Dyepot, Teapot

Friday I went to two princess movies, and a party.

Princess Iron Fan was made in China in 1941. It tells the story of a Buddhist teacher and three disciples who travel to the west to find some religious scriptures. Along the way, they encounter a range of firey mountains, and must convince the princess to give up her magic fan that will bring on a rain storm to quench the fires. It’s completely not a modern movie. The fight scenes (and there are several) are long, dragging on and on, the characters are opaque or unlikeable, and the animation quality seems about par for the era. Interesting historical document? Maybe. But most people won’t find this one particularly entertaining on its own.

On the other hand, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which I don’t think I’ve seen in 20 years, holds up fantastically well on its 70th anniversary. It’s still very enjoyable to watch, as well as completely terrifying to the younger children who were in the audience (this one little boy behind me kept saying, “I’m scared. I’m scared.” while the Queen cooks up the poisoned brew and takes the apple to Snow White. I sympathize. I still remember feeling terrified by the evil book in the Care Bears movie at his age.)

We were also blessed to have Marge Champion, a dancer who provided all of the movement for Snow White, on hand to talk about her work with the animators. I was surprised to hear that her participation had been a closely-guarded secret for several years; at the premiere she had to sit at the back of the second balcony because Disney didn’t want anyone to know they’d filmed most of the movie scenes in live action to use as the basis for the characters’ movement. She said that her favorite character, of the three she modeled for at Disney, was not Snow White, or the blue fairy, but the hippo ballerina in Fantasia.

The most impressive thing about seeing Marge is just how healthy and graceful she still is (she’ll be 88 in the fall). She credited exercise, stretching, and having the right parents. Great example of the benefits of staying active.

As I mentioned above, I haven’t actually seen this movie since I was a kid. At the end, when Snow White wakes up to find her prince waiting there to take her away, I had the funny thought that from Snow White’s point of view, it’s a different story. A creepy old woman promises her that the apple will make her heart’s desire come true. So she takes a bite, and when she wakes up the prince is right there to take her away. As far as she knows, the peddler was telling the truth. I thought it was odd that she doesn’t ask “what happened?” when she wakes up, but it makes sense if she doesn’t realize she’s been living in a glass coffin for several months.

My last event of the night was a multi-venue party at Portland Art Center, Ground Kontrol, and Someday Lounge. Drinking, talking, and free video games. Yay. I had to leave in a hurry to catch a bus home, though. Tri-Met still gets no love from me for their really crappy nighttime bus service. If we’re a small city, shouldn’t I be able to stay out until the bars close?

One more post for Saturday’s events, and then we’re at the end of the festival. Sad sad sad. This has been such a great week.

Thursday’s schedule was heavy on people talking. So I went to four lectures/panels/presentations. The first was on Adult Swim, which I’ve never really watched, but I was curious because I know it’s popular. They talked a lot about how they figure out what does and doesn’t work for them. One of the Oregonian bloggers wrote a pretty comprehensive account of the presentation, so I’ll just link over there.

After that, I went to the “Get a Job” panel, where I discovered that finding work in animation is a lot like finding work in any other interesting field. Get out there, talk to people, and don’t be an asshole.

Then, after lunch we had two big presentations by Aardman and Pixar studios. Aardman is best known for Wallace & Grommit, but they recently had a foray into CG with Flushed Away. Gary Rydstrom from Pixar showed off their first four shorts (and they’re still fun, even though CG work has gotten much more detailed since then), along with his directing debut, a short called Lifted, about the driver’s ed for alien abductions (I think they’re showing it along with Ratatouille, their latest feature film). He used the film to explain how the process of creating a Pixar film works, from the initial storyboarding, to character development (in this case, it involved a lot of mucking around with green hair gel), to the initial computer animation process, to sound, lighting, and finally the finished work. The Aardman presentation covered many of the same areas, but with a heavier focus on the character and story development process.

Then, after a quick dinner with family, I walked over to Wieden & Kennedy for Scott McCloud’s lecture on making comics. He’s done an amazing job of breaking down how and why comics do what they do. Even if you’re not a comics geek, I would recommend his work to anyone who’s interested in any sort of visual communication. We also had a special bonus presentation from his daughter Sky, about the family road-trip they’ve been doing since September to talk, teach, and promote his books. They have a group blog on Livejournal where you can follow the trip and find links to Sky and Winter’s video interviews with comic book artists.

Last, I went to the installation event. I know I’ve been saying how amazing and incredible and fun everything has been this week, but this exhibit was especially awesome. (I’m also comforted to know that the pros are having a similar experience.) Wow. I’m so sad that the best pieces were only one night, because I want to see this again, and bring everyone I know.

Subterranean Heart is a composite of projected animation and live performance. Well executed, with compelling imagery. I loved watching how everything fit together.

Pika Pika (whose film I saw Wednesday) was also there, doing a live participatory performance of their work. I’m feeling so inspired after seeing all of these amazing creative things this week, and this sort of light drawing is definitely something to experiment with.

I also loved Conveyor Belt, The Street, and Intra Muros. I really wish these could be shared with more people. The works that were set up inside PNCA are open through Saturday, at least, so you can see a sample of the non-performance and indoors creations.

Am I caught up now? Amazing. And there’s still more to come, today and tomorrow. I’ll have lunch and then head back downtown for another round.

