1. This is simply brilliant. I’m stunned.

   Now I’m going over to AniBoom to vote.

   Comment by Johnnie Ingram — May 23, 2008 @ 9:58 am

2. Borrrriiiiing! LOL. Dude. That was stupefying. I am literally more stupid now because of it. That was too good. If you don’t win this contest then there is no justice in the universe.

   Comment by Zuckerman — May 23, 2008 @ 10:53 am

3. Can you explain what stage you’re in, Phil? Are you a semi-finalist? Did you get a “golden ticket?” You made me more stupid so me confused.

   Comment by Zuckerman — May 23, 2008 @ 11:08 am

4. The Golden Tickets (3 of them) are still up for grabs. I’m a little unclear on how these three “wildcard” finalists are chosen, if it’s by judges or by audience support. But I figured some good ratings can’t hurt either way.

   Competition is still very stiff; over 100 clips submitted to this second stage so far, with 10 people already selected as semifinalists and only the three additional spots up for grabs. But you never know I guess.

   Comment by Overman — May 23, 2008 @ 11:20 am

5. Wonderful job, Phil. So Overman’s yet Radioheadish in same time.
   With perfect rhythm, professional look and feel, fun and smart.
   With power given by myself I am making you a Anymation knight. The Champion. (here comes sound of The Ring of Nibelung by Wagner)
   I must watch it again right now. But tell me, how come you didn’t use Moho? It seems perfect tool for some scenes?

   Comment by Tom — May 23, 2008 @ 11:51 am

6. @Tom: This actually started out as a project with MOHO (Anime Studio) as a key player, but when it came time for assembly I found that so many tracks were switching back and forth between 2d stills and full motion video that I found it a bit easier to manage in Vegas. It definitely wasn’t what I’d planned to do, but it turned out to work better this time.

   Comment by Overman — May 23, 2008 @ 12:04 pm

7. I echo Zuck’s “stupefying” comment. You are killing me, Phil. Every film you release just gets better and better. And now this one comes and I’m just, well, struck dumb. Absolutely amazing mastery of form here. The amount of work and creativity that went into this project is inspiring. It’s ANYMATION at it’s finest. Yeah, ANYMATION.

   Congratulations. I’ll be voting immediately.

   Comment by Ricky Grove — May 23, 2008 @ 12:08 pm

8. I’m not a fan of Radiohead, but so what? That was stunning. Reminded me a lot of some of the experimental things Tom tried out with Moviestorm about a year ago (anyone remember The Ballroom?), but taken up to yet another level.

   Comment by Matt — May 23, 2008 @ 12:11 pm

9. I am surprised that somebody remember The Ballroom. Thanks, Matt.
   About movie, I like the fact that you don’t use camera movement at all, Phil, It give some nice theater stage quality.
   It also gives feeling of exclusivity; if you, as director, abandon camera as “middle man”, then you establish direct line between viewer and movie. Animation is then, on subconscious level, something “for your eyes only”, no camera to choose instead of viewer or two target what viewer must see.
   Almost as movie is directing by it self.
   Great thing to accomplish.

   Comment by Tom — May 23, 2008 @ 12:59 pm

10. my English… “override” is better word than “abandon” and it is ” …to target what viewer must see” not “…two target what viewer must see”

    Comment by Tom — May 23, 2008 @ 1:59 pm

11. Hey hey.
    I find this movie quite interesting, but i wanted to give some constructive (i hope) feedback nonetheless. I think the color palette could use some tightening. I also feel that the animation should adjust to the different styles you are trying to transport in the different settings - e.g. in the more hand-drawn world (the one i like most and i feel is most coherent) could have an impact on the animation (in forms of imperfection, etc…).
    But the biggest problem i have is with the character(s) - it’s really hard to find an emotional link to them, except for the small scene in the train, where they are not dancing.
    I generally feel very detached from computer interface analogies in movies that have no real content relation, so that might add to my detached-ness.

    Comment by fiezi — May 23, 2008 @ 8:02 pm

12. @fiezi, I’ll reiterate here some of what you and I already discussed via email, but I really appreciate your candor and will take your critique to heart. I dove head first in this film into some areas where I feel I am weakest, in order to learn, so I really appreciate you taking the time to share what you think. Your style was a big inspiration to me as I made this piece, so I take it as an honor that you were moved to comment on it even if it wasn’t your favorite.

    Only thing I’ll add is regarding the computer interface analogy… there’s actually at least one interpretation of the film in which the analogy *does* have content relation, and it was chosen intentionally for that purpose. So just wanted you to know it wasn’t chosen randomly or for its own sake.

    Comment by Overman — May 31, 2008 @ 4:10 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post.   TrackBack URI

Leave a comment... or, take it to the forum (click here)