The Employment is a short film written by Argentine artist Patricio Plaza and directed by Santiago Grasso that provides a strong message on work, alienation and how each of us takes part in a system in which people exploit other people, helping an unfair system continue functioning.
Boraq Hamim’s art news site , Patricio Plaza is the author of the short animation (El Empleo) The Employment, who has had a relatively long experience in the field of animation. He has been in Opusbou studio animations as a sound engineer and writer, and in some animation works as an animator alongside Santiago Bo Grasso.
The highlight of the short lies of course in its acid humor, and how it creatively replaces objects with human beings that are being used as such. To transmit a sense of alienation slow visual rhythm and audio pace are used (except for the street scene), together with de-saturated colors, expressionless characters with black eyes (many of the characters remain static) and monotonous background ambient sound.
The authors decided to provide a nice element of hope after the critical social commentary, which can be found at the end of the short, right after the credits.
Santiago Bo Grasso
Santiago Bo Grasso (1979, Argentina) studied design in visual communication. He is an illustrator, animator and independent filmmaker. His independent short film animations have participated in many festivals and received more than a hundred international awards. The Employment (2008) was his biggest success and he lives and works in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
The theme of this short film is systemic life. Today, the control of human life is in the hands of systems. Systems that are seen in different forms and in different sizes in all aspects of people’s lives. Many people think that their destiny is in their own hands, but in fact, it is these systems that determine the limits and the future. It is not meant to be a system of official bodies with full powers, but any guiding element can be a system. For example, imagine a parent who forces their child to study medicine and expect him to become a doctor in the future. In this case, the family can be a system. In larger dimensions, systems can also be the work environment or society, in order to survive, a person needs to adopt a so-called promising job regardless of his interest and forget his individual identity in order to maintain his acceptance in the society. The short animation The Employment is a black comedy review of this lifestyle.
The start of the animation coincides with the beginning of the day and the awakening of the main character. At first glance, there is nothing unusual about the room, except for his unrealistic design, but gradually the world of animation reveals its own strange characteristics. In this world, humans have become tools and others use them in their various devices. For example, the main character has different people in his house for tasks such as holding the mirror or acting as chairs and table legs. Due to the use of people and the way he gets to work, it is assumed that he was a wealthy person with a high social rank, but the ending of the work is contrary to this idea…
El Empleo is a short animation produced by Opusbou Studio and directed by Santiago Bo Grasso. This artist from Argentina, who is the founder of Opusbou studio, has the experience of being in the production team of some animations in his native country, including Nocturna, Noah’s Ark and Gisaku. Also, in addition to the short animation El Empleo, he has directed two other short animations by Opusbou studio, Hello and Padre. Patricio Plaza is the author of the short animation El Empleo, who has a relatively long experience in the field of animation. He has been in Opusbou studio animations as a sound engineer and writer, and in some animation works as an animator alongside Santiago Bo Grasso.
The short animation El Empleo is a black comedy with streaks of absurdism and surrealism
The short animation El Empleo is a black comedy and bitter humor. Perhaps the use of humans in different forms is funny at first, but after only a few seconds, it hits the audience so hard that it is not forgotten by the end of the work and affects the soul for a long time. This animation is an absurd work where the concepts of this school can be seen everywhere. These concepts are so numerous and clear that it is as if we are watching an animated adaptation of one of Samuel Beckett’s works like Waiting for Godot. At the same time, streaks of surrealism can also be seen in the animation, which serves to create atmosphere and the humorous aspect of the work. The type of narration, from the form of the beginning to the way of ending, is completely in accordance with the principles of the theater of the absurd. The creators have well known and understood the purpose of art. Art is not a classroom and an artist is not a teacher. Therefore, instead of dictating, it is necessary to display only the truths with indirect methods and with creativity, leaving the impression of the work on the audience. The short animation The Employment (El Empleo) takes such an approach and ends at the most unexpected moment. The end of the work is often mentioned because the world of the work, no matter how strange, becomes normal after a few minutes, but it is the ending that upsets all the equations. As a result, the importance of the last seconds is much more than the middle and about the first minute of the work.
The animation short The Employment moves with a slow rhythm and maintains it till the end. Due to this feature, the audience is allowed to get acquainted with the various uses of humans and have enough opportunity to analyze them. As much as this animation is a distinctive work in terms of atmosphere and story, the design style of the animation is unique and beautiful. The backgrounds of the animation’s many locations, which include a wide variety of locations from the main character’s home, city streets, and the workplace, appear to be hand-drawn and detailed in design and shading. But unlike the environments, the digital mode is used in the design of the characters, and their animation is simple and flawless. Most of the time, the camera is still, and in the sequences with the moving camera, the slow rhythm of the effect is observed again.
There is no emotion on the faces of the characters in the animated short The Employment
The short animation El Empleo is free of any dialogue and the visual language of the work as the main element of the narrative has fulfilled its task so well that the lack of words is not felt at all. But the difference between this animation and other similar works is the absence of music. The lack of use of music can be considered a metaphor for the world without excitement and joy of animation. Music alone can enliven the boring life of the characters in the work, which is definitely in contrast with the drawn world. The short animation El Empleo is not in the category of silent animations and the sound effects are perfect. Every action and event in the world of animation has a sound. Among the sound effects of the work, we can mention the sound of the wind in the street, the elevator at work and the footsteps of the main character. The faces of the animation characters are soulless and there is no change in them.
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