Los Angeles – Noodle Boy, a seriously cute character advertising the local Chinese delivery place, is just hanging in his normal evening spot. He enjoys a morning coffee from a nearby poster, savoring in much the same way any coffee drinker will recognize. Then trouble strikes.
There’s no way to go further into detail without giving away the whole short film. What can I tell you? It’s a sweet and good time. The artwork is exquisite and story memorable. The more ordinary an object, like the trash bags in “Toy Story 3,” the more captivating when their textures are animated well. In the case of “Post No Bills,” I found myself staring at the artistry of how simple white paint can make us feel dread.
There isn’t a lot of time for the character development of both our heroes, and “the beautiful Miss Fortune,” as the filmmaker describes her, gets the short end. She plays the damsel in distress role but doesn’t seem to have any particular need of being saved. That didn’t sit well, but if there was another twenty or thirty minutes of adventure after what we saw? I’m game.
Filmmaker Robin Hays translates her cinematic commercial art to animation seamlessly, aided by BAFTA nominated cinematographer Trent Opaloch and Co-Director/Art Director Andy Poon. “Post No Bills” was accepted into The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, TIFF Kids International Film Festival, Edmonton International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival and the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, and won best animated short film at The Burbank International Film Festival, Holly Shorts Film Festival, the Studio City Film Festival, Sulmona International Film Festival and the Omaha Film Festival.
Follow filmmaker Robin Hays on instagram at @robin_hays
and co-director/art director Andy Poon at @andypoondesign