"One Rat Short" is a work of love created by Charlex Films. It
began as part of the effort to grow the company's CG department
but eventually became much more than that. Originally, it was
entitled "labratz" and as the title might suggest it mimicked the
look and sensibility of worked already pioneered by other studios.
As it evolved it took on a life of its own- it became my film- or
as any director of an effort like this knows our film. We decided
not to use anthropomorphic animation. We decided it would take
place in two worlds- one so gritty, grimy and dark that the viewer
needs to peer into the screen in order to make out the images- the
other a sterile, white world so brightly lit that you feel the
need to turn your head away from the screen. It was also important
to me to keep the film looking as real as possible. One of the
techniques we used was to give a lot of the camera work a
hand-held feel and to keep it a little behind the action so that
the scenes didn't seem staged. Lastly and most importantly I kept
the story simple and tried to give it heart. One of my favorite
short films, which I saw as a child was "The Red Balloon". I think
the melancholic and innocent spirit of that film inhabits "One Rat
Short."
