Good music is such an important part of a good film, but when the music exists before the film is shot, does that make it a music video? This was a distinction that one filmmaker made to me when I referred to her submission as a music video. She said that it wasn’t a music video because the animation was completed first and then she commissioned the music for it. If the music had been completed first and the visuals were created to go with the music, then it would have been a music video. If that distinction is correct, then it was a music video that won the 2007 Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film – Peter and the Wolf – which we screened in our 2008 fest.
Peter and the Wolf, the music, was composed in 1936 in the USSR by Sergei Prokofiev and Peter & the Wolf, the animated film, was directed by Suzie Templeton in 2006. The music doesn’t start until almost 6 minutes into the film. Not many short films are available on DVD but this one is – see Peter and the Wolf
Another great film for classical music lovers and skateboarders to enjoy is Formic from our 2011 festival. The music is the rousing first movement from Beethoven Symphony No. 5. This 2009 film from Germany zooms in with 3D animation on the ant whose life is disturbed by a skateboarder (Dennis Gläser).
