Stand Up
2016 · 7m
Directed by Joseph Pierce
Genres: animation, experimental
Tones: theatrical, whimsical
A rotoscoped animated short in the vein of Bill Plympton and Linklater, marking the early work of a blossoming animation career.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Rotoscope-over-live-action feels like the safe move in 2016 animation—Linklater already proved it works, so Pierce just inherits the permission structure without asking his own weird questions.
Pierce's early command of the rotoscope form situates him squarely in a lineage of frame-by-frame portraiture (Plympton, Linklater, Blasband), and the theatrical whimsy suggests he understands the genre's tonal register with unusual maturity for a debut.
The decision to keep the rotoscope loose and gestural—letting the human movement breathe through the animation rather than over-render it—is what makes this feel less like an imitation and more like discovering your own voice inside the form.
Reviews
What Pierce did with his graduation film was create a sparkling, eye-catching calling card for himself, and with the groundwork laid in Stand Up, we are destined to hear more from this talented artist in the near future.