Yuval Haker – Covid Loop

Another film I discovered at the Factual Animation Film Festival was Yuval Haker’s 2020 animated short film called Covid Loop. One could argue it stretches the idea of a traditional definition of documentary, but at this current time, it’s obvious its documents the global pandemic we’re still facing at this time.

Having recently been reading into Furniss’ book The Animation Bible, this is one of the first documentaries I’ve come across that has a “cyclical” nature to the story. Furniss defines this as when the story “returns to the point of origin”, an endless loop to the beginning where progress isn’t maintained (P.41). This very nature works well for a subject matter like COVID, where it often felt like we were experiencing the same things over and over again – lockdowns, government response times etc.

I think what immediately caught my attention was the storyboarding and general presentation of the film. Haker specifically storyboarded using a comic strip layout, built on boxes and borders that feel very fitting to the context of lockdown. It’s particular fun to see characters step out of each box into another, a seamless, more obvious approach of traditional storyboarding where characters can be introduced behind another character already present in shot. It makes for a cohesive, yet dynamic sequence that shows the passage of COVID through these characters.

On the subject of COVID’s journey in this short loop, the colour design feels really strong. This ugly, cold, disgusting shade of green covers each character, almost filling up like paint (since we can’t physically see what COVID looks like). This is complemented by the rather clinical colour scheme of pale yellow and cold hues of blue, and juxtaposes the warm skin colours that this cold green overtakes. It almost feels like life is draining out of them, complete with bubbles and water physics that show the bacteria passing through. Haker has taken great care in representing the effect of COVID.

But we mustn’t forget the sound design. Haker has opted to use a music track which is full of life, that builds the sound effects to convey life. It starts off cheery, people saying hello and getting on with life. But as COVID gradually progresses, and we see an elderly man pass away, we hear the heart beat fade away with the song. Again, it contributes to this idea of life gradually draining away as a result of this pandemic, a very real representation of the pandemic.

Haker’s COVID loop appealed to me because it takes such a prevailing story in our lives and translates it into a simplified film universally understood. One might argue if it even is a documentary: it’s only a couple of seconds long and there’s no audible testimony. Yet through an effective storyboard, simple but bold colour designs and strong audio design, we can follow a narrative that goes round in a circle.

Furniss, M. (2008) The Animation Bible: A Guide to Everything – From Flipbooks to Flash, Laurence King Publishing