Ormie The Pig (2011) by Arc Productions

"Ormie is a Pig, in every sense of the word. Pig see cookie. Pig want cookie. But they are out of reach... or are they? Ormie attempts to gain the warm sweet taste that is his obsession. "

Arc Productions present an animated short which is a fantastic example of character animation. A pig is trying to get a cookie that is all you see for entire 3 minutes. But precisely because the animation is figured out down to every frame, these 3 minutes doesn’t seem to bore the viewer.

Simplicity in the art direction and editing would be another thing to note. Only what and when it is needed, perhaps this was the key aim: aqua-paint-like background and merely the objects the character is interacting with; story is told mostly in one long take and camera facing front.

Ormie the Pig is quite a charming piece.

Animations to reference for transcription project

For my influence map here I present the animations which have what I aim to reach  in transcription project.

Main reference for Editing and the logics of character portrayal.

To start with is the animated Short Reach.

The animation is newly discovered to me, so it was surprising to find how many similar it has as well.

But the note on this example is how a character is presented: similarly to Ivan, the little robot “wakes up” and soon discovers more things about the environment (explores the surrounding, interacts with it) and finds more about himself ( for example he is tied up to a wire, he has claw-like hands etc.) . Consequently  robot’s behavior progresses : from  self-unconscious clumsy gadget to a determined, energetic dream-reacher.

Other details also added up to expressing the little robot’s experience and point of view. Such would be , when ever something is shown through his eyes it has a vignette and the sound is dimmed as if passing a glass jar.

I noticed the rhythm of the animation, that what I need to solve in my animation. There were parts where the action was played in a theatrical manner – letting all happen in one long take , camera facing straight. But it didn’t feel tedious as it was then contrasted by a well paced editing.  This was achieved by using intercuts ( for example,  pigeon looks to the robot), reaction shots  and the action itself is  presented in a variety of angles. 

Reference for Video style: Camera lens and Painterlyness:

Second in line is the animation , thanks to our group blog, I came to cross , is Nokta (Dot) By Onur Senturk.






A very enchanting piece of animation. Watching it couple of time I took a note of techniques used to create one or another effect (the following list serves as a future reference, because it is very comfortable to keep all the notes in one place)

Flashes of colour, as if created by a sudden brush stroke and lens flares, can be seen when the tempo ( the pace within the scene) is high or when a dynamic action takes place .

Dusts and particles suggest a substantial air, atmosphere. As if it has the thickness to it and is fluid ( to my mind it gives dreamy, feel , the one you get just when woken up)

The animation is vignetted and posterized , my interpretation of that was, it feels as if the air itself is animated . That adds to fluidity and painterlyness.

Short depth of field.

Distanced ( in relationship to the object) glow. Creates, so to express, furry and fuzzy feel of environment.

combination of some ofthese elements in specific scenes would help to convey the feeling of the shot and the overall animation.

Use of film language and mice-en-scene:
Lastly, Après la pluie (After the rain) an animation created by Gobelins University students,




Is just beautiful, and is my choice for simply getting back to and referencing. As in one interview Laseter named Miyazaki‘s animations as Pixar studio‘s most referenced ones when they cross a problem. I guess if the studio uses this technique, a student should also :D

Solving problems with The Mascot (1933)

The first animated short  in a row I looked more into and will use as a reference for problem solving, and solutions for approach towards my own animation, is The Mascot, by Vladislav Starevich (1993)




Mice-en-scene
Acting.

The animation is highly stylized with limited range of expressions. Nonetheless it appears, the puppets are acted in a very expressive manner, in order to balance out the lack of it because of the way puppets operate.
I noticed also the economy of animation: all seems to move in their turns (apart from crowd scenes where everyone/everything moves) . That also helps to direct the eye to constantly shifting center of attention. 

Editing.

Majority of shots appear to be long takes using a steady camera which  faces the action directly from front: this creates the theatrical feeling, as if the audience is watching a play, a puppet show happening in front of them .  Though for contemporary audience it may bring boredom if overused. 

Also almost every action is followed by a reaction shot of main characters, I‘d interpret, this helps to achieve audiences connection with main character. As if we are thoroughly engaging with the puppy and at the end audience is well familiar with the main character, so feels happy for his successes.  

