Persistence of Vision

A few years ago, I met the great animator Richard Williams at the prestigious Annecy Film Festival.  He seemed to know my work and was a fan – so we became good friends and talked intimately about his career and great animation.

I knew he didn't want to discuss his long-lost feature “The Thief and the Cobbler” so I delicately avoided that contoversial topic.  However, there is now a wonderful documentary about that lost epic, it's called “Persistence of Vision” by Kevin Schreck.  I saw it last week at the DOC NYC Festival.

Even though the reclusive Richard refused to be interviewed for the film, there are a lot of interviews with artists and friends of the Oscar-winning director.   Plus, there are wonderful vintage interviews of Mr. Williams as he's in the process of making the film, and he talks about his frustration in raising the money to finance this masterpiece.  Also, there are great interviews with Hollywood animation legends Ken Harris and Art Babbitt.   

The consensus is that Mr. Williams was robbed of his magnum opus by Warner Brothers and the Completion Bond Company.  Yet I don't believe it's that simple.  I feel that Richard must share some of the blame. He promised to finish the film by a certain date, and he knew that if he failed to deliver, he would lose his masterwork. Those are the rules of Hollywood and he chose to play by those rules.

I've heard rumors that he may be receiving money soon to restart his production.  

I do hope that's true, because the version released by Miramax, called “Arabian Knight”, was a travesty.  

I give the documentary a B+.  If it plays near you, rush out and see “Persistence of Vision”.

PERSISTENCE OF VISION - Trailer #1 from Kevin Schreck on Vimeo.

RIO... Patrick's review..

Rio was a blast, it opened here in Singapore last weekend, and I rushed out to see it. Very fun film, that's the best way to describe it. The fluffy and colorful birds are addictive to look at (especially in 3D, which I love.. yes I said it.. I love 3D), and the antagonist bird, Nigel, is just awesomely scary. The movie can be formulaic at times, but the fact that it's hilarious saves it. No major spoilers in this review btw.

It's hard to fully critique Rio, due to the fact that one of my best friends Karen Disher was head of story.. but I will. So... I wished it had slowed down and concerned itself less with "problems"..  there were so many "problems" that one began to forget the main thrust of the story! and often times these problems, or challenges didn't line up to other characters problems or challenges. for example, there is quite a bit of time spent on the two human characters trying to get to a location that has already been vacated by what they were looking for (namely the birds).. as an audience member, the story was complicated and exhausting.  Now for all the story problem solving, they forgot to give the main female, Jewel, a REASON to fall for the boy bird, Blu. Blu is a clumsy, un-charming dork.. it's hard to believe ANY girl bird would go for him.  His only skill is walking, and climbing with his beak. The hipster clique loves weak male characters, but even in "Social Network" the geek was a Genius. Blu isn't even all that smart.. he reminds me of Miles from "Sideways".. without the knowledge of wine (or anything really).  The fact that Blu is a natural dancer ALMOST was a reason for Jewel to fall for him, but he fell short of looking attractive on the dance floor, THEN they ruined even that trace of that attraction by having him proclaim that he hates Samba music! (I think they were going for a "I'm not drinking fucking Merlot" moment). Fortunately, the film was so damn pretty, filled with fantastic and intricate dance and chase sequences, and animated so well, that as a whole, it ends up working.

I know I talk a lot about story, and how it gets in the way, but this is a great example. Movies like Rio lack confidence in their characters, and feel the need to fill up the audiences time with story tricks and clever circumstances that click too nicely into resolutions, right before it's time for ANOTHER little twist or circumstance that .. you guessed it.. works neatly into ANOTHER resolution. They could have been giving us subtle character traits and insights to move a simple story along.. but no, why all the complications?? just tell us a simple story, and let us watch and love the interesting characters!

One other note, something that almost every animated film suffers from.. STOP TALKING SO MUCH.. just stop. these films treat us like we can't figure out even the most basic thing! on the nose dialogue is a plague. matter of fact, dialogue itself is a plague.. it represents writers hijacking of the medium. writers upset me (generally speaking) because they don't think visually enough.. they feel a need to talk.. ALL THE TIME.  A film should work with the sound switched off.. all the masters know this.  In Rio, the truly great gags and moments are when the characters are not talking.

Again, no doubt this film will do well.. and despite all my ranting, I think it really does work. The songs are great and, again, the gags are LOL.

I give it a B-.. the kiddies will give it an A.
But then again, I loved the Illusionist.. so what do I know.

Diving Bell and the Butterfly.... Schnabel's masterpiece..

It takes a painter to make a film like "Diving Bell and the Butterfly". There are moments in this wonderful film that only a painter could ever think up. One scene in particular, a long moment of a girls wind blown hair in an automobile is so subtle, hypnotic, and beautiful, it seems to be lifted directly from one of his abstract paintings.I was fortunate enough to visit Julian Schnabel's studio in Montauk a few winters ago (all the cool kids have studios out in montauk;), and it was so inspiring that I jumped at the opportunity to go see "diving bell and the butterfly", as well as several other of his films, ie "basquiat, and "before the night falls", the later of the two is another epic film worth it's length in gold.
Netflix Before the Night Falls. Netflix Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Kodak

from the top left: DeWitt Davis, Pat Smith, Bill Plympton,
Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata, David Levy, Signe Baumane

For about 6 years, Signe Baumane and myself have been organizing the Kodak Animation Show, and each year it gets bigger and bigger. This year, despite a major blizzard, we had standing room only. In fact, we had to turn away several people because of the fire safety regulations.

still from "Guard Dog Global Jam" by Bill Plympton

The show itself was a little different from the past. There were fewer films and a number of works in progress. We started out with the finished version of my "Guard Dog Global Jam" and the audience enjoyed the wide variety of techniques and differing levels of professionalism.

