Quirky, dark & disturbing stop-motion short

Words: Andy Martin

Cocon is a beautiful but disturbing bit of stop motion animation about a girl's struggle with growing up and the changes in her body during puberty. The short switches between the girl having sweet dreams and nightmares in order to illustrate her anxiety of the transition to adolescence.

How it was made

It was made by Lucrece Andreae, a French animation director and character designer who recently graduated from renowned animation schools Gobelins and La Poudriere. Using what looks like painted paper of various thickness, she has created a unique stop motion look that is enhanced by moody lighting and strong colour grading.

The movement throughout the animation is super fluid and is matched by the sparkly sinister sound design. For more information on how the film was made, take a look at these behind the scenes images.

Now watch this!

Also check out the trailer for Andreae's new short, which has a completely different hand drawn style.

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Andy Martin is a freelance animation director with over 10 years experience in the field. He also dabbles in illustration and music creation. See his work at his site and follow him at @handymartian.