animaScope

About animaScope

2008-11-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

I am currently completing the post-production of my stopmotion puppet-animated film animaScope - a 16mm film that has been a long time in the making.

animaScope is a surreal tale of power relations between humans and a humanimal dictator who maintains his power through an omnipresent panoptical gaze. The films of Jan Svankmajer and the Brother's Quay are key aesthetic influences, and the concept and storyline for this film was inspired by French philosopher, Michel Foucault's use of the panopticon as a metaphor for power relations.

This film was shot and edited several years ago, but the final stages of post-production were put on hold due to parenting commitments and budgetary restraints. I am seeking sponsors to assist me in completing the final stages, which include; tele-cine and the mastering of a digital soundtrack. As you will see from this blog, animaScope will be exhibited as part of a New Zealand exhibition in February next year, followed by international film festivals and academic conferences. Please contact me by email if you would like to/ are able to sponsor me to enable this film to be completed.

Filmography - Lisa Perrott

2008-11-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Highly Strung (1996)

A surreal psychodrama dance film featuring a child's relationship with a marionette puppet. Inspired by Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon, this 4 minute film explores multiple personalities, control, spontaneity and inhibition. Shot on 16mm film with a Bolex camera, this film incorporates sequences of stop-motion animation, pixillation, and projected imagery.

Cage (1996)

A short magical-realist film about an 11 year old boy's grief after burying his mother. As the boy comes to understand the loss of his mother, he forms an attachment with a dead bird. But reality is not what it seems in this surreal world where dreaming and waking become confused. This film was shot on 16mm film in the stunning hilltops of Raglan, New Zealand.

About animaScope

2008-11-12T02:18:00.000-08:00

About animaScope

I am currently completing the post-production of my stopmotion puppet-animated film animaScope - a 16mm film that has been a long time in the making.

animaScope is a surreal tale of power relations between humans and a humanimal dictator who maintains his power through an omnipresent panoptical gaze. The films of Jan Svankmajer and the Brother's Quay are key aesthetic influences, and the concept and storyline for this film was derived from French philosopher, Michael Foucault's theory, which used the panopticon as a metaphor for power relations.

This film was shot and edited several years ago, but the final stages of post-production were put on hold due to parenting commitments and budgetary restraints. I am seeking sponsors to assist me in completing the final stages, which include; tele-cine and the mastering of a digital soundtrack. As you will see from this blog, animaScope will be exhibited as part of a New Zealand exhibition in February next year, followed by international film festivals and academic conferences. Please contact me by email if you would like to/ are able to sponsor me to enable this film to be completed.

Influences

2008-10-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

Aesthetic influences: the animated films of Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers' Quay.

Conceptual influences: French Philosopher, Michel Foucault's use of the panopticon as a metaphor for power relations. For information, go to:

http://cartome.org/panopticon1.htm

The Panopticon Prison: (as designed by Jeremy Bentham):

Reviews

2008-10-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Forthcoming: review by Dr Richard Swainson, member of the Hamilton Film Society and co-director of Auteur House, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Post Production Timeline

2008-10-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

November 08:
- Tele-cine
- Sponsorship scout

December 08:
- Re-edit
- Sponsorship scout continued

January 09:
- Creation of soundtrack
- Sponsorship scout continued

February 6/09:
- Release date of 16mm film with digital soundtrack
- Exhibited at 'Mind Games: Surrealism in Aotearoa', at Hastings Art Gallery.
- Submission to international animation festivals.

Technical Specifications

2008-10-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Stop-motion animation shot on 16mm film with a Bolex camera.

Initially edited on a Steinbeck linear editing deck.

Final length of film: 6-8 minutes

Models constructed from wire armatures, covered with bees wax, and fired clay heads.

Sponsors & Funding

2008-10-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

The initial funding for animaScope was granted by Creative New Zealand's Screen Innovation Production Fund. This enabled animaScope to be produced to the stage of a rough edit. A small research grant has recently been provided by Waikato University, and this will contribute to the cost of the tele-cine process.

I am now on the look out for additional sponsorship, which will enable me to complete the final stages of tele-cine and soundtrack creation. Sponsorship donations of any amount will be welcomed. All sponsors will be fully credited and will benefit from the exposure generated by nationwide and international exhibition.

