Oscar Shortlist Interviews: Director Konstantin Bronzit On His Favorite Shot From ‘The Three Sisters’ (EXCLUSIVE)

We invited the filmmakers behind each of this year’s 15 Oscar-shortlisted animated shorts to share their favorite shot from their film and explain why it’s special to them.

Nomination voting starts on January 12 and runs through January 16.

Today’s short is The Three Sisters, a 2D, dialogue-free tale about three siblings living an isolated life on a remote island, each in their own small house. After an unfortunate accident, the trio is forced to rent one of the homes to help cover the cost of essential supplies.

For his scene, Bronzit picked the film’s opening. Here’s the clip, and an explanation of why he teaches aspiring animators about beginning their stories:

I must admit that I really like the very beginning of the film, the place where the title The Three Sisters appears.

I managed to create a complete design composition. It’s not just the name of a movie anymore; it’s a complete label, brand, created from a font. But that’s not all. It is very important in what way this label gradually appears and disappears rhythmically with the music on the screen.

I always tell students that your film should not just start with the first scene or the first movement of your characters. It should start, so to speak, with the first letter, as it happens in books. Sometimes, the reason to start reading an unfamiliar book may be how the title is written on its cover. More precisely, the film begins with the logo of the film company.