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2010
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9
ReplyDeleteAs a movie without dialougue, it is always difficult to bring the message across. Precisely this was the greatest down of '9'; even though it was clear what was going on, I missed the point of the film. Now, it could be that I'm just not civilized enough to 'get it', but it seemed to me that it didn't have a big idea behind it. The short length also may have been a factor.
Apparently it was a clip designed to exhibit skill in animation, and that is something I agrewe to. The movie was welll mede from a technical point of view and there is only little room for improvement. I hear that it has recieved awards namely for the technical aspect and I don't doubt that at all. This could also explain why there is no big idea.
As I don't see the bigger picture, it is difficult to react on the movie as a whole. The sequence of events, on the other hand, was logical and m,ade good sense. The intentions of the characters were well portrayed, which is difficult without actors and their expressions. So from that, my verdict is that '9' was a success.
Un Chien Andalou
The first thing that comes to mind is what is the point - nothing, by the looks of it, yet on the other hand, there must be. There is a confusing sereis of event that don't seem to be related and look completely random. You know, when you watch the film, that it is pretty well-known, so it must have a deeper meaning. Looking at the comments of the directors after-hand, it becomes clear there is none.
So the next question that comes to mind is why there is no point. In my opinion, the point is simply to make fun of anyone wathcing by introducing the fact that maybe there isn't one. What prevent it from simply being random? So despite the soppy soundtrack and the cutting of the eye (which was kind of cool), the film is successful.
Mr Creoste
A simple sketch with a simple purpose - be random and make people laugh. The comedy was a bit over the top and tasteless, but the fact that it is so random makes it funny. Personally, I'm not put off by all the puke. Monty python has made a trademark out of that kind of randomness, and this is one of the few successes in my mind. Was there a point this time? No. it doesn't need one - it wasn't the purpose.
All in all, none of the clips have a deeper meaning, all for different reasons. Deeper thinking wasn't the focus; the viewer was intended to be confused in trying to find one; a film doesn't need a point - these are all different reasons for leaving it out. I guess a deeper meaning isn't something to look for - if there is one, it would come to you and you would know. So what does anybody think about the deeper meaning of life..?
9
ReplyDeleteAn animation about weird dolls is - as told - a some kind of technical thesis made by students. Noticing the fact that there was a lot of effort put on technical aspects, it is understandable that the message of the movie has not been considered so deeply (since it was not the purpos of the movie).
As Laura told after the movie that on a longer version, that has been made later about the same dolls, there could be a clear story and a theme seen. However, because I cannot base those thematic ideas on this short version, the only thing to analyze here is the technical presentation, and because I know relatively little about making animations I´ll leave the analyzation of this movie to the people more into the matter than me.
Un Chien Andalou / The Andalusian Dog
The classic movie from year 1929 (if i remember correct) was made in same times when for example Sigmund Freud with his psychoanalyze, new inventions and the beginning of modernistic ideal in art and philosophy were changing the world. People wanted to break the patterns and do and see things totally in different lightning. The movie is modernistic and it follows its ideals: it abandons the tradition of having clear plot. Why does a movie always have a point?
Even I still fight against the thought that there is actually nothing that the movie wants to say, it kind of makes sense. Being pointless actually makes a point. People should always watch movies (and art in general) with open minds and not just try to follow the plot or stick to the idea of a hidden messages. That´s what I did with the Andalusian Dog and i missed the whole movie. You miss the point if you look for it too intently.
Mr Creoste
I have to disagree with Mikael with the point of the movie or, in this case, the lack of it. I found a clear message in the movie. With exaggerated and disgusting events the movie wanted to make people to realize the unbelievable greedness of modern man.
We eat even we are not hungry. We can´t get enough or know when to stop. This same event can be seen with money or any possessions everyday. Also that if you have a lot of money, many that kinds of things done by you are accepted, even they would be totally inapropriate if somebody with not so much welth would do so. Money gives a lot of freedom.
If the point of all these movies was that they have no point, I am sorry for maybe over analyzing the last one. That´s what IB does.
Okay, here goes. We watched three short clips this time, so here go three short reviews!
ReplyDelete9
Well, I saw the actual movie for this one, but I'll try to not let that influence my analysis of what we saw. It was a very well made animation. It had no words, yet still used a remarkable amount of body langauge in order to convey a large variaty of emotions. I can't comment much on the plot, since I know the story behind it, but they did a very good job on building up the tension with subtle noises, like the clinking of the giant mechanical beast, or the rustle of debris being pushed out of the way.
Unfourunatly other than being rather artisitc, it was beyond useless. It was supposidly created in order to demonstrare some type of animating ability, and while that may have been great for who ever got a 7 on their animation exam, it offered the viewer next to nothing. It conveyed no message at all.
Un Chien Andalou
Calling ths movie pointless would be an understatement. It's original goal was create something with absolutely no meaning or order, and while this is absolutely impossible since anything and everything anyone does is determined by a previous factor (hence anything the script writers wrote has a sub-concious order to it), it does a pretty good job at being chaotic and random.
While someone with enough time and patience could actually sit down and analyze the different factors of the movie (such as the use of insects, or the focus on the lady and the different men) I am not one of those people. Besides, it would be pointless. Why search for meaning in something that was explicitly designes not to have a meaning? Another pointless movie...
Finally, Mr Creoste
A beautiful movie with a meaning deeper than life itself. It represents the very essence of our modern society. Mindless self indulgence. All we do is indulge, indulge, indulge, then vomit it all out to make room for more. The new ipod, the shiney red car, the house three times bigger than a small country, for what? What is the point of all these materialstic pleasures? And then, as soon as a faster car is made, a newer model of the ipod, or an even larger house, we throw away everything, and rush out to buy more. The man in the movie ate, ate, ate, and then vomited. Even when he was full, the waiter would convince him to take just one more bite, untill he would explode. A perfect metaphor for our society.
