Welcome to “Your Weekly Short,” a LakeFrontRow.com feature that showcases one short from a Wisconsin filmmaker each week, every week. Brace thy face.
What happens when civilization brushes up against Mother Nature? The vibrant animation in Emma Petersen’s “Under the Sun” hint at a bit of a mixed bag. As the short springs to life with a jaunty piano tune (and animated keys to boot), chalked hash marks depict the rise of a city. When those same etched-in skyscrapers and high rises come tumbling down, nature prevails.
Petersen’s “throughline” is a kind of eternal confirmation of nature’s enduring inevitability, just as a seeding dandelion bounces wherever the wind takes it. While flowers may wither and decay, new life sprouts from the old, and trees and shrubs begin to overtake graveyards, and eventually, the ruined cityscape.
The music is lively and driving, with a recurring line that feels upbeat and occasionally at odds with the immolation and death at hand. Mechanical enough in its drumming to have been composed via Garagband, the chalkboard animations in Petersen’s film give her timelines and stakes a earthy, hands-on feel. Seems about right.