Ninjas have been done to death, but stop-motion ninjas engaged in brutal combat? Now that’s a neat twist.
Created by amateur animator Olivier Trudeau, this clip (succinctly dubbed Ninja, features all the fluidity and destructive grace of the finest ninja battles captured on film or in videogames. The fact that it’s all done in stop-motion makes that feat very impressive.
My only question, after having watched this short, is why does it exist? Is Trudeau a student compiling a portfolio? Is he attempting to impress a prospective employer? Or does he simply spend his days as a rogue animator, blowing minds on the regular in an effort to make live-action films look silly by comparison?
I’m kinda hoping it’s that last one. Being a connoisseur of fine, independent stop-motion productions, I love to see the fluidity and grace these animators can achieve without the aid of Hollywood cash. If anything, it leaves a wide open question mark as to what they might accomplish with proper studio backing.
Alternately, it leaves me craving a game animated entirely in this style. Yes, that’s been done before — Skullmonkeys anyone? — but as far as I know, no one has ever created a real, flashy, stop-motion, interactive action title.
If Trudeau could master proper breast physics, I bet Itagaki would be all over that.
