Stop! Action!

Certainly there are many mediums to use to create art--- though jelly beans were not on my radar. This sweet stop-action video changes that.  The 'making of' proves the artistic merit of this animated short.  I can't help, however, but reference this Peter Gabriel video, which not only used stop-action filming, but also riffs on the great Italian Renaissance artist Arcimboldo.

Life Out of Balance

In the late 1950's, biologist and author of Silent Spring Rachel Carson warned of how man, in his quest for profit, disrupts the harmony of nature which had been developed over eons. The result, the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems. In 1983, the film Koyaanisqatsi used visual imagery and Philip Glass's music to tell the epic story of man versus nature.
But this year, a group of artists at the Noguchi Museum in Queens decided use their imaginations to offer their own suggestions to help nature adapt to urbanization and habitat loss. The exhibition, Civic Action: A Vision for Long Island City, looks at ways to improve environmental health by using an urban farming system for railings, double-hung windows; greening “no parking zones”; building bridges for butterflies and superhighways for salamanders; and repaving Broadway from the N/Q subway station to Socrates Sculpture Park with drivable grass.
Perhaps it's the artists who will lead an environmental renaissance after all.

Hippoworks!

How do we create the next generation of conservationists? Cartoons, of course! Don't we all remember the allure of the animated image? Going on a digital campaign to stop animal extinction, Hippoworks has generated some thought-provoking messages aimed at the pre-tween set while being smart and sassy enough to entertain their parents. And how can you beat the message-- the alarming rate of overdevelopment of natural territory is causing mass extinction of species. Powered by sun, wind and poop, this website is one which practices what it preaches.

Animation: An Eye for Annai

I fell in love with both the graphics and the message of this charming animated short shared at the SCBWI conference by Lucy Ruth Cummins, an art director for Simon and Schuster.

Beauty or Brains? Both?

The New York Times Arts and Leisure section yesterday provided a fascinating juxtaposition in femininity. Three movies, all centered on female figures, provide insight into the polarization of female identity. Acerbic New Yorker Fran Lebowitz, known for her scathing sarcasm, is featured in a new documentary "Public Speaking" directed by Martin Scorsese, armed with little more than her wit. Not unlike Louis Malle's "My Dinner with Andre," Lebowitz is filmed chatting at her regular table at the Waverly Inn. A modern-day Dorothy Parker, Lebowitz's writing in general is brainy, opinionated, and quick, moving from topic to topic with ease, so the format of filmed conversation should prove to be equally erudite. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Cher, four years Lebowitz's senior, whose new movie "Burlesque," showcases the singer/actress in fishnets and sequins. After countless plastic surgeries, Cher's unwrinkled face is evidence of a relentless desire to fight the natural aging process, hoping to retain beauty at any cost. Upon reading interviews with both women, however, it is Lebowitz who seems energized, not Cher.
To balance out the question, another Disney princess is on the horizon-- flying in on her tangle of hair with her prince. Will this version of Rapunzel offer a new vision of femininity-- one that marries beauty and brains? If so, it's about time.

Soul Eater

As fans of Japanese art, from printmaking to anime, the Bouler family watched a few episodes tonight of Soul Eater, an anime adaptation of the Japanese manga series by Atsushi Okubo. The fantasy series explores the life and death battles over human souls. With partnerships between characters forming weapons, this surreal cartoon presents themes of honor and teamwork, using some of the most adventurous graphic illustration I've seen on television. And what other cartoon features a character who is obsessed with symmetry? Check it out on youtube.

The Legend of the Guardians of Ga'hoole

With our 3-D glasses and our bag of popcorn, Olivia, Jackson, and I eagerly anticipated the Legend of the Guardians of Ga'hoole. We were not disappointed. Based on the children's books by Kathryn Lasky, this fast-moving, action film captured the flight of owls so beautifully that I hardly needed the story to be mesmerized. From screetch owls to burrowing owls, the film covered the entire species with impressive accuracy-- well except for the British accents.

Goin' Underground

Gardenscape by Nadine Palumbo Bouler

I was completely inspired by Wes Anderson's film version of Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. As I prepare for a flurry of new artistic activity, seeing this incredibly creative stop-action animation gave me some ideas about my course of action. I've long admired Roald Dahl's work, and certainly children's literature has informed many of my own images and writings. I also love the underground, with many of my paintings revealing two landscapes-- the public one above ground and the private one below. In fact, I set my fantasy novel Searching for Moongirl in a subterranean world. That's why I've always loved Edgar Allen Poe's work-- as his characters try to bury their crimes in basements, caves, the floor boards, until they are exposed for all to see. But like Mr. Fox, I'm not quite ready to give up my view of the sky. For my week up at Potic Cottage, I plan to dig in the ground and gaze at the stars, hoping to find a new landscape to paint.

