Private Project

How to Grow Legs

The first fish finds a way to come onto land. 385 million years later, homo sapiens land on the moon, and that fish is part of the fuel launching the rocket.

  • Gillian Harrill
    Director
    Picture at an Exhibition
  • Gillian Harrill
    Writer
  • Adam Bruynesteyn
    Animators
  • Gillian Harrill
    Animators
  • Shannon O'Shea
    Narrator
  • Leo Almada-Makebish
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-fi, space, animation, stop motion, history, science
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 20, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    50 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Gillian Harrill

Gillian Harrill grew up near Phoenix, Arizona and moved to Ithaca, NY at the age of 18 to attend Cornell. Upon graduation, Gillian moved to New York City without a job or apartment to figure it out. This is when she met her now-boyfriend and co-animator who helped her make "How to Grow Legs" a reality. They sourced all the images in this film from the New York Public Library picture collection. Her main career goal is to make a living doing film somehow.

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Director Statement

I was inspired to write and direct "How to Grow Legs" after discovering the medium of stop motion collage animation. I have been a collage artist for some time, but I wanted to make the artwork move and tell a story only this medium can. The story comes from my interest in the ways the distant, prehistoric past has shaped our present in ways we might not always think about. The space age is connected to the world of the dinosaurs, and I hope this film draws attention to nonlinear time.