Short Films & Animation: The Green Ruby Pumpkin

The Green Ruby Pumpkin was made by visual effects artist Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma in their living room, with the help of a small crew of their friends. It was "inspired by the work on Edward Gorey, Dr.Seuss, Charles Addams and Shel Silverstein" and the film has an overall storybook feel to it.

Although the space and budget were limited, the pair managed to create and elaborate, spooky world and characters through the use of green screens and digital effects.

The story takes place on Halloween, in a town where all the children visit the house of Bella Deats each year, for a chance to get some of the candy from her green ruby pumpkin.

There is, however, one rule: "No costume, no candy"...

For more information on The Green Ruby Pumpkin, its creators and their current, feature-length project The Ningyo, visit the sites below↓:

• Miguel Ortega's Site
• The Ningyo Kickstarter Site

Animation: Bloodfeathers

Bloodfeathers is a a creepy claymation short animated by Vanessa Soberanis with sound design by Ryan Edberg. The story centres around a robot who "longs for the impossible", which ultimately causes it to descend into disturbing fits of rage and, ultimately, self-destructive madness. 

The animation style and character designs are weird and gorgeous, and the subtle but unsettling soundtrack / voice acting fits it perfectly. The film is only around eight and half minutes long, so obviously there isn't a huge amount of character development, but there is more than enough content and the ending provides a satisfying - and somewhat inevitable - conclusion. If you enjoy animated work by The Quay Brothers, Jan Svankmajer, or the stop-motion music videos of the band Tool, you'll probably enjoy Bloodfeathers too.

You can watch the entire short below:

Animation: Violeta, la pescadora del mar negro

Violeta, la pescadora del mar negro (Violeta, fisherwoman of the black sea) is a stop motion animation by Spanish duo Marc Riba & Anna Solanas. It is a dark horror tale and the gloomy visuals - which remind me slightly of films by The Quay Brothers - reflect this well.

The models in the animation are big-eyed and innocent-looking, but don't be fooled; things turn bizarre and disgusting very quickly! That, of course, is not a negative point and it's the strangeness that makes Violeta... a more memorable animation.

Animation: 'The Maker'

Still from The Maker by Christopher Kezelos

The Maker, directed by Australian Christopher Kezelos, is a stop motion animation in which "a strange creature races against time to make the most important and beautiful creation of his life". It has a very definite dark fantasy aesthetic and it is animated beautifully! I should point out, though, that I adore stop motion animation, so those of you who don't may disagree with me there. 

Still from The Maker by Christopher Kezelos

In addition to the wonderful visuals, music plays an important role in the film - from the f-hole shapes on "The Maker's" head to his violin playing - and the lovely soundtrack throughout is provided by Paul Halley. Of course, if you aren't a fan of violins, you probably won't like it. However, according to the creators of the film, the point of The Maker was to illustrate how little time each of us has and that "life is what you make it". So the use of stringed instruments gives the film a faster feel, I think.

It's only about five and a half minutes long, so if you want to see it for yourself you can watch it on The Maker's official website, or below.

Books: Tales of the Sisters Kane

I recently received a package, from Kei of Unfortunately Oh! (thank you!), filled with Halloween recipes, spooky brooches she had made and this delightfully strange book. 'Tales of the Sisters Kane' is a collection of cautionary rhyming tales and charming photographs by Christy Kane. The book contains four extended poems:

• Lily...the seamstress
• Polly...the roller skater
• Callalilly...the pianist
• The Triplets...and Wisteria

Lily...the Seamstress by Christy Kane

The tales, which were apparently told to Kane by the dolls she creates and photographs, are peppered with high-contrast, slightly creepy pictures illustrating each unfortunate, but life lesson-teaching fate. (I cannot stress enough how much more beautiful the photographs are in the book compared to the photographs I've taken of them!)

The Triplets...and Wisteria by Christy Kane

The style of the story telling rather reminds me of authors/artists like Edward Gorey, mixed with traditional dark fairytales such as Hansel and Gretel. However, despite that slight reminiscence, this book is very unique, unusual and is definitely one to check out if you enjoy child-like, creepy fables mixed with original and spooky art.

Callalilly...the Pianist by Christy Kane

One of the stories, 'Callalilly...the Pianist', has also been made into a great short film by Jerrold Ridenour, which features The Sisters Kane themselves:

Christy Kane:

"About the Author:

Christy Kane graduated from NYU with a degree in photography.

She has been creating dolls and documenting their happenings

for centuries. To learn more or inquire about purchasing a doll of

your very own visit www.christykane.com "

Christy Kane

Film: Georges Melies "Le Manior du Diable"

Honoring the french "cinemagician" Georges Melies, creator of numerous classic black and white silent films. Here is a clip of one of his most malevolent films, "Le Manior du Diable" (The House of the Devil); a short but fantastic clip made in 1896 filled with classic horror and spooky effects!

(Keep an eye on the skeleton!!!)

Short Film: The Cat with Hands

"By animusfilms. A dark animated tale about a cat who, the legend has it, wants to become human.

Year: 2001
Director: Robert Morgan"

The Cat with Hands' is a bizarre, creepy, fairytale-like story...I love it! This was the second short film made by director Robert Morgan and was said to have been "inspired by a recurring nightmare Rob’s older sister Eleanor had when she was young". If you think that's weird, Morgan also went onto make a film partly inspired by finding a severed goose head outside his house as a child. Nice >.>;

To read more about Robert Morgan or to watch his other films, check out his page at Animus Films ⇒here.