In Paris Baillie’s animated short, Humantis, nature evolves, adapts, and persists. The story is about the titular creature Humantis. A master of disguise, it lives in the forest and looks like a white orchid to attract its prey. The creatures are beautiful and move in dancelike patterns as a pack.
On this day, one of these creatures discovers a green patch on its body. It won’t go away. It tries using a white petal from another plant as cover, but the discoloration begins to spread. When the other humantises start to dance again, our protagonist cannot hide its spots.
“…tries using a white petal…but the discoloration begins to spread…”
Humantis is a beautiful stop-motion short set in a forest full of trees, moss, vines, and flowers. Filmmaker Baillie creates a gorgeous and vibrant world full of life using traditional techniques to bring her characters to life and a motion-control camera to guide us magically through the forest interior.
With no dialogue, human body language does all the speaking necessary to tell a heartfelt and emotional story from a creature without a face. Baillie not only animated the creatures but also their colors and textures.
Deep down, it’s a story about being able to adapt to change. Change is not something you can avoid, but it will destroy you if you refuse to go with the flow. Adapting to change makes us better people.
"…body language does all the speaking..."