Storyboards

2008-10-30T18:28:00.001-07:00

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

Page 11

Page 12

Page 13

Page 14

Page 15

Page 16

Page 17

Page 18

Page 19

Crew

2008-10-30T18:22:00.001-07:00

Bret Nichols: Producer
Lisa Perrott: Scriptwriter, Director, Animator & Editor
Amanda Ewing: Set Design and Model Construction
Anne Gummer: Director of Photography
Keith Hill: Editor of rough-cut
Jennifer Spark: Soundscape Design, Music Composition
Megan Crawley: Production Assistant

Plot Synopsis

2008-10-30T18:21:00.001-07:00

Copyright for the following script synopsis is held by Lisa Perrott, 2008.
(SBF= storyboard frame #).
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animaScope

Inside the Panopticon zoo it is dark and silent. As the camera creeps around the zoo we see humans, frozen still in cages. In contrast to the entrapment of the humanoids, a part-human, part-rodent creature is draped sleepily over the shaft of a centrally placed telescope. A sudden earthquake-like jolt rocks the entire zoo just as a strange creaking noise is heard and a shaft of light emerges and spreads over the zoo (SBF1-8).

The human-rodent dictator opens his eyes. The key-dial in his back begins to move around slowly. Looking around his observation tower, his eyes come to rest on the on/off switch located on a central control panel. He switches it on, bringing the zoo to life (SBF9-14).

Immediately and simultaneously; light-bulbs illuminate the cages, bolts lock the humans in as they come to life, pacing in their cages. Clock-like devices spring into mechanized action and a carriage starts to move around the railway track, pausing at each cage to deliver small chunks of raw meat to its prisoners. Now a living entity, everything inside the zoo moves in perfect time to the rhythmic sound of grinding cogs (SBF15-22).

The dictator focuses his telescope and follows the carriage to the next cage. The carriage stops, allowing a chunk of meat to propel itself into the cage and wriggle across the floor with the manner of a human tempting it's own fate. Two humans tear the meat into pieces and devour it. Laughing with satisfaction, the dictator follows the carriage to the next cage and observes the feeding session proceed like clockwork (SBF23-28).

Meat rolls across the floor of the woman's cage, coming to rest at her feet. The dictator becomes impatient as he waits for her to react. As though following some kind of magical command from the dictator, the meat rolls insistently on to the woman's foot. She kicks the meat angrily from her foot, out of the cage and onto the ground below (SBF29-33)

Refocusing his telescope, the dictator takes a closer look at the woman as she stares defiantly in his direction. Pulling away from the telescope, he scratches his head and records her behavior on his clipboard. He searches through the pages of a huge book, running his clawed finger over a diagram of a human brain. Pressing a button on his control panel, he watches through his telescope as the injured chunk of meat morphs into a rat, climbs into the cage and bites the woman's foot in retaliation (SBF34-47).

The woman kicks the rat off, sending it sliding along the floor until it slams into the side of the cage. The rat jumps back angrily, biting her repeatedly. The woman retreats to a corner of her cage as the rat scurries away (SBF47-54).

The dictator moves his telescopic view from the feisty woman to humans in other cages, who are pacing restlessly back and forward. Satisfied that at least their behavior is under control, he quickly pans his telescope back to see that the woman is standing defiantly looking straight at him. Furious and disarmed by this returned gaze, he walks toward the window and stares out at her. The instant their eyes meet for the first time, the dictator is weakened by the intensity of this un-mediated returned gaze, and retreats quickly out of sight (SBF55-71).

Empowered by staring out her controller, the woman uses her new-found strength to shake the padlock and bars of her cage rebelliously. Suddenly a missile is propelled from the tower, landing as a small steel ball in her cage. She rolls the ball over curiously with her toes, causing the missile to recoil with fright. The ball unravels into a tangled mess of steel and then morphs into a strange version of wind-instrument. The woman raises the instrument to her mouth and the force of her breath brings about a loud evocative sound that lingers, causing all the caged humans to stop and listen. The zoo is frozen momentarily by stillness and silence (SBF72-81).

Furious at the shift of power in the zoo, the dictator aggressively refocuses his telescope, hoping it will return his power. He watches as the woman raises the instrument to her mouth and blows another magical sound, this time inciting the humans into a frenzy of shaking cages, fighting and screaming. Even the raw meat is incited to jumping from the carriages and scrambling free. The rhythmic hum of clockwork mechanisms turns into arrhythmic, discordant sounds as the dysfunctional central machine breaks apart. Satisfied with the chaos she has instigated, the woman puts the instrument down at her feet (SBF82-90).

