Going Equipped directed by Peter Lord was one of five interview animated shorts commissioned by Channel 4 as part of the Lip Synch series by Aardman Animations (The others being Creature Comforts, Ident, Next and War Story), the short focuses on a young man in prison as he is interviewed (By British author Derek Robinson) about his life, how he got into prison and what it is actually like doing time in there.
For those that are only familiar with Aardman's more children friendly works, this early piece might come as a bit of a surprise to them (Myself included), especially when considering how realistically animated everything is (While also successfully preventing such a realistically made character model from looking too creepy which I think tends to happen in other stop motion works). The little gestures he makes are just so realistically done, that seeing a plasticine model instead of the real person speak somehow makes it all the more interesting for the audience (If not poignant).
Aside from the incredibly well animated character, the overall cinematography effectively magnifies the deepness of the interviewee's words, without having to resort to the addition of extra characters (Even when he is talking about his family and his prison mates), there are a few shots of different settings to better present the description of the young man's life before and during prison life (Which both appear really bleak to be honest), and the different camera angles really adds to the overall atmosphere.
Sometimes, an animated adaptation of a documentary might prove to be more effective than a live one when it comes to catching the attention of the audience. There is also definitely that allowance in creating a stronger atmosphere than what is already present.
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