The Windmill Farmer

Sometimes things seem to conspire against you, no matter what you do.  If that is the case then perhaps you can take some heart from this charming animated short film by Joaquin Baldwin.  It is the story of a windmill farmer who carefully prepares his land, plants the seeds and nurtures his new crop.  Yet nature has a sly trick up her sleeve for the farmer.

The short movie was created at the UCLA Animation Workshop. The music (and I am sure you are wondering) is by Nick Fevola.  Like many great ideas, it grew from a small seed.  Baldwin was travelling back from Palm Springs when his partner mentioned that it must have taken them a great deal of time to plant and grow so many windmills.  Something said with ironic humor led to first the title of the piece which was then developed twelve years later in to a storyline and character.

Overall the film took sixteen weeks to put together from primary boards to the final mix.  It comes together beautifully as a heartwarming piece of animation which chooses to tell a simply story simply.  I particularly like the use of silhouette which suits the mood and story very nicely. 

You can see more animated short by Joaquin Baldwin on his Vimeo page or his website.