PRA Declassified

[Left to Right: Adam Elliot, James Calvert & Eddie White at the 1998 Atom Awards]

With the announcement of the nominees on Tuesday, Oscar season is well and truly under way. It was great to see some truly diverse animated feature films make it into the mix that challenge people’s view of what stories animation could tell. Australians have traditionally done well at the Oscars and we were really rooting for Adam Elliot’s Mary & Max to get a nod. With his festival successes and Oscar win, Adam really had a lot to do with putting Aussie animation on the map in the 90s and 00s.

When I was a teenager in high school just starting to make short films, I remember seeing Adam’s short ‘Uncle’ for the first time. It was such a unique, hilarious and emotional short and to top it off, made by a fellow Aussie.

Throughout this time when my fellow PRA pioneers James Calvert & Hugh Nguyen and I were making student films in our garage, we would always keep track of Adam’s latest films and awards and drew inspiration from his style of storytelling, not to mention his honest, low-fi and unpretentious way of making an animated film.

In 1998 at the ATOM awards in Melbourne, we met Adam in person. He was young(er), energetic, approachable and an inspiration to talk with (we were 16 at the time).

In 2004, when Adam won the Academy Award for Best Short Animation for his masterpiece Harvie Krumpet we were thrilled – thrilled that an Australian animator had taken the big prize.

Then in the following two years, two more Australians would follow making it to the nomination stage; Sejong Park with Birthday Boy and Anthony Lucas with The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello.

With Warwick Thornton’s inspired Samson & Delilah missing out on a nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film”, Australia’s Oscar hopes this year rest on Luke Doolan’s Miracle Fish in the Best Short Film category. Good luck mate!

Last night, The Cat Piano won the “Yoram Gross award for Best Animation Short Film” at Flickerfest 2010. Eddie is in British Columbia at the moment, and recorded this acceptance speech for the ceremony.

As 2009 came to a close I started thinking what a great decade the 2000′s were for the animated short film. With DVD’s and the internet really becoming widespread, the animated short subject was able to bloom and spread around the globe, when in the past it had been merely restricted to festival screenings, hard to find VHS compilations (often in various hard to play formats) and the occasional TV screening late at night. The 2000′s were a very special decade for me as an animation filmmaker. I was able to watch the growth of the medium and its various techniques and genres while making four short films with my studio. I thought about the shorts that I had seen that had inspired, delighted, intrigued and moved me in some way and have compiled a list of my top 10 animated shorts of the decade.

1. REJECTED – Dir: Don Herzfeldt (USA) 2000

I was first introduced to the work of Don Herzfeldt when I saw a touring ‘Spike & Mike’ Sick & Twisted festival and was instantly a fan. This film is a low-fi masterpiece that always brings tears of laughter to the eyes of anyone who watches it. Mr Herzfeldt has since become a cult hero on the internet and among young animation lovers.  I love everything about the film. The comic timing, the random and absurd scenes and clever structure. The film was even nominated for an Oscar. It just goes to show that in a world full of flashy CG effects, sometimes simple is better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3bVgCRixcU

2. HARVIE KRUMPET – Dir. Adam Elliot  (Australia) 2003

Adam Elliot’s epic clayography is an obvious stand-out as one of the best animated shorts of the decade. It was not a short-short film and hence had to be very good to stand-out from the rest and fit into festival’s programming. Festivals loved it, audiences loved it, I loved it. It was so incredibly inspiring to see a fellow Australian making a real impact on the world of animation. His storytelling style and idiosyncratic touches are everything I want in an animated film. A true triumph of a film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouyVS6HOFeo

3. SKHIZEIN – Dir. Jeremy Clapin (France) 2008

When I first saw this film at a screening in Annecy 2008, I knew I was watching something special. Never had I witnessed a film that had the perfect cocktail of a clever and originally offbeat screenplay on par with that of a feature and stylistic rebellion and boldness. I watched in sheer delight and intrigue as the film played out and when it finished I just wanted to share the film with everyone I knew (I since have). A perfect ‘short’ in many ways. A great film for students of animation to study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_pSAM4xx1Q

