EIFF 2014: The McLaren Award, New British Animation 2
After the first McLaren award selection screened last week the large audience that turned out for the second selection of films knew they were in for something special. Not only do these screenings showcase UK animation superbly, giving the gathered crowd a sense of what is happening in UK graduate and professional shorts at the moment, but the programme also ran a sensitive theme of memory, dealing with personal memories and the tragedy of forgetting. The 25th McLaren award winner will be announced later today at the festival but until then, with memory in mind, here is what I remember from last night.
Throughout the Hawthorn
Dirs: Gemma Burditt, Pia Borg, Anna Benner
Three perspectives, three stories and one delicate and potentially explosive situation which engulfs all the characters. A mother is concerned for her schizophrenic son at a visit to a psychiatrist. moments of rage, anxiety and stress are demonstrated beautifully as the screen is split three ways and each character inhabiting the areas moods and actions are reflected through rotascoped art style. Some panels are better than others, with CG rotascoping effects sitting alongside brilliantly rendered chalk rotascoping being the only disappointment for this film visually, otherwise it is an excellent approach to a sensitive subject.
Spectators
Dir: Ross Hogg
Ross Hogg is a man with no formal animation training (coming from an illustration background) but through his GSA graduation film he has managed to capture life perfectly in a way that would put others to shame. Spectators takes place at a football match however we never see a single ball being kicked, instead the camera is turned on the crowd so the viewer can soak in all the eccentricity and passion of a football match. The film flows beautifully through the fans picking up details in the attendees that people familiar with any aport will recognise, you feel as if you’re at the match with the artist watching his art work come to life. This is a film that has captured the true spirit of a football match.
Terra Infirma
Dir: Betsy Dadd
the sound of waves builds tension in this film. As the storm brews louder and louder crockery is seen wobbling and getting closer to its own breaking point. Created by filming paper as layers of paint are added, the paper decays as the situation does which is a nice details in this short.
Fruit Fruit
Dir: Peter Millard
All the rules of animation are gloriously broken in this film. Peter Millard allows images and characters to go off model as he journeys through nonsensical narrative based around fruit in this feast of sounds and bright colours. The film seems experimental in nature and certainly puts the “mental” in experimental which may be seen as a bad thing but the film knows exactly what it is doing, and like a stand up comedian in full control of a crowd this film had them eating fruit fruit out of the palm of its hand.
365
Dir: The Brothers McLeod
The monumental ambition of this project is only matched by its execution. one second of animation was created daily and put together end to end creating a spectacle of design and colour only Greg (with the help of rule keeper Myles) could pull off. This visual diary has a new surprise every second never growing stale or becoming boring, it is a risk that really pays off.
The Bigger Picture
Dir: Daisy Jacobs
This film is remarkable in both its look and its sensitive story it tells. Two brothers, of opposing attitudes, deal with their mothers decline. the film centres around the more sensitive one as the frailty of the mother worsens and the gulf between the two brothers grows. Describing the look of the film may prove difficult as it is like nothing seen before, the characters are painted on the walls but live within 3D sets and through the use of some 3D extensions can interact with objects. All the more impressive when it is understood that the film has been made full scale with each character being a life-sized portrait.
Lost Property
Dir: Åsa Lucander
In a twee wonderland of missing objects we meet an elderly lady who attends daily at 4pm to seek the assistance of a man who holds missing object behind closed doors. The mans affections for his daily visitor grow as he finds more and more objects but when he is asked to find a final object heartbreak for the man blossoms into a rather special tale of remembrance.
Separate Lives
Dir: Mayra Hernández Ríos
Rotascoping is put to use in this musical and dance piece set to animation. The characters are more caricatured than your typical rotascoped film in order to capture the movement as two characters search for one another using dance.
Nest of Stone
Dir: Kim Noce
The bleak and frosty atmosphere of a late autumnal day in a graveyard are pixelated in this narrated tale of recollection. The narrator weaves a sad tale as the inscriptions on the tomb stones trigger memories that she finds uncomfortable, as she gains acceptance of the nature of death and its place in life is pondered over and assessed reaching a satisfying conclusion.
Forgot
Dir :Stephen McNally
The first thing that strikes you about this short is the quality of the lighting as every scene is another demonstration of the directors skill. Memories seems fleeting in this short, as faces fade and blur and beautifully rendered faces and scenes become distant.
Mend and Make Do
Dir: Bexie Bush
Set in a house, the memories of a widow are presented with such character, humour and joy in this short. The unscripted narration by interviewee lynn schofield animates the entire house as the decoration and items in the house shop back in time and edge their way back to the present through the ages and through war zones, baby booms personal triumphs and tragedies brought alive by the most charming dialogue. Anyone lucky enough to have a granny who was happy to regale you with tales of the past will instantly recognise something fantastic in this short and be hooked from start to finish.
Sea Front
Dir: Claire Lamond
A sea shell connects a ww1 era son with his father overseas as the mother is connected through letters that grow more and more graphic as the brutal nature of the conflict unfolds. Using an archive of letters from the first world war Claire Lamond makes communication the star of the show in this perfectly placed, well researched and poignant piece. The visuals and music present the emotional core of this film beautifully without being too syrupy.