Short Film // Tuurngait

Directed by   Paul-Emile Bouche

Running time 7 minutes 

'Tuurngait' is an CG animated short, released in 2012. When I first watched 'Tuurngait' I thought it was a very unique and visually different animation, not like anything I'd seen yet. It follows the story of an Inuit boy, and depicts the landscape he lives in beautifully. The animation is very nice, the style is actually a little rigid compared to some of the stuff I've seen, but it works well in this scenario because of the nature of the environment. For example, walking through a thick layer of snow would be a rigid and clumsy action, complemented by the animation style featured here. Some of the shots that were used are really nice - one that stands out in particular, is when one of the characters, in the form of a bird, glides over the edge of a mountain to reveal a vast open landscape below. The way the camera follows the bird as it flies is really something that took me by surprise when I saw it for the first time. 

Some of the really impressive, 'stand out'  features of this animation is the way characters interact with the environment. A scene around half way through the film shows ice breaking below a characters feet, the dramatic sequence of the cracks appearing before a sudden burst of energy as the ice gave way was very reminiscent of how ice would act in reality and the physics involved were quite fun to watch in action, a long with the sound to accompany it. 

The main element with this short film I think is as previously mentioned the vast landscapes and

general scale of the surroundings. Throughout the duration of the film you feel you've traveled quite a distance and the scene in the ice cave is quite intimidating, especially since you're seeing it through the eyes of a small boy, which increases the feeling of being surrounded by epic environments further. Another thing I want to talk about is the use of colour, it feels in some parts like it's used quite sparingly, simply because the environment is mostly snow and ice. However, when the scene switches to say, the scene in the house where the boys father is crafting a bear out of wood, the colours change to warm, earthy tones. The combination of warm browns and oranges conveyed through the interior of the house combined with the subtle details such as the father characters clothes make it so you do feel warm and homely in contrast to the sharp coldness of the outside, where the boy was playing in the previous scene. 

'Tuurngait' is a visually appealing piece of animation, with a nice and varied use of camera angles combined with a good and appropriate character design, including clothing given the setting of the film. The makes did a good job of making it feel like it was told through the eyes of a child, and you allow yourself to be submerged into his world of playfulness as he goes about his adventures in the snow.