ourself immediately attracted by the different feel it gave off. The overall presentation for this animation is unique (Especially compared to many of the other entries) and appealing, a dreamy kaleidoscope effect was used now and then to portray the human character's vision of a dog, seeing it as the perfect and most wonderful creature to exist (Something I can relate to).

I was also briefly excited that one of the themes that was focused on in this short's storyline was Identity (Something that has been discussed about a few times in this year's Context in Practice), as the crow attempts to change its identity in a desperate attempt to get accepted by the human character. Thankfully, instead of allowing the crow to fall into deeper pit of self-loathing and despair, the human comes to accept the little creature as it is.

Overall, it is a sweet piece of animation, and I believe that this is one of my favourite featured shorts so far in this year's festival.