I saw the last two nights of the Animtion Block Party, and was very impressed. Actually, the third night only had a few films that impressed me. But, as I predicted before, the final night at the BAM Cinemateque was by far the best. One day later, the audience awards for the ABP were presented, and only one of the films I voted for won something. A CAL-Arts film called Zoologic won a best design award (I wish I could find this film on the internet, but no success). Below are some images from my favorite films.
Don Hertzfeldt’s Everything Will Be OK was featured in the final night, and is still one of my absolute favorite films of the year. It’s Hertzfeldt at a whole new level. I bring this up now, because I have been reading all of John K’s blog entries on blandness. Recently, he featured a “blandness defense” from executive Marc Deckter, and I regret to admit that a lot of it makes sense. Anyone reading this should read it.
What does this have to do with Hertzfeldt? Everything Will Be OK won the best short film prize at Sundance this year, which is impressive, because Sundance has never been known to take a shine on animation. Everything is, as far as I know, the first animated film to win a top prize at Sundance. This is only the beginning, in my opinion. It is my hope that sometime in the future, animated features will make their way into more independent festivals. Independet features can’t be bogged down by commercial executives, and in film festivals, they are reviewed by peers and people who can respect originality and imagination.
I am also sorry to admit that I haven’t been doing a lot of drawing lately. For practice, I took out Amid Amidi’s Cartoon Modern book from the library. It features a drawing style I think I can figure out. Hopefully, I will get plenty of drawing done this week.
This Sunday, I am off to New Jersey to see The Police at Giants Stadium. I know its not animation related, but I am still excited to see the reunited Police.
No comments:
Post a Comment