Sundance 2004 Review

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This year Sundance presented lots of animated films and technical goodies for the well-heeled animator/filmmaker. Photo by Bob Bayless. [1]

Animation contributed to more than 30 films in this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Besides fully animated short films, a half-dozen documentaries and one feature premiere used animation along with live action to help tell their stories.

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Filmmaker Robert Mowen mixed software and the G4 to create Drop, a unique picture poem. Courtesy of Robert Mowen and Sundance. [2]

The experimental film Drop (six min., color, Sony HD Cam) is a poem in pictures created entirely from the imagination of filmmaker Robert Mowen (director/cinematographer/screenwriter/editor/ designer/sound designer). Rather than words, Drop employs expressionistic images, visual connections and metaphors to follow the journey of a raindrop through a complex, yet fragile world. The idea for Drop began six years ago while Mowen was working as a director in television commercials and broadcast design.

Although his background was primarily in film, his work with talented designers versed in the latest computer technologies opened up to him the creative possibilities of merging traditional and virtual filmmaking techniques. Lacking the funds to hire digital artists, Mowen mastered all the sophisticated design and animation software necessary to create his vision. The cutting-edge computer technology enabled him to produce, entirely by himself, an art film with a high-end commercial quality normally accomplished by a visual effects team.

Approximately 80% of Drop was created on a G4 Powerbook using off-the-self animation, graphics and compositing tools, without the use of a post-production facility. The actors were captured on 35mm film against greenscreen while the backgrounds and foregrounds were created using 3D computer applications. Mowen explains, “I didn’t simply record reality. I created every frame of the film completely from my imagination, using an Apple Macintosh Powerbook and a mix of software.”

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Harvie Krumpet continues to win awards. At Sundance it received Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking. © Melodrama Pictures. [3]

Told with a fine balance of comedy and pathos, winner of an Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking, Harvie Krumpet [4] (22 min., color, 35mm) is the biography of an ordinary man, the archetypal underdog, cursed by perpetual bad luck who learns how to “seize the day.” Written, directed and animated by Adam Elliot, the film is a plasticine animation (clay animation), narrated by Geoffrey Rush. Elliot starts with details, like wanting to have quotes in the film, then he figures out how to weave them into the story. The quotes became humorous ‘fakts’ put on cards that served as chapter breaks in the structure of the film. Born with a physiological tremor, Elliot makes his models bigger — about the size of a wine bottle — so that it is easier for him to move them. The arms are plasticine with head and arms made of the car bog used by panel beaters. Sets are wood. The animation and sets became more dynamic and detailed as the filmmakers skills became more finely tuned.

The most difficult scene was the wheelchair dream sequence, which took many hours of concentration and rehearsal. Recorded at the beginning of the process, Rush’s narration served as a guide track for the animators, helping them predict how many seconds that they needed to animate. In order to help the animators get to know Harvie as he grew, the film was shot in sequence over 15 months, using a converted Bolex and super 16mm film. Elliot rarely deviated from his script and storyboards. Almost all of the 280 plus shots are as originally envisaged on the detailed storyboard of almost 300 individual panels. Elliot reveals, “I hope people can relate to Harvie’s life and see a little bit of him in themselves… I think of my own life and wonder whether it is all about fate, or whether we can shape our own lives and ‘seize the day.’”

Academy Award-winning director/editor, Jessica Yu, worked with animation producer Kara Vallow to bring to life the words and paintings of writer and artist, Henry Darger in the documentary, In the Realms of the Unreal (81 min., color, Sony HD Cam). The touching portrayal of Darger uses first-person writings, including a 2,500-page autobiography that chronicles his traumatic childhood and the lonely life he endured as a man many dismissed as crazy. A friendless janitor by day, Darger retreated into a fantasy world of his own making at night, creating hundreds of paintings and the more than 15,000-page novel that was his life’s work. Only when Darger was on his deathbed in 1973, did the landlords of his 40-year residence discover the contents of his private world. Yu shares, “It seemed to call out to be brought together in a film.” Animation producer Kara Vallow was busy with a number of other projects when approached by producer Sue West, but she was charmed by Yu. She also knew Darger’s work and was fascinated by the idea, but she was wary since animation can be a challenging and frustrating medium for live-action directors. The process takes long and the director has to rely on other people to realize the vision. Vallow reveals, “Jessica really took to the animation in a big way. She ended up working directly with all the animators… directed and planned out all the shots and scenes until we got what we wanted.”

The filmmakers did not recreate any of the art. They decided on a limited movement in the animation so as not to affect the original intentions of the artist. Slides shot directly from the paintings were scanned into the computer and animated using After Effects. Different layers in the paintings could be isolated. They tried to take all the elements from the paintings with the exception of snow that was less distinctive and was created by some of the animators. Although Yu had never used animation before in her films, it was a different kind of adventure, one she enjoyed immensely. In a project like this the animators were working for very little or for free. Yu was amazed by the commitment of her crew. Vallow explains, “There aren’t many projects like this for animators. They really do it for the love of the project.” Yu concludes, “We didn’t know what we could get at the beginning. We were asking for very little, but by the time the shots were finally done, they were completely amazing.”

Inspired by the lithographs of 19th century biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel, filmmaker David Lebrun (left) labored for 23 years to make Proteus. Courtesy of Night Fire Films.

