Rob Munday

When it comes to universal, relatable experiences there aren’t many that cross the gulfs of race, class and gender, but young love feels like something the majority of us would have experienced. That puppy-dog infatuation where your body feels like it will explode with all the new emotions and feelings suddenly rushing through it is a feeling you’ll never forget. Bottling this experience, so we can all enjoy it once more, is four-minute animation SLICE from Yoann Roussin and Ylang Lebot (aka PULPE).

The story of how a young boy decides to confront his best friend after an arousing dream stirs up some intense feelings, SLICE is an energetic animated short delivered in a comic book style. Employing split-screen and mobile phone overlays (complete with an authentic cracked screen), the film’s brief run-time places its viewers in the overworked headspace of its young protagonist as he sweats over whether to reveal all to his closest friend.

An example of the clever use of frames – a recurring theme in Slice

Driven by a spirited soundtrack, also created by Roussin, the music combines with some inspired editing decisions to make the film an utter joy to watch. The programmer in me, debated over whether the story here was original enough or did enough in just four minutes to be “worthy” of a feature on S/W, but ultimately I’ve rewatched SLICE another five or six times since that initial viewing and I enjoy it more and more each time (always the sign of a great short). It’s certainly infectious viewing and I’m already eager for more work from Roussin and Lebot.

Created as part of an artist residency at the BOBBYPILLS studio, SLICE was initially brought to our attention by one of the internet’s most consistent sources of new and exciting animation, Catsuka. It appears that Roussin and Lebot are currently students at Ecole L’Atelier School in Angoulême, you can view more of their work on that Catsuka link in the previous sentence or jump directly into their YouTube channel on the link below.