In the field of animated films, if someone follows the rules and temptations, someone must open their teeth and dance their claws, just like in the interrogation room, there are "good policemen" and "bad policemen".
No, the "Wind Discipline Commissioner" Disney Company has just launched the "gentle bomb" of [Brain Task Force], and immediately someone launched [infidelity] nakedly singing the opposite tone, and the behind-the-scenes instruction is the famous "bad Shu" in the animation industry, the American director Bill Primeton.
▲ Bill Primeton with his own portrait, he believes that it is precisely because of Oregon's rainy climate that bred his painting skills and imagination
Bill Primeton was born on April 30, 1946 in Portland, Oregon. He became obsessed with movies during college and painted posters for film clubs.
After graduating, he began a 15-year career as an illustrator and cartoonist. His work in erotic magazines such as Screw and The Loft fostered a strong erotic tendency in his later films, and the political comic strips in National Satire and Plimpton were the first sources of some of the political satire in his films.
Primeton has been fascinated by animation since he was a child, and at the age of 14, he sent Disney his comic sketches and expressed his willingness to become an animator under it. Disney replied that he had great prospects, but unfortunately he was too young to refuse
Coincidentally, after becoming known as an independent animator, he lost his creative freedom because he did not want his work to be swayed by the studio, and did not like to be tied down by the company and contracts, he refused the invitation of Disney to direct [Aladdin] in 1992, and the remuneration was said to be as high as seven figures.
It was his insistence on independence that necessitated his personal efforts to finance the film, and he produced two or three animated short films a year to raise funds so that he could have a solid income base to sustain his independent animation career.
He really entered the field of animation production in 1983, and then shot a series of very successful animated short films, and the awards and good reputation of the short films pushed him into the production of feature films. His short film "Don't Believe Me, Don't Cry You" was used as a prelude to a part of his debut feature film [The Music], which he raised funds for.
▲ [Don't Believe It or Cry You] (left) and his 2001 short film [Rotten Restaurant White Rotten Guest] (right) have also won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, which is very rare for an animation director
Throughout Primeton's animation, it is not difficult to find his strong violent and erotic style, and he has made short films called "Very Yellow and Violent", and even an upgraded version of "More Yellow and More Violent".
▲ From his masterpiece "I Married a Strange Shu", almost every one of his films is filled with these B-grade interests
It can be said that "I married a strange shudder" is a concentrated embodiment of these elements, and the film is full of all kinds of foul language and unrestrained sexual behavior, and in [Mutant Aliens], it develops into a variety of mutants with bad tastes: nose people, finger people, snake-sized dogs, and long-nosed pigs.
In addition, both films have a certain amount of political irony, with the ugly behavior of various upper-class figures in [I Married a Weird Shu] being a mockery of old politicians crushing the newly rising middle class, and the "conspiracy theory" story of [Mutant Aliens] being a mockery of NASA.
The rebellious nature of his animation also earned him the title of "Quentin Tarantino of Animation", and in addition to Quentin's black humor and plasma, his films also have some David Lynch traits - grotesque and strongly experimental
The style of Primeton Animation is very rough and retro, striving to be exaggerated, and the color composition is relatively simple and the contrast is relatively strong. It can be said that the rich lines and smooth deformation design, coupled with a strong sense of rhythm, form its own unified painting style.
On the soundtrack, he's more diverse, ranging from classical works like the aria or organ piece of the eunuch singer in [Mutant Alien], to the Latin American guitar minor key in the short film [Very Yellow and Violent], or the weird voice of McEheron, the lead singer of the Midwest country band [Your Face].
And his debut feature film [Music] is the most concentrated embodiment of his diverse soundtrack: rock, opera, and blues are all available, born in response to changes in pictures and scenes, and played a fierce and strong sound in the world of Disney in the animation industry at that time.
