The Syfy channel has a new show called “Total Blackout”, and it looks very interesting to me. I love watching scared people. But apparently the show was first created in Denmark. I like the clips from the Danish show better. These two people are the best…
Month: October 2012
Scared people are funny. New for 2012
I have been thinking about this. We laugh at these people because we know they really have nothing to be afraid of. They will be alright. The same way we know a slapstick comedian probably isn’t injured by his falls. I’ve seen photos of people caught in gunfire, and their fear isn’t funny.
Click on any of the pics to see this awesome flicker stream.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nightmaresfearfactory/6035859740/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nightmaresfearfactory/6035858660/
Surrealism
One evening I was teaching a class at the Academy of Art. A student, Aaron Koressel I think it was, presented his latest animation. It included a boy character and a goat. The boy was standing in a hole, holding a box, and he was eye to eye with the goat. That evening I happened to have a guest in the class, Phil Captain 3D McNally, now working as global stereoscopic supervisor at Dreamworks. Phil pointed out how when the image of the boy and goat first came up, it caused him to stop and ask himself “what’s going on here?” It’s strange scene, in a good way. It caught his attention. You have accomplished something when just the set up of the shot already has the viewer interested. That in itself is a lesson.
I didn’t think of it at the time, but what Aaron had done was create a “surreal” image. If animators should know one art movement, it should be surrealism. Founded in the 1920’s, it encompassed visual art, writing, music and film. It was influenced by Freud’s study of the subconscious, using free association and dream analysis. I would define surrealist visual art as “the juxtaposition of unexpected objects, resulting in a dreamlike image.” Surrealists felt that art could be free of aesthetic and moral preoccupations. In other words, it doesn’t have to “mean” something. Like unfocused thought, it can just “play”.
Often, surrealist art can be just plain funny. I imagine that the artists themselves understood this. Whenever Salvador Dali posed for a photo, he often struck the same crazy wide eyed face. This was not a man who took himself terribly seriously. There is even a branch of surrealism called surreal humor. Such humor includes absurd situations, and nonsense. Also, non-sequitur, where statements can be made that have no logical connection to what comes before or after. Literary examples of this pre-date the surrealist movement, for instance Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, or Edward Lear’s “Book of Nonsense.” One might use the word, silly.
With words like “nonsense” “absurd” and “silly” it should start to become apparent why surrealism has a place in the discussion of animation. When artists are freed from the expectation of being logical, or sensible, it is fertile ground for imagination.
Make way for the cartoonist!
One of my favorite comics, from B Kliban…
Hotel Transylvania
As usual I go see a movie the second weekend it’s out. Hotel Transylvania was still very well attended at the matinee.
I’m not a fan of Genndy Tartakovksi’s TV work, so I went in with low expectations. The trailer didn’t help when I saw Dracula’s head held perfectly still while his mouth moved, making it look like limited animation. But that was just his character, and the animation overall was great fun. It was quick and loose, without being too rubbery, like Ice Age 4.
What the story did well was put Dracula square in the middle of multiple relationships that he had to juggle. There was his daughter, then there were his many monster friends who trusted him to keep the hotel free of humans, and finally he had to deal with Jonathan, the human packpacker who stumbles into the place and threatens everything. When his daughter meets Jonathan the reaction causes the real dilemma for Dracula. Most animated films don’t have such complicated situations. But the many elements allowed for a really fast moving story with many sudden challenges.
While I think Adam Sandler brought nothing special to the part, Dracula and Jonathan did actually have a chemistry that is rarely found in animation. The dialog had a classic snappiness, while being modern and relavant. I could feel the tension between them. A father meeting a boy who might be interested in his daughter is always a delicate situation. Top it all off with the boy being somewhat clownish, the dad being Dracula, and hilarity ensues.
The Mavis character was very appealing and sympathetic, but she didn’t add much to the story. That tends to be the way with the female romantic lead, doesn’t it?
All of Dracula’s challenges were excellent reasons for plenty of visual humor and exciting action. I was never bored in the movie. The myriad monsters allowed for all kinds of physical gags. It’s great to see a feature film go cartoony like this. I mentioned how it didn’t get too rubbery. In my Ice Age 4 post, I pointed out how rubbery is funny and rigidity is scary. Dracula stood very rigid (the straight man?) , and this was the perfect contrast, to Jonathan being limber and expressive.
It was totally worth going to. I rate it “Pay full price at the theater”, and I am looking forward to the DVD to rewatch some of the animation. I met Genndy back when he was going to direct animated features with The Orphanage. Now I’m even more sorry that didn’t work out.
