Animated Thoughts: What I've been watching this season

As time marches on, I've been watching more and more Anime television series. Personally, I find that a lot of the stories are more engaging for people in my “middle-age” demographic. Fortunately though, we have been seeing an uptick in animated shows geared for the more mature viewer here in the States, mostly through streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime (see: Invincible, Critical Role, and Love, Death & Robots). However, I do still see us walking a long road before we witness Brad Bird’s view of animation fully realized in the American consciousness as it appears to have already done so in Japan. As Mr. Bird so eloquently said back in 2015: “Animation is an art form and it can do any genre”--including stories for the middle-aged crowd.

Hence, my watching a lot of Anime. Of course, Anime is not immune to the overuse of certain tropes, like “the harem/reverse harem”. And everyone chases trends. Here in the States, it’s been “superheroes” for quite a while. In Japan, "the overpowered protagonist who wakes up in an alternate world" continues to be all the rage. Now don't get me wrong, some of the shows with those tropes and trends can work and can work pretty well--see: Is it Wrong to try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (both the Familia Myth and Sword Oratoria storylines), the Sword Art Online/Gun Gale Online series and movies, or the "Certain" series: A Certain Magical Index, A Certain Scientific Railgun, and A Certain Scientific Accelerator. But from time-to-time you do get the feeling of “been-there, done-that”.

More often than not, before every season starts I'll make a list of six or seven shows that I want to take a look at and see if they're worth following through to completion. My plan allows for viewing the first two (maybe three) episodes to see if they're worth my time and the list gets culled as the season progresses.

I have to say: this past season had some pretty solid entries into the market. I ended up paring my list down from around ten to five--though of those ten, there's two that I do plan on going back and finishing later this year.

The series on my 'must see' list ended up being: Train to the End of the World, HIGHSPEED Etoile, Kaiju No. 8, and BARTENDER Glass of God (all streamed on Crunchyroll) and Delicious in Dungeon (streamed on NetFlix). The two "honorable mentions" that I plan on finishing were A Sign of Affection and Obsolete--though both of those shows were from prior seasons, streamed on Crunchyroll and YouTube respectively.

Train to the End of the World. Now, you might think from the trailer that this is one of those stereotypical 'cute girls doing cute things' Anime. Well, you'd be wrong! From the opening sequences, this Anime takes a hard left turn into the surreal. The whole story follows four girls (and their dog) as they take a train from their home town all the way to Ikebukuro in order to find one of their missing friends. The catch here is that the entire world has gone crazy due to the implementation of "7G" wireless connectivity. But the girls are determined and hijinks ensue at every stop on the way. Now while the banter is entertaining, as is the trouble the girls find themselves in, it's the attention to facial expressions and body language, the "acting", that really makes the series work for me. No matter what challenges they face, they never cease to behave like teenage girls who are at that midpoint between childhood and maturity. And when faced with a bizarre landscape (which they'd been dealing with for two years by the time they decide to make their trek) that is filled with equally bizarre perils, over and over it's their friendship that carries them through to the end. It reminded me of the "Certain" series in that regard: kids that are thrust into an adult world, who have to solve more-or-less adult problems. But they solve those problems as you expect a child (or teenager) would, not in the manner that an adult would--even though they're trying their hardest to act mature at the time. All-in-all, I found it to be a fun, thoroughly quirky show. From the start, you never really doubted what would happen by the end of the last episode, but it was an enjoyable journey to take. Do be warned though, it does get a little silly and a little cheeky in some spots so I wouldn't let little kids watch it.