Music in Film

We all know that when 'that scary music' starts up, another frightful moment is lurking around the corner, and anytime the "Chariots of Fire" theme starts up we can't help but picture the present moment in dramatic slow-motion. How does music influence the context in which we understand a movie? Composers and film-scorers have become increasingly more sophisticated in manipulating tone, mood, tension, emotion, drama, and irony by selecting and creating sound to influence their audience. Jazz trumpet player (and former guest blogger) Jesse Neuman presented his MUSICWORKS workshop on the use of music in film , offering students an insightful look at the importance of a soundtrack to a movie's meaning.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Another in the list of classic children's literature is being memorialized in a film adaptation. This one, a stop-action animation directed by Wes Anderson, takes Roald Dahl's text Fantastic Mr. Fox, and stages it in miniature sets. The images of the interiors, Badger's law office, Ash's bedroom, all created at a dollhouse scale provide a warm charm that is often lacking in other types of animation. Perhaps it is my love of another classic children's book, the Borrowers, that I really love anything miniature in scale, as well as my long-standing admiration for the imaginative work of Roald Dahl that I can hardly wait to see this film which is being released in theaters next week.

*disclosure-- I received several promotional posters and complimentary screening passes for this film, though I would have probably mentioned it anyway.

Halloween Flicks

There are so many movie options to match Halloween. From horror to gothic, to slasher, to humorous, this entry could last a while. Young Frankenstein, Rocky Horror, The Exorcist, all very viable options for Halloween viewing. As for me, I'm more 'Halloween-lite'. My picks this year? Nothing says Halloween like some good B-movies. Tonight is a double feature of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, followed by one from the Godzilla boxed set we have. Tomorrow we're going for some animation. There's the recent pic, Coraline, from the makers of Nightmare Before Christmas, about a spooky parallel universe. Another option is Spirited Away, an incredibly imaginative piece by the Japanese god of Animation, Hayao Miyazaki. I've seen it twenty times and I'm always blown away by its imaginative details. Don't ask me what it means; just know that it makes the incredible, credible. Finally, there's the ever-classic tale of faith-- The Great Pumpkin. In all seriousness, it is Waiting for Godot for children. How long do you wait for the Great Pumpkin? What alternatives do you have? Schultz was a devout man who infused the depth of his thought with childish irreverence. Of course there was a golden period with him-- they have an entire collection starting with the fifties, which are amazingly good all the way into the seventies.

I notice all of these pieces take place with the nighttime being a time of mystery, of depth, of transformation. My first novella, Searching for Moongirl is set at night. Most of my paintings, heck all of my paintings, are set at night. Surrealism, dreams, psychology, all realms of the night.

So on the night before All Hallow's Eve, a cozy night of movies and star-lit skies end the week in the most lovely way. I hope your night is wonderful, too.

UP!

This winter I read about an elderly woman in Seattle who refused to move from her home despite incredibly lucrative offers from developers for her property. She held out against the tide of glass towers and chain stores, choosing to stay in her home while construction cropped up around her, dwarfing her home. Befriended by the construction site manager who took her to doctor appointments, she bequeathed him her home when she died, and now he plans to sell it to cover his daughter's education. A strange turn of events that I was reminded of when I attended the new animated film UP. The main character, an elderly man, is another holdout, and like our friend in Seattle, suffered the sights and sounds of the earth around him making way for an evolving urban landscape. In this case, however, the homeowner inflates thousands of helium balloons and floats off to South America. The film, lovely and sentimental, spoke to us who love our homes, but wonder if the home holds the same meaning without its context and its inhabitants.

Coraline? Divine!: A Review

If you want a cinematic experience which takes your breath away, no matter your age, you HAVE got to see the animated film Coraline in 3D. I loved the Neil Gaiman book itself-- wickedly, fascinatingly, and fiercely imaginative. The film captures these qualities in ways that are mesmerizing. Go out of your way to see it in 3D. It's Ed Gorey on acid.
The plot is also quite interesting. A girl moves from Michigan to Oregon with her distracted and unsupportive parents. Their new apartment is in a worn down, rambling Victorian, turret and all, which has been divided into three apartments. Bored with her new surroundings, Coraline explores the place, discovering a parallel universe behind a small door with a skeleton key. I don't know about all of you, but I love the idea of a house with a secret door to parallel universe. Heck, I'll even take a door to a secret hiding spot. And the skeleton key-- when we bought the house in Islip, the front door key was a skeleton key-- which we promptly overrode with a dead bolt, though skeleton keys catch my imagination in a Gothic, Edwardian kind of way.
So go out and get yourself a ticket, and don't feel you need to tag along with a kid to enjoy this fast-paced visual experience.