Autobótika co-produced this 2D rotoscope animated short film that explores the power and possibility of changing the way to look at the world.

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Co-produced by: HIERROanimación and Autobótika con el apoyo del Fondo para el Desarrollo Cinematográfico de Colombia

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Animated short film
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Technique: 2D Rotoscope
Target: +12

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“Lentes” is a 2D rotoscope animated film created and directed by Carlos Smith and co-produced by Autobótika and HierroAnimación. In addition to co-producing, Autobótika was also in charge of line production, art direction, post production, and composition.

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The short film explores the life of X, a solitary creature of habit. X stumbles across a case of optometrist’s lenses at a flea market. Somehow, these lenses are able to change the way he sees the world. At first he is terrified, looking through the lenses transform people and buildings into horrific, and often cannibalistic, creatures. Curiosity soon gets the best of him, and X becomes fascinated by his new view on life. 

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Lentes is a project that has been a long time in the making, with production beginning as far back as 1999. Carlos and his team picked up the project off and on again throughout the 2000s, but different circumstances always kept them from finishing it, creating a reputation of being cursed. It wasn’t until 2016 that the curse was broken when Lola Barreto (producer) and Carlos Smith (director) pitched the project together and received a grant from the FDC.

 

This grant was crucial for the culmination of this project. For several years the short film existed entirely on 7,000 illustrated sheets of paper. With this funding, Autobótika was able to digitally process all the drawings,  animate the new shots and finish the production. To achieve this, the team scanned, cut up,  cleaned and re-composed each individual frame to finish the story.