Day 16: Logorama.

Day 16: Logorama (2009, Dir. François Alaux, Herve de Crecy, Ludovic Houplain)

I had never heard of this short film before yesterday, in fact I doubt many people had to be honest. Thank God it won this years Oscar for Best Animated Short Film which will hopefully gain it the publicity it deserves.

In many ways it seems peculiar that this short looks so beautiful and feels so engaging when you consider its setting and players; over 2,500 corporate Logos. You can’t help but play the Logo spotting game throughout this, picking out the colourful symbols and figures which does become quite fun in itself, until you realise what you’re doing. And when you do realise what it is you’re doing, the true purpose of the film prevails. It obviously seems like the aim of this film to show how much our everyday life is saturated with brand identities and associations; in modern society we literally can’t turn a corner without seeing the Starbucks Logo or that giant M, and in the end we might as well be shown as our brand, be it by Pringles, AOL Messenger or even The Jolly Green Giant!

Ronald McDonald may seem like a bit of a lazy choice for a villain in this post-Super Size Me age, but ultimately it’s a choice that works, proving its point and managing to be a pretty funny play on the character too. The real life living symbol of 21st Century consumer culture.

At times the Logo reveals and uses can be very clever too, and prove to be an interesting and amusing critique of their brand, this can be seen in the Xbox, Nickelodeon and MGM symbols that all pop up through-out the feature. The plot never tries to take over these visual gags and the overall message of the film, happily just being a fun action film/Pulp Fiction parody racing along in a blaze of gun fights and car chases. With the French creators of Logorama giving another sly wink to the Americanisation of society.

This bitter-sweet and biting short proves to be a beautiful and thought provoking one, what it may lack in subtlety it makes up for in creativity. Overall, a well deserved Oscar win for a fascinating and quirky film.

7/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1563725/

Extra: Spot the “Slurm” Futurama fans!