Film still from stop film animation short Madame Tutli-Putli

This stop-motion short story animation stopped me in my tracks (no pun intended, you’ll see what I mean). Madame Tutli-Putli, while indeed a bit  strange, plays on the darker side of the inner psychy making this animated short most curious and truthful.  There is something quite inspiring and strong about certain films like these that I do happen to come across, where actions speak louder than words, the same as a piece of writing should.

I stress that last part, “where actions speak louder than words, the same as a piece of writing should.”  They do, and it should.  Time and again writers tend to tattle tale a bit too much, leaving no room for interpretation, no room for interaction, no room for losing oneself. 

By enjoying oneself in the museful arts that are wordless, one can truly discover what it is to be spot on when it comes to bringing the senses to life, to bring the mind into that melting point where everything comes together and action, color, texture, lighting, etc., culminate into a powerful story that is as close to truth as it can come. 

The art of writing is word manipulation.  Weaving words, layering words, making them do what you, the author, want them to do.  Give them life, animate them, bring them past the reference stage and into the world of restless abandon that they so desire, that a reader so desires.  Anyone can tell you, but you fall in love with the one that can show you.  Much like I fell in love with this short story animation.

Here is the synopsis: “This stop-motion animated film takes viewers on an exhilarating existential journey into the fully imagined, tactile world of Madame Tutli-Putli. As she travels alone on the night train, weighed down with all her earthly possessions and the ghosts of her past, she faces both the kindness and menace of strangers. Finding herself caught up in a desperate metaphysical adventure, adrift between real and imagined worlds, Madame Tutli-Putli confronts her demons.”

It is so easy to be inspired by great directors such as Chris Lavis, and the team he worked with on this film.  So many of us find a muse in,  and are inspired by, art of so many kinds, whether the kind that hangs in a decadent museum, the kind that streams through our radios and i-pods, the kind that finds itself caught in the eye of an expectant camera, or the kind that is scrupulously sculpted by hand. 

Whatever your inspiration, run with it.  Let it flow from your pores and coat the blank of your notebook or the blank of your laptop.  Overly dramatic?  Perhaps not as much as you think. Let it all out.  One single image, one moment of thought, one note, one flash of colour, one texture, can be expanded into a world of your very own, whether shared with another or not. 

In each inspired moment taken into action comes a lesson, a step towards perfection, and maybe, just maybe, a gem you were fortunate enough to pass on.

At the very least, you’ve released some baggage.