Spring

A guide to animated short films

A forest, a spaceship and a barbershop can take an evening in three very different directions. Start with the mood you want to leave with. These short films from Blender tell their stories through gesture, color and timing, making them easy to pair for a small screening at home.

For a quiet beginning, watch Spring

In Spring, a shepherd girl and her dog step into a landscape that seems almost too large for them. Pay attention to their silhouettes in the mist. The film uses changes of scale to make the arrival of the giants feel enormous. Choose it when you want a story you can settle into without keeping track of dialogue.

For quick visual comedy, try Wing It!

The space shuttle in Wing It! barely has room for two personalities. One character wants control, while the other can hardly wait to fly. Keep an eye on their hands and on the controls. The next joke often starts in the corner of the frame before the characters realize what they have done. Its short running time makes it an easy second film after Spring.

For a spy-film detour, visit Agent 327

Agent 327: Operation Barbershop gets a surprising amount of suspense out of a familiar errand. Watch how the agent treats a barber’s chair and a mirror as possible threats. This animation test plays like a compact introduction to the character. Pick it for a quick dose of physical comedy with a sharper edge.

Pick a forest double feature

If you want to compare two approaches to the same setting, save Spring and Sprite Fright. The first treats the woods as a place to approach with care. The second takes its noisy campers into horror territory, with bloody consequences. For a lighter pairing, swap the horror short for Wing It!. You can keep your choices together using the bookmark on each film.