day 8 - Leaf/Kentridge

Leaf: The whole thought of “under the camera” filmmaking is a process which I haven’t even heard of up to this point in the major. It sounds like a fun way to make a film, but I think more importantly than that is that “under the camera” filmmaking is moreso of an art form. Whereas film is in and of itself art, this new process gives a whole new meaning to the term “art film”. Ms. Leaf proves that it’s one thing to make a movie with pictures on a cell, it’s quite another to make a movie and try to tell a story with nothing more than just very few materials to work with. That takes a lot of creative thinking and ingenuity.

Kentridge: Like Ms. Leaf, Kentridge also takes great pride in doing what he does for a living, and that is make charcoal animations on film. As a film student, I can relate a lot to what Kentridge has gone through in his life with all of the various positions in order to pursue and find his career, and I admire him for that. His charcoal animations seem very similar artistically to pencil drawn animation, but with greater or bolder depth. The short clip that we watched in class today about his “Pain and Sympathy” was a bit disturbing in a sense that we see a man lying in a hospital bed and see reflections of his most recent memories before his accident. What was really disturbing were the parts of a person being beaten on the side of the road and the moment of impact when the man hits a crossing pedestrian. I think was a good look into what really goes on in the world charcoal animation.