Sound Track
The Animation uses both a diagetic and non-diagetic sounds, where the music plays as a “voice over” – defines each action, change of mood, new elements  (characters or objects which entered the shot in a notable manner ) with  likewise a defined sound effect.  
I found that even if the action wasn’t followed as thoroughly, the music plays as a prompter, making the intended idea also obvious to the audience.

To recap and make links for my transcription project:

1.      The animation could be stylized and in a way overly expressive in order to convey ideas using a model (the constructed bird) which seemingly has a limit to its expressiveness

2.      Animating “in turns” ( avoiding to “move everything)  both is economical and helps direct viewers eyes as desired

3.      It is best to use long takes modestly as it generates the feeling of actually seeing everything happen live in a play ( what helps to reach better engagement) though can be found unentertainingly too long  if overused .

4.      The risks of using solely diagetic sound is that it might be unclear what the story is about as it takes greater engagement to understand the turns in the story solely from what is shown, whereas  with the use of additional sound effect the action and mood can also be suggested.

The Mist – Frank Darabont ( 2007)

To first associate the film with it’s context, it drives on the very formulaic plot used "Night of the Living Dead" ( George Romero, 1968)   to "30 Days of Night" ( David Slade, 2007)

  

“Combine (1) a mysterious threat that attacks a town, and (2) a group of townspeople who take refuge together, and you have a formula apparently able to generate any number of horror movies” ( Roger Ebbert; 2007)

It was  a true experience because of film being well crafted in many aspects: script, camera work, character construction, mice-en-scene.

Perhaps Most interesting aspect of film’s stylistic was shot motion. Camera never seemed to stop, still it wasn’t an irritating type of camera work. Rather it created fluidity.  It readjusted itself, the composition of a shot, by repositioning, refocusing  to the point of interest , by zooming just slightly  .

 It feels the camera was imagined to be as a living viewer rather than a tool of reporting films reality. It feels like it made the distance between film’s reality and audience that much smaller, in other words, there was a lot more engagement.

This technique then is very helpful, since reaching for audience’s engagement with fictional plot is that much harder. Perhaps the idea was even further explored in  Cloverfield (Matt Reeves;2008) where entire film is meant to look  filmed with personal handheld camera.

It was a pleasure to experience  the well though film, where no tiny details  like shot of a character’s glance, a gesture, road sign,  didn’t hold its share of meaning. Or that no CG elements steal any  extra time just to be shown off.   It feels like all the ends tidied up into a whole.

Them! 1954

Them! Was one of the first atomic age films which  success led to many copycats including Tarantula (1955), The Deadly Mantis (1957), The Giant Gila Monster (1959), Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), the Godzilla franchise, The Attack of 50 ft Alien from Toyland (2010) and many others. “Soon after Them!, giant-everything movies were the rave” (Justice, Chris; 2006)

It was interesting to discover that film is full of Biblical allusions and is comparing the dawning Nuclear Age to a Judeo-Christian apocalypse.    The film opens with a still shot of a Joshua tree and a young girl walking alone in the desert. 

Upon finding the ants, Dr. Harold Medford, speaks, “We may be witnesses to a Biblical prophecy come true and there shall be destruction and darkness that come of the creation and the beasts shall reign over the Earth.” 

A special note could be made about the use of sound effects. The ants’ eerie calls to each other were scarier than the physical embodiment.  Sounds, not visual images, foreshadow the monster’s arrival, adding further tension to the scene.

Also, the sets and the composition of shots are worth discussing. The crime scene sets would be an example. “Overloaded” with broken furniture, it still kept logics that before it was a tidy place, but someone powerful (or something) just destroyed it. Also most of the time characters are positioned in a way to “fill” three layers of the scene: someone in the foreground, couple just behind them and perhaps just one of the less important player in that scene in the background. Treating actors like another piece of  furniture. But most likely the feeling of depth is emphasized because the film  was ment to be in 3D.

Over all having seen the film a feeling came best described by Classic Horror film reviewer:“ some can deliver loads of fun and warrant critical acclaim. Them! certainly falls into both categories”(Justice, Chris; 2006).

 

The Horror of Dracula (1958)

Having read the original book, The Horror of Dracula to some point was a disappointment. The story was heavily abridged. Lacked perhaps the most spectacular supernatural elements described in the book ( shapeshisfting ect. )

Still, the most renowned British horror film Director Terence Fisher had something different from previous Dracula films to offer.

