Caught AS3 at Somerville Davis tonight. I'm gonna go thru the listings in the program and hit you with some description of the style and plot, if there is one to describe. No spoilers. I think there were more films screened than listed in the program, but I can't remember them now. Stupid brain.You should really see this stuff. It's good crack!
* January 20, 2007. Wrote an updated set of reviews/rambles after seeing the show a second time.
* January 18, 2007. Remembered a couple of the shorts not included in the program...
"Versus"
Bright, candylike, 3-D animation. Samurai warriors from opposing clans on two island camps are at war over a tiny third island directly between them. With Wile E. Coyote perseverance and ingenuity, each clans sends warrior after warrior to claim the island, one-upping each other in attempt after attempt. Sit thru the end credits to catch the fun superstar cameo! =)
"Davey and Son of Goliath"
The true story behind Davey and his talking dog companion. Not pretty, but answers all those nagging questions you've had.
"Rabbit"
Wonderful illustrated Golden Book style to tell a very fun grotesque cautionary tale for children. It starts with a sweet little goldilocked knife-wielding girl chasing after a cute little rabbit. And it only gets better! Awesome."City Paradise"
Reminded me a bit of "Harpy" stylewise. "Harpy" is a classic piece of animated cutout photography. I'm not sure what the original media were in this one, but the look is very striking. Unfortunately, the story didn't really do anything for me.
"Everything Will Be OK"
Don Hertzfeldt's latest Bitter Film! Need I say more? This one actually jerks you around emotionally quite a bit, but laughs are allowed at all times. =)
"Collision"
A stylin' animated kaleidoscope set to a soundtrack of exploding, smashing, twisting, and grinding metal. Short, sharp, and compelling it its geometry.
"9"
Beautifully textured and kitbashed 3D computer generated animation tells the story of the last of a ragdoll tribe seeking to avenge his lost brothers on the beast that struck them down. In its dialogueless storytelling and action, it reminds me of... frack, can't remember the name of it,... it was "[something] and Blue." "Coyote and Blue?" "Blue" was some gorgeous stop motion (probably tweaked digitally, but I'll allow it) animation about a fellow and his dog facing off against a mean machiney beasty. The characters in "9" are made of beautiful junk and inhabit a landscape of abandoned objects and trash. Great atmosphere. Awesome."Eaux Forte"
A man buys a pack of smokes at a convenience store, then steps out onto the street. He's almost knocked over by a crowd running away from some frightful thing. It takes a few seconds, but that thing soon bears down on him and sweeps him away. Visually, it could do with some higher contrast, but for the most part I dig the line drawn watercolor painted images.
"Overtime"
A tribute to Jim Henson? I do not know. More beautiful CG, used to give life to a man's muppet creations after dark. You'll see them play some very cool tunes, prepare a feast for their creator, and then put on a puppet show of their own, of sorts.
"Dreams and Desires"
A British matron is the first among her friends to get a video camera, and so is drafted to become amateur videographer at all of their events. At the wedding of a girlfriend (whose dress is a tight and shiny red), she tries to emulate the cinematography of movie greats... with limited success. The dialogue is heavily accented, enough so that most people in the audience probably would've appreciated subtitles, but the handdrawn animation almost doesn't need a lot of story. The characters are lively and expressive, and the ways perspective and lens distortion are created are pretty damn clever.
"Game Over"
80s Arcade Game button pusher of a short. Recreates your favorite old school arcade games by animating collections of found items to the original games' sound effects.
"Guide Dog"
A Plymptoon, and a follow-up to his previous "Guard Dog." I love his style, and the way it allows him to convincingly animate at less than 12 frames per second. His characters and stories are always a bit hit-or-miss with me, tho. This... about 50-50. A bunch of small laughs, and one really clever funny bit involving birds that most folks didn't catch til the very end. I guess Plympton anticipates audiences better than I do.
"No Room For Gerold"
Wonderful combination of mundane dialogue with absurd animated visuals. You'll get to play fly on the wall in the kitchen of an apartment shared by four friends. One of them is going to be asked to leave. Can you guess which one? Will it be the rhino, the hippo, the crocodile, or the deer? You'll have to watch to find out! Awesome.
Before and after the 8pm show they ran student animation projects from the school at the MFA, MassArt, RISD, and Harvard's VES department. There is one absolute gem in there, I'm pretty sure it was a RISD short, called... umm... "Fabulous Keen Kooky Show"...? Something like that? It's a great piece for demonstrating fun riffs on walk cycles and some cartoony exagerrations but even more, it creates some sweet grotesque and whimsical characters and within seconds, each of them instantly gets a story of his own. A damn impressive feat. And the visuals are like candy, ta boot! I *think* the credited name was something like Kim Anika...
I'm hoping to be able to make the show again tomorrow at 6.30. Maybe they'll be showing the student works again. If they are, and you're there, it's somewhere in the middle of the student pack.
Towards the end of the student reels was a short called "Snake." Not the most beautiful, but super fun and entertaining.
If you don't have to rush off for brain surgery, and they are screening the student shorts again, all of the films are decent for student work, but these two are definitely worth sticking around for.
Keep on keepin on~
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