SNAPSHOT
In this Oscar-nominated short, a mysterious vinyl record suddenly allows Pia to travel through time. A Single Life has been screened at more than 200 festivals and it has been awarded with 40 prizes. (synopsis via Vimeo)
If you’ve been paying attention, you will have noticed that vinyl has made quite the comeback of late.
It’s esteemed by audiophiles for the warmth of its sound, its analogue virtues praisedas superior to its Johnny-come-lately digital usurpers.
But now, according to this delightfully dark and quite affecting short film directed by Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen, from Dutch animation studio Job, Joris & Marieke, its much-vaunted power extends far beyond that, possessing the ability, in the case of one single at least, to send you back and forth through time.
A Single Life from Job, Joris & Marieke on Vimeo.
Pia, sitting at home alone and eating pizza, can’t wait to see where it’ll take her and moves the needle back and forth with some interesting temporal results.
But as the film, which features the song “A Single Life” by Happy Camper featuring Pien Feith and was inteneded to screen ahead of feature-length films, makes clear, perhaps what Pia, and yes, we, need to do is sit back, enjoy the present and let the future catch up to us in its own good time.
In our hyper-connected world, where fast-forward seems to favoured as the default ahead of play, it’s timely message, beautifully delivered, and you can see why A Single Life, replete with some of the most adorable animation you’ll see anywhere, has found such a receptive audience, even being nominated for an Oscar in 2015 for Best Animated Short Film (it lost out to Disney’s Feast).