Within
the world of animation, most experimentation occurs within short
format productions, whether they be high budgeted commercials, low
budgeted independent shorts, or something in between. The growing
number of short film festivals around the world attest to the vitality
of these works, but there are few other venues for exhibition of
them or even written reviews. As a result, distribution tends to
be difficult and irregular. On a regular basis, Animation World
Magazine will highlight some of the most interesting with short
descriptive overviews.
This month:
Fugue (1998), 7 min., directed by Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland.
Info: Studio GDS, 15 av. Vibert, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland.
Pleasures of War (1998), 11.5 min., directed by Ruth Lingford,
England. Info: Finetake Productions, 110 Calabria Rd., London, N5
1HT, England.
Humdrum (1998), 7 min., directed by Peter Peaks, England.
Info: Aardman Animations, Gas Ferry Road, Bristol, Avon, BS1 6UN,
England.
Uncle (1997), 6 min., and Cousin (1998), 4.5 min., directed
by Adam Benjamin Elliot, Australia. Info: Adam Benjamin Elliot PTY,
LTD., 43 John Street, Elwood, Victoria 3184, Australia. E-mail:
nigg@tig.com.au .
Plug (1999), 11 min., directed by Meher Gourjian, USA. Info:
Jamie Waese, tel: 1-310-453-5438. E-mail: mg@soldesignfx.com or
jamie@plugworks.com . Plug is distributed by AtomFilms.
If you have the QuickTime
plug-in , you can view a clip from each film by simply clicking
the image.
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Fugue.
© Georges Schwizgebel.
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Fugue
George Schwizgebel's Fugue is a cyclically-structured, non-narrative
film described as the story of a man who "races down a flight
of stairs. He takes refuge in a hotel room and begins to dream.
The underlying structure of the fugue visually represented."
Paralleling the musical fugue structure, the film reveals various
visual images and actions that are shown repeatedly and woven into
a complex whole. The movement pauses occasionally, perhaps to take
in a seated character deep in contemplation, but for the most part
the action is constant and fluid. The word "dream" in
Schwizgebel's description is perhaps the best word to describe the
essence of this film, which is fascinating in its complex repetitive
structure. One is invited to consider structure as perspectives
shift and the edges of the frame reveal themselves (as a young girl
swings, the edges of the picture begin to rock back and forth, revealing
another image below).
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Pleasures
of War. © Finetake Productions and Channel 4 Televsion.
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Pleasures of War
Ruth Lingford's film, Pleasures of War, is also a relatively
`textured' film visually, relying on metamorphosis and moving camera
to move its narrative along. Also without dialogue, this film invites
viewers to speculate on the natures of sexuality and brutality,
which here are closely linked. In the film, a woman seeks the enemy
general, with deadly results from their sexual affair. The overall
effect of the film can be described as chilling, as erotic imagery
filling the end of the film is `climaxed' by a bloody victory of
sorts.
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Humdrum.
© Aardman Animations.
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Humdrum
Also from England comes the Aardman Studios produced film Humdrum,
directed by Peter Peaks. From the beginning of the film -- as its
two characters say, "Anything on telly? . . . Only some weird
animation thing. . . . Oh God." -- it is evident that the film
will be a self parody. Since the characters themselves are composed
of cast shadows from animated figures, the joke is heightened when
they resort to playing shadow puppets with their hands. One character
comments, "I can't think of anything more boring than staring
at some stupid shadows for God's sake. Is this what happens when
you don't have any friends?" One has the feeling the idea for
this film came about after some animators found themselves having
the very same conversation. Heavily reliant on the dialogue of its
two characters, the short work remains a relatively simple, humorous
film that turns on a few good jokes.
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Uncle.
© Adam Benjamin Elliot.
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Cousin.
© Adam Benjamin Elliot.
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Uncle and Cousin
Even simpler in its execution are two films by Australian animator
Adam Benjamin Elliot, Uncle and Cousin, the first
of a trilogy that will be capped by a film called Brother.
As these films' titles suggest, they are personal works based on
relatives of the artist. Strongly driven by voice-over narration,
read by William McInnes, the actual animation in the film is relatively
little. Instead, clay figures tend to remain relatively still in
front of simple, flattened backdrops, as if they were created by
a child.
The stories themselves are at once charming and sad, investigating
two individuals who are removed from mainstream society in some
manner. The "Uncle" is a sensitive man who loses touch
with reality after his wife commits suicide and his dog gets killed.
Living out his last days in a "gentleman's home," he dies
quietly with a cup of tea and a scone in his hand. The "Cousin"
is a boy born with cerebral palsy, who is the subject of ridicule
by neighborhood children but nonetheless finds his own way in the
world. Cousin was funded by the Australian Film Commission,
Film Victoria and SDS Independent, and also is part of an Australia-wide
initiative, "Swimming Outside the Flags," a one-hour showcase
of Australian animation screened on SCS.
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Plug.
© Meher Gourjian.
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Plug
At the other end of the spectrum is a sophisticated computer
animation film, Plug, by first-time director Meher Gourjian
and first-time producer Jamie Waese. Described as being about "a
futuristic society in which people live their entire lives plugged
into electronic dream machines," the film is visually interesting
for its combination of live-action and animated effects. The basis
of the action was provided by live performers in front of a blue
screen, whose images were scanned into a computer and modified.
The effect is something in between rotoscoping and motion-capture,
with the characters reminding me of the movie Tron, or in
general the rotoscope work of Ralph Bakshi films. Computer-generated
backgrounds and props were composited with the characters and, after
being digitally compressed, the footage was then recorded back to
35 mm in CinemaScope. The production of the film, costing a mere
$12,000, was supported by numerous computer-related companies in
the industry. Sound design is by Randy Thom, an Academy Award winner
with impressive credits to his name, including Contact and
Forrest Gump.
Maureen Furniss, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor and Program Director
of Film Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California. She
is the Founding Editor of Animation Journal (John Libbey, 1998).
