The Mods | |
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Directed by | Antonio Padovan |
Written by | Antonio Padovan |
Produced by | Alessandro Portincasa (uncredited)[note 1] |
Cinematography | Alessandro Portincasa (uncredited)[2][note 1] |
Edited by | Alessandro Portincasa (uncredited)[2][note 1] |
Music by | 93 Steps |
Animation by |
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Color process | Colour |
Production company | AliMik Animation Studio |
Release date |
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Running time | 3 minutes[1] |
Country | Italy |
The Mods is a 2014 Italian short 3D CG animated children's film created by Antonio Padovan and Alessandro Portincasa,[1] about a snake and a dinosaur trying to build a model of a T-Rex. The film's characters are nonverbal and were intended to star in a series of stories. The Mods won an award at the Giffoni Film Festival in 2015.
Soya the snake is building a "3D puzzle"[1] or model of a T-Rex. The ground shakes as his clumsy friend Michelino, an actual miniature T-Rex, lumbers along and, seeing the blueprints, becomes interested in what Soya is doing and wants to help, to Soya's annoyance. Soya has already had to start over due to the ground shaking from Michelino's heavy steps but then Michelino accidentally knocks the model down a second time.
Frustrated, Soya gives up and swallows the model's pieces rather than rebuild them. Lights similar to X-rays seem to flash as Michelino jumps up and down, such that the jumbled pieces becomes visible inside Soya, changing their configuration with each bound by Michelino. Eventually, they are reassembled as they are supposed to be in Soya's body, which now looks like a T-Rex.
The Mods played primarily at Italian film festivals in 2014 and 2015, including Giffoni, the largest children's film festival in the world,[9] where it was part of the "Elements +3" section.[3] and won the Giotto special prize.
The short's first screening outside of Italy but within Europe was at the Annecy Animation Festival.[10] Other festivals where it played in Europe in 2016 included Zlín in May–June[2] and Berwick in September.[11] The short was shown outside of Europe for the first time at the Seattle Children's Film Festival in early 2016.[12] Other American festivals followed, including the BAM Kids Festival on 27 and 28 February,[4] and the REDCAT International Children's Film Festival in April–May 2016.[13][14]
Official reasons given for the short's award cited its "original" storyboard and animation, "supported by a strong sound design which amazed the audience"; the world of Soya and Michelino is "off-beat" and the characters are "funny and creative".[15]