the best of flip

18th may 09

 

Best of Flip – Pete Mclusky

 

This presentation was really interesting as I got to see a range of animations that were successful and have been nominated for/won awards. This gives me a good idea of the standard that is needed and also that an animation has to have a concept and not necessarily a story. Flip is a place where you can promote your work, gain and share your inspiration and also gain contacts. It also gives an idea of the styles of the up to date animations.

 

Animations that we looked at in lecture:

 

·       KJFG BY Alex Alexy (Award for best sound design, Flip 2008) – 2D animation about three musicians; a bear, a rabbit and a wolf. They practice their music in the woods when a hunter comes along with his dog, the animals hide behind a tree as the hunter and his dog fails to spot them under his very eyes. I found this animation quite funny and although its a simple plot; it affective and keeps the audience engaged.

 

·       Muto by Blu (Awards for best abstract film, Flip 2008) – This is an interesting animation showing graffiti and using the walls and floor as its canvas. This is an abstract piece which has a constant flow of images leading to make another image. The character appears in the animation quite a lot. There is no story to this piece but it’s almost like a journey in a sense. The feel of the animation is quite sinister as the character eats the objects it comes across and explodes into thing such as bugs. Another main focus about this animation is the long length of it, but as Pete Mclusky states it’s not always a good thing because most of the time there is too much; only use what is needed to see and not what you think you should put in the animation because you feel it’s a waste not too because of the effort you have put in, you have to be prepared for this in animation- editing is important!

 

 

·       Skhizein by Jeremy Clapin (Best International film, Flip 2008- this film has won over 15 international awards) –I loved this animation, I found the concept of it very interesting and it really keeps the audience engaged (had a good response from the audience) The animation is about a boy called Henry who is hit by a 150 ton meteorite and this has a great affect on him by making him 91cm away from himself. Henry has to map out everything in his house so that he knows exactly where everything is such as the telephone and television etc. I found myself feeling sympathy for Henry and could almost imagine what it would be like in his world; mainly lonely. Whilst this is happening Henry is talking to his psychiatrist, the dialog in this film is in French and if I have to be honest when I first saw the English subtitles I slightly felt disappointed as I thought I would miss out on the actual animation, but I felt that with the French language it made the piece feel more lonely and had a better impact than what it would have if it were English (in my opinion) 

 

 

·       This way up by Smith & Foulkes (Oscar nominee 2009) – This is an animation about two funeral directors trying to escort a coffin to a grave yard. The beginning of the animation is like a domino effect, as the two men load the coffin into the car; the background around them is flowing like domino’s resulting to a large rock landing and crushing their car. This means that the two men have to carry the coffin whilst over obstacles get in their way. The first half of the animation is slow and quite funny but then the second part suddenly changes contrast by becoming lively and quite random, a skeleton followed by numerous characters come on screen singing and dancing. Towards the end of the animation the old lady in the coffin suddenly comes alive and the two funeral directors continue with their journey and carry the old lady still in her coffin. When they finally reach the grave the old lady is dead again and she is put in the grave, the animation ends on a still image of the two men jumping into the grave with her.  The animation is funny and I think it has a good quality to it and good use of CG, the film was nominated but didn’t win the award.

 

·       The Pearce sisters by Luis Cook (Best British film, Flip 2008, BAFTA winner 2008) – 2D animation about two spinster sister live by the ocean; catching fish and gutting them for their living. The film at first seems quite sad and has a lonely kind of feel to it. I t starts with the young girl fishing with her elder sister on a boat in the ocean. The girls are really ugly and almost look manly which adds to the feel of the film. They see a man drowning and attempts to save him. The film then starts to become a little peculiar as they dress him like a women, he wakes up shocked by the look of the girls and also to what he is wearing, ripping off the clothes he runs away with the little girl chasing him. The film then becomes even more sinister when they recapture his dead body and gut him. The film has a ‘Texas chain saw massacre’ feel to it as she hangs him up and then burns his body, they then place his burnt body alongside the rest of the bodies they have sat around a dinner table, drinking imaginary tea, it is now obvious that the sisters are mentally disturbed. At the end of the animation the two sisters stand gazing at the ocean, the little girl reaches out to hold her sisters hand and the slow delay of reaction in her sister reaching out her hand shows that they are not so happy.  I quite like the concept of this animation and the rough style of it is important to the feel of it as it reflects on the strange but traditional culture that they live. (good response from the audience)

 

·       Codswallop by Brothers McLeod (BAFTA nominee 2009) – This is an animation showing a series of stream consciousness postcards sent by the film maker to their son. I found the animation quite random but also interesting, it kept the audience engaged by showing a series of short animations which didn’t have a story but had some ‘point’ to them. I found myself looking to see what connections the animations have but they didn’t relate to each other in any sense. As Pete Mclusky stated “you have to watch this animation a few times to see the relation in the piece”

 

 

·       One nice family photo by Tom Senior (Best newcomer 2008) – This is a hand drawn animation about a family sitting down at a table to eat dinner. The animation is to a recording of an actual family sat down eating their food. There are nine of the family and their dog. The animation begins with the family attempting to take a photograph, the middle is where they sit to eat and then the animation finishes on the family taking a photo and then ends on a paused image of the photograph. The animation is quite lively in some parts as the voice over is louder and more frequent. The animation has a rough feel to it as it is sketchy but it adds to the lively family feel. ( had a good response from the audience- “i like the rough look, it’s good to see that traditional approach”)

 

·       Small birds singing by Lind McCarthy (selected for Edinburgh 2009, Annecy 2009) – This is a ‘traditional’ style stop animation about the home of “the unbelievable family” begins by showing the house and the family collecting their traditional English breakfast. There is a voice over as we are introduced to the house “the house is open to the public every day except for a Monday, but every day is a Monday at Small birds singing”. We are then introduced to the nephew of the man that once lived at the house but then vanished and his two sisters. One of his sisters is lonely and the other one the once a beautiful victim of tragic cosmetic surgery tries anything to gain back her good looks.  The animation is divided by a close up shot of hedge cutters trimming the hedge.  This is no ordinary family they have tiny elephants for vacuuming, a living art work spaceman in the hall and walking hedges to make the gardening harder in the morning, arguing apples and a body in the hedge in the garden.  (had quite a good response from the audience)