I don't like watching sports. Never have. Don't like playing them either, though I guess I can see the appeal of playing sports... kind of. But it holds no interest for me for various reasons not really relevant to this post. Now sports movies? Well those I find rather engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed the live-action car racing movie Gran Turismo (based upon the true story of a videogame/simulator and aspiring race car driver Jann Mardenborough)--enjoyed it so much I watched it twice. HIGHSPEED Etoile was another one of those entries. The initial premise was recycled: a ballerina who was sidelined by an injury gets involved in racing instead--same premise as in the Anime Rideback from back in 2009. The main characters from both series even have the same name. But this time it is racing in a future where a new power source allows race cars to propel themselves at a level of speed and skill never seen before. Other sci-fi tropes integrated into the show have a number of the race cars enhanced by AI as well as hologram announcers at the racetracks, a-la Vocaloids. This appears to be a 3d CGI animated show with 2d cel-shaded rendering. The character animation is pretty stiff but the racing sequences are very realistic--I mean, as realistic as they were in the live-action movie Speed Racer. Perhaps "well done" would be a better choice of words. What attracted me to this show is that Rin is not automatically good at the task she's presented with, unlike so many modern (boring) stories nowadays. No, Rin's performance behind the wheel evolves over time as it builds upon her athleticism and coordination from years of studying ballet. And while she does come off as a bit ditzy and clueless, as the show progresses, she grows as a character and loses her naivete. Some folks might not say that this is a "must watch" show, but it "is" another fun ride. If you liked the Emile Hirsch version of Speed Racer, you'll probably enjoy this series.

Kaiju No. 8 wasn't what I expected given that it was produced by Production IG, the powerhouse that brought us Ghost in the Shell. There ended up being a bit of zaniness in Kaiju No. 8 that I found a bit offputting. I went in expecting a serious look at a world beset by giant monsters hellbent on destruction and the people who stood in their way--including the para-military force that destroys them and most importantly, the crews of workers that have to clean up the aftermath (and carcasses) of the Kaiju. This show struck me as something that Studio Trigger would release as visually and performance-wise it had more in common with Kill la Kill or Gurren Lagaan than Ghost in the Shell. I almost stopped watching three episodes in, but stuck it out and Kaiju No.8 ended up being worth the time spent. This is a show with some great action sequences and the story ends up being one with a lot of heart as it follows a middle-aged Kaiju disposal worker in his attempts to live out his dream of becoming a member of the Anti-Kaiju Security Force. In the end, despite the show's occasional overexaggeration of Kafka Hibino's performance I found myself rooting for Kafka and looking forward to the second season.

Bartender Glass of God is one of those shows that is a slow burn. The pacing is relaxed yet there is an underlying tension to the story. The characters and their motivations are revealed across the series--much like watching a slow-motion video of a flower blooming. It's honestly a very meditative show to watch. The story follows Ryū Sasakura, a bartender who is on a quest to mix the "Glass of God"--meaning: that perfect drink for each of his customers. The conflict comes from a hotel owner who wants him to work at his high-end hotel instead of at the bar that where Ryū currently resides. And there are minor conflicts among the side characters that only serve to reveal more and more about Ryū's character and history. This show is a reboot from 2006's Bartender. I'm not sure if I like this series as much as the first one from 2006, but I would definitely say I like them both, just for different reasons.

Now Delicious in Dungeon is the show I've been waiting for. I've been following the manga ever since I discovered it during a break from watching (and reading) Isekai Shokudō--or in English: Restaurant to Another World. Setting aside the fact that Isekai Shokudō is on my "must see" list of Anime, I learned about Delicious in Dungeon (Japanese title: Dungeon Meishi) when I saw it on the bookshelf while looking for the latest manga and light novel translations of Restaurant to Another World. I tried it on for size, as it looked interesting, and I was not disappointed. The story follows a number of adventurers who are trying to rescue (resurrect) one of their friends who got eaten by a red dragon at the lower levels of this magical dungeon. But with little money to work with, they are faced with the prospect of never seeing their friend again or being forced to eat the monsters they kill in order to survive the expedition. Like what the trailer suggests, this show is nice and kooky. If you're into cooking shows and Dungeons & Dragons (as I am), you'll find this a fun romp--especially when you find yourself searching out a number of YouTubers who have made recipes similar to the ones in the show. A word of warning though: while this show is very fun and looks lighthearted, as the story progresses it does get pretty deep and mysterious. There's a lot of meat there, so if you're expecting something light and fluffy from beginning to end, you might want to look elsewhere. It's a 24 episode run on Netflix and, in my opinion, is well worth the time spent. I've watched both the English sub and English dub episodes several times. I can recommend both. And if you have a minute or two to spare, I highly recommend the original animated music video made by Bump of Chicken for the song Sleep Walking Orchestra, which was used for the show's opening title sequence.