Yesterday I was physically tired. Today’s it’s just my brain. I have the feeling I’ll be trying to catch up for a week after this.

So, Wednesday screenings. Competition group 4 had another fabulous collection of shorts.

Une Charogne. French, no subtitles, but the CG animation is beautiful. And lifelike, which is funny because it’s about death. The text was from a poem, so translations aren’t too hard to find.

Digitopia. There have been several pieces combining live action video with animation in the festival, and this is one of the best. The director plays mix and match with human body parts and animated machines, rebuilding and sculpting the parts.

Lightning Doodle Project/Pika Pika. Light painting! How could that not be fun?

Conte de Quartier. The program book says, “A crazy day in a neighborhood under construction.” The story is okay, but it’s the style of the painted animation that makes this one really interesting. The brush strokes are active, moving and rearranging to show the changing scene.

No Room for Gerold. A rhino, a hippo, a wildebeest, and a crocodile share an apartment, and it’s not going so well.

I also attended a preview of competition group 6.

Wolf Daddy. A wolf finds his writing interrupted by a succession of women who insist that he is the father of a little girl, a rabbit, and a turtle. It’s funny and sweet.

A Gentlemen’s Duel. Two men, one woman, and giant steampunk mecha suits. Fight!

I Met the Walrus. Another intriguing use of found audio. In this case it’s a 1969 interview with John Lennon, by a 14 year-old who snuck into his hotel room. They talk about war, love, and non-violence.

Vienna Mix. A series of small paintings photographed against the backdrop of Vienna. I love pieces like this that demonstrate how simple animation can be and still work.

Astronauts. It’s a small ship for two people. Especially if one of them pushes that red button clearly labeled “do not press”.

Wednesday was also the lovely Laika picnic out on Sauvie Island. We ate, we drank, we played with crayons. Very relaxing.

[I didn't manage to finish this until Friday, but it's still my Thursday post. Just pretend it was up a day ago.]

When I was in college, one of my friends and I would drool every year as SIFF came around, and wish we had the time and money to buy a full pass, gorging on movies for a week. So far, doing this at Platform has been every bit as enjoyable and exhausting as I thought. I’ve only been up an hour, but I’d really like a nap.

Anyhow, Tekkon Kinkreet was as wonderful as the festival organizers claimed. It’s an adaptation of a manga series published in the US as Black and White, the story of two young homeless boys and their neighborhood. Apparently the visual style of the movie is significantly different than the manga. The landscape is dirty and run-down, but brightly decorated with neon lights and sculptures. In the post-screening interview with Michael Arias, he said that one of the reasons for that choice came from the art director, who had just spent 10 years working on Steamboy, which is set in early industrial Manchester, everything in shades of gray. After that it was time for color.

The story alternates between comedy and tragedy, friendship and violence. In one of the first scenes, we see White, the younger of the two boys, with snot dripping from his nose despite a whole roll of toilet paper at hand, because he’s completely inept at cleaning himself. And then he and Black beat up the two boys from a nearby neighborhood who’ve come to challenge them. It’s an emotional, multi-layered story. I’m eager for this to get widespread distribution in the US so I can watch it again.

My last screening of the night was competition group 3 (adults only). Lots of funny, bawdy, and gross works. My favorites:

Dreams and Desires–Family Ties. This is a chav-tastic bit about a middle-aged woman with too many fantasies and a new video camera, attempting to film her friend’s wedding. Slapstick and bawdy.

At the Quinte Hotel. Based on Al Purdy’s poem. I really want my book club friends to see this one.

Never Like the First Time!. Combines interviews with four people and animations of their stories, spanning the whole range from silly to sad to romantic.

Cold Calling. A little revenge fantasy about telemarketers, with silly critters instead of people.

The Carnival of the Animals. Dancing breasts, and penises, and naked bodies, and frolicking. A good way to end the evening.

I went to two screenings earlier: competition program 2 (family program), and films by kids for kids. I was surprised that I liked the films by kids better than the other set, on the whole (though I missed the first three from the competition set–running late this morning). Lucas asked for links to the ones I liked, since he had to work (poor guy), so here goes.

Competition set 2:

Goodbye Canine. What really happens to the teeth left under the pillow. With special ops mice.

Dachau bei München. It’s a cute little film about a thirteen year-old boy, school, and all the mundane little bits of one’s life. He lives in the area of Dachau, near Munich, and bikes past the concentration camp grounds on his way to and from school every day. It’s never discussed, but the setting makes for an eerie contrast with the suburban life that makes up the story.

Films by kids for kids:

Cloud Warrior and No Problem. Both of these are collaborations within the same family, with the kids contributing story, words, drawings, and their father tying it together. Very fun pieces, especially the second one, which involves 3 year-old Emma telling her dad how she’d get out of various situations (birds and rope are frequently involved).

Mirror Perspective. A very artistic use of Legos to riff on Plato’s allegory.

The Whistler’s Tale. I’m not sure how to describe this, and the group that made it is Belgian, so their website is in French. It involves music and differences and acceptance … I guess?

Envious Heart. Dragons and sprites, singing Carmina Burana. Very well drawn.

And right now I’m hanging out with the Social Media Club in the middle of the street outside PCPA (no cars, it’s closed). We’re talking to anyone who’s interested about blogging etc.