Ploo

Animated Short Film

½ Experimental / ¼ Mathematical

Ploo trailer:

"If it keeps starting over, it must be forever", says the white moth.
But a gentle whisper breathes in each dawn,"one day, all days will be gone".
Ploo blends attributes of vector graphics and screen display technology with the human condition.

Ploo is an internationally award-winning animated short that is currently on the festival circuit, distributed by Square Eyes.

“An unashamed visual riot, (...) a flat-down treat whichever dimension you engage with it in.“

[Malcom Turner, Co-founder LIAF]

“Jon Frickey spans an arc from our absurd, finite existence to the technological inventions that shape our sense of style, our taste, and thus our life.“

[Irina Rubina, for DOK Leipzig]

"A brilliant film."

[Petar Mitric, No Wave Films]

"I did not understand it at all.“

[Gene Frickey]

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o Credits

Voice Acting:

INVENTOR

VECTOR SHOP MAN

BLUE-HAIRED GIRL

GRANDMOTHER

Sound Design and

Original Score

Editing Consultants

Singers Jonie

Mastering

Cantonese Translation

Festival Distribution

Ann Lao

Tim Stephenson

McKenna Sawrey

Dorothy Ng

Thies Mynther, Peter Brokhøj

Thies Mynther, Revanche Sarikaja, Petra Stipetić

Jonie, Bauhinia Yong

Gavin Weiss, Roman Vehlken

Ella Shying, Bauhinia Yong

Square Eyes Films

BTW and FYI

Ploo is the result of two unrefined notions coming together to form a unified story

world.

The initial spark for Ploo came from the Vectrex, a home arcade system released by

Milton Bradley in the 1980s. While I’ve never met anyone who owned a Vectrex, I

really wanted one as a kid, from the moment I saw it in a dated Sears catalog. Its

graphics with glowing lines on a black backdrop felt like pure sci-fi.

Little did I realize that what made the Vectrex special was its vector monitor, a

now-defunct technology. Despite their simplicity, vector monitors are totally mind-

blowing (at least to me, in an admittedly super nerdy way). Because they translate

mathematical data directly into minimalistic graphics, they offer virtually unlimited

screen resolution at extremely high frame rates –> qualities unmatched even by

today’s cutting-edge technology.

The Vectrex became the inspiration for the fictional Vectorial Super Looper in Ploo.

On an unrelated note: A few years ago, I began creating GIFs for fun, sharing them

on platforms like Giphy and Reddit. I loved the limitations of the medium: GIFs

must be concise, silent, use a restricted color palette, and ideally, loop seamlessly.

However, when I tried to transform my 20 GIFs into a short film, the result fell flat.

The scenes were way too disconnected, and the film lacked a cohesive theme.

It wasn’t until I combined my constructivist, vector-animated GIF loops with the

loose concept of vector monitors that the project found its unifying, albeit esoteric,

thread. I chose one GIF — the old man endlessly trying to become wrinkle-free —

as the heart of the story. (Subsequently, I ditched most of my other GIFs.)

Ploo reflects humanity’s desire for permanence: the unbroken rhythm of life,

perpetual [economic] growth, and the dream of monumental eternity, standing

defiant like pyramids in a storm. — Yet, reality doesn’t work that way. Instead of

floating on an eternal sinus wave, we are on a downward spiral. Sorry.

Or, as the Inventor Girl’s theme song puts it, “In the end, it ends.”