“Department of Anarchy” Short Block
Christian Chapman, Paul Jason Hoffman’s “Dog in the Woods” is a simple but dazzling meditation on the dog and its harmony with nature. Though the premise for “Dog in the Woods” feels very one note, the direction by Christian Chapman, Paul Jason Hoffman opens up a new corner of the narrative with a premise that conveys a lot about how dogs have a better understanding of nature. Even the more domesticated dogs.
“Dog in the Woods” has almost no dialogue and centers on a black dog that watches the world with a different lens than any human. Directors Christian Chapman, Paul Jason Hoffman open up the dog’s world to us showing how differently she views everything, and how everything from the air she breathes, to the dust that’s carried from outside her home have a different frequency than what we’re capable of seeing.
The directors have a very interesting love for the common dog, and it shows with the world she experiences seeming like something completely new and vast to the audience. Filled with wonderful computer animation and bold bright colors, “Dog in the Woods” is about how the dog relates to the outside world, and how their surroundings tend to speak to them. The landscape seems so alien to the viewer once we get a glimpse of it through the eyes of the dog featured, and it’s an entertaining and bold new perspective that might evoke some conversation from viewers.
The Slamdance Film Festival runs every year from January 25th to January 31st.