Stop motion meets Zoom in a world-first by The Panics for Playgrounds Festival

That was the virtual solution dreamt up by Dutch director Erwin van den IJssel at the film production company, The Panics who created a 40 second short for Playgrounds, featuring himself and the rest of the team in the comfort of their own homes.

He got the idea from the agency's entire team working remotely and communicating all day via Zoom, Slack, Skype and other similar platforms. "I wanted to create something that highlights this process rather than hides it," Erwin tells us. "An ode to working from home, together. The result is something that I hope adds a bit of light to these confusing times we're in."

With 962 pages, 3,848 edges cut, 22 participants, eight ink cartridges, and three paper cuts, this project was undoubtedly a mix of concept, craft and technology, setting the tone for Playgrounds' first online festival. He adds: "Creating the titles this way not only felt fitting for the times but was also vital in following lockdown guidelines. It proved a lot of fun for all of us at The Panics to work on!"