Filmmaker Presentations Nov 9th- Michel Gondry & Martha Colburn
Looking at Martha Colburn's work, one can definitely see the influence of Harry Smith, in the way that she uses cutouts that morph into different shapes and dance about. Her animations are, indeed, animated- in that she seems inclined towards rapid editing and plenty of explosions.
It was interesting to know that Colburn was so involved in various experimental music scenes. I feel as though this had an definite influence on the quick rhythm and expressivity of her work.
Also, that fact that she went dumpster diving to recycle old footage is so cool. Shannon was right in mentioning that in the 1990s folks were getting rid of old reels and stock, as the video recording became more common and economically feasible for burgeoning filmmakers. Unfortunately, this isn't so common today.
I was happy to know that she drew the attention of Jonas Mekas and Geogre Kuchar, as I'm sure she was.
Her cutout animation style is really great. In fact when doing a bit of research on her work, I realized that I was always familiar with some of her music videos (i.e. Serj Tankien's Lie, Lie, Lie).
Moving on to Michel Gondry, this is a filmmaker whom I was already familiar with and truly enjoy. Parker did a good job of showing the variety of his work. I didn't realize that he was so prolific as a music video director. So much Bjork!
A lot of Gondry's aesthetic seems inclined towards this surrealist manipulation of one's optical perception of objects in the mise en scene. Like in Detour when the tricycle shot from a low angle to appear as big as the car actually became bigger than the actual car! The same optical illusions of forced perspective used in his 2004 Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.
And while he does rely on practical effects used during production, I think he utilizes masking in a really creative way. In the Chemical Brothers music video, the images of the woman seemed refracted, like light through a prism.
I also took to the quote, "He spreads his imagination without spreading it too thin."
It was interesting to know that Colburn was so involved in various experimental music scenes. I feel as though this had an definite influence on the quick rhythm and expressivity of her work.
Also, that fact that she went dumpster diving to recycle old footage is so cool. Shannon was right in mentioning that in the 1990s folks were getting rid of old reels and stock, as the video recording became more common and economically feasible for burgeoning filmmakers. Unfortunately, this isn't so common today.
I was happy to know that she drew the attention of Jonas Mekas and Geogre Kuchar, as I'm sure she was.
Her cutout animation style is really great. In fact when doing a bit of research on her work, I realized that I was always familiar with some of her music videos (i.e. Serj Tankien's Lie, Lie, Lie).
Moving on to Michel Gondry, this is a filmmaker whom I was already familiar with and truly enjoy. Parker did a good job of showing the variety of his work. I didn't realize that he was so prolific as a music video director. So much Bjork!
A lot of Gondry's aesthetic seems inclined towards this surrealist manipulation of one's optical perception of objects in the mise en scene. Like in Detour when the tricycle shot from a low angle to appear as big as the car actually became bigger than the actual car! The same optical illusions of forced perspective used in his 2004 Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.
And while he does rely on practical effects used during production, I think he utilizes masking in a really creative way. In the Chemical Brothers music video, the images of the woman seemed refracted, like light through a prism.
I also took to the quote, "He spreads his imagination without spreading it too thin."
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