Wowza.
I was not prepared for the sinister genius in studioAKA’s Pica Towers series.
After watching “The Good News”, “Hounds in Flesh” and “Pizza Sangre” (in that order), I thought: “How can these filmmakers pack so much punch in just 3 minutes?”
I’m amazed at the way they played with lighting, sound and camera angles throughout the shots. I wonder how extensive the storyboards had to be in order to pull off such detailed animations.
At first glance, the characters look as if they’re related to the affable worker robots in “Despicable Me.” But these bots are NOT playing around. They are stone cold killers.
A screen shot from "Hounds of Flesh".
The opening sequence in “The Good News” is perfection. At first, all I saw were two orbs shining in the darkness. Then the lights came up, illuminating a robot’s eyes and the rest of his body. Then the camera turns upside down to reveal that the robot is hanging.
What the fudge?! Bot-on-bot crime?!
The camera zooms out and reveals the evil robot who is controlling the hanged robot. Then Evil Bot hears a strange noise. He investigates by opening the door to find a Bible-toting robot begging for help. Evil Bot slams the door in Bible Bot’s face and turns away.
Then Bible Bot peers to his right as if something’s coming. The shot abruptly cuts to Evil Bot. He hears another noise on the other side of the door. He opens it, and Bible Bot falls out of the door with a knife in his back. Cue the daunting music. He’s dead.
The “Good News” ends with a close-up of Evil Bot’s face. His eyes form wide ovals of shock. Then a shadow appears on his face, as if Killer Bot is standing in front of him. Then a weapon appears over Evil Bot’s head, and his eyes turn into fixed squares.
Then the camera’s view widens and focuses on Hanged Bot, who could possibly be watching another murder.
The camera zooms in as Hanged Bot dangles. The movie ends where it begins — with the viewer looking into Hanged Bot’s eyes. Then the scene sharply fades to black as the music grows louder.
I am disturbed at my very core. These nefarious bots scare the Bejesus out of me!
The dark and twisted plot continues in “Hounds of Flesh”. Dog Bot steals Blind Bot’s cane in a dark alleyway and then leads him into the Den of Iniquity. Blind Bot is, of course, oblivious to the danger he’s walking toward. Dog Bot then bumps into the late Bible Bot at the threshold and sniffs around.
This is when the scene gets even more cool and eery.
The camera comes up from Dead Bot’s bleeding body as Blind Bot approaches. The knife is displayed prominently on the lower left corner. The lights continue to flicker as the camera shows a close-up of Blind Bot’s hand reaching for his cane.
The camera zooms out to reveal the blood-spattered wall and entrance to the Den of Iniquity, where Hanged Bot dangles in the background. Hanged Bot’s body turns toward the camera until his eyes are looking straight ahead.
Then Blind Bot hears a gunshot and the camera zooms in his face from multiple angles. Then the shot widens and the camera tilts upward to reveal a lonely Blind Bot standing in a long corridor.
What a powerful ending!
All I can say about “Pizza Sangre” is: “Can a delivery robot catch a break?” Isn’t it bad enough that he has to deliver a pizza on a cold, wintry day?
My favorite part of the third and final short was the opening sequence, which showed Pizza Delivery Bot scooting along in his car through crosshair.
Immediately, the viewer knows Pizza Deilvery Bot is doomed. But I was still surprised when he was shot on his way to the tower.
Then the camera goes up to the tower to see Dufus Bot holding a rifle. Momma Bot enters the room and beats Dufus Bot with her cane before shooing him away. Then Momma Bot looks down the tower, and the camera zooms in on Pizza Delivery Bot.
Being the ultimate opportunist, Dog Bot shakes the pizza free from underneath the dead robot’s body and eats it.
The end.
The filmmakers couldn’t have done a better job at linking together this narrative. Each of the three pieces connected to the other so well. And the overall design was splendid.
I don’t know what I just witnessed, but it was beautiful.