29 May 2013

Pub Dogs - Babies ★★★☆☆




Review of 'Pub Dogs - Babies' which can be found here on Vimeo

Length: 01:24
Written & directed by Dave Anderson
Genre: Animation
Date: 2004
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: Some dogs discuss having kids vs having a wife.

This concept is great in theory but it doesn't quite come together that well in practise. Gotta love talking dogs drinking beers and playing pool of course but while this is playing, all I'm imagining, is the real life blokes standing about, probably in much the same positions, doing all the talking. 

It feels really like this is just a fly on the wall audio recording which has been animated. That's all well and good but to me, this could have done with some decent scripting to fine tune it. There's too many instances of people talking over each other, dialogue that can't be made out, and daft ranting that hinders the pace. The dialogue on its own probably isn't that funny. It's only with the well constructed animation on top that any humour is added to the piece. 

The dog characters are created brilliantly. This is very much a 2D animation but there's good attention to changing perspectives, differing shot compositions and some nice details added which all combine to make a good 3D look. The edit brings some much needed action via zooms, pans and quick cuts. Colours are vibrant with good lighting used too. Even though this is a great concept where the visuals have been put together really well, ultimately, it's the poor dialogue that lets this piece down. 

Best Bit: Aw, cute Westie.

Worst Bit: Talking over each other dialogue. 

Final thought: Yeah, pub talk should just stay where it belongs. In the pub. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

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