The Mysterious Geographical Explorations of Jasper Morello

This is INCREDIBLE .... 

I just cannot get my head around the techniques used in this.. it's beautiful, a combination of traditional silhouette animation - reflecting the style of Lottie Reiniger  - and a CGI 3-dimensional environment. It manages to be very simplistic, yet layered to become a vast and complex world of machinery and bizarre places.

The animation has received a massive selection of awards, which isn't surprising, inspired by the work of authors Edgar Alan Poe and Jules Verne, here's a brief synopsis: 

"In the frontier city of Carpathia, Jasper Morello discovers that his former adversary Doctor Claude Belgon has returned from the grave. When Claude reveals that he knows the location of the ancient city of Alto Mea where the secrets of life have been discovered, Jasper cannot resist the temptation to bring his own dead wife Amelia back. But they are captured by Armand Forgette, leader of the radical Horizontalist anti-technology movement, who is determined to reanimate his terrorist father Vasco. As lightning energises the arcane machineries of life in the floating castle of Alto Mea, Jasper must choose between having his beloved restored or seeing the government of Gothia destroyed. Set in a world of iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, this gothic horror mystery tells the story of Jasper Morello, a disgraced aerial navigator who flees his Plague-ridden home on a desperate voyage to redeem himself."

The essence of the animation, the scenery, the atmosphere; it's all in sync and wraps you up in it's Gothika world. The sound effects, the timing of the sound effects, the soundtrack and all the little audio bits and pieces are just beautiful. I'm just overwhelmed by this piece!
I think the silhouetted characters show the importance of shape as well; they are recognisable even though they have no features or visual characteristics other than their black outline, (with the exception of the Doctor's glasses and the odd detail of a jacket button).


Check out more about Jasper Morello here --> http://www.jaspermorello.com/gazette/