"The Present" Short Film Review

"The Present" Review

By Tim Collins


           Hello people of the internet, today I will be reviewing another animated short film. This animation is titled "The Present" and I personally think that this is an excellent story. Beware there will be spoilers in this review so before you continue reading go watch the original video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96kI8Mp1uOU.

     
         So for those who did not click the link here is a quick summary: A teenager's mom brings home a box for her son and when it is opened a puppy jump out of the box, but this puppy is missing one of its legs and the teenager rejects it for this reason. Although when the teenager sees how dang cute the puppy is he decides to accept the puppy. But when the teen stands up to play with the puppy it is revealed that...(wait for it)...the teen is missing a leg as well!

         The character models are impressive and the textures,  especially on the dog, are outstanding. The animation itself is great, the animator follows all the basic principles of animation. Most noticeable is the use of squash and stretch. This can be seen from 1:45-1:47 when the teen kicks a ball that bounces around the room.

         Based on best practice the creator did great throughout the animation. As I have said the textures, models, and animation are all spectacular. However I did notice at a few points throughout the story the animation seems to be too fast. I first noticed this around 2:04 in the video where the puppy(who is under a box) runs into a wall. It might have been done on purpose but to me it seems unnatural.

         Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this animation, it has an interesting story and is definitely high quality.