“Previously, Dracula was gothic, black and white, with a thick Eastern European accent, and no fangs.” (Hodgson, Mark; 2009)

The Horror of Dracula seems more elegant, with some sophistication added to the characters, particularly to Dracula’s.  Dracula instead of feeling to be a weird (funny) creature (Bella Lugosi’s Dracula) , begins to feel overpowering monster, particularly for the weak and fragile women.

I did notice the heavy use of music. Contrary to contemporary films, here every note is perfectly clear: if we are to see the Dracula Appearing, musical tone would make it a dramatically powerful moment. Perhaps this fails to create the right impression on the audience these days (supposedly we should be wonder-struck). I’d guess it takes lot more subtle and sophisticated use of sound effects, a lot more abstract than a crystal-clear  use of drums, violin ect. 

For more reviews on Postmoder films as well as other films ho here

Also, please consider following my blog, full of creative visuals, CGI and reflective writings on film, animation and art theory. Cheers!

The Uncanny House of Wax (1953)

House of Wax is a horror film about a sculptor who after being successful in his craft turned into monster killer. What led him to this was the greedy colleague who burned both the sculptor and his precious museum of wax people. After the accident he no longer could use his hands to create beauty, instead he’d choose a victim, murdered it and turned it to a wax sculpture. 

The first thing this film reminded me of, was the Uncanny Valley: Wax figures had so much likeness with real human and therefore it was so chilling to see, for instance their faces melt down in fire. Or a feeling of insecurity and suspicion, when one of the characters walks alone in the museum full of wax humans. As if a sudden movement or hit can be expected from every corner.To my mind it was where the most of horror in this film came from. 

The film was relatively a close remake of  Mystery in the Wax Museum (Curtiz, Michael;1933). And inspired some of the following films, one of which, quite obviously the new  House of Wax (Collet-Serra, Jaume; 2005) giving it the basic plot on which the  typical slasher film formula was then applied.

 

The film was wonderful with quite a few memorable moments. Particularly the theatrical chasing scene , when the monster tries to catch the leading lady. Or the entertaining but plain-obvious use of 3d effect with  ping pong scenes, as well as, mostly of all, one of the last sequences, a moment when the wax mask falls down and the audience gets to see the sculptor being a  monster. 

The film is meant to be seen in 3d, and my guess is its even more entertaining then. But surprisingly “it works” till this day. Maybe more so as drama, not a horror film

Funny Games (Heneke, 2008) and Games with Film Language

Discussed by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte*

“The prodigiously unpleasant "Funny Games" is clearly the work of a technical master, a filmmaker capable of manipulating our fears with expert, Teutonic (Germanic) precision” (Ansen, David; 2008)




This quote by David Ansen at Newsweek might be linked to one of the postmodern ideas in the film Funny games, that any language system (film language in this case) is something to be played with.



To rephrase  Christopher Butler from The new ways of seeing the world, it developed from the idea that there’s no point in trying to depict facts objectively, since, as in postmodern view, its not even possible to do so; the truth we want to explain is always only our own subjective construction via language (any form of it: verbal, film, pictorial ect.) which is also, a matter of uncertainty aswell ( so both, the motif and the mean of explaining it,  is subjective, relative and not universal). 

Postmodern thought is, not only the "truths" can  be only a  representation, depictions of the interpreted meanings, but also they are rerepresented and interpreted  using OUR OWN (and not universal) intellectual framework which is shaped from the unique experiences and axioms (what we believe in unconditionally) each of us have.


And these are central arguments of deconstruction: the truth is relative to differing stand points; as there’s no point in believing in the literal meaning of the language, since its all a cultural (and subjective) constructs. 

Therefore, this view follows: Both Language conventions and the meaning it constructs is something to play with. 

So does Funny Games. The director constructs a seemingly typical violent  film  but by further exploring a film language conventions and by breaking them the film becomes a critique and a reflection of  the typical Hollywood movies which exploit violence on screen.

For instance, Pitt, the angelic-looking demon periodically breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience, asking us to bet on whether the family will end up dead or alive. But it takes away the believability of the films constructed reality, filmmaker puts all these efforts to make the audience believe in the world they’re seeing, and then as if contradicting his own (or more likely audiences expected)  logic he toys with film language. Or is it actually that he reminds us: this is all an illusion, it’s a film you’re watching; and so for several times.

