Hey folks, Harry here... seems that ol Linklater and crew have decided to unleash a bit of WAKING LIFE on people in Los Angeles... Seems that Richard and crew are taking a very interesting buzz generator on a indie experimental animated film. The plan seems to be to have the film ready for release at SUNDANCE.... BUT we know they've shown clips and examples at NEW YORK and now LOS ANGELES... I know one thing, if I end up at Sundance this year, I'll be seeing this... I've seen just a couple of tidbits and it's boldly experimental and cool. It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together. Here's our report...
Harry,
Been a fan of the site for some time, but never had the opportunity to scoop, until tonight. And boy is it a teeny tiny scoop.
Resfest has been nestled here in LA for a few days. Film and technology, all very urban and hip, and not a moviestar or Studio player for miles. This is the low rent Hollywood, folks. Much of it was mediocre at best. A few were dazzling. Such is life on the bleeding edge of filmTech.
So tonight I had a chance to see an unfinished preview/sample of Richard Linklater's (Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise , Slacker, etc.) new work, entitled 'Waking Life'. As he and you are both denizens of Austin, I assume you know all about it. For those who don't know, and like Mr. Linklater's previous work, he is revisiting old territory with a radical new approach.
This film will be a non- or barely-Narrative work, like his Landmark indie film, 'Slacker'. It follows one character as he explores ideas and philosophies of various strange-but-engaging people around Austin, Texas. Some are actors, including the main character, who also worked on D&C with this director, but most are just interesting people from that area, who explore their imagination, and are willing to share this view on film.
Here's the twist: It's Animated. And shot with Handheld cameras. I 'splain: it is shot with live actors filmed in DV on locations, and then animated in post. So this is like Bakshi's American Pop or Cool World, right? Sorta. They are using software developed by some innovative artists right there in Austin, Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta, who are behind such PBS works as 'Figures of Speech'.
The animation is a big leap from old Roto techniques of the past (flat color, imposed background, fixed POV). All the people mentioned above were there to answer questions, and Linklater talked about how the actors were cast, and then an artist was cast that was married to each actor. The result is a different interpretation of every character in the film. But this is controlled chaos, so that the characters still fit in the same universe that is the animated Austin. It is all very hard to explain. Just come away with the following:
Fans of Slacker will love this. Fans of experimental animation will love this. Richard Linklater still takes risks and builds personal artistic statements with his camera, despite doing a movie with Ethan Hawke.
The whole film is slated to premiere at Sundance. Oh well. That's it for me. Back to the technology pit.
Capt. Orr
