MonkeyFunk
03-23-2005, 04:22 PM
I've recently discovered Czechoslovakia's weirdo animator Jan Svankmajer, and I must say, his stuff rules. As a taster, here's a run-down of "exhaustive discussion", part of his film Dimensions of Dialogue:
Basically, it's about three heads - one made of vegetables, one made of kitchen utensils and one made of books and stationary - eating eachother. The "chewing" is represented as the objects making up each head smashing eachother up - scissors cutting up an apple, thimbles squashing chick peas, books breaking plates etc.
That goes on for a while, and the objects start getting smaller and smaller, so the heads start getting more realistic (smaller brushes make for more detail, y'know). Eventually, they've become three identical clay heads that are left constantly regurgatating eachother.
It's really something. Aside from the obvious metaphor - the "discussion" leaves the three individuals totally homogenised - there's a weird attraction in seeing which object will be doing what next. A pair of pliars chomping sugar cubes might not seem like a good idea for an animation, but Svankmajer's pulled it off.
And yes, his stuff's available on video. Take a look =3
Basically, it's about three heads - one made of vegetables, one made of kitchen utensils and one made of books and stationary - eating eachother. The "chewing" is represented as the objects making up each head smashing eachother up - scissors cutting up an apple, thimbles squashing chick peas, books breaking plates etc.
That goes on for a while, and the objects start getting smaller and smaller, so the heads start getting more realistic (smaller brushes make for more detail, y'know). Eventually, they've become three identical clay heads that are left constantly regurgatating eachother.
It's really something. Aside from the obvious metaphor - the "discussion" leaves the three individuals totally homogenised - there's a weird attraction in seeing which object will be doing what next. A pair of pliars chomping sugar cubes might not seem like a good idea for an animation, but Svankmajer's pulled it off.
And yes, his stuff's available on video. Take a look =3