Echondria: Prologue

Andrew Salter has a tough line-up to follow after Desert Eagle, 5DMM and Mean Bread, but he has fared well. Echondria: Prologue introduces you to the whole story in preparation of Salter’s Echondria, due to be released later this year. There’s no doubting that there’s plenty of room for improvement, but his efforts here are more than adequate, and it was on the whole worth checking this out. There are a couple of very large flaws that Salter should bring more of his attention to, but for the most part, Echondria: Prologue is a decent appetiser. On the other side though, I was feeling a little bit disappointed. I guess I was expecting some noticeable signs of improvement by Salter since the recent release Angel, after seeing Rice’s animation skills dramatically improving in such a short space of time, but apart from the better constructed story, I could not find much to back what I was hoping for. That is, right until the end, where his timing is delightfully done.

The prologue, as is the case usually, builds up to a dramatic climax, and I am happy to say that it was very, very nicely done. The build-up in the background music and what was actually happening on-screen (I won’t say much about it here) was synched dramatically well, and all this tension was finally topped by an impressive explosion animated by Dan Martin (which itself explains how good the explosion was). The tension rose and rose, and it ended surprisingly greatly when you compare it to the rest of the film, which teeters just above average at the most, continually relying on its story to pull itself through. Okay, maybe I’m being a little harsh. After all, the voices are great and the plot itself, which so far is about an ambassador looking for a treaty to be signed when it goes horribly wrong, seems to have the making of an in-depth and thorough story with many twists along the way, is really promising.

It’s just that it is very hard to ignore the dodgy animation and scenery when at times, when there’s a long conversation between two people, you have nothing else to stare at but a randomly, literally shaking desk, so many blank, plain walls, a ceiling, a floor, and nothing else to look at. No filing cabinets, no picture frames, no fancy decorations, only the essentials. The scenery is far too basic, and it would not hurt to add a few items dotted around the room, especially when the shot is so still that you are pretty much forced to take a look at the surroundings. The story is still the most important aspect of Echondria, yes, but I don’t want to be distracted from it because of lazily done surroundings. The same goes with the animations; I don’t think I need to elaborate on it further. The same applies.

There is one more thing that I am going to bring up, which has both positive and negative points attached to it. I felt that the prologue was too short for my liking, and it could have definitely benefited from extending its runtime by another five or ten minutes. It seems more like a short preview or an extended teaser to me than a proper prologue. While I complain about this slightly though, it does hype up Echondria that little bit more, always a plus. If you’re on the lookout for another new drama after Missing, your wait is over. Echondria delivers in terms of story and, right at the end, excitement, but it unfortunately compromises the strong points with poor animation and scenery. I am going to put the flaws down to the deadline date for the 2005 Summer Film Festival, and hope that the final film Echondria will fix these. It is a great platform, albeit short, for this epic story, and, with the potential Salter is showing, you should not be surprised if he delivers before the end of the year is up.