4. OVER TIME – Dir: Oury Atlan, Thibault Berland, Damien Ferrie (France) 2004

This is the most amazing student film I have ever seen, full stop. It is so much better than many of it’s ‘professional’ counterparts. The haunting beauty of this film is so rare in short films, particularly created by 3D animation which can often be clunky, cold and sterile. It is such a simple idea that is executed with poeticism and a soft touch. Dazzles me every time I watch it.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5dh7_over-time_shortfilms

5. Wolf Daddy – Dir: Hyung Yun Chang (South Korea) 2006

This film was such a fresh breath of air to me when I first saw it in Korea in 2006. It was odd, beautiful and hilarious all in the same breath. While it had touches of an anime aesthetic, it really felt like an absurdist korean genius was behind it. Having met the director and seen his subsequent films I wasn’t wrong. Mr Chang has become one of my most favourite animated filmmakers in the world today. He is by no means a household name in animation circles, and his films rarely get into Annecy etc but like many cult things, he is a secret that I am glad I have and will continue to being privy to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfjzX8qkiw

6. KJFG #5 – Dir: Alexei Alekseev (Russia/Hungary) 2008

Short, simple and hilariously funny and impeccably timed is how I’d describe this film. I think anyone who doesn’t at least chuckle when they watch this is either not human or they take themselves way too seriously. This little short cut through all the pretentious, high-art, wanky shorts that flood many of the festivals and was a joy to watch with an audience who reveled in its simple humour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-vSS5S3VqU

7. A Coffee Vending Machine & His Sword – Dir: Hyung Yun Chang (South Korea) 2008

After seeing Wolf Daddy in 2006, I waited eagerly to see what Mr. Chang would deliver next. I wasn’t disappointed. This substantially lengthy short had everything; action, romance, warrior zebras and talking coffee vending machines. It was like Miyazaki on acid, or speed or both. Whatever Mr. Chang is taking, I want some if it will help me make films at nuts as this. A must see for anyone who appreciates the bizarrely beautiful in life.

Here’s the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZRQIUUDRgw&feature=related

8. WESTERN SPAGHETTI  – PES (USA) 2009

PES emerged in the 2000′s as a post-modern punk Jan Svankmajer surrealist who used the internet as his theatre. Probably one of the most amazingly different animators to appear in some time. This film was a viral hit and you can see why. From the minute its starts you are completely captivated and astounded by what happens next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBjLW5_dGAM

9. Father & Daughter – Michael Dudok de Wit (Holland/UK) 2000

Such a work of art this film. Always emotionally powerful and visually simple yet sumptuous. This is a film by someone who clearly knows how to make an animated film. The music is amazing too. No wonder it won the Academy Award.

http://www.trilulilu.ro/Cosmarulperfect/d27a07ba629f61?video_google_com=

10. The Man in The Blue Gordini (L’Homme A La Gordini) -  Dir: Jean-Christophe Lie (France) 2009

I didn’t realise how cool this film was until a few minutes in when it got warmed up and I realised just how clever the story was. On top of that it was told with no words and an awesome, funky soundtrack paired with a vibrant retro-70s look. I have only seen this film once but the fact that I am desperate to seek it out and  watch it again is a sign that it had something special.

We are currently looking for two full time positions Lead Artist and 3D Generalist. Have a look at the positions requirements if you are interested.

Oddly, a few months after posting an interview with Ted Hope where he talked about low budget filmmaking, Ted returned the favour by doing a nice post on The Cat Piano. Turns out he’s a big Nick Cave fan. An SAFC staffer heard him talk about The Cat Piano at a presentation he did at a New York conference. Here’s what he had to say on his blog:

Film noir, Nick Cave, absurd inventions, tales of others’ heartbreak, animation, clever company names, these are some of my favorite things. Okay I am not crazy about cats and smoky bars, or really happy endings when you get right down to it, but for this I am quite happy to make an exception.

Kudos to Screen Australia for engaging with all its publics by making a series of friendly videos that explain what they do and why.

This one I’ve picked features Mike Cowap talking about animated short film funding. We have known Mike for years since he worked at the SA Film Corporations and has made many of our early work possible. Screen Australia (as the former AFC) funded Fritz gets Rich and Sweet & Sour. They also funded Harvie Krumpet & The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello, so they’re certainly a friend to Australian animation.