The backstory behind Pat Smith’s experimental film “Candy Shop” and its companion film “Gun Shop” is striking and somewhat sad; Both films started on a somber note when Smith uncovered 5 guns and a variety of medication in the process of cleaning out his parents’ home after his mother passed away and his father was institutionalized with dementia. As part of his grieving process he thought he would document them in an unconventional way. He captured these items and created a loop to see how it would play as an animated test. The result was so interesting that he decided to develop not one, but two 2.5-minute animated films. Inspired by filmmakers like Paul Bush, Norman McLaren and Jan Svankmajer, Patrick Smith follows a similar approach capturing one picture for each frame. – animationscoop.com
Smith uses rapid frame by frame juxtapositions of candy and drugs to create a mesmerizing effect achieved by shooting an object per frame, 24 frames per second in a stop motion manner. Nearly 3,000 prescription drugs were filmed for Candy Shop in this simple but effective lampooning of modern pharmaceutical use.