In writer-director Steve Balderson’s A.I. animated short, The Last Emerald, a lone treasure hunter wanders through a busy Persian street market. The man steps into a jewelry shop where he spies an impressive diamond-studded brooch. But that’s not why he’s there. The hunter wants to sell a rather large emerald. The shop owner tells the treasure hunter there is no doubt that the emerald is valuable, but he only sells diamonds because his customers want them.
The hunter then enters another shop. The owner here is slightly more interested in the emerald, but the stone is too large. None of his customers would buy such a large gem. He dejectedly walks away to his empty room with nothing to his name except a large, priceless gem that he cannot sell.
“The hunter wants to sell a rather large emerald.”
The Last Emerald plays like a fable from long ago, though I can’t seem to find a tale like this. Aesop’s The C**k and the Jewel is the closest I have come. The main theme echoes “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” The hunter finds himself with a valuable gem that he can’t sell, so he’s tempted to take measures to make it sellable, but at what price?
As for the film itself, Steve Balderson tells his A.I.-generated story in a more manageable way than in his previous film. He maintains netter visual consistency across character designs and environments. There is no degradation of design, and the street market setting is beautiful. I interviewed Balderson for Brainstare, and we discussed how he accomplished it. Seeing how is a must-watch unto itself.
The only thing still lagging behind is the acting, which is still very… artificial intelligence. The line reads don’t quite land with human rhythm — the little natural shifts in tone, timing, and emphasis aren’t fully there yet. But as a 7-minute short story told with strong visuals, The Last Emerald does the job and rivals many human-made animated films I’ve seen.
For more information, visit the The Last Emerald official website.
"…rivals many human-made animated films I've seen."
