After watching all the videos, I walked away with a deeper appreciation for how personal and experimental animation can be. One animation that stood out to me was “Rejected” by Don Hertzfeldt. It was hilarious, chaotic, and even a little disturbing. But in a way that stuck with me. Th awkward silences, random gore and weird humor reminded me of the mobile game like “Dumb Ways to Die ” and the youtube channnel “ExplosmEntertainment” as well as the animated series “Happy Tree Friends”. I liked how it didn’t take itself too seriously but still said something about media and madness.

Another favorite was “Logorama”, where all the characters were mostly known brand mascots. Seeing Ronald McDonald as a villain and the Michelin men as cops was both funny and unsettling. It was such a clever take on consumerism and how brands dominate our lives. The oil explosion at the end was quite eye opening in the sense like that was a literal collapse of capitalism.

“BEAUTY” by Rino Stefano was the complete opposite in tone. It was calming, gorgeous, and poetic. Watching art come to life with minimal motion felt like a whole meditation session. It made me think about how animation doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful.

Lastly, the Brooklyn Subway Zoetrope blew my mind because I’ve actually passed by it as a child and never realized it was animation. Seeing something familiar in a new way made me think about how animation is everywhere in real life not just in cartoons. I will be sure to look out for that again.