To give another example, the most intense moment in the film, when one of the family member was about to be killed, one might find himself more interested who will win the car races: It could be a smart use of film language: the audience was shown one of the attackers having a gun ready to kill , but then the camera points to TV screen and as we see cars racing, we hear people scream in the background and finally blood splatters the screen. But car race is still on. 

Again, we’re introduced with some confusion: they are about to be killed, that’s the most important bit; show me the killing, the entertaining bit! On the other hand the director still  doesn’t take anything away from the bloodthirsty audience (so to say): we're entertained by the car races, we still get to see the blood splatters;ironical jokes of Heneke.


But there were numerous examples of smart use of film language all of which sucseeded  to make the audience feel uncomfortable,frsutrated  and puzzled if that‘s the right emotion you‘re suposed to feel ect.

The director uses (plays with) the language in such a smart way the film is an experience which  "becomes impossible to forget—and, for many viewers, both will be impossible to forgive" (Ansen, David; 2008)

For more reviews on Postmoder films as well as other films ho here

Also, please consider following my blog, full of creative visuals, CGI and reflective writings on film, animation and art theory.Cheers!

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Discussed by J. J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte*

Like word by word we expect an idea to be finally explained and revealed, a scene by scene we also expect to reach the closure in “Mulholland Drive” (Lynch, David; 2001). But as film reviewer Roger Ebert marks, “The movie is hypnotic; we're drawn along as if one thing leads to another--but nothing leads anywhere” . This quote, as the film itself illustrates one of the main postmodernist points.

According to author of New Ways of Seeing the World, Christopher Butler, one of the key ideas of postmodernism is, that truth as we know it is fiction at the same time and understanding as well is a form of misunderstanding.

Simply because nothing can reflect the truth or explain the reality. The author argues that even language itself fails to explain reality, because of its encapsulated system. One word is described by other words, the language uses itself to explain itself and doesn’t quite relate to the external reality in a way expected. Therefore, it is another  system, which also fails to explain the reality or reflect the truth.  

So if there are no universal truths (because there’s no system that could explain it), the postmodernist thought is that everything is only relative and depended on the standpoint we choose , that all is only interpretations.

It could be said then, reality at the same time as well has  a lot of qualities of a dream, where nothing is absolutely clear, all is loose and dependant.

Likewise in Mulholland Drive,  the depicted “reality” soon starts feeling bizarre, surreal  and a viewer questions if this is not only a dream he’s watching.  “Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences, lingers over what it finds fascinating, and dismisses unpromising plotlines” (Ebert; 2001)

Postmodern man therefore no longer seeks for a unified truth, so doesn’t this film: “This movie doesn't feel incomplete because it could never be complete--closure is not a goal” (Ebert, 2001).

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Discussed by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte*

Film uncovers a plot of alien invasion. The story is about the alien, Klaatu, who came to earth with a message. The figure of Klaatu comes as a messiah, as Jesus Christ. “Discussion on the film concludes that Klaatu is a Christ figure, but his big, destructive robot friend is decidedly Old Testament” (Koler, 1999)

 

As simple as it sounds he warns earth people to live in peace otherwise he would have to eliminate the whole planet as earth’s developed martial means (use of atomic energies) became a threat to other (“neighbor”) civilizations in space.

The Context of the Film.

Jamie Gillies refers that  „this film is truly the first anti-atomic movie and it is surprisingly anti-American in its message“ .

The film was created 1951, relatively soon after the final stages of Second World War when United states dropped 2 atomic bombs “Little boy” and “Fat Man”   on  Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Within the few months of the bombings, the acute effects killed around 230 000.  About half of the  people died on the explosion days, from flash,  flame burns and from falling debris. Another half during the following few months, from the effect of burns, radiation sickness or other injuries.

Therefore the film, one might imagine, at that time’s context wasn’t simply perceived as a peace of entertainment, yet the words it speaks are equally relevant to current day: “the future of your planet is at stake”.

Further goes some analysis of film’s aspects relevant to our Narrative unit. 

The Use of Sound

Particularly noticeable was the use of eerie soundtrack. These metallic, abstract sounds, in my opinion really succeed to set up the bizarre, confusing and ( if set up with appropriate surroundings) the   uncanny feel of the scenes/film. The more indefinable the sound is the better it does its job.