Well, the season draws to a close and there's only one episode of Bartender Glass of God left for me to watch. Then once again I'll be pawing through lists of seasonal shows on Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu as I look for those shows that not only pique my interest but hopefully become one of the rare gems that adorn my DVD collection.

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Animated People: Erik Timmerman

Back in 1994, on the first day of classes that Fall quarter, Erik and Marla gathered us first-year grad students together in a room and went over what the program entailed and what the next three years would look like (back then it was a three-year M.F.A. program and R.I.T. was on the quarter system).

During his lecture, Erik made a statement that has stuck with me over the past thirty years:

"You can make a million dollar film with a $10 piece of software and you can make a $10 film with a million dollar piece of software."

Erik's lesson was short and sweet: it's not the equipment you use, it's the skill of the filmmaker that makes all the difference. Now that I'm teaching, I often see students getting hung up on what's the latest and greatest piece of animation software. And on the one hand, I think it's important to know what the studios are using, but that shouldn't stop one from making their film. It's easy to get caught up in the arms race of having to possess the latest computer, the newest camera, or the most recent software update--much to the detriment of improving ones skills as an animator and a storyteller.

Erik also placed a heavy premium on story. Back then, he told a number of us "it all begins with a story." I fondly remember the times when he would start lectures with phrases like "so there's this guy...". Years after his passing, Bill Landers (the Chief Engineer for R.I.T.'s College of Art and Design) had a plaque installed  in the Gannett Building to memorialize Erik and his contributions to both the Graduate Computer Animation program and the Scriptwriting program at R.I.T.

At a number of the school reunions in the past, I've had the opportunity to touch base with Bill and reminisce with him about our time with Erik. We both share a knowing smile when Erik's emphasis on the importance of story inevitably comes up in the conversation.

As I have watched a plethora of animated films over the years, and have made a couple myself, I'm often struck by the thought that no matter what genre the animation uses or what form the film takes, there's always a story there to be told.

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Animated Thoughts: Art Comes in Many Forms, pt. 2

I had a rare weekend off so figured I'd take a day and feed my soul. Fortunately, there were opportunities here in-State. But rather than drive down to Detroit or over to Flint in order to appreciate an art museum (or two), this time I drove in the opposite direction to see what Grand Rapids had to offer. I was not disappointed.

First stop: the Frederik Meijer Gardens in order to see the butterflies before that particular exhibit ends for the season, then a little hiking around the grounds. Gotta get those steps in. However, before the other events, as I'm on the quest to find the perfect egg salad sandwich, I had to take a moment and fuel up at the cafeteria.

Not bad. About a 6 out of 10. A little too heavy on the greens.

Then, it was off to go hunting for some butterflies!

Next, I went hiking around the grounds to see the Japanese garden. 

It was still early in the season, but there were some flowers in full bloom.

And I spotted an escapee from the indoor butterfly exhibit.

"Fly, be free!"

I had plans to visit the John Ball Zoo and experience their Lantern Festival, but I really wanted to go there closer to sunset in order to get the full effect. Which left time to stop over at Max's South Seas Hideaway, a tiki bar in the heart of Grand Rapids.

The food and drinks are tasty. And while I'm not really into the "tiki bar" scene, Max's has some really beautiful artwork in what looks to me like the Midcentury Modern style, and that's what I go there to see.

After taking a bunch of photos (and finishing off the Pu Pu Platter), it was time to go walking again. Which meant a quick drive over to the John Ball Zoo. This was the first "lantern festival" I'd ever seen first hand and it was pretty impressive. The Zoo had timed entry in order to manage the flow of foot traffic, however once you got in, you could go around the Zoo as many times as you wanted. The exhibits themselves were arranged by environmental themes: prehistoric animals, undersea animals, insects, etc. Most were a set color and pattern, but some had undulating lights, some would move, and others had some interactivity built in such that if you stepped on a pressure plate, they would move or change color. They even had a flower that was hooked up to a smoke machine so when the kids stepped on it, it would blow a burst of "pollen" at them. And three times a day, they had a troupe of chinese acrobats doing traditional performances--like balancing acts or magic tricks. Fun stuff.

