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1. SEED

2 months ago

*** WINNER Best Animated Short Slamdance 2010 ***

An egg and an apple build competing broadcast towers that vie for the attention of a transistor radio. With its complex characterization and narrative of animal evolution, competition and reproduction, SEED is a beautiful and sinister stop-motion story about the struggle to survive.

Directed & Animated by Ben Richardson & Daniel Bird
Produced by Josh Hetzler
Story by Daniel Bird
Cinematography by Ben Richardson

seed-movie.com
benrichardson.com
twitter.com/benrichardson
danielbird.net

Check out Ben's Sundance 2012 feature debut as cinematographer at beastsofthesouthernwild.com

Credits

Seed Movie
Daniel Bird
Director, Writer
Ben Richardson
Director, Cinematographer
Josh Hetzler
Producer

2,126 Likes

Adria
8 hours ago
ClimberFX (Rafael GRV)
10 hours ago
Kate Kim
11 hours ago
David Sarrà
11 hours ago
Chung-Kun WANG
17 hours ago
yeataro
20 hours ago
3angrymen
20 hours ago
FCW
1 day ago
ojkr puentej
1 day ago
neems
1 day ago

Tags

Short of the Week 2 months ago

Epic, gorgeous, frightening. A terrific combination. The film looks like it was a real labor of love, and it turned out great. congrats!
+
vimeo.com/channels/shortoftheweek
shortoftheweek.com/2011/12/20/seed/
Vultured 2 months ago

Outstanding work, great animation and great story. Posted to Vultured.
vultured.com/videos/seed/
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Thanks for sharing!
The Least of Creatures 2 months ago

Amazing, guys.

-Cameron
Joriah Goad 2 months ago

Really a brilliant short. The cinematography and editing are pristine. A perfect blend of Gilliam, Dali, and 2001: a space odyssey.
Colin Stuart 2 months ago

I felt some Rick Baker too!
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Guys; thanks so much! We couldn't ask for higher praise.
superbaka 2 months ago

Very fine, congrats.
TISCOart 2 months ago

Great!!

Shared at facebook.com/THISISSOCONTEMPORARY

Congrats guys!!
CHARLOTTE BEAUDOIN PELLETIER 2 months ago

My god this is a masterpiece!
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Charlotte, thank you. We tried!
jim le fevre 2 months ago

Holy macaroni.

I don't think I've seen a film that has made me feel like that for at least a decade.

That really is astounding. Well done indeed.
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

I'm really curious, how *did* it make you feel?!
jim le fevre 2 months ago

Personally :-
Excited
Lost
Anxious

In terms of the world of Animation:-
Comforted
Inspired
Hopefull
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Good feelings!
Ein 2 months ago

First, I am a huge fan of Svankmajer and I remember seeing an unfinished version of this film on vimeo years ago, I was in awe. After that, I could not find it, and wondered if it just disappeared forever. I am so glad to see it is back up and in its completed form for all to view.

This should be up on the HD page on vimeo and should be seen by so many more!!! This is what a great film looks like! Congrats and please make more.
Eric Dies 2 months ago

Brilliant.
Phil Schmidt 2 months ago

yay. this amazing. although a bit creepy.
added to vimeo.com/channels/ilovestopmotion
mpared 2 months ago

lovely!! shared at thecuriousbrain.com/ :-)
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Thanks for sharing.
Damien Rigolet 2 months ago

Masterpiece ! Well done !
We shared it on oanim.com
Thanks
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

And thanks too!
RAndall Tockes 2 months ago

This is beautiful
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Thank you.
Sub Magazin 2 months ago

Sick
Haadi 2 months ago

Wow.. that's so wonderful. Many likesss.

Added to vimeo.com/channels/minivalley
Plus on MiniValley, minivalley.net/2011/12/seed/
Oh Yeah Wow 2 months ago

Wonderfully crafted style. And some top notch stop motion. Grats.
Michael Langan 2 months ago

Whoa.
Claudio Salas 2 months ago

Frickin super great!
Gaschka 2 months ago

Quite WTF!
Cioppo 2 months ago

Super super super!!!!!
Matei D. 2 months ago

Overall sick but very well animated.
Rob Diaz 2 months ago

Woow!
Yan Yau 2 months ago

L a r g e
Joaquin Ferronato 2 months ago

WOOOOOOWW!! epic! 16mm? you guys are crazy (in the best way) Amazing in every way
Charlie Collier 2 months ago

Ond of the best shorts I've seen in a while! I can only imagine the amount of work that went into this. Great job!
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

What you imagine probably isn't far off – I added a few more on set photos to illustrate!
jlcosta 2 months ago

Vaya mierda
Josh Lau 2 months ago

Nooooo I didn't want it to end
Chloe Summers 2 months ago

Great job I didn’t even know it was a stop-motion until I read the description
seventline 2 months ago

amazing
Joe Kane 2 months ago

Damn. That was epic.
Jeremy Stuart 2 months ago

Beautifully animated. Very nice work.
indieanimator 2 months ago

Beautiful work of art. You have been selected as Animation Of The Day at indieanimator.com
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Thanks!
Matt Gubler 2 months ago

Way cool.
jake quain 2 months ago

amazing. how did you make this so smooth - like the movements, and camera movements and everything? this is spectacular.
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Ha. You've asked the million dollar question!

Film runs at 24fps, but animators usually work on "twos"; they only animate 12 moves per second, and then take 2 identical frames.