Representative works
[Music] The Tune 1992
In order to keep his job and girlfriend, the musician in the bottleneck period had to write a perfect song for his boss, but on the way to work, he mistakenly broke into a strange town, and various experiences and partners inspired him to help him complete his work. The content of the film is not complicated, mixed with some of Primeton's previous animated shorts, and it received praise at that year's Sundance Film Festival.
▲ The 1990s was the glory days of the Disney Company, independent films were struggling, independent animated films were even more difficult, Bill Primeton was a ripper, and at this time launched the first animated feature film [Music]
The film presents an absurd and fantastic world in a sketch-style simple and direct style, the film is visually full of nonsensical taunts and black humor elements, and the soundtrack is a highlight, and various styles of music are various. The overall tone of the film is still warm and clear, and the naturally "anti-bone" Primeton has not yet "revealed his fierce appearance".
[I'm married to a weird creep!] ]I Married a Strange Person! 1997
On their wedding night, husband Grant is possessed by a god, whatever he wants will be realized, their world becomes more and more chaotic and crazy in Grant's absurd and obscene imagination, and his wife Kelly is exhausted and helpless. When media magnate Larson Zales learned the news, he saw a business opportunity, and he hired a professional team to kidnap Grant, and an unprecedented and strange duel began.
▲ [I married a strange Shu Huang!] The bed drama can be described as "wonderful", with clouds flowing in the air, and the momentum is not at all in line with the seventy-two changes of that year
In the kingdom of animation, the "actor" does not have to worry about discipline and physical fitness, and can act arbitrarily. Bill Primeton's "foul language" is a sword that strikes at the humanity's own flaws and the greed of commercial culture.
Money makes people lose their minds and disrupt the lives of ordinary people, while the people at the bottom unite to fight violence with violence and ultimately win. The theme of the film's resistance to power, the director can be described as a practical practice in reality, he insists on his own creative style, keeps a distance from the blockbuster field, and has won many awards at international film festivals with this style of "rough words".
[Mutant Alien] Mutant Aliens 2001
Astronaut Earl Jensen was sent to space on a glorious mission, unaware that this was a shocking conspiracy orchestrated by NASA in pursuit of profit. However, Jensen, who was cut off from fuel, was lucky to escape. More than 20 years later, he returned to Earth with a group of alien critters, intending to take revenge, but he died before he could get out, and such a big task fell on his adult daughter and the group of alien friends.
▲ The film [Mutant Alien] continues the director's style, with bodily fluids and internal organs flying together, and the imagination is warm and colorful
Intimate desires and dirty ideas, transformed into creeping colors and lines that overflow the screen, are relentlessly critiqued by Primeton of politics, business, and the dark side of human nature in a "horrible" style. It can be called the "Ulysses" of the animated version and B-grade film route.
[Infidelity] Cheatin' 2013
The beautiful woman Ella was trapped in a bumper car accident, the handsome man Jack rescued him, the two fell in love, Jack ignored the seduction of many women, with love, but the sinister women used trickery to alienate the two, Jack anesthetized himself in promiscuity, in order to save love, Ella found a magician, so that her consciousness can enter the body of each of Jack's female companions.
Counting this latest work is already the seventh animated feature film of "Bad Shu", perhaps the first few works really frightened children, Primeton could not find like-minded investors when making this movie, but the director's imagination is always better than reality, AndPlendon quickly got more than $100,000 in fees through crowdfunding on kickstarter, which is already a strong family foundation for Primeton, who is accustomed to creating in the style of pencil sketching.
▲ The sketches of the film [Infidelity] were all drawn by the director himself, and a team of ten people was responsible for coloring and composing. The vitality of independent films is getting stronger and stronger
It is impossible for the film to meet everyone through the theater, but fans do not have to be disappointed, after two years, the film has surfaced on the Internet, according to some tacit rules, its DVD or released. What "demon wind" has blown up the "bad Shu", why not take a sneak peek?
(This article was originally published on the WeChat public account of "Watching Movie Weekly" magazine)