Animated short film PILE uses an infinitely upwards scrolling technique while it investigates the human condition. According to creator Toberg (aka Toby Auberg), the single shot covers the direction of history, economic stratification, the hierarchy of needs, infrastructure, and enforces the theme. The viewer goes through time and technology, climbing from sea level and the rural farm through the industrial revolution towards robotics. You move from hard work to pure consumerism until reality becomes fully abstracted.
The film screened at many film festivals, and won a jury award at the Annecy. Toby started developing it in late 2018 and the original ideas changed a lot during production. He says that something he struggled with before making the film was that he’d initiate huge projects and abandon them. Therefore, he advises aspiring filmmakers to start a bunch of small scale projects, then finish them in one form or another.
For the ads that appear in the background, they’re fictional grotesque versions of the brands we get shoved in our face daily. Some of them are actual ads Toby’s made for clients in the past. Nothing goes to waste here.
