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A short film by The People's Republic of Animation.

Narrated by Nick Cave. Directed by Eddie White & Ari Gibson. Produced by Jessica Brentnall

For more info, go to

catpianofilm.com
facebook.com/thecatpiano
thepra.com.au

Credits

  • PRA
    Production Company

Likes

  • Rebecca Hayes plus 2 years ago
    beautiful!
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  • Ben Walker 2 years ago
    Really nice work, guys. This is the first time I've been able to see it in its entirety - wasn't even aware that the full film was up here!
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  • Doug 2 years ago
    brilliant, very stylish.
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  • Paul W. Rankin plus 2 years ago
    Are there plans to expand this into a feature?
  • PRA 2 years ago
    no plans to make this into a feature at this point, but we are developing features that will use the same techniques or like Cat Piano, are dramatic pieces meant for older audiences. watch this space!
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  • BenJamin Wigmore 2 years ago
    Everything about this was perfect! Love it!!! Truly inspirational! ;)
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  • Rawls 2 years ago
    Fantastic! Great animation, mood, composition and colours!
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  • David Nethery 2 years ago
    Bravo !
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  • atom leonhart 2 years ago
    This is excellent! Very Bebop-esque. If you aren't familiar with Lackadaisy Cats, you would like them, I think. (lackadaisycats.com/)
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  • Bill Maslyn plus 2 years ago
    Very cool! Love how you used color.
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  • varick plus 2 years ago
    that was bad ass.
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  • Autobotika.Niko 2 years ago
    Amazing.
    Didn't even know that the Katzenklavier was a real instrument!
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  • Andreas Conrad 2 years ago
    nice one! especially the mood was great...
    can still feel the shiver running along my back.

    had to think about the great book/film "felidae"
    new-video.de/co/felidae.m.jpg

    and strangely i had to think about
    schwarz zu blau
    black to bue
    von peter fox
    myspace.com/peterfoxxx
    but this is an absolute mood breaker ;)
    must be an association based only on the colors...
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  • stunning visuals and colour pallette
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  • BobbyPlacebo 2 years ago
    The way those Japanese and Chinese words were spoken was a tad annoying and very wrong
  • Alex Grigg 2 years ago
    haha, Nick is a lot of things. fluent in asian languages isnt one of them. I hope you enjoyed the film otherwise :)
  • BobbyPlacebo 2 years ago
    I have indeed! Brief but so sweet.
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  • Michael Greaney plus 2 years ago
    Incredible
  • Oh Yeah Wow pro 1 year ago
    Shut up Greaney.
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  • ShadowGEIST plus 2 years ago
    Simply brilliant! : - )
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  • thecrazyjogger 2 years ago
    Incredible Animation! A lil touch of Alladin! Lovd it
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  • Pikasus Tv plus 2 years ago
    Splendid animation, in italian...bravissimo!
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  • Mariusz Kornatka 2 years ago
    Incredible story!
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  • Alex Jacque plus 2 years ago
    Unbelievably beautiful animation and prose! This really had me drawn in.
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  • Shafeek 2 years ago
    awesome,
    wonderful work.
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  • Lazer Cat 2 years ago
    Amazing!
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  • Jahaan London plus 2 years ago
    Great Story
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  • Ishmael Islam 2 years ago
    Fantastic work all around. Poetry and animation, don't see that everyday, I love this!
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  • angry guerrilla 2 years ago
    very very cool, well done
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  • Sundeep Toor plus 2 years ago
    fantastic work!! :) the use of colour is brilliant
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  • Guus Voorham 2 years ago
    When people ask me why I love animation but don't like 3D animation I show them this. This lovely piece is saturated with a love and dedication that make any 3D stuff (and alot of 2D stuff too) seem... cold and lifeless. You guys make me feel like this really is your 'baby' that you've been working on, not just some job that needs to be done properly.