In looking at the displays, I enjoyed all the shapes and colors and forms of the "lanterns", but if I'm being honest, I would've loved to be a fly on the wall when they set up and tore down the displays just so I could see how they were done. I'm sure that a lot of it was basic LED lighting but the animatronics and the interactive components add a lot to the show. 

Art comes in many forms.

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Animated Events: TAAFI 2024 Film Fest, pt.3

Friday's events were mostly mixers and meet-and-greets. When I heard that there was going to be limited numbers of passholders allowed to these events, I took a pass. Better to let students or animators looking for work in the Toronto area to attend. I've always felt welcome at TAAFI events, but if they have to limit the attendees, I'd rather see the locals get preference.

Instead, I walked around Toronto and saw a couple old sights. Had lunch at Ginger. Bought a game at 401 then it was off to the Royal Ontario Museum. There's always something interesting to see at the ROM but I always stop to see the gemstone exhibits and dinosaur bones while I'm there.

Quartz variety: amethyst, from Bolivia

"Leaf" necklace, gold and diamond

The massive Futalognkosaurus skeleton 

As always, I took a lot of good reference photos while I was there, but was struck by the fact that I really need to get back to sketching when I'm at museums--draw in the moment as it were, instead of hoping that I'll use the photo references to draw later.

Went back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner. But not many of the restaurants that I enjoy were on this side of the city so it was worth trying something new. There was a restaurant called "Pigot's Burger Club" that sounded interesting. Turns out though that they served their food through a local bar. No worries. There was room for one at the bar and they took good care of me. The food was awesome and noone complained about me watching cartoons on my phone. Afterwards, I discovered this little hole-in-the-wall cafe with exquisite crepes!

One chocolate crepe and a strawberry juice later, yeah, I'm definitely coming back to Melt n Dip next time I'm in town.

On the walk back to the hotel, I was reminded that one of the things that makes Toronto so appealing to me is that there is art worth looking at everywhere you go.

Mural at Sansotei Ramen

Saturday was a full day of screenings that would end with a feature. It was the big day at TAAFI, for me anyways. The day was jam packed with animated short film screenings, capped off with the North American premiere of Mars Express. I was on pins and needles all day waiting to see this feature and I have to say that Mars Express exceeded all of my expectations. I was looking for an experience similar to when I watched Love Death and Robots or Technotoise, Edit y ja for the first time and I was not disappointed.

The film was a dystopian look at society's struggle between humans and robots on a colonized Mars--all told through the eyes of a war-weary detective and her partner, a robot who is the backup copy of her fellow soldier, long since killed in battle. This film is coming out on DVD through GKIDS, so I won't spoiler it, but hopefully the trailer below will whet your appetite.

I'll end this post with a couple more stand-out films that I saw over the weekend. As they work their way through the festival circuit, these are the ones that I think are well worth your while to track down, be it in a festival or when they're posted online.

I'm Hip, a short film by John Musker--the writer and director of such Disney classics as the Little Mermaid and Hercules. I'm Hip was a cute musical number that definitely lived up to the hype.

Delete Machine by Charlotte Ledwidge was a hilarious gag film with excellent timing and a great payoff. Would love to show this film in a class that teaches comedy.

Fried by Melina C was another cute film, this time about a raccoon who gets caught in a fast food restaurant. It was filled with decent character and background designs and character animation.

Side Sidemi by Zoe Medcraft was all about ants gathering food told to a jaunty musical score. I really liked the character design and character animation on this one. Also liked the overall design/visual style. There were no arms or legs to any of the characters, just the bodies, hands, and feet going through the motions as you expect they would. Reminded me of Evelyn Lambart's animation style and her film Fine Feathers.

Then there was The 7th Night: MaoMao Visits by Ah Loong. This heartbreaking tale of a boy and his cat explored the Buddhist concept of spirits from the recently deceased visiting their loved ones on the seventh night from their passing in order to provide a measure of closure.