The Depiction of military

I took a note of how the military was portrayed in the film. Stereotypically macho. Action goes before notion. ( in the very first scenes soldier shoots the alien when he intends to hand over a gift to state’s president)

 Such idea of army role was represented by showing the tanks and military cars rushing here and there, lots of army men, a suitably frowned and uniformed stubborn general. 

Just lots of action, movement, rushing and lots of relevant elements (tanks/guns/army men/ bombing sounds) to emphasize blunt force.

To generally sum up, the film doesn’t look dated almost at all, and personally I think it’s because of the great cinematic elements incorporated in the film , like lighting (! stunning effects, which made  beautiful pictures),  camera moves, editing, special effects  ect. The film really  is now in my list of favorites .

 

Scream and Postmodernism

I just want to say, this was the best horror movie I’ve ever seen, really enjoyable and entertaining. Loved it from the very first minute. The decision to get the sexy blond (Drew Barrymore) killed right in the very beginning was an unexpected turn. Much like it was in Hitchcock’s Psycho – when Marion Crane, the presumed protagonist was brutally killed in the first half of the film.


What makes this film postmodern?

To start from the obvious , Scream intentionally references other horror films (Halloween, Friday the 13th ect) .For intance, one of the characters is surnamed Loomis, a name shared by a character in Halloween, and another in Psycho. 

It  is ‘built’ On the overused formula of horror films like Halloween, Friday the 13th and their sequels. Its always about a psychopath stalker with mask, a group of teenagers left alone ect.

But yet  Jem Bloomfiel in his film review writes: "Scream invented a new genre, the so-called “postmodern slasher flick” or “meta-slasher”. Its for this film is self-aware of the formula of slasher film its using. The conventional rules of it are parodied by characters who themselves are experiencing the established routine of a slasher movie.


For example one character explains that “there are rules for surviving a horror movie”, which involve suspecting everyone, never drinking or having sex and certainly never saying “I’ll be right back.”



So the film references the past style but at the same time is self-aware satire of the slasher film genre.

Ed Wood

Ed Wood is a film directed by Tim Burton. It’s a biographical drama about the, so titled, worst Hollywood director – Ed Wood. Edward Davis Wood made a sequence of cheep movies in 1950’s. His films were poorly produced, filled with technical errors and cheesy special effects. 

The film portrays the period when the director produced his most known films like “Glen or Glenda” and “Bride of the Monster “.

Unlike majority of other Tim Burton’s film this one isn’t style-driven . Although few times some resemblance to “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Wiene, Robert; 1920) occurred (Tim Burton was influenced by this film).  In particular, the scene where Bela Lugosi (actor Martin Landau) was laying in the coffin at the coffin shop.  I noticed the make-up and the over all setting had the painted-light style. (Maybe the picture down under doesn’t quit show it , but it was better seen  as camera was tilting in the film).

But the concentration was on the life and experience of Ed Wood through his eyes. Film tells of his work methods when making a film, his love life and main connections he had. One perhaps could get a general idea about the persona of Ed Wood after seeing the film, even if not having heard of this director before.

Just some observations. The shots looked really well layered and quit usually the main action wouldn’t even happen in the first (the closest to camera) layer of the scene (for example in the restraint scene we see the woman talking with barmen in the first plan, in the second Ed Wood discussing the play with his crew, ant there’s a third layer with people passing by behind the window).  Perhaps it’s to create the vivid and energetic feel of the scene and the film in general.  

Over all, though slightly extended the film felt, it was interesting to see something of difference to other films Tim Burton directed and to get to see the biography of a personality you hear about from time to time.

How Postmodernism Relates to Kill Bill Vol.1

Quentin Tarantino, director of Pulp Fiction (1994) created another debatable film in 2003.

The film’s story is about a bride, who wakes up after a 4 year coma. She was crudely beaten by a group of people. As bad as it may look already, she was also pregnant but now the baby was gone. Subsequently she looks for revenge to the people who participated in the execution.






The story appears to be quit simplistic. But this is the first indicator of postmodern art work. Quentin Tarantino’s films are linked with postmodernism by many film reviewers.

So to introduce postmodernism, it is term defining the times from 1960s. As the author of ‘As Time Just Sits there’ defines, It’s a product of the occurring (and not radical) effect of a number of continuous historical processes connected with gradual globalization of capital and increasing invasion of consumerist practices. Postmodernism is a result of gradual change in man’s lifestyle (particularly the amount of information we are available to get today, the freedom of choice of experiences one prefers having ect.)


