When I'm Scared
2013 · 3m
Directed by Fernanda Frick
Genres: animation, coming-of-age
Tones: contemplative, tender
A young rabbit arrives at his first job interview paralyzed by fear and must find a way to get over it.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A rabbit with job-interview jitters is about as conventional as coming-of-age gets—there's nothing here that makes me say 'wait, WHAT?' Just tender animation executing a safe emotional beat that a thousand films have already nailed.
Frick demonstrates formal control in the pacing and visual restraint, situating herself within a lineage of psychological animation that values contemplation over spectacle; the 3-minute constraint becomes a curatorial choice rather than a limitation.
The genius move is the sound design—the way ambient noise becomes almost unbearably loud during the paralysis, then drops away as fear loosens its grip; that single sensory choice transforms a familiar premise into something visceral and real.
Reviews
I wanted to make a new short film with a simple story to focus on art and animation and around that time I came across Ze Frank's song, and it inspired me to do something with it.