Panicking, the dictator swings his telescope round from cage to cage until it is spinning around out of control. Unable to duck in time, the dictator is knocked off his feet by the maniacal telescope. Landing with a thud, the dictator lies unconscious as the sounds of chaos appear to be sucked into a vacuum. Footsteps break the silence, coming closer and louder. They stop. The dictator opens his eyes and stares straight above him with widening eyes. An extremely large eye fills the frame as it looks down at the dictator through a magnifying glass. In response to this magnified gaze from above, the dictator's face begins to crack and his body starts to shake uncontrollably. Turning onto his hands and knees he crawls weakly toward the control panel. Realising his death is imminent, he reaches his rodent hand up to the panel and switches off the life-giving switch of the zoo (SBF91-99).

The cage lights go out and darkness is accompanied by silence. The silence is broken by the sound of unlocking padlocks, followed by little footsteps running inside the zoo. The woman runs away from her cage toward the tower as her cage door shuts behind her. As the dictator lies defeated on the floor of his observation tower, the woman climbs to the ladder leading to the turret. Just as she reaches the top, her eyes look upwards as a large shadow descends over her. From her point of view, we see a large box-lid being lowered toward her by human hands of giant proportions. A thud is heard as the lid comes down on the box transforming the dark shadows into blackness. The sound of a switch can be heard and we see the woman's hand descending the 'on' switch inside the observation tower. (SBF100-106).

With the images and sounds of the newly enlivened zoo enclosed in the box, we are left in blackness with the atmospheric hum of a scientific laboratory. Fading up from blackness to this external reality, a scientist's hand pushes the box into a shelf of other boxes containing scientific experiments (SBF107-108).

End

Exhibitions

2008-10-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

animaScope has been accepted into the following 2009 national Art exhibition:

MIND GAMES: Surrealism in Aotearoa
HASTINGS ART GALLERY
6 February- April 5 2009

With Guest Curator Jan Vaessen and Director Maree Mills

The February/March months in Hawke’s Bay are noted for the large swell in visitors enjoying the many summer events. The highest profile of these events is the Art Deco Festival in Napier.

The Hastings Art Gallery presents an alternative look at the Deco era by exploring the flip-side, the rise of surrealism in New Zealand.

Film Stills

2008-10-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

16mm film stills from animaScope

Festivals

2008-10-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

animaScope will be entered into the following film festivals:

ANNECY INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED FILM FESTIVAL
Monday 8 to Saturday 13 June 2009.

The International Animation Film Festival and Mifa (International Animation Film Market) is organised by CITIA (City of Moving Images) and takes place each year during the first two weeks of June in Annecy, France. The event is made up of an international competitive Festival and a specialised trade fair Market for animation. It is wholly dedicated to animation and is the biggest and most recognised event of its kind in the world, often being referred to as the "Cannes" of animation. The 33rd edition will take place from 8 to 13 June 2009.

http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=10
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Tricky Women 09

Tricky Women is the first and only festival of animated film in Europe that is dedicated exclusively to animation by women. With its international competition, retrospectives, presentations by renowned film schools, its special programmes and its forum Connecting Animation, Tricky Women offers a unique, up-to-date overview of animated filmmaking around the world.

March 5 - 9, Top Kino, Vienna

http://www.trickywomen.at/index.php?id=12&L=1

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Anima 2009: The Brussels International Animation Festival

Anima, the international animation festival, will take place from the 20th to the 28th February 2009 at Flagey, Brussels in Belgium.

This Anima 2009 Festival will be looking at the links between animation and the comic strip.

The 100 films in the international competition (short and long films, commercials and music videos), retrospectives, expositions, lessons in cinema, workshops for children, professional days with "Futuranima", numerous special guests and the opening and closing nights make this an international event that ought not to be missed.

http://www.animatv.be/index.php?ln=en

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2009 Red Stick International Animation Festival.

About The Red Stick Festival

The Red Stick International Animation Festival is an exciting community event that converges the worlds of technology, art, entertainment and exploration. Though artists have always used the tools of their time, at no time since the Renaissance has there been a similar convergence of science and art. The 2008 Red Stick International Animation Festival highlights this convergence celebrating art, motion, and exploration in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from April 22-25, 2009.

The festival has its roots firmly planted in the creative side of the animation business and acts to provide animators, directors, students, artists, designers, writers and educators with a forum in which they can share their knowledge and skills and promote the art of animation.

http://redstickfestival.org/

animaScope

About animaScope

Filmography - Lisa Perrott

About animaScope

Influences

Reviews

Post Production Timeline

Technical Specifications

Sponsors & Funding

Storyboards

Crew

Plot Synopsis

Exhibitions

Film Stills

Festivals

http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=10___________________________________________

Tricky Women 09

Anima 2009: The Brussels International Animation Festival

About The Red Stick Festival

http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=10
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