Safe (Dihangol)

Details: completed 2004 (produced 2001), 1 min, Digibeta

Summary: The danger of safety.

Credits
Discussion
Reviews & comments
Festivals & distribution
Technique

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Credits

Golygwyd yn Derwen gan Keith Farmer
Sain yn Taran gan John Davies
Ysgrifen, Animeiddiwyd a Chynhyrchwyd gan Lucy Lee
MMI ar gyfer S4C
© Lucy Lee 2004
Funded by S4C under the short shorts scheme

Discussion

This is just a light simple dark comedy about taking the safe option. A dog gets into a cage to avoid danger, gets stuck there and dies. Ironically he is much bigger than the dog he is protecting himself from, and whose bark is definitely worse than his bite. It may be pessimistic to think that many of the things we do to protect ourselves actually can ultimately cause our downfall, but I recommend reading "Vital Lies, Simple Truths" by Daniel Goleman which I read after making the film.
I could have done a lot more with this idea, and yes the dog could technically squeeze through the cage bars, that’s just my lazy drawing! (or maybe the dog is stuck in a mental rut and therefore can't take any initiative). However this film was meant to be light and easy, short and made quickely. I was surprised to get the funding, and never had any pretentions about this film.
I made the film using dogs as the protagonists because I got an urge to draw dogs. The term “yellow dog” means lowly being, and coward amongst other things, so it does fit on that level, and I guess using chickens is just too obvious.

Reviews & Comments

Click this link to put your comments about 'Safe' on the Super Shorts site.

Festivals & Distribution

Distrubuted by the British Film Council

Sales, Distribution & Broadcast
The Short List - have bought the rights for 'The United States of America and its territories and possessions' for period of 3 years (ending March 2009)
Broadcast S4C, Wales
Screening on the Sony PlayStation Portable site until January 2007

Listed in
UK Short Film Database
British Films Catalogue

Technique

Hand drew the cartoon on paper, scanned it into the computer, then painted up each frame in painter.