Our heroes, The Brothers Quay, shoot on "ones", animating 24 moves per second, for an extremely smooth motion. It also forces you to think in smaller increments, which organically changes the way you animate. We shot Seed on "ones".

Also, one of our key references was David Attenborough's wildlife documentaries, and we animated the camera (using a geared head, and tiny moves) whenever possible to emulate a cameraman following unexpected action.

Thanks for noticing!
Ferhat Özben 2 months ago

Quality film and congratulations! i'll share it with quote on sanattasarim.net
Ben Richardson 2 months ago

Thanks for sharing!
jan rune blom 2 months ago

a very beautiful film, that really express the difference between stop-motion and cgi... this is real.. amazed to see it is shot on film, a bolex?
marc aussure 2 months ago

mind = blown
a challenging mix of lessons of life all set in a unique atmosphere
William Trowbridge 2 months ago

Amazing! But also very disturbing! I'm going to have very well made nightmares tonight
Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka 2 months ago

This is amazing ....:)
Brad Lawrence 2 months ago

My Heroes, Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird, shoot on "Ones."
The North Coaster 2 months ago

So many analogies could be drawn out of this. This piece of art really brings the mind to think.
Jorge Baldeon 2 months ago

so twisted, i loved it. your attention to detail is really amazing. its rare to see such fluid stop motion animation. for a while i didn't know that it was stop motion.

you rule!
Tim de Haan 1 month ago

great work!
LORCAN FINNEGAN 1 month ago

Amazing! And mental
3dita Rendering 1 month ago

I will have nightmares about this movie.. take that as a compliment..
Ben Richardson 1 month ago

How else could we take it?
Suwanchart Suwanjaroen 1 month ago

mind=blown
François Mathey 1 month ago

Brilliant work, congrats.
ChengYehWu 1 month ago

酷
Ben Richardson 1 month ago

Thanks!
Richard Edwards 1 month ago

Dan, Ben - an awesome job and it's amazing to see it after being shown those early cuts by Dan (back in the days of the Telefilm basement, I think!) Thoroughly deserves the thousands of views it's got!
Michael Bendeck 1 month ago

I like your short film, would you like to screen it at our festival?
You can find more information at cor3fest.com
LUDIDACTICA 1 month ago

WoW! Amazing! Congrats
Joe Moya 1 month ago

Bizarre... and amazingly creative... with a tower of Babylon twist.

Would LOVE to see a ..."making of"... video or blog with background information about the production
Sean Jo 1 month ago

I just KNEW Jan Svankmajer had something to do with that!!!
Rian Maia 1 month ago

very good indeed
Nacho Alves 1 month ago

Que flayero.
Elias Stern 1 month ago

Insanely beautiful, although I' going to avoid eating eggs or apples for a while. Congrats!

Shared it on Totes-Sick-Amation.tumblr.com
Kim Taylor 1 month ago

Incredible! I love the camera movements and the attention to detail...
ericp 1 month ago

Crazy and strange. The Hatfields & McCoys if they were made of crow parts and could only reproduce by wooing transistors with elevator music broadcast by SimTowers. A+.
Jean Le 1 month ago

Reminds me of competing corporations in our consumerist society, doing everything in their power to grab your attention. To have monopoly, some will go great lengths to cut the other competitors out by destroying them through cutting prices or what not. The detail in the character design reflects the evil and disgusting nature of (some) corporations , that have little regard of their effects to the public - even if it kills them (death of the radio).

Haha. Maybe im looking way too deeply into this- but this is what it stands for me!
Rmax Studio 1 month ago

Fantastic.
OmniRoy 1 month ago

I was in wtf mode the whole time, but what really shocked me were the first appearances of those eyes, I will never forget this short film, thank you.
Ice Dark 1 month ago

Great animation and story concept!
Bradley Schaffer 1 month ago

Oh wow! this is amazing!
Myles Thompson 1 month ago

Fantastic ideas, brilliantly executed.

If it were up to me, you would get an Oscar for this.

What's next for you guys?
Paul Lemarquis 3 weeks ago

This is by far the best stop motion film I have seen in a while. Absolutely perfect.

I agree with Myles, this should get an Oscar.
Holly Shin 2 weeks ago

Really awesome, jaw dropping piece. I'm a huge fan of Quay Brothers and stop motion. it's great to see someone who can still use these technique to achieve amazing result!
FishFishGarden 2 weeks ago

Absolutely an epic creation, in all terms!
The Panda Rabbit 2 weeks ago

wow. unreal!
Jonas 2 weeks ago

youtube.com/watch?v=4RtKYxyIuaA
ratigan 2 weeks ago

I love every single thing about this film. Perfect.
Designcollector ※ 2 weeks ago

Love it. Will share on designcollector.net
Narfnarf 2 weeks ago

So strange, I loved it! Great animation and story
Oenilloc_Sound 2 weeks ago

!!!
Lee Wignall 2 weeks ago

Absolutely amazing! Watching this, for me, was just like one of those dreams where you feel like you've seen it before, but know you've never seen anything like it in your life. Can definitely tell you just let your imaginations go all the way with this one. An all round belter. Look forward to more in a similar vein. Well done guys ; )
Sebastian Hernandez 1 week ago

Gorgeous! How long did this take you? How many people did you have on it? did you use any software such as Dragon? I'm a visual effects student and I'm trying to dig my hand into the world of stop motion and I'm pretty much a blank slate. Any info in the process it took for this piece to come to life so successfully would be greatly appreciated. If you have any production stills or footage or what have you I would love to see it. This piece has re ignited the spark for me, good show!! Thanks.