Pigeon: Impossible

Pigeon: Impossible is a short film directed by Lucas Martell about a novice secret agent who finds himself confronting a problematic pigeon. The short started as a personal project for visual artist and musician Lucas Martell in order to learn computer animation. It ended up taking 5 years to complete through which he received the help of 100 people (75 of them being musicians who performed the score composed by Christopher Reyman). But the director did most of the work, including all of the lighting, rigging and much of the character animation.

Pigeon: Impossible uses classic codes from spy films and features an external conflict between unlikely contenders for comedic effect, a rookie agent and a pigeon. The short is staged in an urban location and in mid-air, and makes interesting use of objects for unfolding the narrative. A lot of meaning and weight is placed on the donut, which is an irresistible object for the bird and triggers the initial conflict, but also keeps functioning as an element for conflict throughout the film, helping increase its intensity and creating Western-style faceoffs between the characters. The suitcase is also infused with special meaning and expressive capabilities.

Visual rhythm is high in Pigeon: Impossible, created through frequent camera moves (dollies, zooms, crash zooms, rolling cameras, shakes, dolly zoom “Vertigo effect”, etc.), motion within the frame and editing. Cameras are used a number of times for revelation effect, by pulling out and widening the shot. The film also features some playful transitions and narrative devices, such as an imitation of James Bond’s gun barrel sequence and the use of still photos.

Also of note, comedy is heightened by using self-sabotaging traits in the agent’s personality and by switching the bird’s behavior from the expected pigeon-like one to that of a human, throwing realistic narrative away and making the film much more fun.