'Forest Folk' is a surreal romp through nature and industry.

This 11-minute animated collage evolved from fairy-tale verse and digital experimentation.

The work-in-progress has toured the country once, in April 2011, screening both formally and casually in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.

Links below take you to development sketches and a short trailer. Here are a few screen-shots:

The animation technique relies on a combination of photo-collage, video-editing and HD screen-filming.

The resulting process is dubbed Photo-composting, as in the breakdown or decomposition of visual elements.

Stylistically, it is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's stop-motion work, allowing playful use of scale and changing the context of visual elements

to suit the mood of the scene. All visuals are photographed, scanned or generated by Martin Krykorka.

Assuming some environmental consciousness on the part of the audience, the story begins with a violent intrusion into the habitat of four quirky animals.

Their dispersal and flight from danger takes the characters through increasingly alienating environments.

This transition from organic to industrial and eventually urban landscapes illustrates the ravenous depletion of resources from over-extraction,

and the widespread effects. The animals begin to re-group after their arrival in the city, and to find urban allies in similar situations.

As a group, they use their individual skills to reverse-engineer their over-built and alienating world.

From huge piles of spare parts, they cleverly re-construct a community more harmonious with nature.

Production is currently on hold due to financial shortfalls and budgetary cut-backs.

The finished version will flesh-out the story maintaining an emphasis on presenting the negative impacts of resource extraction,

building upon works such as Dr. Seuss' classic environmental fable The Lorax and Osamu Tezuka's The Legend of the Forest.

It is hoped that the film will offer an interesting visualization of industrial capitalism, land use, urban sprawl, habitat loss,

surveillance culture, personal freedom and environmental justice.

see the trailers

TRAILER