    Tell me though, as I'm so curious- how can you make the movements so smooth? Can photoshop really do that?
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  • Studio-Ondesq 2 years ago
    Such excellence! Music, art, animation, poetry combined perfectly!
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  • AlphaBee6 2 years ago
    *applause* That was absolutely superb! Every bit of it! :-D
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  • GL2 2 years ago
    Beautiful work at every level. Looking forward to seeing more from you guys.
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  • trev 2 years ago
    Incredible! The chills down my spine felt soooo good!!
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  • Joel Stephen 2 years ago
    That was freaking amazing I'm inspired
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  • Niels Bohr 2 years ago
    Brilliant, and terribly well done. Nick Cave doesn't hurt either. Did you ever see the "mice organ" sketch by Monthy Python? Didn't think it could be twisted this much! :D
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  • Elias Glasch 2 years ago
    I loved the animation style! But man! The poetic narrating was the coolest thing! Way to make a super sweet short!
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  • Travis Gregory 2 years ago
    The entire piece flowed perfectly, very very nice work!
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  • John Smith 2 years ago
    Wow, just amazing. Really fantastic.
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  • Red Label 2 years ago
    Brilliant writing, superb animation.
    And the sound editing, wow!
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  • GreySnowCat 2 years ago
    Really great piece :)
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  • Agust Gudbjornsson 2 years ago
    Loved it! Amazed!
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  • Alun D Pughe 2 years ago
    Hahahahhaha AMAZIINNNGGGGGG
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  • Willva 2 years ago
    for some reason the style of this reminds me of this
    newgrounds.com/portal/view/492411
    defnitly the way the story is told and the voice over =)
    Hope you submit this to newgrounds matey, it would do really well there =D goodluck
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  • oppenheimer 2 years ago
    style-o-matic!

    i can imagine a great video game in this universe.
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  • paul donnellon 2 years ago
    brilliant love the great mood and animation, well done much better than boring 3d cg animation , keep up the great work..
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  • Ernani Joppert 2 years ago
    Cool, looks like the art from the Exit game, very nice work...kudos...
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  • elle 2 years ago
    after I watched, I just sat and soaked it in, amazing.
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  • escapista 2 years ago
    wonderful work...
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  • Kasper Berthelsen 2 years ago
    Wow...
    Simply wow
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  • Michael Blank 2 years ago
    incredible
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  • catiful
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  • David F. 2 years ago
    lovely
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  • Isa dezelle 2 years ago
    Magnifique...
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  • John Hays 2 years ago
    Absolutely beautiful! Are their any plans to upload a 1080p version? I'm a bit of a visualphile :)
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  • Alex 2 years ago
    Brilliant, amazing, so good...can't describe how great this was!
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  • oks ks 2 years ago
    excellent. it's been a while since i've enjoyed an animation. will revisit Interstella 5555 tonight, thanks for a reminder:)
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  • TurningWheel 2 years ago
    So good.
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  • Matej Mavricek 2 years ago
    Stunning. A brilliant take on film noir (cartoon noir?).
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  • Adam Temple 2 years ago
    Great work, beautiful aesthetic.
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  • Madnomad Films pro 2 years ago
    Does this place exist somewhere? Sounds like a good dream to have....
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  • Morris 2 years ago
    oh man, you outdid yourselves. brilliant. immensely brilliant!
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  • Matt Choules 2 years ago
    Wonderful stuff. Dark, well animated, brilliant style.
    Better than a Burton film!
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  • GoodTV 2 years ago
    beautiful!
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  • Mike McCain plus 2 years ago
    Wow. I really can't get enough of the production design of this piece. The composition of each shot is obviously very meticulously thought out, and the simple colors (and aggressive blacks) are brilliant.

    Inspirational.
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  • Mike McCain plus 2 years ago
    From what I gather this is essentially traditional animation, with Photoshop as the light table? Did you use after effects for background stuff & camera moves, or was literally all motion done within Photoshop? And if you don't mind so many questions, is the character art drawn with vectors, or just painted in a clean cell style?
  • PRA 2 years ago
    Yup, photoshop as a light table. in some cases quite literary as Ari, one of the film's directors used a cintique tablet that you can draw directly onto the screen. There was some after effects used. which particular shots and their nature i can't remember at the top of my head. No vectors used for characters. Hope that helps! thanks for watching our film!
  • leBeat plus 2 years ago
    wow!
    you did this in photoshop?
    i thougt something like toonboom animate or flash at least for the characters ...
    great film!
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  • Mike McCain plus 2 years ago
    Hey cool, thanks! And thanks for sharing the short.
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  • ktx 2 years ago
    lovely ending :)
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  • Michaelpaulin 2 years ago
    This is amazing, the dark yet beautiful story and the art all of it was bloody awesome. Ten minutes after watching it the hair on the back of my arms were still standing.

