Israeli animation makes it to int'l festival
'Beat,' a short film by Or Bar-El, examines what happens when the routine of faceless workers in a boring job is broken
Animator Or Bar-El, 25, has created a film about faceless cube-beings whose job is to sit inside a cube, drawing squares – a phenomenon well-known to many real-life cubicle dwellers.
"Beat," which has made it to the finals of an international animation competition sponsored by the video sharing site Vimeo, explores what happens when one day, a small glitch changes everything.
Bar-El, a graduate of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design's Screen Based Arts program, says he spent two years working on "Beat."
"I worked a lot on the sound. I wrote an outline for the music and working with a friend who has a professional studio, got a result I'm happy with," Bar-El said.
"I finished the film five months ago and put it on the Internet, and got e-mails from all over the world."
According to Bar-El, he published his film on Vimeo – not as well-known as YouTube – because the site is a community for video artists. He was informed about the competition in an e-mail, and last week learned that his film was one of 12 selected in the animation category.
"It's very exciting – there are amazingly cool things there and it's an honor to be chosen with them," Bar-El said.
The competition is interactive, and fans can cast their vote for "Beat" on the festival's Facebook page.