Well, I would've loved to stay in town a little longer, but had to run to Ann Arbor for an impromptu family reunion before everyone drove to Ohio to see the eclipse. But yeah. TAAFI is always worth a visit!

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Animated Events: TAAFI 2024 Film Fest, pt.2

Thursday morning arrived a little sooner that I expected. I awoke to the sounds of cars, construction, and people--the typical sounds of a big city. Was immediately reminded that I still need to finish watching Walter Ruttman's Berlin: Symphony of a Great City before the Fall semester. If I'm going to recommend a film (or talk about it) with my students, I like to have watched it myself in its entirety. Only real downside to watching these silent films though is confronting the question: do I stick with the musical score that's on the uploaded video or do I turn the sound off and focus on the visuals? There are so many lessons to be learned from these old movies from the dawn of film. We grow up unconsciously knowing the "rules of film editing" because they are so prevalent in our media today. But back then, Soviet Montage Theory was in its infancy and people were making up the rules as they went along (mostly from what worked with stage productions). One thing I love doing is showing students the films of Georges Méliès with his elaborate sets and trickfilm special effects and then showing them how the same principles were used in portions of Enya's music video Caribbean Blue. Thoughts for another day, I suppose.

My plans for that day were to meet up with Lynn Dana Wilton for lunch and then head out to the evening screening. However, I still had lots of time before that... and I "was" a couple blocks walk from Toronto's Museum of Illusions, so...

Wow was that fun. Now I freely admit, it'd probably be a more fun experience with two people--some of the exhibits are pretty tricky to navigate when you're on your own. But the staff were very helpful so I wouldn't avoid a visit if you have a solitary nature. And there's one in Chicago if you don't want to drive to Canada.

The exhibits were all hands-on and they played with perspective, mirrors, optical illusions, some traditional art tricks and more--see the "hole on the floor" video below.

I'll admit, I went there have a little fun, but one of the things that put the museum on my radar was seeing how some of these illusions have shown up in film over the past century or so. In my lectures, I discuss how we're seeing some of these illusions and techniques in modern day, only enhanced by new technology--like the 3d LED billboards in New York and over by Tokyo's Shinjuku Station, or the Pepper's Ghost "hologram" illusions in the Vocaloid concerts. As I tell my students: somewhere in history may be the solution to a problem you're having in your film, or it might hold the inspiration to your next film.

But speaking of film, I did have to get back to the hotel to meet up with Canadian filmmaker and stop-motion animator Lynn Dana Wilton. Tempus fugit.

Lunch was everything I hoped it would be. Lynn is a fascinating woman with a very storied career. I hadn't talked with her for a couple years due to the lockdowns, and we only had time to exchange 'hellos' last September at the Ottawa fest, so it was such a pleasant experience to sit there and really talk. We quickly got caught up on each other's lives and then launched into discussions about the state of the  animation industry, future trends for animation, and the teaching work we've done. When we finally looked at the clock, we'd been chatting non-stop for four hours. It felt like four minutes had gone by. We could've talked longer, but she had another meeting to get to and TAAFI awaited me at the Hot Docs Theater. The restaurant had been very patient with us so after we left a healthy tip and thanked the management and staff we parted ways.

It was off to the opening ceremonies and the first night's screening for me where I immediately ran into two old friends, artist/animators Pam Rose and Lynne Slater.

The next couple hours were a whirlwind as the film festival started strong with two programs: the Student Film Block followed by the appropriately named "Uplifting Shorts".

The films that really shone that night were Marc Salvatore LaJoie's End of the Line, Jennifer Wo's Mission Popo, ap-sol KANG's Meet Again JAHOE, Christina Woo's Pipe Dreams,  Sonia Furier's Ostinato, and Thomas van Kampen's Mixed Signals.

End of the Line was a touching film about a girl dealing with anxiety issues that come to a head when she loses her favorite fox toy.

Mission Popo. What a fun ride. I saw this in Ottawa last year and it was just as good the second time as it was the first. Hah! Noone messes with Grandma!

Meet Again JAHOE had a really nice visual style, especially in the otherworldly sequence. It definitely had some hints of Miyazaki in the design. I'd really like to watch this film again because I'm sure that I missed a lot of what was going on.

