Shine

“Complex and of an incredibly high standard, the team certainly didn’t cut corners.”

Adam Pelling-Deeves' Shine is an experimental animated poem. It's a meaningful and playful combination of word and image which rewards repeated watches through its use of purposeful, mischievous invention.

Our experimental film category never ceases to surprise us and director Adam Pelling-Deeves short film ‘Shine’ is perfect example of this. It’s a totally unique and visually stunning piece that has meaning in it’s messages and abstract visuals that you can’t help but pay attention to.

Pelling-Deeves has a clear vision with how to take poet Darwood Grace’ captivating words and piece it together into something that feels completely tailored to the artist. The animation style works perfectly and by no means looks amateur. The paint style and sketch effect feels right for this type of film and injects character that flows with every word being said. The time spent on this must have been considerable but certainly paid off.

The camera work from Magda Kozlecka is both simple and stylised and suits the concept well. The range of angles and lighting go a long way to help the camera work keep up with the quality animations. Both blend in seamlessly and give this short film a distinct look in keeping with the captivating poem from Grace. The editing is complex and of an incredibly high standard, the team certainly didn’t cut corners with the final cut.

Darwood Grace is superb on camera and in complete control of every word spoken with a raw confidence that’s exciting to watch. The concept from Pelling-Deeves wouldn’t have worked as well had Grace not been so charismatic on screen which again adds to the success of the film.

What we have here is a team of creatives all adding their experience and creativity to make a memorable film. Give it watch…

— APEX Film Awards