Then David Levy showed his wonderful short, "Grandpa looked like William Powell" and did a funny Q and A. Next was a fabulous short by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter that was called "Something Left, Something Taken". The audience was charmed by the Hitchcockian story and original look. They were there for an intriguing Q and A led by Signe Baumane asking about their sex life. "Accumulonimbus", by Andy Kennedy was a quirky look through the history of mankind in a tumble dryer. Signe introduced Ruth Lingford's "Little Deaths", a very stylish film about people describing orgasms, and Signe was also one of the voiceover interviewees. Then She showed 3 excerpts from her new feature "Rocks In My Pockets", which an amazing style that is totally refreshing. Pat Smith showed his new film "Masks", a beautiful and dark exploration of the battle of humanity. And I closed with a mysterious work in progress.

still from "Something Left, Something Taken" by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
still from "Masks" by Patrick Smith

still from "Rocks In My Pockets" by Signe Baumane

still from "Little Deaths" by Ruth Lingford

Afterward was the fun part, where we all retired to a local bar, Billy Barks, where everyone got to chat with the filmmakers, and critique the films and basically get drunk.

I personally want to thank Signe Baumane, all the filmmakers, and especially the people at Kodak: Anne Hubbell, who was stuck in the Atlanta Airport, Susan Selig and DeWitt Davis.

Book: "Elemental Magic" By Joseph Gilland..

"We need to learn to be observers of life, to be the antennae of society, the first ones out there, inquisitive, probing, observing, questioning, examining and interpreting life". -Joseph Gilland
Every now and then I stumble upon a book that is truly inspired, researched, and enlightened. "Elemental Magic" is one of these. I usually get mixed feelings when this happens, a combination of stupidity that I didn't know the book existed, and an overwhelming focus and study that comes with discovering something new.

Hand drawn effects animation, for the larger part, is not the blossoming field it once was. Maybe I feel a kinship to Joseph and all the artists he mentions, because of my own dedication to drawn animation, and the uncertainty of pushing further into a medium that not many even know happens much anymore.

Back to the book itself. It is filled with some of the most breathtaking examples of effects drawings I've ever seen. Every page either has a well written treatise of a particular subject, or a well rendered example of such, and typically both. It is truly a great guide, showing by example step by step processes of execution, but it's not just a "how to" manual, not even close. It's more of a hybrid between that and one of those all too heavy coffee table books filled with perfectly reproduced imagery, and the price tag to match. For lack of a better way to describe it, it feels like a college text book.. highly informative and scientific, but with a breathe of passion and life that only a dedicated artist can inject.

The forward is written by Michel Gagne, an animator that I've studied and used for teaching for a long time now. His film, "Prelude to Eden" is a brilliantly drawn and timed exercise in drawn effects animation.

There's something special that happens when you leave the realm of character animation and attempt to capture chemical interactions and the movement of elements and compounds. There's no rules to it, yet it's even more closely linked to the study of the natural world. There's no anatomy, only the flow and spark of particles or fluids. It's the perfect amount of freedom and academics. Thanks to fellow Tisch Professor Thomas Thessen for lending me his copy, prior to me ordering one of my own.
I was stoked to discover a bit more about the author Joseph Gilland, who I've met a few times in Annecy or Ottawa.. can't remember. Currently it seems that he's a full time tattoo artist, you can see his blog here. Some excellent ink work. And I love seeing that such a brilliant animator is not a typical animation geek, whom I feel have destroyed contemporary animation, Disney in particular.. but that's another post all together.

Legend of the Guardians..

In case you hadn't figured it out, my rush to get “Idiots and Angels” in the cinema this fall is because in order to be eligible for Oscar contention, it has to be released by the end of 2010.

This year has a very promising group of films for my competition, “Toy Story 3”, “How to Train Your Dragon”, and “Tangled”.

It's important for me to try to see all of the animated feature films released this year so I can get a sense of what my odds are. Also, if there are over 15 features released, then the number of nominated films bumps from 3 to 5, which also gives me better odds.

In any case, I rushed out to see “Legend of the Guardians, Owls of Ga'Hoole” (The owl film) to check out my competition. It was directed by Zack Snyder (of “300” fame) with voices by Helen Mirren an Jeffrey Rush.

Even though I saw it on a giant 3D screen, the audience was quite small. My big problem with the film is that I had no idea what the hell was going on and who was who. Imagine a kid trying to decipher who the bad owls are and who the good owls are when they all look essentially alike.

There must be 20 speaking owl parts and other than the hero owl, I could never really get them all straight. The result was that I couldn't really figure out the plot other than there were bad owls and good owls. Consequently I fell asleep numerous times – and thus I probably missed more important plot points.

In my film, I try to engage the audience immediately so I know later I can get very weird, because the basic premise is laid out already.

Even though the owls are rendered beautifully, especially their feathers ruffling in the wind – that's not enough to engage me in a feature-length animated film.

On a scale of 1-10, I give the owl film a 4.

Beautiful Losers..

I was lucky enough to catch the documentary "Beautiful Losers" (nice title borrowed from Leonard Cohen) last night at Sinema Old School (an epic movie house, my new favorite) here in Singapore (thanks Jenny Ruff). I found it to be a very inspiring, and accurate film, depicting my tiny generation of artists (some of which aren't even that good, but excel in attitude and positivity).. Artists include Shepard Fairey, Margaret Kilgallen, Harmony Korine (director), Mike Mills, Stephen Powers, Aaron Rose (director), Ed and Deanna Templeton, and others.

Possibly my favorite quality of the piece was how it explained the skateboarding culture influence, and how this is firmly embedded within the art movement itself. It was also interesting to hear these artists talk about doing commercial work, a struggle that most animators can relate to. Try to see it, the film site posts screening times.