Not only that, but the man with money, was the man who was allowed to waste. He could vomit, even on other people, and it would be okay, becuase he was there to buy loads of food. The other "lesser" customers were ashamed and embarassed to vomit, even if it was more reasonable for them to do so. In our society, is it not the rich who watse? Is it not the upper class who has five cars owned by 2 people? And do we frown upon them? Sometimes, but mostly they are admired, and envied.
So, we watched two wastes of time, and one masterpiece.
Unfortunately, I must say that I am not really well equipped to rate or review media of this sort... but let me jot down few comments.
ReplyDelete9.
Like it did for so many others, this piece confused me quite a lot. I could see that when it comes to the technical aspects of this piece, it was nearly perfect, yet as a vision it was a disappointment. There was no explanation, and the point (whatever it might have been) did not get across. There was a conflict, and then it was resolved; there was an antagonist, which was killed, and a protagonist, who might as well been an actual robot for all the depth he had (or rather: had not). Just like for any form of art, perfection of technical aspects should not precede the perfection of actual message or depth of the piece.
No stars, yet recommended for anyone interested in the technicalities of animation.
En chien Andalou and Mr Creoste.
I'll just lump these two together and say a few words about them, as I found them quite similar.
...I must resist the temptation to participate in the debate about these pieces, as there seems to be two views about these: either they had a point or they had none. I believe in the latter, and thus writing a review would be rather pointless.
(Though I must add that I found Mr. Creoste very funny, and En Chien Andalou was vaguely interesting, not because of what was told, but because what was left untold in that piece.)
No stars, recommended for whoever might be amused by them.
9
ReplyDeleteAt first, I was rather disappointed in the short movie, because it had won many awards, and it had received a lot of praise around the world. I must keep in mind that the awards were mostly from the techniques used, and it took a massive effort from a student group to do it, 4½ years.
However, I enjoyed the film in the end. I think it should be reviewed mainly based on its techniques, because of its nature. It is a shame that a dvd- or a higher quality release of it cannot be found everywhere, because I believe the visuals would have be stunning.
And the story… Well, it did not quite open to me, post-apocalypse ragdolls trying to escape from a monster stealing their souls? I cannot find any deeper meaning from it, I think it was just a story to show off (not in a negative way) their amazing talents. The character design was somewhat unique, and Shane shows a lot of potential.
The movie was so well done, that it is now discussed whether it has set a new standard to animated movies. Being not so much of an expert in animated films, I will not say what I think of it.
Un chien andalou & Mr Creosote
Like Sampsa, I’m going to speak of these two films at the same time. That is, because I think the may as well be direct laughter aimed to the ones trying to interpret and find deeper meanings from them.
Un chien andalou was like a dream, a set of beautiful moving pictures. It came from the deep wells of Bunuel and Dali. Despite my first paragraph, I liked this movie. I had seen it before a few months ago, and it is confusing how much of it I had forgotten in so short period of time. Given the time of the film, I find no flaws from it. The editing is outstanding, and the music fitted the movie strangely well. (I think the sound was not originally embedded in the movie, but it was played on the background at the same time the movie was viewed).
Mr Creosote was just full ‘n round comedy. It claimed to be a part of the “meaning of life”, but it just made fun of it in its own, funny and disgusting way.
No more to say, and the time’s running up.
Hello, I’m late as always. Sorry about that.
ReplyDelete9
Not a bad student work at all. Short movie 9 was well made. Good computer animation and I would like to mention that the audio side also worked well. The plot was slightly shallow, but after all this was just a student work to show that the guys know how to make an animation. Was there really any symbolical or deeper meanings? Hard to say. I wouldn’t go deeper in searching meanings after all, as I mentioned, it was just a student work that was clearly not jet finished.
Un Chien Andalou
This short film was just odd. Art some say, but I wouldn’t lift Un Chien Andalou too high. By the time it was made it was probably something new and great. A film with no clear meaning at all, it seems to me. It is a waste of time to start to analyse Un Chien Andalou. I don’t know what Salvador Dali wanted to achieve by making this film. The short movie was just a mess. Cutting a cow’s eye and showing dead donkeys is just wired.
Mr Creoste
Was the best! I love British humour and Monty Python rocks. Okay, it was disgusting, but fun. One could say that a guy stuffing himself full of food and then exploding is cheesy. Yes, I don’t deny that, but I laughed so hard. The whole scene went over the top of good manners, but it was jolly fun (=
More Monty Python, please!
Ugh, my last post didn't get saved (Nicholas Nikkinen here)
ReplyDeleteOnce again this dang website is acting up, God forbid should I have to post it through Gabriel...
9
I really enjoyed watching this short film by a group of students. Basically, from what I saw and have been told, the film was about a group of "dolls" that were created to save the world. What I really liked about this film was the fact that there was no dialogue. Every scene, feeling, and thought was created through the actions of the characters and the music accompanying it. All in all, it was a job well done.
Un Chien Andalou
I'm not quite sure what to say about this. Apparently it was a film based solely on the random; nothing in the movie held any symbolic referance. I personally did not like this film at all. This attempt at something avantgarde, if it can be called that, was an utter failure. Some advice: I don't think starting a film with a scene of a woman having her eyeball cut is the most effective way to introduce an original idea.
Mr.Creoste
No. Just no. British humor? (Which I am a fan of) Give me a break. Though I do agree with the metaphor present in this film (as described by Gabriel), I REALLY detest the manner in which it was presented. Puking? I would assume there is a better way to get a point across other than making a film of people puking for, I dunno, 10 minutes? No, just no.