Water Brain: Charming And Strange

If you only watch one short 3D animated film with Chinese and steampunk influences, make it this one.

I'll be honest with you, this doesn't have a great deal to do with gaming, or even gaming culture, but it's so charming, I felt obliged to share. Water Brain is a short animation created by Vimeo user Johann.Poo, a student at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, although that might be a pseudonym for a few people, or all the people in Guangzhou for all I know, as my Chinese is non-existent.

The plot summary for Water Brain is as follows:

"This is a story about mental pressure. In this story, the kids are constantly forced to bury themselves into their endless homework by those giant monsters behind them. The children's brains are filled with water that can be heated by tension. If a kid is overstressed, the water in their brain would boil and produce steam, which becomes the food of the greedy monsters and the energy of the whole city. Thus, those poor children repeat their lives day after day, serving as the power plant of their world, spending their childhood in tragic misery...... "

It's at once bizarre and brilliant. You can see the video here, and I whole-heartedly suggest that you do.

Source: Boing Boing

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that was utterly bizarre, & yet brilliant at the same time

It was certainly pleasing to the eye, and seemed like it would be interesting, but I don't think I got it
Ah well
Was cute looking

Wow, that was amazing. Words fail me.

Very nice, the whole snot thing really didn't sit well for some reason though.

That was one of the most amazing thigs I have seen in a long time.

Was just fantastic

I KNEW IT!

Sublime, especially the final paper plane scene.

This is bizarre yet amazing at the same time. Kudos to the person making that animation.

Well, that has to be the most beautiful film I've seen in a long time. Fantastic visuals, a touching story and a fitting (if derived) score. I've always loved the fact that independent film-makers always seem to make so much better films than the sort of thing the huge corporations churn out near-constantly.

I think the message that children need to have time to play instead of being bogged down in homework is especially poignant given that it's a Chinese film, as the massive competition for work has resulted in Chinese pupils studying almost constantly to try and stand out from their peers. It's good to know that people over there embrace the idea that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" too.

Oh, and nilcypher, don't worry that it had nothing to do with gaming. If it means experiencing things like this, I for one couldn't care less what you guys write about!

I almost cried.

So homework was made to stress me out to power the city? I fucking knew it.

That was amazing in every aspect of it's existence.

BlindTom:
Very nice, the whole snot thing really didn't sit well for some reason though.

My thoughts exactly. I was just thinking "Someone get this kid a damn tissue."

It was cool, though. Like chrishandfips said, not everything has to be about gaming as long as it's cool and interesting, like this was.

Out of all the bizarre things in the video, for some reason my mind rejected the idea of a paper airplane flying up the most.

But yeah, the video has amazing animation and it's really charming. Worth the time I spent watching it, especially since Point Lookout still isn't done downloading.

That... was... beautiful... just literally awesome.

Either Johann Poo is the most subversive man in China or he is just brilliant artist. Pray he is both.

Good animation, a real pleasure to watch. Reminds me of a chinese version of The Hat Trick, ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWyzgzVhdYE ) which I would highly recommend. If theres one video everybody should be forced to watch, it should be that one.

chishandfips:
I think the message that children need to have time to play instead of being bogged down in homework is especially poignant given that it's a Chinese film, as the massive competition for work has resulted in Chinese pupils studying almost constantly to try and stand out from their peers. It's good to know that people over there embrace the idea that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" too.

I'm quite depressed to say that I didn't get the premise until your post. So congratulations.

I thought it was brilliant. The plot, the Aesop, the art... all of it was top quality stuff. I'm still yet to decide whether it beats The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello as my favourite steampunk film, but it's a prime contender. Not that there's much to compete with though.

I'm surprised no one commented on how this is exactly like China and the expectations parents, and the society, have on the kids. From the movies description:

This is a story about mental pressure.In this story,the kids are constantly forced to bury themselves into their endless homework by those giant monsters behind them.The children's brains are filled with water that can be heated by tension.If a kid is overstressed,the water in their brain would boil and produce steam,which becomes the food of the greedy monsters and the energy of the whole city.Thus,those poor children repeat their lives day after day, serving as the powerplant of their world,spending their childhood in tragic misery......

Am I the only one who caught that, or is everyone so touched by this that they can't see whats really going on in the movie?

Even at the end, after being freed, the kid is still being oppressed by the same things that oppressed him before.

Edit: Apparently not. Glad someone else caught on to it.

Fantastic little film right there, enjoyed it completely. Never would have guessed those monsters were schoolbags. Too bad not all that much changed by the end, but at least the kids had a little fun. Maybe they should repeat their little escapades again? Since thinking happy thoughts makes the monsters sick :P. Only thing that bugged me was the kid's running nose...

This short film really moved me. A real symbolic piece of how a child feels through the daily pressures that they face.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

That was good. I wonder where they got the idea from?

Wow... Just wow...

An very beautiful and moving short film.

Oooh, I didn't get that the monsters were schoolbags. Wow, that's... Amazing.

I'm glad I took the time to watch this :)

Charming.

No more jokes about the name?
Poo?
No?
I'll leave it.

But that was amazing.
The artistic style and animation were brilliant.

Awesome, but I always got annoyed because that kid wouldn't dry his nose.

iamq:
Awesome, but I always got annoyed because that kid wouldn't dry his nose.

That, and the kids' voices. It would have been better to have muted them altogether. Aside from that, it's absolutely stupendous, especially the message, when you consider the culture that the creator comes from.

Neat. I loved it.

I loved how at the end of the film they showed all the older people with those types of "burdens" that the children had as well. In total, I found it to be a very deep film and absolutely loved it. At first I thought, "Eh, interesting but rather odd". But then things started to click towards the end and I was all, "ZOMG! That's so true! Best film EVAR!". I think it's even more interesting that it came from a Chinese artist, where these sort of pressures would be more readily felt.