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Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Fisheatduck (talk) 01:12, 4 December 2025 (UTC)
| Tidy Monster | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tim Marchant |
| Written by | Tim Marchant |
| Based on | Poem by Tim Marchant's father, Pete Marchant |
| Produced by | University of Hertfordshire |
| Starring | Ben Williams |
| Edited by | Tim Marchant |
| Music by | Tom Player |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 minutes 2 seconds |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Tidy Monster is a 2008 British computer-animated short film written and directed by Tim Marchant. The film is set entirely in a small, sparsely furnished room, where an unseen narrator describes his attempts to keep his surroundings under control as the space becomes increasingly disordered. A strange creature appears and begins obsessively tidying the environment. Produced with a minimalist CGI style, the short has been noted for its depiction of confinement and compulsion.[1]
Plot
[edit]The film is set in a small, sparsely furnished room. From a fixed camera position, the audience sees only this confined space while an unseen narrator (voiced by Ben Williams) speaks in voiceover. He describes his efforts to keep his surroundings under control and hints at an underlying sense of unease.
As the monologue progresses, the room undergoes subtle changes, with objects inexplicably shifting position. The obsessive tidying intensifies, contrasting with the narrator's voice, which gradually succumbs to exhaustion.
Production
[edit]Tidy Monster was produced between late 2006 and 2008 as Tim Marchant's final-year project on the 3D animation course at the University of Hertfordshire. The film's script was developed from a poem by his father, Pete Marchant.
The short was modelled and animated in Autodesk 3ds Max and rendered using the Mental Ray engine. Textures were painted in Adobe Photoshop, and composited in Adobe After Effects. Because of the limited runtime, the production emphasised sound design; Williams's voiceover was recorded as a continuous monologue, with sound designer Tom Player building layers of room tone and cleaning noises around it. An unfinished version of the film was submitted for assessment in 2007, while the final completed cut was finished the following year.
Release and reception
[edit]A preliminary version of Tidy Monster was shown at the University of Hertfordshire's Film Day in 2007, where it was awarded the event's Grand Prix.[1] The final completed version premiered at the Dresden International Short Film Festival in April 2008.[2]
Following its premiere, the film screened in Seattle at the Rawstock Film Festival in July 2009.[3] It was discussed in a Tor.com feature on "Saturday Morning Cartoons" regarding horror animation.[4]
The Webomator blog described Tidy Monster as a highly unusual and moody short, singling out the narration and audio work as key contributors to its impact.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Schenck, Bradley W. (11 September 2007). ""Tidy Monster" computer animated short film by Tim Marchant". Webomator. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ 20th Filmfest Dresden Programme Booklet (Report) (in German). Dresden, Germany: Filmfest Dresden. April 2008.
- ^ "RAWSTOCK Summer Film Festival Hits Seattle 7/24". Broadway World. 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ "Saturday Morning Cartoons: Fish Heads Fugue and Tidy Monster". Tor.com. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
External links
[edit]- Tidy Monster at IMDb
- Tidy Monster on YouTube (Original Upload)
- Tidy Monster on YouTube (2007 Student Version)
Category:British animated short films Category:British student films Category:2008 animated short films Category:British computer-animated films Category:University of Hertfordshire