Dissonance: Fantasy Seems Like The Only Real Thing
Short-film
What happens when reality feels like a dream and fantasy takes over your actual world? Genius pianist gives you a glimpse into his revolving life.
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What?
A live-action - animation hybrid, Till Nowak's Dissonance tells you the story of a crazed, yet a brilliant pianist whose world is literally running in circles. Due to a rare dissonance (that sounds like a myth itself), in the mind of this music wizard is a spherical world where he plays a tube-like piano in an empty concert hall. A doll that resembles an outer-space species, buildings upside down and outside the building, the edge of the world - his mind is in a constant loop. But we see this illusion through animation until the audience and the pianist, both are hit with reality. It's through this, we understand that the pianist has a life outside of the concert hall, a daughter he wants to play for, a wife and the hard truth that he may not be everything he thought he was. Till Nowak does a fantastic job at blending the two worlds.
Why Watch?
The hybrid: Live-action and animation very rarely compliment each other, moreover, it often looks forced. But in Dissonance, the use of both genres not only facilitates the narrative of the story, but together they make way for a fresh take on visual storytelling.
The limbo: Humans are always battling between what's real, what's not. The degrees to which the battles are fought vary, but the ideologies are almost consistent. Escapism seems to solve a lot of problems for many and for some it becomes their entire world-view. The plot of the movie beautifully outlines this constant dissonance.
The issue of mental illness: The short does a brilliant job at making what goes on in a mentally ill person's mind tangible. We often sympathize with people who are suffering from a disorder, but the movie urges empathy. It attempts to show you visually what their thought process is like.
Watch it on Vimeo.
