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Flutter The animated short Flutter was written, directed, animated and scored by Canadian artist and filmmaker Howie Shia. It is a black-and-white urban fairy tale about two school kids: an athlete and a graffiti artist, who reluctantly part ways to pursue incompatible paths. The emerging adventure is told using a mix of ink, graphite and digital drawings rendered entirely by hand and featuring a mish-mash soundtrack of electronics and jazz – performed by past and present band members for some of Canada’s top artists, including Feist, Esthero, Chantel Kreviazuk, the Worst Pop Band Ever and LEO37.
Soon after Toronto based studio PPF House (established by Shia and his brothers) finished the short with the help of the Foundation Bravo!FACT and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), it won Shia this year’s Open Entries Grand Prix at the world's largest anime exhibition, Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF). Flutter is the first non-Asian production to win the prize.
Commenting on his win, Shia said, “I think North American animators and cartoonists have always admired and envied how prominent and influential animation and comics are in contemporary Japanese culture. To witness it now first-hand in this hyper-concentrated setting is pretty spectacular. I'm stunned and honoured to have won this award - the ceremony today was an incredible experience.”
In Flutter, Shia has created an incredibly tactile world in which you find yourself immersed even before the title of the short is displayed. If you allow yourself to become one of his characters you could almost smell a city made of ink and graphite. The extreme camera angles in some scenes are reminiscent of Peter Chung’s work, albeit a completely different style. But Howie exploits these interesting points of view sparingly, allowing you to appreciate the world of Flutter in an uncontaminated way. Although the short portrays an everyday urban environment, His distinctive sketchy style gives it a unique sheen.
With a great sense of timing and a knack for narrative this delightfully naïve story breezes through its seven minutes and leaves the viewer wanting more. With few facial expressions and minimal use of detail the characters’ physical acting takes over, with remarkable effect. You can virtually read their minds. This short film is absolutely enjoyable and you’ll find yourself wanting to keep on following Howie’s characters to see what else they find in this world of theirs.
Flutter will have its world broadcast premiere on "Bravo!FACT Presents" (which airs on Bravo!, Citytv Toronto, Citytv Vancouver and four A-Channels) in autumn 2007.
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