Pipe Dreams, a tale of bugs living in a rundown building told in the form of a reality tv show. Quirky and fun.

Now Ostinato, this was a beautiful and relatable tale of a woman struggling with her creativity as she tried to compose music while also trying to block out the noise that surrounds her.

The last film worthy of note was Mixed Signals, the story of a neurodivergent robot that struggles to fit into society. I had the chance to chat with the director Thomas van Kampen and his girlfriend Ariel afterwards. Turns out they were mutual friends with Pam. I had met them years ago before the lockdowns but it was just in passing. I'd honestly like to sit down with Thomas for a longer chat as he and I had a lot of the same experiences growing up. Even now as I grow older, I find that life is this constant assault on my senses that gets more and more difficult to block out. I saw a lot of myself in the little robot who was constantly getting overstimulated by all the sensory input. A very thought provoking film. After his festival run, I hope Thomas releases his film on Vimeo or YouTube. There's a lot of people who I think would really benefit from the conversation this film inspires.

Afterwards, I grabbed dinner on the way back to my hotel and settled in for the night. Yeh, today was better.

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Animated Events: TAAFI 2024 Film Fest, pt.1

I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to Ottawa this year. 2024 is a Presidential election year here in the States and the last one was pretty crazy. Am still not sure if I should leave the country two months before a national election, even if it's only across the border into Canada. But fortunately, the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International was in the Spring and it has been far too long since I've experienced TAAFI in person. So I exercised a couple of vacation days, rented a car, and off I went to the Great White North.

The plan was to pick up a mid-sized car that morning, similar to my own, and head out to Toronto. I'd get there between 4 and 5 o'clock and check-in at the hotel. Yeah, I was overly optimistic. It was a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky. But when we went to Enterprise, I discovered that Michigan Avenue had shut down and was torn up, so we had to figure out a backroads route to the rental company. Okay. I could deal with it. Next, the rental place was packed with people picking up rentals to go see the eclipse. Not a bad thing, actually had a pleasant chat with some college students from India who were driving to Niagara Falls to see the sights and stay for the eclipse. When it was my turn, I learned that I had been "upgraded" to a 2023 Ford Explorer. Not a big deal. I do prefer driving cars, but the Explorer is a really nice ride. Then they told me that I couldn't take it out of the country--even though I had been very open about obtaining the rental to go to Canada when I made the reservation. But, spoke to a manager and got the go-ahead to take it to Toronto--I think the fact that I had already purchased the extra 'anything happens to the car, I hand them the steering wheel and walk away' insurance package really worked in my favor. Downside about the Explorer was that the Bluetooth was buggy and when I went to pick up my luggage at the house, I learned that the USB plugs in the car weren't working--neither were the cigarette lighters. I had planned on listening to some audiobooks on the drive and I like to have the option to use the mapping app on my iPhone. Well, half-an-hour's worth of tinkering with the Explorer and I found that the USB-C plug did work, allowing me to play my music through the onboard entertainment system and recharge my smartphone. So I switched cables, gassed up the SUV, and I was on my way... about a half-hour after then I wanted to leave, but okay. Anxiety levels were being managed and I was on the road to Toronto. 

Pro tip: always record the gas tank level when you pick up the rental car!

Only other issue I found with the Explorer is that it needed a new drivers side wiperblade, but I didn't discover that until I was almost at Toronto and it wasn't bad enough for me to replace it myself. One really nice feature on the vehicle was that you could switch the digital speedometer from MPH to KPH with two clicks of a button on the steering wheel. Very nice! All-in-all, the Explorer was a really solid ride. As my car is reaching the end of its lifespan, I might consider buying one in the future.

As I hit the road, the day was looking up. Had no problem with customs at the Blue Water Bridge. And when I approached Toronto, it was raining, but not too bad. I made excellent time, arriving at downtown Toronto around 5 p.m. 

