This week, I’d like to enjoy some very early animations with you and give you some interesting background too. These productions are excellent in their concept and design, I think. The very last one at the bottom even has a great script worthy of a full length motion picture, but done in animation! Of course, if that were done as a motion picture, it would cost millions of dollars!
First up today is one of the early animators, Germany’s Oskar Fischinger.
Fischinger animated anything and everything he could find in a series of short abstract art films during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1934 he created an animation called, “Composition in Blue” which is considered his signature work. Walt Disney was so impressed with his work that in late 1938, he hired him to create the “rolling hills” footage for the opening sequence of Fantasia to the music of Bach’s “Toccata & Fugue.” Fantasia was released on November 13, 1940. Wikipedia says: “As of 2012, Fantasia had grossed over $76.4 million in revenue and is the 22nd highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. when adjusted for inflation. Fantasia, is ranked by the American Film Institute as the 58th greatest American film in their 100 Years… 100 Movies and the fifth greatest animated film in their Top 10 list.”
Here is Oskar Fischinger’s An Optical Poem (1938) – Classic Short Film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=they7m6YePo)
After our last issue of “Bizarre Animations,” John in Melbourne wrote to me and asked what the difference was between “Stop Motion Animation” and “Still Motion.” They are different, but close. Wiki says that: “Still motion is a method of displaying many images one after another as frames, using the technique of “frame-by-frame”, similar to the concept of stop motion. The difference between this and stop motion, however, is that still motion is not a method of animation and therefore, each frame does not have to be related in any way.”
So Still Motion is using still photos and is often used in horror films. For example, a sequence of images appear on screen, flashing at a fast speed to intensify the moment (like a crime scene or a memory sequence). Of course, these flashing scenes typical to a Still Motion would be accompanied by scary music. Still Motion is also used to portray flashbacks, dreams, someone’s life flashing before their eyes, and the scenes will allow the viewer to understand a concept in a short period of time. It’s kind of like a slideshow.
Here is an example of a well made Still Motion that is interesting to watch.
Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY
Next up are two videos that I think are a real treat. They are by a British video production and animation company called, “Bolex Brothers.”
The Bolex Brothers is an independent British animation and production studio based in Bristol in England. The Bolex Brothers specialize in stop motion animation and have produced many short films and commercials, as well as one stop motion feature film, The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb (which is the last video at the bottom of the page!) The Bolex Brothers are named after the Bolex brand of 16mm cameras that were once popular with animators, and film makers in the 50s throughout the 80s before digital cameras became popular. The Bolex Brothers films are often bizarre and surrealistic. Their films often employ experimental and quite uncommon animation techniques such as pixilation (posing and shooting live actors frame-by-frame).
Here is the Bolex Brothers – The Saint Inspector https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPfGqfH0R98
And finally, for your enjoyment, like I promised, here is the Bolex Brothers production of the The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb. This is an excellent animation but it is almost 1 hour long. Watch when you have time.
Bolex Brothers – The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k02RCw2aIMg
Well that’s it for this week’s animations. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.
If you want to see more, click on one of the links below!
Need a Break? Watch These Three Fantastic Short Animations! (robot55.jp/blog/need-a-break-watch-these-three-fantastic-short-animations/)
More Exciting (and Bizarre) Animations! (robot55.jp/blog/more-exciting-and-bizarre-animations/)
More Exciting (and Bizarre) Animations! Part 3〜おもしろい動画をご紹介
(http://robot55.jp/blog/more-exciting-and-bizarre-animations-part-3/)
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At Robot55 we make video productions for businesses and services and products, but we also pride ourselves on making videos for art and music. Our starting price is ¥70,000 and we are sure we can work out something that fits your budget. Contact us! contact@robot55.jp
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