Caroline Attia’s Sarah

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on

This beautiful anti-gun violence TV spot was directed by French animator, designer and illustrator Caroline Attia. This is her first commercial for a U.S. client, Citizens for a Safer Minnesota and Martin/Williams Advertising in Minneapolis. The dialogue was originally conceived and recorded for a radio campaign. Peter Barg of Z Animation exec produced, and Attia designed and animated the entire spot in traditional 2D from her Paris studio (with color done in Photoshop CS3 and compositing/editing in After Effects CS3). Click here for a high rez version.

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  • http://kittyhasfleaz.blogspot.com Felicia Spano

    Simple, to the point and most of all, it’s effective… I love it!

  • Noun

    This is the sort of thing UPA would be doing if Henry G. Saperstein had never bought it.

  • Altred Ego

    Wow! What a beautifully directed and carefully animated complete waste of money.

    AE.

  • Kevin H

    Great art, very effective.

  • sean

    WOW< that was beautiful and amazingly simply effective. I love the style.

  • http://cookiebite.blogspot.com tali

    powerful stuff, and a beautiful charming style

  • http://www.kellytoon.com Kelly Toon

    the concept and look is powerful, but I would argue against that being “gun violence” as opposed to “tragic accident caused by parents not teaching their child about the deadly weapon in the home.” This is similar to stories of “trusted family pitbulls mangle a helpless child” when in reality it’s “chained and neglected yard dog wounds unsupervised, inquisitive child.”

    That’s just what occurs to me after watching this animation.

  • Ego altered

    I like the animation, but hate the message. If the economy is headed toward a depression like the economists all seem to agree on right now, do you really want to be completely defenseless?

  • http://jgchan.blogspot.com/ Jerry Chan

    I like this. Not everyone’s going to agree with the message itself, but I don’t think anyone can argue that it has a pretty effective delivery

    Cartoons are a great medium to drive home serious social issues. You’re sort of lulled into a sense of happiness from the cute/adorable cartoon characters and then BAM, social commentary.

    The Persepolis graphic novel also pulls this off really well (I actually got a bit depressed and pulled a bit more to the left after reading it)

  • Saturnome

    Come on, no politics, it’s only about safety. Put on a locker or learn karate (which is way cooler) I don’t care, just don’t oversight the safety in order to feel safe.

  • Dr.Pepper

    Quick! The economy’s collapsing! Shoot it! SHOOT IT!

  • Tom Pope

    Nice commercial, but don’t throw your guns away yet. In this economy you might need to catch yer dinner.

  • Jason B

    Great animation and direction. Beautiful artwork. An important message about education and safety.

    But while I agree that gun owners should be responsible and use safety devices to keep children safe, an terrible accident like this is not “gun violence”.

  • http://dailygrail.com/blog/8389 red pill junkie

    Beautiful work. I hope this makes a difference.

    And for all of you defending guns, you should probably read a few news from Mexico to see how much damage the guns that the drug lords buy in YOUR country are making in MINE.

  • http://www.kellytoon.com Kelly Toon

    Red Pill Junkie, maybe if we didn’t have the War on Drugs, there wouldn’t be such a demand for weapons.

  • Guns For Tots

    I loved this animation. Really well done. I love that clock-cell effect.

    Though, I gotta admit… Poor trigger discipline on Sarah’s part. Also.. Why was she searching for change in her parents room? I think she was lifting money for whip-its, or what ever the “F” kids do these days.

    werd,

  • Gary Pearson

    I thought this was a great spot and found it disturbing the comment that with the economy going bad, we should be armed. You wonder why Americans get a bad reputation in the world.
    Gary from his house in Canada, where no, there are no guns.

  • Altred Ego

    I’d like to retract my previous comment. The term “gun violence” in the original post should probably have been replaced with “gun safety”, in which case the spot is effective.

  • Andy Seredy

    Great ad. Really well done.

    “You wonder why Americans get a bad reputation in the world.”

    I thought it was because most people around the world are every bit as ignorant as Americans are perceived to be, rightfully or not. (I’ve lived in several countries and found only differences in languages and accents)

    Besides the reason there is a “gun culture” in America is not because we love violence(arguably, but no more than any other culture in history), originally it was conceived as a guarantee against tyranny. That is also the same reason why the majority of Americans who legally own guns, get them in the first place. If guns were legally banned, generally only two groups would have them. Those who don’t care about the law, and those who want to control through law, leaving the people defenseless.

    One thing I’ve learned in my few years here: The differences in cultures are just skin deep. Most people just want to live life, make a family, and provide for them. You should all ways think very critically about those kinds of statements, because usually there are subversive motives, that try to undermine the fact that we are really one people, with many cultures.

    Cheers,
    andy

  • Bradley Simmons

    The premise is that some adults leave guns in easy access to some unsupervised children who harm themselves with them.

    Is the fact of a difficult birth relevant? Or that of a quick baptism?

    Of course, they are. You are appealing to the emotions.

    But if you meant it as an argument, against gun ownership, Aristotle had a phrase for it: ignoratio elenchi. We call it a “red herring”.

    Sorry, no cigar.

  • Bradley Simmons

    This is for Andy Seredy’s comment: Andy, you’ve put it right. Thank you for letting the world know that they ain’t no better (or worse) than we are.

    And possibly, all those millions who would rather live the harsh life of an illegal immigrant in America than that of a fully franchised citizen in another country, have a stronger word for the rest of the world.