It became very apparent very quickly that I had been overly optimistic. Because of road closures due to repairs, traffic was backed up everywhere. It took me an hour to find an alternate route and make it to my hotel. An hour to make what was usually a 10 minute drive from the Gardnier Expressway exit. Memorizing the map ahead of time had paid off, kind of, but in the end, the construction had beaten me. I begrudgingly fired up the iPhone and burned some data at the international rates (*shudder*) to figure out where I was and how to make it to the hotel. I was pretty stressed out by the time I arrived. Now the Cambridge Suites? Top notch hotel. First class all the way. I'd gladly stay there again. Expedia really did me right. But navigating through Toronto on a rainy day, approaching dusk, with all that construction and the people walking around, yeah, not the driving experience I hope for.

A Toronto landmark no more.

Ah, but, I was there safe and sound. So I changed clothes, grabbed my umbrella, and walked down to the former location of Marche in order to see what had replaced the restaurant from my childhood. Hopefully, it would be a quality restaurant where I could get a bite to eat and forge some good memories. Maybe even become a new haunt for return trips. 

My hopes were dashed when I discovered that the whole section of the building was boarded up. Nothing had taken its place. Sad. Also meant that I had to find another place to eat. Well, I am kind of low-rent and I do enjoy a tasty burger, so I trudged through the rain (fighting the wind with my umbrella) over to Wahlburgers--only to find out that they had been shut down, despite the fact that their Google Maps entry said they were still open. "Will the last person to leave, please update the Google Business account?"

My mood was flagging as I walked back towards the hotel and found a Hero Burger on the way. Not bad. I had good memories of discovering Hero Burger with my brother many years ago. So I sat there and watched some anime on my smartphone while reminiscing about the first time Ted and I ate at the Hero Burger over on Spadina Avenue. But as I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, I still wasn't sure if coming to Toronto was the right choice to make. At the very least, I thought that hopefully tomorrow would be better.

* * *

Animated Thoughts: Art and the Academy Animated Shorts

It was Spring and time to make a drive down to the Detroit Institute of Arts in order to see the Academy Award Nominated animated short films program. My typical plan for this event is to show up a couple hours early and wander the museum drawing inspiration by the art, then have a nice meal, and finally watch the films. Sometimes my wanderings are to gather information for my History of Animation class. Other times, I'll thinking of a theme (like food) and search for works of art that match the theme. This time though, after looking at a few paintings, I found myself mostly seeking out three-dimensional art like glassware or sculptures.

Kingfisher, Cicada, and Willow Tree, from
the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, 1700
Unknown Artist, China

Vase with carnations, 1886
Vincent van Gogh

Water Pitcher, "Pomona"
Glass, 1885/86
New England Glass Company
East Cambridge, Massachusetts

Pandora, 1864
Chauncey Bradley Ives
American, 1810-94

After some musings about how the artwork was produced--and the tremendous skill it must have taken--I strolled over to the Detroit Film Theater. The films selected for the program were a bit on the longer side, so it was only a five-film screening consisting of only those that were nominated. Usually the program has a couple extra films from those submitted but not nominated in order to pad out the presentation to a full hour-and-a-half (ish). But this time, there wasn't any need for extras. As Zippy Films was kind enough to post a list of all the shortlisted films back in December, I debated the merits of looking up some of those short-listed films (you can view that article here). Wild Summon by Saul Freed and Karni Arieli looked particularly interesting, albeit a tad gruesome. The trailer for Humo (Smoke) by Rita Basulto had some very interesting visuals that left me wondering CGI or stop-motion? And the trailer for Eeva, by Morten Tšinakov and Lucija Mrzljak, had both a visual style and story style that projected those quirky Eastern European sensibilities which would definitely appeal to me. Alas, these films got passed over, so will have to do some digging on the internet in the future to see if the filmmakers have uploaded them after their festival runs.

The films this year had a wide array of techniques and topics, though I suspect all had elements of CGI in their production processes, be it compositing, special effects, or animation.

Our Uniform [Iran]: This film had some interesting visuals--the animated short was made to look like all the characters, models, and backgrounds were made of fabric. But with regards to the story, I kinda felt like I'd already seen this film when I watched Persepolis back in 2007. Not a bad film, per se, but I had repeated feelings of déjà vu and was left wondering if the creator was inspired by Marjane Satrapi's feature (or graphic novels)?

