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.