Palm Rot
‘Investigating a mysterious explosion in the Florida Everglades, a crop farmer named bill discovers a lone crate that survived the wreckage. Curiosity gets the better of him and he pulls the crate unto his airboat. That’s just the first in a series of decisions he learns to regret.’
There’s a real cinematic feel to Palm Rot. The visceral style, thin lines and emotive character animation create a captivating piece of work. However it is the narrative that really grips us. With no real back story, Ryan Gillis never really seems concerned with giving the viewer any answers, leaving us intrigued and wanting to find out more. The hand drawn aspect of the animation, with bright, soulful, beautiful colours, really brings to life Ryans home State of Florida.
In a recent interview for Short of the week, Ryan explained that the project as a whole took over a year and a half to complete. That was coming up with the concept all the way to exporting the final piece, describing the 18 month process as pretty solid labor.
“It took me four months to figure out what the film was going to be – and a month to storyboard it. I broke down a short list, made a schedule and started animating. I animated on 13” cintiq in Photoshop, illustrated the backgrounds on paper, and then composited everything in after effects…. I actually animated almost every shot in the order that they occur in the film.”
Director / Animator – Ryan Gillis
Sound Designer – Owen Granich Young
Music – Waylon Thornton
Voice Actor – Greg Tonner
Cel Colouring – Jesse James Dean, Mara Guevara and Jabril Mack