To buletpoint main characteristics of Postmodernism:


It’s a culture of fragmentary sensations. As Donald Barthelme, author of postmodernist fiction, notes this is simply the essence of art in the modern world, where the ultimate apotheosis (idolization) is collage and fragments are the only truly trustworthy form.




Eclectic (selective best peaces of styles/methods/ideas) Nostalgia, postmodern nostalgia, which is different from past nostalgias, as the author of ‘As time just sits there’ mentioned book notes, for it misses not the past but its culture. Nostalgia is eveident in the modern works which reference past times.


Promiscuous superficiality.


Postmodernist greets the absurd and favours ‘depthless’ fabulations (lies and stories),
Pastiche (art work made from different sources)
Bricolage (something made together using whatever materials were available)



Many of that mentioned above is evident in Kill Bill Vol. 1 :


It’s a nostalgic, fragmentary film. ‘Kill Bill makes no secret of the fact that this is a film that is informed by much of what has gone before’ (Hyde, Chris)

He references past times, a variety of cultures and puts it all in discontinuous time order.

Tarantino takes bits and peaces from cinematic canon and mixes them up. Film reviewer Chris Hyde names few of the things the director most likely referenced.For example, Film Lady Snowblood,(Fujita, Toshiya;1973) (“A young girl is born and raised to be an instrument of revenge”) could have influenced the creation of O-ren Ishii, character in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Thriller: A Cruel Picture (Vibenius, Bo Arne; 1974) , for the one-eyed killer Elle Driver. And other films, like Modesty Blaise (Losey, Joseph;1966), Black Sunday (Frankenheimer, John;1977); Five Deadly Venoms (Chang, Cheh; 1978) and many more. Cinematic reworking is evident in all Tarantino’s films.

But at the same time the film’s he create aren’t perceived as mere collage of various styles and cultural references, but as a great representation of current era – postmodernism and as Boxoffice prophets (boxofficeprophets.com/hyde/killbill.asp) reviewer concludes, Kill Bill is utterly representative of the zeitgeist (the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time) of the current era.

Bad Kids Go to Hell Comic Book Review

I have to say few things before anything else:

First. I've never read a comics book in my life. Secondly I was reading this one in the train and..well,  I've missed my stop :D  I guess that sais something about the comic book :D

Thank you Matthew Spradlin for this gift and Alan for , I guess, having to abandon all the good stuff you could've taken in the limited flight baggage, in order to get these gifts to us  :D

Bad Kids go to Hell tells a story of 6 teenagers who are left  for detention at a newly built school's library.

Much Like in film  The Breakfast club (Hughes, John; 1985) kids are all different personalities with different anxietys, wich subsequently  lead them to different result. The  comic definitely has a flavor that of The Breakfast club. But differently to the film, the reader is introduced with the supernatural - the library was built on Indian cemetery. To name other differences it also was  more sarcastic, lot sexier and lots lots more violent than the film. 

I personally enjoyed how the story twisted unexpectedly from the very first pages. For instance, the comic starts with construction workers building the library and one of them in the excavator when  all of sudden he fall sin the hole in in the heart right to the hart of the smoky burial-ground. Few moments later he's taken out but now unrecognizably raddled himself... 

Till the very and (and especially at the very end!) such unexpected turns in story occur, what makes the comic's brilliant page-turning experience. 

Also I enjoyed each and every panel for they were highly expressive, visually strong and drawn in appealing style.

I'm thrilled to see the film know :)

Exploring B-movies

The Narrative unit introduced us with a new term to define a certain group of films, and that is  B-movies. Not just only to familiarize but to make a b-movie type short film there's a need to get a clear understanding of what it is. 

While researching the topic there was an opportunity to actually watch a good example of B-movie. And it was The Fly (Neumann, Kurt; 1958).  The film tells a story of a scientist and his wife experiencing horrible chain of consequences because of curiosity overpowering reason. The scientist creates the most miraculous invention - the substance transporter. But instead of researching if it works as it’s supposed by gathering data from transportation experiments with animals, he examines the invention by transporting himself. The uplifting tone of the film is suddenly changed when we see the scientist half-turned into a fly. 

