Meet the humantises, beings that are masters of deception but unsure about changing themselves.
Written, directed, shot, edited, and composed by Paris Baillie, this short film is one that is mesmerizing to watch. There isn’t any dialog, and the animation doesn’t contain any word, yet the film manages to say so much with its short runtime, its images, and its mood. The film here tells a story, one of change and changing oneself, one possibly of acceptance or perhaps of being led to want something different that isn’t good for oneself., one where words aren’t needed because an image is worth a thousand word. Cheesy? Yea, it does sound cheesy to say this way, but the film is anything but. Here, the adorable little plants moving in what looks to be a sort of deliberate, almost staccato way tell the story without talking, without facial expressions, without not much else than their leaves or petals to tell their story. The writing and direction are fantastic here and these lead to fantastic visuals.
The look of the film here is beautiful, the animation is stunning and mesmerizing, giving the viewer something that has a good balance of darkness and light, that moves in a beautifully dynamic way, and that allows the viewer to have their own interpretation of what is going on. While, yes, there is storyline, the main thing here is how open it becomes once language is removed. There is communication, it is not always obvious, and it works in its own world. The style here feels new and like Paris Baillie created her own world, something that works great here. The cinematography and editing by Baillie work fantastically well with the animation and story on the screen.
Adding to this the music that is also composed by Baillie, it becomes clear that the entire film was made with love, passion, and incredible talent. Paris Baillie may not have a ton of credits to her name, but it’s clear that she is extremely talented, patient (yes, patient), and passionate. Humantis makes sure that all who sees it know that she’s this talent juggernaut who should be kept up with to see what she comes up with next and how she brings it to the screen. More of this or completely different, it feels like Baillie should be able to do whatever she wants in the animation world after this.