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Post by Esn on Dec 4, 2006 22:50:04 GMT -5
Ok, I just have to share this. There's a clip right now on the "Pascal Blais" website of Petrov's new 26-minute film called "My Love", and it's one of the most beautiful, stunning things I've ever seen. Petrov's previous film (The Old Man and the Sea) won the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 1999. He uses paint-on-glass animation. www.pascalblais.com/index2.html(click "English", then "Directors", and then on his name) Be sure to also check out his commercial for the government of Newfoundland & Labrador, "Pitcher Plant". It's just breathtaking how he's able to create that constant camera movement. If there's any justice, his short film will win the Oscar next year. What little I saw of it on the website actually brought tears to my eyes. The film's Russian voice actors are phenomenal and the experience isn't the same at all if you're reading the subtitles instead of watching the pictures and listening, so that could hurt its chances (as well as not being backed by any major studio). Sometimes, you just can't translate a language easily, especially if it's poetry. Anyway, I just want to give a heads' up to any Petrov fans over here that he has a new film out (if you're not a fan, perhaps you will be after you see his work). I can't seem to find any info about where it could be playing, though. It apparently already played and won at the animation festival in Hiroshima. More links: Wikipedia pageInterview (in Russian)IMDB profilePaint-on-glass animation
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Post by Esn on Dec 5, 2006 19:15:03 GMT -5
To make things easier, here are the direct links to all of the films: Sections from "My Love" (2006)"Pitcher Plant" commercial for the Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labradorscene from the Oscar-winning "The Old Man and the Sea" (1999)Demo reel (contains scenes from UA commercial #1, "The Old Man and the Sea", and his other early films)United Airlines commercial #1United Airlines commercial #2Coca Cola Santa Claus commercialPacific Life commercialBleue Dry beer commercialThe last two, and the last one in particular, seem somewhat like "for-the-money" jobs that were rushed out, but the first six links really show true artistry. The Coca Cola commercial is somewhere in between, I think. There's one thing that's really curious. All of the articles on how to make paint-on-glass animation always advise using fewer colours because they get murky otherwise. Indeed, Petrov's earlier animations use fairly few colours and are a bit more brown. So how does he use so many different colours in his latest works? It's pretty amazing. None of the other paint-on-glass animations that I've seen have really come close to Petrov's in technique. There's a list over here with some links where you can watch a few: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint-on-glass_animationMost animators have a lot of difficulty making things move, and often try to have only one part of the image move while the rest stays still. Petrov, on the contary, always has everything moving - even when the camera stays still, he often plays around with the shadows on the objects from frame to frame. Look at the second United Airlines commercial, for example, in the beginning; he's constantly adjusting the colours.
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Post by Ola Schubert on Dec 7, 2006 4:56:28 GMT -5
He is indeed a great artist, I just cant believe the speed he is working in! It seems like a wonderful film!
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Post by Esn on Dec 8, 2006 3:41:54 GMT -5
What do you mean about the speed, Ola? (Have you seen him work?)
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Post by Ola Schubert on Dec 11, 2006 13:39:18 GMT -5
I wish I had Painting 29.000 frames in 2 years is nor bad at all, that would be over 40 unique frames EVERY day for two years. He must have been resting some of those days, meaning that he was probably producing even more frames every day.
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Post by Esn on Dec 11, 2006 21:27:39 GMT -5
...but how did you get the 29,000 number, Ola? He animates at about 12 frames per second (I think), so it would probably be lower.
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Post by Ola Schubert on Dec 12, 2006 1:59:20 GMT -5
I have read it on a couple of websites, it is also mentioned on the wikipedia page you sent. As he is using layers of glasspaintings to create depth to his films it might just be a correct amount of frames, even for a shorter film.
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Post by Esn on Dec 16, 2006 7:10:51 GMT -5
Good point, Ola. Here's another promising project from Russia: news.ntv.ru/98119It's a video of the upcoming "Gofmaniada" feature film, based on the tales of E.T.A. Hoffman, directed by Mikhail Shemyakin and Stanislav Sokolov at the Soyuzmultfilm studio (Soyuzmultfilm, once the main animation studio in the USSR, suffered a series of scandals and corruption at the highest levels in the 1990s and was pretty much reduced to irrelevancy until recently. This film is a huge project for them). Some of the things that the newscaster says in the video: -Today in St. Petersburg will be shown the first half of the "Gofmaniada" project (November 20, 2006) -all art design, including characters and sets, was done by Mikhail Shemyakin -they brought all 22 puppets which are used in the film to the screening. Each puppet took no less than a month to make. -So far this project has taken 5 years -The film is created using old technologies, without using ANY computer effects -Two of Gofman's tales are to be screened, "The Golden Pot" and "Kroshka Tsahis" (I don't know the translation for the 2nd one...) -The full version of the film will be released only in two years -the character at the end is saying "he's coming. Bite him, bite him!" And here's a great-looking trailer for a recent Russian feature film ("Prince Vladimir", based on the story of the leader who converted Rus to Christianity a 1000 years ago): www.kinomania.ru/movies/k/Kniaz_Vladimir/trailer.shtmlSome amazing art... My point? I don't really have a point, I suppose, other than being glad that animation in Russia is starting to revive just a little bit. Now Yuriy Norshteyn just needs to release The Overcoat, and we'd be in the middle of a true renaissance.
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