But to get back to the conception of what is a B-movie...

As B-movie central site ( http://www.bmoviecentral.com/bmc/bmc-articles/37-bmc-articles/145-what-exactly-is-a-b-movie.html) defines: " b-movie was the second movie on a double bill. It was typically a low budget formula type film, which fell somewhere in the suspense, horror, sci-fi, western, exploitation or gangster genres"

Likewise The Fly sits in mystery, horror and sci-fi genres

Today its often to hear that B movies are cheesy sci-fi movies from the 50's. The films are filled with cheesiest dialogues and acting. 

As perhaps one could notice watching The Fly, it doesn’t lack of cheesy acting, the feeling an action is "acted" (it’s not convincing or believable, you are constantly aware of the fact that this is only a film, not reality). Or reactions look over exaggerated and almost always leaves this feeling as if actor was just about few frames late to actually react.

Watching the film also I've marked , there's a feeling of "out of place" . Probably because of the difference of contexts in in which the film was created and in wich its now perceived by uc, viewers.  It looks sometimes the reaction or a detail or a peace of dialogue isn't used in a good way. for example: the scene where policeman and victims brother comes to speak with an anxious murderer- the wife of the victim, she suddenly after an emotional confession of killing her husband under the press  offers a cup of coffee or tea to gentlemens in a completely different emotional state  ect...

To summarize the impression formed so far it looks like a B-movie's use all the conventions of ,say horror genre to supposedly create  a scary film, but there's  more ( cheesyness,  wooden acting, campy feel) what makes it funny and amuzing.  


But all  works in its own way, for it creates a unique class of films with its unique set of "rules"

Fallen Art by Tomek Baginski

Fallen Art is an animated short by Tomek Baginski, polish director. His previous works include The Cathedral (2002).

The action takes place in the military base, where soldiers who lost their minds or are no longer wanted by the Army are sent to be expended. There Sergent Al,  Photographer Dr. Friedriech and mentaly lost general A atempts to create wholy different art.





The highly stilised world of animation plays as yet another tool to tell the story : anomalous and grotesque style is like a reflection of the story being told. But at the same time its soft and rich blue-brown colour pallete and smoky warm  lighting adds to the appeal.  As reviewers of World Wide Cinema Festival notices, it is like the director took two illustrators Dave McKean's and Bill Sienkiewicz's  style and brought a new one in this film.

Illustration examples of Dave McKean:

Illustrations of Bill Sienkiewicz's:

But there would be many other aspects at wich the animation stands out, to give an example, character design, camera moves and editting or the main idea behind it. In over all this short film, to my mind, is one of the best examples of such kind and is worth analysing.

When I'm sad

A peace of brilliantly stylised animation. I particularly enjoy the repetitions, the colour palette but mostly how smart the state of a sad person is portrayed.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - Don Chaffey

Jason is prophesied to take the throne of Thessaly and he travels to Colchis to find the Golden Fleece with the assembled crew of the finest men in Greece, including Hercules. Their voyage is full of battles against harpies, a giant bronze Talos, a hydra, and an animated skeleton army, all brought to life by Ray Harryhausen.

Ray Harryhausen is a Creator of Special Visual Effects in this film.
He created six and half skeletons (the legs are missing on one), the Hydra, Talos and the Harpies for the film. And it is estimated, he executed 184,800 movements.

The construction of the famous skeleton fight scene took something about 4 and a half month to create and that lasted for just a bit longer than 4 minutes on the screen. It was alaborious work that demanded devotion to it.

But this devotion comes from strong passion for what he is doing. He tells himself that from the very early days he remembers being fascinated by dinosaurs and monsters and that the film King Kong (1933) influenced him enormously , in fact changed his life. From that point he started looking for answers - how the monster was brought to life, started constructing his own model and attending various classes toimprove his designs as well as the ability to produce his visions as accurately as possible.

"He had discovered ... that drawings helped visualise what was in the imagination. Without that visualisation people wouldn’t be able to understand what you were talking about. So Ray learned that this was just as important a part of the process of animation as animation itself. "



Watching the film I found the most fascinating , the animation of Talos, huge metal statue. I couldn't believe its just a 15 inch figure as I read after watching the film. You could tell from watching the animation that this is a enormous object made out of metal. It is the moves were so specific and believable - the performance was believable.

