Mutoscopes

I have a special place in my heart for mutoscopes. They are coin operated, hand cranked flip books. I remember them from the penny arcade at Disneyland. It’s the only place I’ve seen one.

From wikipedia:

Mutoscopes were coin-operated. The patron viewed the cards through a single lens enclosed by a hood, similar to the viewing hood of a stereoscope. The cards were generally lit electrically, but the reel was driven by means of a geared-down hand crank. Each machine held only a single reel and was dedicated to the presentation of a single short subject, described by a poster affixed to the machine.

Here is a youtube video of someone who made his own mutoscope:

And since today is the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, here is CG model I made of a Golden Gate themed mutoscope.

Banana peel slip animation – UPDATED

I just found this cool slow-mo video of slapstick antics. The banana peel slip at the start is the best bit. I noticed how when the foot steps down on the peel, it starts traveling forward faster.


A Slip in Time by dekku

After posting the pratfall analysis video I poked around the related videos, and found this one. This is a student animation of someone slipping on a banana peel.

The flip up in the air is great, but there is one other thing very wrong about it that is not funny.

The character appears to fall on his neck. It looks really painful. One of the classic ideas of physical comedy is to allow the audience some sense that the person wasn’t really hurt. The professionals who take such falls don’t land on their necks. They use techniques to soften the landing and the audience knows that.

Another way viewers would know that the person isn’t hurt is that they get up again without appearing to be in pain. Just lying there would leave the audience uncertain.

 

Bob Maloogaloogaloogaloogalooga

I love stumbling across great performances of physical comedy. Quite a while ago I saw the movie “Big Man on Campus” on TV. Then I later picked up a VHS copy on a website. Made in 1989, the movie was also known as “The Hunchback of UCLA.” It stars Allan Katz (who was also the writer) as Bob, the hunchback. A student finds him living in a bell tower, hiding from the world, and takes it upon himself to bring Bob out into society.

For a good part of the movie, Bob speaks his own made up language, or just acts out his silent comedy. He is brutish, but loving. He is funny, sweet, and sad. This particular scene is an extraordinary melding of those three characteristics.

A character’s simplicity can allow him to do things he doesn’t understand are innapropriate. But doing so reveals more of his inner nature. In this next scene, he shows yet another side of himself.

Bob also has appetites, which is a classic component of any good character.

I recommend watching the whole film. It can be seen on youtube in it’s entirety HERE.

The Pirates! A Band of Misfits

There is something so very solid about stop motion films.   These are real models filmed with actual cameras.   Plastic, wood, paint, clay.  Actual sets with lights.  And what wonderful sets they build at Aardman Animation.  The Pirates! A Band of Misfits has the best sets yet.  I just wanted to freeze frame some shots to look over all the magnificent detail and texture.

“The Pirate Captain” was a likable fellow and his band of misfits were an interesting lot.  They sail to port so the Captain can enter into the “Pirate of the Year” contest, where they meet some even more exciting pirate captains who clearly outclass the hero of the story.  At this point it’s all very much fun.  In an attempt to raise his game, the Captain starts attacking every ship he comes across, to little success.   Then he captures the one and only  Charles Darwin, and a whole new adventure begins.   The Darwin character, however, had two problems.  First, they took great liberties with a historic figure, so it felt a little odd.  But more importantly, he just wasn’t a very strong character.  Over the middle part of the movie, the energy started to wane.  The story drifted a bit.   By the time we got to the exciting finish, I was a bit out of it by then.  However,  I loved Mr. Bobo, the non speaking monkey sidekick of Darwin.  That’s what I am all about.

UPDATE:  The voiceless characters that Aardman does are some of my favorites in animation.  But I have noticed that they all have the same deadpan expression.  They are all descendants of Gromit.  While I love that effect, it would be nice to see a silent character with a more mobile face, like Harpo Marx had.

I always enjoy the acting done in Aardman films.  The shots aren’t rushed.  They give time for small movement, and space between the words.   There is time for them to appear awkward and uncertain.  That is what tells me a character is thinking.  It’s when we see the emotion.   Also, the Aardman animators have a special touch with females.  In this movie, and in “Flushed Away”, I was struck by the extra hip movement they give the women.  It just looks right.  Pixar hasn’t matched them in that area.

In my rating system, I say go see it in the theater at a convenient time.  Or buy the blue-ray.

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