Wind

Wind is a short film comedy by German animator and illustrator Robert Löbel that shows characters adapted to an extremely windy environment. A series of vignettes are presented with sparse, minimalist staging, in which situations are recreated in an open landscape, though the situations themselves have been taken from an urban environment.

Employing a stylized aesthetic, the various vignettes are presented using a mostly descriptive camera, with a focus on portraying the situations of adaptation rather than the characters. Although most of the situations show how people have adapted to the wind, a number of minor conflicts with the environment remain. Transitions from one situation to the next are usually handled by presenting the next character within the frame.

The highly creative sense of humor, which for moments becomes quite stark, is what makes Wind work so well. The introduction of a conspiracy theory towards the end adds a great element of surprise and brings the script to a new level, providing social commentary and giving multiple possible interpretations to the film.

Wind was Robert Löbel’s graduation project at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences’ Department Design.