Watch: Spending to Exist in Hand-Drawn Animated ‘Five Cents’ Short

Watch: Spending to Exist in Hand-Drawn Animated ‘Five Cents’ Short

by Alex Billington
April 13, 2023
Source: Vimeo

Spend, spend, spend, always more to spend, always more to buy. This clever hand-made animated short film titled Five Cents is a must watch for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the need to keep spending money on anything/everything all of the time. A consumer finds himself in over his head after a string of purchases gets out of control. This five minute short was made by NYC animator / artist Aaron Hughes. It was drawn by hand on thousands of market data pages from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times with ink, white-out, gouache paint, gold leaf and other materials. So cool. I wish there was more that the lil’ guy has to buy, though I certainly appreciate the big picture metaphor and the point Aaron is trying to make with this anyway. Many feel the same way he does at the end, too. Watch the short below.

Thanks to Vimeo Staff Picks for the tip on this one. Brief synopsis from Vimeo: “A consumer finds himself in over his head after a string of purchases gets out of control.” Five Cents is both written and directed by New York City-based artist / filmmaker Aaron Hughes – you can see more of his work on his Vimeo or follow him on IG @aahhhrun. It’s produced and created entirely by Aaron on his own dime (*ahem*). He animates many of his own cartoons / drawings. This film initially premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival last year, where it won the Animated Short Audience Award. It also went on to screen at the Sydney, Galway, Palm Springs, and Philadelphia Film Festivals in 2022. You can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how he made this in his IG posts. For more info on the short, visit Vimeo. To discover more shorts, click here. Thoughts?

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