How do you take 47 separate and largely unrelated vignettes, many of them no more than a few seconds in length, and turn them into a coherent movie?

That was the task facing Hungarian animator Réka Bucsi, who spent a year animating and assembling “Symphony No. 42,” an adventurous short that was shortlisted for last year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar and is now one of the finalists in TheWrap‘s ShortList Film Festival.

“I just wanted to experiment with narrative, and also to do something I loved,” said Bucsi, whose 10-minute short served as her “graduation film” when she received her masters degree from Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, Hungary. “It’s classic frame-by-frame animation, which takes a lot of time — so if you don’t have fun, that’s a problem.”

Also Read: 12 Award-Winning Shorts Chosen as ShortList 2015 Finalists, 3 New Original Category Finalists

Busci told TheWrap that her initial idea was to be experimental and to construct a film in which sound design was a key element. She drew by hand on a digital tablet, “playing around with a lot of different scenes.” Most involved animals: an elephant painting “HELP ME” in his pen in the zoo, a wolf vomiting into the toilet, a hippo surfacing out of the tile floor of a kitchen, a penguin with a pie thrown into its face, monkeys typing on computers …

“I wrote a lot and drew a lot,” she said. “And then after a while I started to see the connections between specific scenes that I liked. And I started to build a bigger and more coherent picture.”

The result, she added, had to do with “the irrational connections between human nature and animals,” but she wasn’t looking to make any specific points about the way humans interact with their environment. “Even if the viewer doesn’t see all the connections, that’s fine,” she said. “I’m more interested in feeling and atmosphere than in a character-based storyline.”

Also Read: ShortList 2015: Animated 'Bear Story' Tells Dark, Personal, Political Tale

Bucsi is now dividing her time between Hungary and Denmark, where she’s working on another animated film, “Love.”

“It’s interesting to think about doing a feature,” she said, “but for now I’m more interested in what you can do in shorts, which is to be more experimental.”

Watch the film above. Viewers can also screen the films at any time during the festival at Shortlistfilmfestival.com and vote from Aug. 4-18.

25 Must-See Movies at Tribeca Film Festival (Photos)

"The Adderall Diaries" sees a troubled writer played by James Franco throw himself into a hot murder case in an attempt to curb prescription drug addiction and get his mojo back.
Rabbitbandini Productions
Richard Gere's "Franny" tells of a wealthy eccentric who meddles in the affairs of a recently deceased friend's daughter (Dakota Fanning) and her husband (Theo James).
Big Shoes Media
"Havana Motor Club" is a lively documentary about the underground automotive scene in Havana, which thrived long after Castro banned drag racing in the 50s.
Perlmutt Productions
From executive producer Michael Strahan, "Play it Forward" is a documentary following hall-of-fame hopeful Tony Gonzalez as he finished his last year in the NFL.
Tribeca Film
A legend in New York and documentary filmmaking, Albert Maysles' posthumous "In Transit" tugs appropriate heartstrings as it follows passengers on the nation's most highly trafficked train route "The Empire Builder."
Tribeca Film
"Song of Lahore," another documentary, celebrates the brave musicians who struggled to maintain their artistry after the Islamization of Pakistan in the 1970s.
Ravi Films
"Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle" positions the seemingly benign Taser, manufactured in 1999 as a deadly weapon police apply with little to no regulation.
Tribeca Film
Leah Wolchok brings unfettered access to the instution of The New Yorker's single panel cartoons with "Very Semi-Serious."
Tribeca Film
In "A Courtship," Amy Kohn takes a sensitive lens to the conventions of a modern Christian courtship, wherein young women entrust their families to find a suitable husband in step with their faith.
Tribeca Film
Jean Finlay gives a fascinating look at a mysterious singer who sounded note-for-note like Elvis Presley, was exploited by record companies and heard by adoring fans since the 1970s in "Orion: The Man Who Would Be King."
Tribeca Film
Comic filmmaker and Internet child Patrick O’Brien documents his journey with ALS, aimed to fly in the face of the degenerative disease as well as offer a few laughs in "TransFatty Lives."
Tribeca Film
"Anesthesia" packs a major star cast in this drama about the intersecting lives of lonely New Yorkers played by Kristen Stewart, Sam Waterston, Glenn Close, Corey Stoll, Gretchen Mol and Michael K. Williams.
Hello Please
"Bleeding Heart" sees another leading lady effort from Jessica Biel, content in a yuppie clean living existence until she's burdened with taking in her troubled younger sister. The latter has a deeper effect on the former, as Biel's character's perfect world comes undone.
Super Crispy Entertainment
In a strange but sweet scenario, "Maggie" sees Arnold Schwarzenegger as a father in denial about his daughter's (Abigail Breslin) affliction: she's rapidly become a zombie thanks to an outbreak in their farming town.
Silver Reel
Equal parts comical and violent, "Mojave" reteams Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund ("Inside Llewyn Davis") on a road trip adventure with a dark bend.
Atlas Independent
"A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did" finds two living sons of Nazis convicted in the Nuremberg trials, probing at memory, legacy and the remembrances of a historical horrors.
Tribeca Film
"Prescription Thugs" sees documentarian Chris Bell dress down the giants of the American pharmaceutical companies as he previously did steroids in "Bigger Stronger Faster."
Tribeca Film
A four year lesson from Noam Chomsky on what has created profound American economic disparity is packaged in "Interests," from directors Peter Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, and Jared P. Scott.
PF Pictures
Executive producer Martin Scorsese and director Nick Sandow ("Orange Is The New Black") weave a fascinating tale of a man obsessed with mob movies (Vincent Piazza) and his wife (recent Oscar winner Patricia Arquette) as they chase drugs and money in efforts to recreate the lifestyle.
Electric Entertainment
Amber Heard and Christopher Walken make an odd and wonderful father-daughter team in "When I Live My Life Over Again," where Heard's flighty city girl heads to the Hamptons home of her dad, a former singer.
Maybach Film Productions
Famed Italian filmmaking brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani offer up "Wondrous Boccaccio," a gorgeous tale about a group that escapes the plague in Florence for an artistic retreat in the country.
Stemal Entertainment
"A Ballerina's Tale" is the hotly anticipated documentary starring Misty Copeland, the first African-American female soloist at New York’s American Ballet Theatre
Romance Productions Inc.
"Rifftrax Live: The Room" reteams Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" to skewer cult classic films. In this case, they set their sights on Tommy Wiseau's "The Room."
Tribeca Film
"Goodfellas" clearly isn't a premier title but rather a 25th anniversary screening, and what better place to roll out the Ray Liotta classic than Tribeca?
Warner Bros.
Traditional production of Saké has changed very little over the centuries. Erik Shirai’s "The Birth of Saké" offers a rare glimpse into a family-run brewery that’s been operating for over 100 years.
Tribeca Film

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From thoughtful documentaries like “A Courtship” and “In Transit” to dramas such as “Anesthesia,” see the can’t-miss premiere titles

"The Adderall Diaries" sees a troubled writer played by James Franco throw himself into a hot murder case in an attempt to curb prescription drug addiction and get his mojo back.

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