YEA, MOVIES!

I watched Gattaca today. It's one of my favorite movies, and every time I watch it I notice things I've never noticed before. If you've never seen it, you...should. Summary (in the words of Ebert hee):

Gattaca is set in a future in which genetics determine your social status. Genetic engineering--which embraces the idea of 'designer babies', eliminating chance for disease or 'prejudicial elements' of obesity/myopia/etc--is favored over the traditional method of procreation.

Vincent (Ethan Hawke) was born in the old-fashioned way, and his genetic tests show he has bad eyesight, heart problems and a life expectancy of about 30 years. He is an "In-Valid,'' and works as a cleaner in a space center.

Vincent does not accept his fate. Now Vincent dreams of becoming a crew member on an expedition to one of the moons of Saturn. Using an illegal DNA broker, he makes a deal with a man named Jerome (Jude Law), who has the right genes but was paralyzed in an accident. Jerome will provide him with blood, urine samples and an identity. In a sense, they'll both go into space. The sudden murder of a director at his workplace threatens to unravel their plan.
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The film is beautifully shot.

I particularly like the early scenes which highlight Vincent's isolation/separation as a "faith-child" and the contrast between his status and that of his engineered (and favored) brother.









this shot is great, too. Here Vincent is working as a janitor at Gattaca. The escalator is used by the crew members at the company. His stairway up is right before him, but he can't take it.




I thought the double-helix staircase was very clever, as Vincent climbs Jerome's "ladder" to a better future. Jerome, who is paralyzed, can no longer make it up the staircase.


Some more shots:








Another thing that stands out is the use of red/green throughout the film:














all images (c) Columbia Pictures

Children's Book Illustration

oops, yet another non-art post...but I just can't contain my excitement :)

My sister and I headed out to the Montclair Public Library (i think?) today. She told me about their great 6 (old, unloved?) books for $1 deal, so we went to loot their bookshelves.

And loot we did.



48 books for $8, what a steal. We found several of our beloved childhood books. I was on the hunt for great illustrations, and managed to pick up a ton of lovely picture books. Wanted to share some of my favorites here (they're too good NOT to share):








Trina Schart Hyman. I fell in love with her work after seeing Saint George and the Dragon. ha I was overjoyed to find five of her books.








Mercer Mayer (from East of the Sun & West of the Moon)





Eric Beddows (from Shadow Play). Wonderful silhouettes.




Nancy Ekholm Burkert (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)




Barbara Berger (Grandfather Twilight) Very simple and whimsical...nice colors, too.




Heidi Holder (Aesop's Fables)




Susan Jeffers (top, for The Wild Swans) and John Steptoe (bottom, for the wonderful Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters)




Some Tomie DePaola (top) and Don Freeman (bottom, for Inspector Peckit)



this one was an interesting find. It's by Rolf Myller. The book, A Very Noisy Day, caught my eye because of the way typography was utilized.


and...Bill Peet!





Very happy to find his little autobiography. Not very heavy with insight, more like a collection of light anecdotes, complemented with his lively illustrations.



and another, from Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent


all images (c) their respective creators

Disney recently revamped its website, and put up some production art for Princess & Frog, as well as brief info on Rapunzel and King of the Elves. I saw some of the images during the studio tour, but others are brand new to me...absolutely gorgeous, so go take a look!:






love the complementary colors in this one

all images (c) Disney

PS they also added a faq/more info about their student programs, much more helpful than the page they had before. it's making me all excited and hopeful again x)

Linkage!

http://artofdisney.canalblog.com/

A site with many disney/pixar animation images that I've never seen before. There are layouts and production work and maquettes and even some animation--stuff that represents a huge body of work from Bambi to Wall-E. The site is in French, but don't let it stop you! Totally worth a look. I do wish that they labeled the work with the artist, though, particularly with the concept drawings done for The Aristocats, which seems very different from the other films.

images (c) Disney/Pixar



Enchanted





Ratatouille

PS please definitely check out the "Enchanted" section if you're like me. I'm going nuts over the art nouveau inspiration. gorgeous!

Eyvind Earle and Sleeping Beauty

Took some time off and watched Sleeping Beauty this morning(I swear, the best thing about these "out-of-the-vault! editions" are the special features/making-of documentaries). I used to think that this movie was boring when I was a kid, but it's pretty much one of my favorites now. It's just absolutely gorgeous, truly a "moving illustration" as Walt wanted. I'm especially in love with Eyvind Earle's backgrounds. I can't imagine how long they took, they are so complex and lovingly crafted.

















Influences from gothic tapestries, van eyck landscapes







Ghent altarpiece and detail


I think, for me, it's a lot easier to appreciate this kind of work these days. Technology may have simplified things, but I think it also removed some of the need? to develop this kind of skill. There is still incredible work being produced today, but I hardly ever see anything like this on film anymore (at least, not that I know of).

I guess it's just the change in medium. The backgrounds in, say, Cars and Ratatouille are no less impressive--they are so well done that the audience is immersed in the environment--but I really admire the insane research and traditional skills that go into creating those old backgrounds.

Watching the commentary on certain scenes also reminds me why I love animating (despite the fact that I actually do not like animating). I wish I were much better at it (yeah, lots of commitment and endless practice, i know) because I'd love to create stuff like this. As much as others howl about Disney cliches and the cookie-cutter "Disney" type characters/animation, there's something about classic Disney that really appeals to me. Maybe I'm blinded by my childhood, but I prefer it to much of the cartoon animation on TV these days. No offense to the Spumco/Kricfalusi crowd.

all artwork (c) Disney
several images taken from http://animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com/


extra! Earle's color work in: