The Hidden People by Graham Annable

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In terms of animation, the short is barely more than a glorified animatic, yet Graham Annable’s The Hidden People is incredibly fun (and scary) to watch because of his storytelling mastery. (via Flight)

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  • G

    Very Cool.
    Very scary.
    Spooked the kids.
    The music makes it.

  • Mike Hollingsworth

    Watch all of Graham Annable’s animated shorts and then read all of his comic books and then thank me for telling you what to do and making you happy.

  • http://salmon-leap.blogspot.com/ Daniel

    Indeed, pretty fun, and it does go to show the power of good storyboarding and editing technique. I always find it kind of interesting that despite all the effort that we put into animation, in some cases good animation is merely the icing on the cake.

    I thought the ending could have used something more, even if the penultimate shot does look super creepy/funny.

    And I believe that piece of music was also used to amazing effect in Children of Men during the amazing 9 minute single-shot battle scene…

  • robiscus

    the beginning journey is handled the same way as the beginning of “The Shining”. there is something about cutting in and out of the dialectic montage with black space that is just consummately disturbing. i think your mind reads it as unnatural.

  • Bug

    that was hilarious! a mastery indeed.

  • http://www.sisterson.co.uk Dennis Sisterson

    I think the ending is perfect- leaves you with a sense of mystery. Re Daniel’s comment: I agree, except that I’d argue that this is actually good animation – it’s just minimalistic. Bad animation , on the other hand – for instance, more movement but poorly executed, might have spoilt the film.

  • Barbara

    not so much scary to me, more of an overuse of squeaky violin scariness. Seriously, is that all it takes to scare people?

  • Pierce

    Clarity of film continuity in line drawing. Fancy inking and killer artistic poses aren’t needed. This thing plays beautifully even without sound.

  • Kevin Mummery

    Graham Annable is the absolute master of doing the most with the least…his framing, editing, and use of music just can’t be beat. He should teach Animation, especially to those who subscribe to the “more = better” school of thought.

  • http://www.sandwichbag.blogspot.com Elliot Cowan

    Brilliant.
    And another example of how you can sit down and make a great short film without thousands of dollars or a studio deal or a pitch or a model sheet or a million other stupid things that seem so important these days.

  • Killroy McFate

    Agreed. Clear, solid storytelling trumps all. This guy should be teaching Storyboarding 101 at CalArts.

    Minor quibble: Why would the guy hide in the stove? I can think of a dozen safer places. Plus, it made me expect that the creepy little elves were going to cook him. (Maybe they did???)

  • http://www.myspace.com/whurdsderodan RODAN

    FASCINATING! LOVED THE DOG!

  • http://www.mukpuddy.blogspot.com mukpuddy

    Man I love all of Graham’s films. Such a great sence of timing!!

  • http://www.pomofrag.org david calvo

    graham anable is the man.

    read everything – grickle rules
    watch everything

  • http://www.ovinedelcu.blogspot.com ovi

    awesome, as usual.

    ive been saying for a while that Graham NEEDS to be directing his own films here at Laika.

  • red pill junkie

    Damn, those gnomes are creepy.

    Then again, ALL gnomes are creepy :-(