In this animated short film called Francis, a young man tells us about his memories of a camping trip. As he grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, he’d often go camping in the Quetico Provincial Park, up on the border of Minnesota and Canada. However, he won’t be going back there any time soon, not after what happened there to Francis Brandywine. Francis was adventurous, and liked to go out by herself, at night. She went out on the lake and felt utterly peaceful, until….

Watch the short film below and find out what happened to Francis – it’s just a little over 7 minutes – enjoy!

Watching Francis is like listening to an audiobook. In a sense, it is, as the animation was created to guide the story. The story for Francis came about when American radio show “This American Life” asked six writers to create an Adventure short story. One of these writers novelist and screenwriter Dave Eggers. The story was read on the radio and was received very well. Director Richard Hickey and his team of over forty people worked hard to turn the short story into a short film, and after completion it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and Raindance.

The story gripped me immediately. The format is quite unusual: the narrator (Cameron Kelly) does all the storytelling: the animation is there purely as a guide. You have to listen more than you have to watch, though the animation is stunning in its own. Especially the lighting is beautiful; its sources being mostly a small gas lamp, the stars and the Aurora Borealis, all there to give the animation a more mysterious, mythical feel. I enjoyed the darkness and mystery of the story, and the ending is haunting, to say the least. What do you think was hiding in the lake?

What do you think of Francis? Enjoyable watch, or a bit far-fetched?