Thunder

**DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE EPILEPSY / SENSITIVITY TO BRIGHT FLASHING LIGHTS** TL;DR: Experimental short about Itou's standard themes, space and movement. Key players are an medium sized, unfurnished office building, electric discharge style visual overlays, and the overlay of a women's head and her hands. The visuals create a mix of unsettling and curious emotions in me. Story: The camera moves trough an unfurnished office building, with a short excursion to the outside, in relative darkness. The movement is smooth, not jumpy with some scene changing cuts. Overlayed are three visual effect. First, the face of a gesturing woman and her hands. The main gestureis to cover her eyes. Second, electric discharge / flash style bright lines and shapes. Third, random light sources of different colors, mainly spots. The camera moves trough this for four minutes and ends on the still of the woman, of which now the full upper body half shown. 3/10 Animation: Parts of the short relies on cutting and camera position, not on animation. The light and line effects and the floating face in 1982 probably counted as animation, as CGI as such was not yet widely known and used. On the technical level everything is well executed for it's time, even for 2019 it's not bad. It still is something any video semi-pro can do today, maybe less artistically. 4/10 Sound: Mid-tempo ambient electronic music which changes over time, but not much. It supports the visuals pretty well and creates a mood I would describe as a mix of unsettling, warm, and curious. Thought was put into the sound department, so I can give a 5/10. Character: The main "characters" are the building, the movement, and the visual overlays. Unlike in other Itou shorts, there is a less clear focus on space and movement. The effects steal the show here. 2/10 Enjoyment: It's still an experimental short, do not expect to be entertained. However, the visuals and ambient music creates an almost cozy feeling, so watching is no pain. It isn't thought provoking either. 4/10 Overall: (3+4+5+2+4)/5=3.6, rounded to 4.

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