Interactive Arts and Media Associate Professor K-J Mathieson's animated short Corky was the winner of the Best Animated Film award at the ninth annual SOHO International Film Festival (SIFF). Mathieson produced, animated, and wrote Corky alongside director Ty Primosch. The short also features an original score composed by Music Composition alum Tyler Durham MFA ’17. Outside of its Best Animated Film SIFF title, Corky has been an official selection at more than 50 national and international film festivals since its October 2017 release date.

Corky offers the story of acceptance and gratitude through a corkscrew’s interaction with seven lightning bugs trapped in a giant glass bottle. Mathieson notes that “Corky’s world is grounded in reality, but is also a place where the unexpected can happen. It’s a very still place, but alive with kinetic movement: the turning knob, bouncing corks, dripping faucet, ticking clock, bursting cuckoo, flipping light switch, turning stove knob, steaming kettle, breaking window, and launching mousetrap. The set is a stage with the audience peering directly into a world we have created.” The six-minute animation took six years to complete, and while every portion of it was developed on a computer, the short works to capture imperfections in object, sound, and surface to create an authentic, magical storytelling experience.

Though Mathieson’s animation is still in circuit, the trailer for Corky can be found here.

• Faculty
• Interactive Arts and Media

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