07min 20sec, 4096 × 2160 pixel, music by Makoto Itabashi
Synopsis:
Falling down, it feels ecdysone is filling up its body.
Delving into the deeper layers of itself, the flesh is melted down in the shell until the form is no longer.
落下する身体はエクジソンに浸る。
沈み込む中、肉体は形がなくなるまで溶けていく。
Synopsis:
Falling down, it feels ecdysone is filling up its body.
Delving into the deeper layers of itself, the flesh is melted down in the shell until the form is no longer.
落下する身体はエクジソンに浸る。
沈み込む中、肉体は形がなくなるまで溶けていく。
"Down Escalation unfolds intuitively, through dreamlike associations of forms and motifs"
"The film opens on a closeup of a caterpillar as it spasms into and out of abstraction before thudding against a hard surface, apparently dead. Dissolve to a scene in which one of Hayashi's trademark humanoid figures lies supine beneath tower blocks. It tries to sit up but is restrained, insect-like, by an invisible cocoon. It's then transported through a number of spectral environments, its lithe body plagued by paralysis and distortions - but then suddenly enlivened by meshed of colour. Hayashi seems to say that organic matter will retain its vibrant inner life, no matter how oppressive its surroundings."
"The film opens on a closeup of a caterpillar as it spasms into and out of abstraction before thudding against a hard surface, apparently dead. Dissolve to a scene in which one of Hayashi's trademark humanoid figures lies supine beneath tower blocks. It tries to sit up but is restrained, insect-like, by an invisible cocoon. It's then transported through a number of spectral environments, its lithe body plagued by paralysis and distortions - but then suddenly enlivened by meshed of colour. Hayashi seems to say that organic matter will retain its vibrant inner life, no matter how oppressive its surroundings."
by Alex Dudok de Wit, on Asifa Magazine 2019/VOL. 30/#1
" As an experimental haiku Down Escalation is a short film that works on forms and their gradual loss of identity due to the removal of the sign. Shunsaku Hayashi, a young film animation filmmaker born in 1992, proves to be one of the most original voices of animated experimental film making."
"Shunsaku Hayashi dissects a cocooning process. Using painting and animation as scalpels and accompanied by composer Makoto Itabashi he creates fine cuts of a transformation into largely abstract images and sound as well as layers of time. Seen under the filmic microscope, we observe with wonder a radical reorganisation of physical and emotional structures. A nervous flickering and blinking in the silence and distant closeness while shell and shape are dissolving."
Prizes
2018.04.30 27th Arizona International Film Festival, USA < the Jury Awards for Creative Achievement >
Screenings
2018.03.22 56th Ann Arbor Film Festival, USA
04.12 45th Athens International Film and Video Festival, USA
04.13 8th Capital City Film Festival, USA
04.18 42nd Atlanta Film Festival, USA
04.28 27th Arizona International Film Festival, USA
05.04 20th Maryland Film Festival, USA
05.23 4th Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, USA
05.26 14th Athens Digital Arts Festival, Greece
06.06 Asolo Art Film Festival, Italy
06.21 24th Palm Springs International Shortfest, USA
08.10 Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
08.20 20th annual Sidewalk Film Festival
08.23 Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Brazil
08.23 San Diego Underground Film Festival, USA
08.24 17th Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Japan
08.24 Festival Silhouette, France
09.08 Unseen Festival, USA
09.26 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada
09.26 AnimaSyros International Animation Festival + Agora, Greece
10.09 Animatou, Switzerland
10.11 Sapporo Short Fest, Japan
10.14 Sedicicorto International Film Festival, Italy
10.14 NonPlussed Fest, USA
10.30 DOK Leipzig, Germany
10.31 Denver Film Festival, USA
11.03 St Cloud Film Festival, USA
11.20 Interfilm International Short Film Festival Berlin, Germany
2020.03.15 International Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg, Germany
06.03 Animafest Zagreb, Croatia
06.03 Milano Film Festival, Italy
11.30 London international animation festival, UK
04.12 45th Athens International Film and Video Festival, USA
04.13 8th Capital City Film Festival, USA
04.18 42nd Atlanta Film Festival, USA
04.28 27th Arizona International Film Festival, USA
05.04 20th Maryland Film Festival, USA
05.23 4th Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, USA
05.26 14th Athens Digital Arts Festival, Greece
06.06 Asolo Art Film Festival, Italy
06.21 24th Palm Springs International Shortfest, USA
08.10 Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
08.20 20th annual Sidewalk Film Festival
08.23 Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Brazil
08.23 San Diego Underground Film Festival, USA
08.24 17th Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Japan
08.24 Festival Silhouette, France
09.08 Unseen Festival, USA
09.26 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada
09.26 AnimaSyros International Animation Festival + Agora, Greece
10.09 Animatou, Switzerland
10.11 Sapporo Short Fest, Japan
10.14 Sedicicorto International Film Festival, Italy
10.14 NonPlussed Fest, USA
10.30 DOK Leipzig, Germany
10.31 Denver Film Festival, USA
11.03 St Cloud Film Festival, USA
11.20 Interfilm International Short Film Festival Berlin, Germany
2020.03.15 International Kurzfilmwoche Regensburg, Germany
06.03 Animafest Zagreb, Croatia
06.03 Milano Film Festival, Italy
11.30 London international animation festival, UK