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Lantern Fishes
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3 votes)
Saying everything you wanted to know about the deep-sea bioluminescent Lantern Fish (but never thought to ask), this ichthy-rific animated piece has taken art websites by storm, heralded by many fans of the form and posted on YouTube by three separate admirers. The simple, but beautifully drawn video chronicles several types of the fish, observing them morph from one into another in scientific sequence, and climaxing in a psychedelic coda.
"The project came about as an experiment, really," explains Adam Gault, 30, who has worked as a professional motion-graphic artist for television for the last seven years. He met his collaborator, illustrator Stefanie Augustine, while they were both studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. They crafted a similarly poetic graphic-driven piece called "Holiday" (definitely worth checking out) a few years ago.
"Last summer I was in between big projects and looking for something quick and easy to animate," he explains of his fishy friends. "I came across an old print of some lantern fish in an antiques shop, and thought it would be fun to try and animate them. It was fun," he adds, "but unfortunately it wasn't quick."
While Gault complains that it took him almost a year in between paying gigs to complete "Lantern Fish," he also suggests this process may have ultimately benefited the film. "Because I didn't get bored or rush to finish for a deadline, and because it was a personal project, I was able to work way longer on some of the sequences then I might have been able to if it was for a commercial client," he says.
Gault animated the project, while Augustine designed the environments, plants, and fish bones. But Gault credits the piece's dreamy atmosphere to musicians Chris Villepigue and Shelly Bajorek. "I love how it sounds dark and mysterious but still a little whimsical," he says, "and to me it really feels like we're deep under water."
-Anthony Kaufman
Adam Gault
Experimental, Animation
1:29
Adam Gault
Adam Gault
Music : Chris Villepigue and Shelly Bajorek
Illustrator : Stefanie Augustine