    Keep it up.
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  • Exx0dus Threshold 2 years ago
    Beautiful and macabre. Artwork is perfectly suited the the poem's cadence and imagery - love the smoky jazz-room ambiance. The Grand Katzenklavier was such a vivid punctuation for the film, a machine of dark and terrible design.

    Truly only Nick Cave could have read this, drawing so deeply from the inkwell of his domain. As an avid fan of Nick's work, I'm impressed and delighted that he collaborated, how ever did he become involved?

    Cheers
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  • Jenka Potente 2 years ago
    Mmm. This is just what my senses needed to start my day. A smoke and this film, with the delightful and even erotic (wouldn't you say?) voice of Nick Cave--whose voice is something not unlike ethereal in its grandness, but not its antithesis as in 'earthly' either. It is far deeper, beneath the surface of what we choose to collide on each day. It narrates a film that is much like his voice in the same way.

    Can you take yourself out of the film for a moment and perceive it holistically to see how far removed it is from known reality and disassociate yourself with it so its message does not apply? But then can you look at these cats and say they are more? This piece is more? And look at the points of relation and begin to critique *the self* (the self as in the individual and the collective the individual of which is an affiliate).

    I remember thinking how amazing *Fritz the Cat* was when I first saw it. I wouldn't say it should be extended into some feature, or that this style would even bode well in causing some paradigm shift for the masses.

    Basically, thank you all for coming together to make this film. It's nice to sit back after watching/listening to an artistic production and feel like you are genuinely happy to have sat through it. So much garbage nowadays available for consumption inspires bulimia in me.
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  • Jenka Potente 2 years ago
    I think you might have to be in a certain state of mind to even appreciate my spittle-storm (I think I just made that up) back there.
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  • Ignus 2 years ago
    I absolutely LOVE this art style, please please for the love of animation and all that is holy continue it. There are many art styles out there getting high praises and this one is better than most of them.
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  • TheSashaVern 2 years ago
    Ok. It's cool. It's really really cool and awesome. And you know it.))
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  • Daniel Miori 2 years ago
    I love it!!!
    Great animation!!!
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  • Pau Ov 2 years ago
    unbelievable its completely amazing¡¡¡¡
    luv it sooo much¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
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  • Natella Kataev 2 years ago
    Wow!
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  • David Riewald 2 years ago
    a masterpiece.
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  • Maurice Melchers 2 years ago
    amazing! very inspiring. would love to read the transcript or something.
  • Arthur Protasio 2 years ago
    As so did I. :)

    Check out this link: catpianofilm.com/media/#poem
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  • Jessica Bojin 2 years ago
    Lovely! The colours remind me of Peter Greenaway
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  • Arthur Protasio 2 years ago
    Truly sublime.

    Everything from the the moody narration, the mysterious "noir" ambiance, the bebop-esque references, the contrasting color tones, the poetry rhymes, the sober story, the detective personality, the fantastic cruelty, but above all...

    "A bohemian behemoth, post-midnight soiree"
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  • Dean Giffin 2 years ago
    Loved it. very nice indeed
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  • Nicholas Maxwell 2 years ago
    vunderbar!
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  • Andrew Gahagan 2 years ago
    Excellent animation, great story! Beautifully told....

    Almost seems to be a motif of Nazi activity vs.....French underground perhaps?
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  • Yll Zymberi 2 years ago
    fucking proffesional...
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  • really cool style and amazing atmosphere!! the story is really creepy tho!! the animation is top notch..! BRAVO!
    myr
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  • Alejandra C.R. 2 years ago
    I LOOOOOOOOVED it!
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  • tkiriakos 2 years ago
    Bravo!
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  • Absolutely fantastic, brilliant work, such a beautiful animation...and all in 2D !! Chapeau bas !
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  • can eren 2 years ago
    Great work.
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  • Felix Cabrera 2 years ago
    Amazing. This made me make a Vimeo account just to add a comment. Ha!
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  • Steve Cardno 2 years ago
    Amazing, absolutely love this!
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  • ira 2 years ago
    that was such delicious animation and i absolutely love the limited color palette. how was this done?! i read on the blog it's done in photoshop. *insert jawdrop noise here*
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  • Marcelo Papf 2 years ago
    animation, colors, characters... wow!!! AMAZING WORK!!! =D
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  • PNavarro 2 years ago
    It's the best film noir I've seen in a long time.
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  • Jacob Roberts 2 years ago
    Absolutely lovely.
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