In mesmerizing sequences of evolving shapes, animation brings to life the intricate geometric skeletons and extraordinary beauty of tiny undersea organisms called radiolarian in the documentary, Proteus (60 min., color, 35mm). Nineteenth century biologist and artist, Ernst Haeckel’s (1834-1919) lithographs of the single-cell life forms inspired producer/writer/director/editor David Lebrun to explore that century’s fascination with the sea, once the ultimate scientific frontier. Told almost completely with 19th century images, the visual core of the film is artwork photographed from the originals at the Ernest Haeckel Haus in East Germany, and animated using traditional techniques — photographing cells on an Oxberry optical printer. Texts from period letters, poetry, ship logs and scientific discourses make up the narrative. Taking 23 years, the project was completed on weekends or when Lebrun had some time off, “This was my labor of love. I found myself, not having originally planned to, doing an animated feature by myself. That’s a big job.”

Dominique Monfery gives viewers realtime Buddhist meditation in Grasshopper (left). A dogsled trip comes to life in Hike Hike Hike (right). Grasshopper image courtesy of Dominique Monfery and Sundance. Hike Hike Hike © 2002 Anouck Iyer/Opposable Thumbs Productions. All rights reserved.

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The frantic Nibbles is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short this year. © Acme Filmworks 2003. [5]

Other animated films to note include: Korean director Moon-Sang Kim utilized cutting-edge compositing techniques to combine animation, miniatures, three-dimensional CGI locales and live action in his feature film premiere, Sky Blue (90 min., color, Sony HD Cam). A tradition Disney-style animation 46 years in the making finally comes to the screen — the creative collaboration between Walt Disney and artist, Salvador Dali, Destino [6] (six min., color, 35mm), is a magical, surreal animation of unrequited love directed by Dominique Monfery. Grasshopper (14 min., color, Sony HD Cam) is a realtime Buddhist meditation into life using various animation styles and derived from live action footage. Also animated from live-action footage, Hike Hike Hike (four min., b/w, 35mm) by director/animator Anouck Iyer follows the rhythms and cycles of a dogsled journey. Nibbles [7] (four min., color, 35mm) by Canadian Chris Hinton takes us on a humorous, frantically drawn, high-energy excursion into eating. (Full disclosure: Ron Diamond, publisher of AWN, produced Nibbles.)

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HP showed its wares in a hands-on filmmaking lab. Among the product the company presented was the high-end HP Workstation xw8000. [8]

As an official presenting sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival, HP showed its commitment to a vital independent community. HP workstations were featured in daily hands-on filmmaking labs. The high-end HP Workstation xw8000 offers optional dual processing, Intel E7505 chipset and high performance I/O technologies along with features that enhance scalability, manageability and reliability. It delivers the speed, power and performance required by large-scale projects and is available with a broad range of operating systems and graphics solutions. The HP Workstation xw4100 provides powerful performance at a low cost with features like ECC memory, single or multi-display 2D and 3D OpenGL graphics choices, new Intel Performance Acceleration Technology and ISV certifications. Collaborations between HP and key hardware and software application providers, such as Avid, means the user can expect the performance, compatibility and reliability needed for computer-aided digital editing, animation and design applications. (www.hp.com/go/workstations [9])

Sony brought the Qualia 004 High-Definition Projector system (left) and its DVCAM DSR-PD170.

This is the first festival that Sony was able to demonstrate the Sony Qualia 004 High-Definition Projector system — made possible with Sony’s breakthrough SXRD technology — using content shot on Sony’s HD 24p camera. Sony also demonstrated the operation and picture quality of their leading cameras for motion picture production: The High-Definition 24P CineAlta; the IMX PAL 25P camcorder; and the brand new DVCAM DSR-PD170.

Panasonic’s second generation progressive scan camcorder, the AG-DVX 100A 24p/30p/60I MiniDV Camcorder, is equipped with more than 20 user-requested features including improved color reproduction, cine-like gamma curves and enhanced image adjustments, a slow shutter function, smoother focusing and zooming, and 16:9 aspect recording. It has enhanced low-light capabilities and the Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) virtually eliminates blurring caused by hand shake. (MSRP $3,995, www.panasonic.com/broadcast [10])

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Softimage showed I XSI 3.5, which offers hundreds of tools to the indie filmmaker. [11]

Other tools for indie filmmakers: NewTek LightWave 3D (8) includes enhancements in dynamics, character animation, modeling and animation workflow and texturing tools. ($1,595, upgrade $495, www.newtrek.com [12]) Softimage I XSI 3.5 not only offers hundred of tools and refinements to graphics and effects artists, also but integrates mental ray v3.2, the most current version of rendering technology from mental images. Responding to the production needs of high profile industry users like Industrial Light & Magic, v3.5 features expanded interoperability with Avid editing and finishing products. ($6,750, upgrade from $1,495, www.softimage.com [13]) Alias Maya 5 incorporates numerous customer-requested productivity enhancements and new ways to create digital content. These improvements include: enhanced animation constraints, an expanded range of tools for modeling and up to 90% increased speeds on Windows operating system. (Maya Complete $1,999, Maya Unlimited $6,999, www.aliaswavefront.com [14])

Just about every format was used to create the films screened at Sundance. Films were shot in 35mm, super 16mm, Sony HD Cam, BetaSP and miniDV. Editing was on film flatbeds, with Avid Film Composer, Avid Adrenalin, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier. While some films used tradition hand-drawn sketches and painted animation cels shot on an Oxberry printer, others benefited from computer animation applications like After Effects and Maya. Screening formats included traditional 35mm film and cutting-edge HD projection. More tools than ever are available to the filmmaker, all that is needed is the creativity in using them.

Mary Ann Skweres is a filmmaker and freelance writer. She has worked extensively in feature film and documentary post-production with credits as a picture editor and visual effects assistant. She is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.