Also I thing the scene was successful because there were no interactions with people ( like in the scene with skeletons, where Jason and his crew seemingly fight with the air ).

So the performance of monsters in the film is convincing, even though if it is not as smooth as we are used to.

http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.php - official website of Ray Harryhausen

King Kong (1933) - Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Scheodsack

It is a great monster movie that is even more stunning when you remind yourself that a lot of efects were used for the first time in film history.

The playing monsters (King Kong, Dinosaurs) are not there only to roar and beat its chest, but they interact with the world and objects in it– taring apart dinosaur, grabbing and throwing away characters and doing all the things that would normally happen if you were to imagine they exist in real life, not in a film.

I noticed the masterful use of layers: often the background was a screen with action projected on it (like a film screen), midground was where stop motion action or acting took place and there were props and setting to smartly blend it all in the foreground . For instance the scene where Ann looked down how the beast was fighting with a giant snake. Ann on the rocks was a film played on screen, Kong’s and snake fight was a stop motion performance and in the foreground there were rocks where we saw captain waiting for a good moment to run to Ann .

Painted backgrounds, stop motion animation, actors performance and actual settings, Layers of images blend unnoticeably.

Attention to performance. Meg Bizineer said Friday in our Animation Workshop- it is all about a convincing performance.
So O'Brien studied the movements of gorillas in zoos and other large animals to develop his characterization of Kong as well as attending professional wrestling matches searching for ideas of how to make his creation battle the other prehistoric denizens of Skull Island. It is this attention to the performance of his models that sets O'Brien's work apart as a pinnacle of the art.

Despite the genius construction of scenes special effects and convincing performance the way it’s editted suggested the continuity of the story. For instance, where we see the beast smashing the train. It could look simply a peace of stop motion animation , but the continuous cutting to people in the train falling, lights turning down, really suggests the horrible experience taking place.

Roger Ebert marked It's simply to observe this monster movie, pointed the way toward the current era of special effects, science fiction, cataclysmic destruction, and nonstop shocks. "King Kong" is the father of "Jurassic Park," the "Alien" movies and countless other stories in which heroes are terrified by skillful special effects.

This film still does it’s magic.

Animation Theatre 1: The Wonders of Norman Mclaren

NORMAN MACLAREN

Begone Dull care (1949)



The whole animation is driven by the music - it's a Jazz interpretation
( The music is done by 'The Oscar Peterson Trio' , Oscar Peterson, C. Jones and A. Roberts). You see patterns symbols and shapes appearing according to music.
It might start spinning your head ab it but it's lenght is 7 minutes so to my mind that's a perfect match for this type of animation.

I think the experience of the animation closely resembles one's who has synesthesia (the ability to "see" sounds or feel the taste of colours) :D

I liked it :)

One of the contemporary examples of that could be a video clip of Chemical Brothers Star Guitar.

Only this time its not as surrealistic or abstract As In Begone Dull care, but the idea still remains the same - interpreting sounds using visual symbols.



Each repeated sound has its visual symbol ( like a traffic light or a house or a bush) and this idea of representing the sound with an object goes through the whole clip and it isn‘t boring at all, since it is intentionally designed that way. Even contrary, you find yourself involved because its interesting what the journey, directed by music is going to be like .


It is great how music can drive the animation . Very interesting idea.


Another very moving animation made by Norman Mclaren is

Pas De Deux (1968)

Definition of Pas De Deux - (ballet) a dance for two people (usually a ballerina and a danseur noble)



You see shilluetes of Ballet dancers in a black screen. The rear lighting makes the outlines of the body white and the volume black - what is the opposite of what we are used to. And because of the technique of multiple exposure (that was then used for very first time and was shocking to the crowd like Avatar today for us :D )we get the delights of movement.
You can see the arcs and the flow of movement, how really smooth and continuous it is. How the overlapping frames even create new abstract patterns and symbols.


In contrast to the stillness and peace brought by Pas De Deux the same animator created

Le Merle (The Blackbird) (1985)



Norman Mclaren used mere symbols for character design( circles and dots for eyes, few lines for the whole design)and blank background - but it still works, and to add even more, it suggests more meanings, you are left to fill in the gap when it is masterfully animated.

It fells like this animation invites to get back to basics (mere lines and dots) and really dig into the process of animation.


I think that's what I'm going to consider when deciding how my characters and the environment should look like.