My Life
as a Zucchini
The first event we went to at
Cucalorus was a 10:45 am showing of My
Life as a Zucchini, a French stop motion animation, which was shown in
Thalian Main Theater. The theater itself was incredibly striking, with the
red-velvet covered seats, antique furniture, and colorful embellishments around
the stage itself, such as the cherub painting on its ceiling. It made it so
that the screening was more than the film itself; it was an experience that as
a result heightened the respect for the film by nature of its surroundings. If
we’d walked into a barren garage filled with metal fold-up chairs, we still
would have appreciated the film, but I don’t think to the complete effect would
have been the same at all.
What I liked most about My Life as a Zucchini is that it is
another step forward for animation as a mode for serious content, since it’s a
medium that, in my experience, isn’t taken seriously at all by the general
population (an animated film equals a kid film, which then, in the eyes of
people I’ve encountered, completely illegitimates it). It was amazing hearing
from the girls I was with (all from class, one being my roommate) how
emotionally and mentally affected they were by the film and how it dealt with
the topic at hand. Although they commented about the quality of the animation
and laughed during comedic moments, that wasn’t all the film was boiled down to
for them; it wasn’t a cheap, juvenile amusement. This adds support, I think, to
my belief that animation is a medium for all ages, and has the potential to be
used in the mainstream cinema to deal with more serious, philosophical topics,
not just kids’ entertainment (though that is a valuable genre as well, of
course!).
Tweenie Shorts: Youth
The second Cucalorus screening we
went to was the Tweenie Shorts at 1:30 pm, in the Thalian Ball Room. I wasn’t
entirely sure what to expect from the screening, so I was surprised by the
diversity of subjects, narratives, and mediums. The varying skill levels of the
submissions that Cucalorus accepted struck me (Although, granted, some were by
children.). One filmmaker (Brad Lambert, Do
the Scrub) made his animation in Photoshop, a relatively basic tool that is
accessible to many different groups of filmmakers.
The screening location was less
impactful than the Main Theater (for My
Life as a Zucchini) had been, however, it was still beautiful, with the
green curtains on the windows. I do think the venue (or the materials they used in it) did some damage to the
showing, though, since some of the image also fell behind the screen. I think
it must have been that the image at points was to big for the projection
screen, but there might have been another reason I don’t know about.
Although many of the submissions
were beautiful, my favorite may actually have been The Little Giraffe, by Anna Kamoroff, a 2-D animated film that
follows a giraffe and hippo. Although not the most complex narrative, the film
was effective, reminding me of John Lasseter’s (of Pixar Animation Studios and
Disney Animation Studios) simple, but not simplistic, technique of taking any
creature (or object!) and, by making them sympathetic and human in a sense,
effectively creating an attachment and emotional investment in even the
shortest amounts of time. By humanizing characters via basic human emotions,
suddenly the audience becomes connected. At least half, if not all, of our
group agreed that this was their favorite of the shorts. That wasn’t because of
an incredible technical ability the filmmaker had, or an extremely complex of narrative,
but because of the characterization. Although I don’t agree with the notion
that the popularity contest of simple preference properly judges the actual quality
of films, I think the effect films like this one seem to consistently have on
at least some section of the audience is valuable.
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