An Unwitting Consumer Finds Himself Out of His Depth in the Stop-Motion Animation ‘Five Cents’

 

Stumbling upon a coin purse, a lone consumer finds himself in possession of a bit of extra change in the stop-motion animation “Five Cents.” Aaron Hughes created the film by using thousands of market analysis pages from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times, on top of which he applied layers of ink, Wite-Out, gold leaf, and gouache. A symbolic and witty criticism of capitalist society and how economic mechanisms like inflation impact the everyday cost of living, Hughes’ solitary character purchases essentials like glasses and an umbrella before being hoodwinked into unnecessary purchases.

“Five Cents” won the 2022 South by Southwest Animated Short Audience Award, and you can see more of Hughes’ work on Vimeo.