What is the film about?

Super Mr. Woods is a short film set in a rapidly advancing, commercialized society. It centres around the wild idolization of a mystic forest creature who takes on various forms within the civilization—offering a glimpse into an absurd world that closely resembles our own.

What influenced it?

I think it was influenced by everything happening in our consumerist society, especially in recent years. We are now living in an age where things change so rapidly. One day everyone starts dancing on TikTok, the next day we are all buying bitcoins and talking with GPT, and then we’re going crazy for Labubu. Our world feels chaotic and overwhelming. People are always busy working, creating and consuming, all trying to imagine a better tomorrow together. From a distance, this constant motion feels frantic and absurd, and that inspired me to create Mr. Woods, a mysterious creature who represents the tension between such hope and frenzy.

A little background information...

I partly got this idea cuz I like to look at people in casinos, especially elders who sit there all day, pulling the handles of those loud, colourful machines.

There’s something about that image that’s always stuck with me. It made me feel something I couldn’t quite name. While making this film, I think I finally understood what that feeling was.

How was the film made?

Image: NFB

This film is a digital 2D animation with characters created primarily using rotoscoping. I filmed live actors performing the scenes and then traced over the footage to capture realistic movement. These animated characters were then composited into hand-drawn backgrounds. I chose rotoscoping to complement the film’s realistic style, as the story explores relevant social themes grounded in real-life settings.