Letter to a Pig [France, Israel] - I found the story in this film a little confusing. On the one hand, it was pretty straightforward: you have an elderly Jewish man telling the story of his experiences during the Holocaust to a classroom of kids who (on the surface at least) don't seem to be grasping the nuances of what he was talking about--they fidgeted, some looked bored, I seem to recall one being expelled from the room for being disruptive. The portion of him telling his story about hiding from the Nazis on a farm was rather engaging. But I wasn't sure about the point of the kids being disruptive. Was this an actual event or did the filmmaker script the kids' behavior for the film? Was the filmmaker trying to make the point that as more and more Holocaust survivors pass away, the younger generations become more and more detached from the horrors of their collective history? Then there was the girl who was visualizing the story she was being told before it drifted into daydreaming... 

Well, over on the Hive Studio's YouTube channel, they have uploaded a pair of videos detailing filmmaker Tal Kantor's story and production process. I highly recommend watching them--especially the one on technique if you're a budding filmmaker. I found some of my questions being answered through this fascinating look into how she designed and constructed her film (videos aptly titled: 'The Story' and 'The Technique'). Others were left unresolved.

Interestingly enough, recently Tal Kantor popped up on my Facebook "Suggested Friends" list. Apparently we have ten mutual friends. After watching Letters to a Pig again, I might reach out to her and ask some questions about her film. This is one of those thought provoking animated shorts that I would really like to watch a couple more times to really let it sink in.

Pachyderm [France] - There were some really good visuals in this film--hauntingly beautiful imagery and solid animation technique--but sometimes the story being told is too abstract. During the screening, I didn't get the fact that it was about abuse. On the bright side, it did plant enough seeds within my consciousness that I looked up the film afterwards in order to get some more context and interpretation on the story. Even if they don't "get it" during the first viewing, I think that inspiring someone to look deeper into your film's premise outside of the screening is a pretty good thing.

Ninety-Five Senses [USA] - This film was a slow burn. An entertaining story told by an old man at the end of his days as he reminisces about his life. It was a very compelling story that drew me in from the start and ended with a startling reveal. Now, I'm not going to say that "this is the film that should've won", I've long since given up on trying to determine how the Academy members will vote. But what I will say is that if you only see one of the films nominated this year, it should definitely be this one.

War is Over [USA] - This was an nice film. A bit overly saccharine for my tastes, but it had a decent story (two soldiers on either sides of the war playing a game of chess with moves relayed by carrier pigeon). I honestly thought that it was more interesting to see how the film was created using Unreal Engine (using a video game engine to create an animated short film). What I think really made this film shine is that the concept was strong enough to stand on its own. I don't think that they needed the John Lennon song. Not saying the song's presence was bad or unnecessary, just that it was a solid concept with good storytelling and competent execution in and of itself.

So, all-in-all, I found this to be a very good program of films which were filled with a wide variety of animation techniques and visual styles. It was well worth the drive down to Detroit. Now, time to see what animated features the Detroit Film Theater will be showing this year so I can start planning return trips.

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Animated Thoughts: Art comes in many forms

It was tax time and my accountant works an hour away in Grand Rapids. So it was time for my yearly pilgrimge to see the butterflies at the Frederik Meijer Gardens... oh, I mean drop off my taxes binder to my accountant--then go back and sign documents, submit paperwork, and pick up the binder. Yeah, you won't find any real substance or epiphanies in this post, just a bunch of photographs that I took during a period of the year where it's a lot of busywork and maintenance to keep my LLC going and not much else. Fortunately for me, there are opportunites to appreciate some (natural) art, if you're willing to look for them.

Grape hyacinth muscari

Hey, this isn't sugar water, it's vodka!

Postman (Heliconius melpomene aglaope)

Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonius)

Postman (Heliconius melpomene plesseni)

Postman (Heliconius melpomene aglaope)

Was taking a picture and this butterfly stopped by to say 'hi'.

Common Morpho (Morpho peleides)

Blue and White Longwing (Heliconius cydno)

Tropical Ginger (circuma)

Well worth a visit... or two.

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