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The 3D movie “Got No Light?”: prehistory revisited

News . 17 Mar. 2025

With T’as pas du Feu?, the final year students in 3D Animation and Special Effects at ESMA revisit prehistory from an offbeat perspective, combining absurd humor and social criticism. This short film subtly explores mimicry and integration dynamics, oscillating between science and ephemeral trends. A daring adventure in which a tribe of cavemen find themselves facing a revolution as improbable as it is unexpected: cigarettes!

A discovery that sets things alight

At the dawn of humanity, a tribe of hunter-gatherers live a peaceful existence in their cave. Among them is Machine, a visionary inventor, who tries in vain to arouse their curiosity with her revolutionary discoveries, assisted by her faithful but clumsy sidekick, Raoul. One day, while trying to tame fire, she is met with general indifference. But everything changes when an accidental gesture by Raoul gives rise to a strange habit: smoking. Against all expectations, the invention ignites people’s minds and propels Raoul to the rank of tribal icon. Thus was born the very first smoker in history… and with him, a new social obsession.

By playing on farcical situations, this short film highlights the influence of fashions and the ridiculousness of social mimicry.

An offbeat take on trends

The creators of the film have chosen to humorously explore the way in which certain habits captivate a group and shape social dynamics. In T’as pas du Feu?, the cigarette becomes an emblem of status and belonging. Raoul, once marginalized for his clumsiness and lack of foresight, suddenly finds himself the center of attention. His rise illustrates a timeless phenomenon: the quest for acceptance and the power of mimicry over our choices and behaviors.

A powerless witness to this absurd frenzy, Machine embodies reflection in the face of the group’s blindness. A figure of intelligence and common sense, she watches with dismay as the Cro-Magnon men drift away, fascinated by a superficial fashion rather than an essential advance. With dark humor, the short film highlights the irony of progress: while Machine offers them a revolutionary tool – fire – the tribe swears by an invention as futile as it is unexpected.

An artistic achievement, executed with technical brilliance

The team opted for a semi-realistic graphic style, offering authentic skin textures while maintaining a realistic, yet stylized, grooming, inspired by the movie Astérix et le secret de la potion magique. The movie unfolds in two contrasting worlds: the interior of the cave and the steppe outside, where each environment has been meticulously crafted with carefully stylized cartoon textures.

The animation was a real challenge, especially in terms of capturing the energy and expressiveness of the characters while maintaining a fluid comic rhythm. The striking differences in the behavior of the members of the tribe, between Raoul’s clumsiness and Machine’s firmness, amplify the comic side of the film and enrich its visual dynamism.

A remarkable collective success

The making of an animated short film is a challenge that requires months of intense collective work. Axelle Chabanier, Cécilia Mérot, Clément Febvre, Enzo Pajau, Flavie Bellin, Martin Turbeaux, Mélina Safti and Paul Moulin have combined their talents to bring this ambitious project to fruition. Thanks to their ingenuity and technical expertise, they have succeeded in achieving their goal: to make people laugh without moral pretensions, while offering a subtle reflection on the influence of conformism and the emergence of trends.