The girl character that appears in the film is somewhat reminiscent of a Jiri Trnka figure in that the face is fixed in its design. The entire production is relatively spare in detail, no doubt reflecting the fact that it is not a more fully developed graduation project. Backgrounds are composed of variously shaped geometric forms. No dialogue is used; sound is limited to effects. The only color images appear at the end, as the paper object flies into a blue sky. MAYA was used for modeling, animation and lighting, while Photoshop was used for titles and Premiere for sequence assembly.

Hoffman describes her influences as including Faith Hubley and Nick Park, for their strong personal styles, as well as Piet Kroon, as one example of an independent animator who challenges viewers to “fill in the blanks and find the meaning of the story themselves.” This seems to be a goal that Hoffman is working toward, as she seems most interested in how her open-ended story is interpreted differently by each viewer. While Hoffman’s work is satisfying in its simplicity, I think Caged would have benefited from the addition of visual and thematic layering. Otherwise, a project tends to become a technical exercise without revealing much of the ‘personal style’ that Hoffman finds admirable in artists such as Hubley, Park and Kroon.

Shadowplay. © Dan Blank 2001, Danmation Pictures.

Shadowplay
Dan Blank created Shadowplay (2002) at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, as a Junior/Senior Thesis project for the Animation Production Workshop. Like the other films discussed here, digital technology was employed by Blank, but in a different way. While images were created using traditional tabletop and 2D techniques, the animation itself was recorded with a Nikon digital still camera. Adobe After Effects and Photoshop also were employed.

Shadowplay is a challenging project in more than one way. First is subject matter. The film tells the story of a boy named Akio, who is killed during the bombing of Hiroshima. The flash of the bomb seared Akio’s shadow into a wall and it is that shadow which goes around the city, searching for his family and trying to make sense of what has occurred. Few animated films have taken on this topic or any drama as emotionally-engaged; the Japanese features Barefoot Gen and Grave of the Fireflies come to mind, though of course they are on a much larger scale. The second challenge comes directly out of the first: creating compassion for a character that has no facial expression and is relatively limited in what it can do. Related to this is creating sets that can reflect the scale of devastation that occurred; naturally, Blank is limited to a relatively small set (he worked in a 10 x 20 foot room), and it seems his interest is actually in relating a very small, personal part of the larger story.

A third challenge, I think, is the length of the film, which runs 15 minutes. It is difficult to sustain the story and compassion for this particular character throughout such a long period. Blank’s work would have had a stronger impact if it had been shortened somewhat, perhaps by three to five minutes. The personal stories of other victims woven into the film give it depth; I like the numerous ‘still’ illustrations on walls that are used to launch these stories. However, Akio’s interaction with his family and, in particular, his subsequent search probably is given too much time. The 2D shadow animation was recorded first in the production process. Perhaps its pacing was relatively difficult to assess at that early point.

Having said that, there is still much to be commended in the project, including Blank’s sensitive treatment of this significant topic — and the fact that he took it on in the first place. Noteworthy, too, is the level of professionalism evident in the production. In terms of sound, an area all too often overlooked in student productions, Shadowplay is quite ambitious. An original score by Ryan Shore was recorded by an orchestra of fifteen, including a blend of Japanese and Western instruments and sounds. Voice talent includes accomplished Asian actors from film, television and theater. Brand himself has done voice-overs and has interned at MTV in New York. The production of Shadowplay was supported through a George Heinemann Production Grant, a Charles & Lucille King Foundation Scholarship, the Richard Protovin Award, and several other grants and awards. It has been screened at several festivals within the United States and already has won several awards.

Maureen Furniss, Ph.D. is founding editor of Animation Journal and author of Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics (1998). She teaches in the Department of Film and Digital Media at Savannah College of Art and Design, in Georgia, and is currently writing a book related to animation production.