It was the weekend again, and Shu was very excited, not because he could have fun, but because of the release of a movie.
Song of the Sea
This belated animation is a real "frame is a painting", and every screenshot can be used as wallpaper.
Unique geometric beauty.
Rich materials, complex lines, layered brushstrokes.
Symbol with a strong Celtic atmosphere.
The seaside, the countryside and the cityscape all exude a unique charm in the quaint hand-painted paintings.
Enjoying this movie on the screen must be an extraordinary experience, and thinking about this, Uncle feels that a week of hard work is worth it.
To the melodious Irish soundtrack, Song of the Sea tells the legend of the ancient seal elves:
Seal spirits are creatures of Scottish and Irish legends that transform into seals when they are in the sea, and when they take off their seal skins and come ashore, they will transform into human form.
Seal spirits sometimes fall in love with humans, but they cannot stay in the human world for long, and they have to return to the sea at certain times.
The lighthouse keeper's wife, a seal elf, left her husband and son and returned to the sea after giving birth to her daughter.
After his wife left, the lighthouse keeper was depressed and borrowed wine to pour sorrow, and neglected to take care of the children.
The son Ben is therefore angry with his little sister, believing that she has taken his mother away.
Ben's grandmother, believing that the seaside was not suitable for children, insisted that he and his sister be brought to the city.
Ben and his sister go back to find the pet dog that was left by the sea, but embark on a dreamlike journey.
He discovers that his sister is also a seal elf, and her flute can lift the witch's spell.
Her singing can save the imprisoned elves,
Moreover, she is also the last link between her father and his departed wife.
Through a brief reunion with his wife, my father woke up like a dream, finally let go of his grief, and lived a happy life with his family.
During this journey, Ben also understands his father's pain and learns to be a better brother and take care of his sister.
In the beautiful and heart-palpitating picture, intertwined with family affection, death, grief, delicate techniques, complex emotions, people can not be calmed for a long time.
"Song of the Sea" was inspired by a trip by director Tom Moore, who and his son went to the beach to sketch and found that fishermen had angrily begun to slaughter seals because their fishing was declining year by year.
An old woman in the village told them that in the past this would never happen, because in Celtic legend, seals were the soul of a drowning person, or the embodiment of a seal spirit.
Moore was greatly shocked, and he found that some ancient legends and even superstitions can actually play a great role in people's lives, influencing people's views and choices about the world.
With this in mind, he decided to bring this now little-known legend to the screen.
As a result, the film's reputation was so good that it was Douban 8.8, Rotten Tomatoes had a freshness rating of 99%, and it was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film that year.
The Seattle Times described:
"This movie will immerse you in it, and when the story ends, you will feel like you have changed something."
There is no doubt that more people know the story of the seal elves, and the ancient legend has been revived, and hopefully, those seals will be rescued as a result.
The expressive two-dimensional hand-drawn form and strong Irish style in "Song of the Sea" have also become the signature of Tom Moore and the studio he founded, cartoon saloon, which is unique in today's 3D animation trend.
But it is estimated that no one could have imagined that the director was almost "pitted" by two-dimensional animation that year, and could not find a job after graduation.
Tom Moore is a post-70s otaku who grew up watching two-dimensional animation, such as "Rat Tan Secret" released in 1982.
and "American Rat Tan" released in 1986.
Both animations were drawn at Sullivan Bluth Studio in Dublin, just hours' drive from Moore's hometown of Kilgeny.
"Such a great animation was actually drawn at the door of my home, so I thought that maybe I could do this line of work."
For this dream, Moore enrolled in two-dimensional animation at Ballyfermot University in Dublin, but just a year after school, Pixar launched Toy Story.
In the face of the menacing 3D animation, Moore and his classmates were confused, "I dripped mom, our jaws were shocked, and we all began to doubt life." ”
By the time Moore graduated, Sullivan Bluth Studio had gone out of business.
Many of his friends switched to video games, and the rest went to Pixar.
However, Moore was reluctant to give up traditional two-dimensional animation, believing that the seemingly "outdated" industry was still a big deal, so he founded Cartoon saloon.
And his ambitions, far more than just stagnating, his goal is to produce works like Miyazaki's with national characteristics and warm and natural infectious.
"We want to do something that no one else has done, to tell our own culture, like Hayao Miyazaki and some Eastern European animation directors did."
Thus, in Cartoon Saloon, Moore's animated feature debut, The Secret of the Book of Kells, was born.
The Secret of the Book of Kells revolves around Ireland's national treasure, the famous adorned manuscript of the Bible, and tells the story of artists who bravely forge ahead in the face of difficulties.
Speaking of this, the director must have shown a bitter smile, "Everyone on our team resonates with this story..."
The animation style incorporates elements from many of the great masters of Moore's animation history, including animation and illustration in the mid-20th century.
Works by Hayao Miyazaki,
Works by Richard Williams,
Works by Guendi Tartagovsky,
Combined with the modernist artist Paul Klee, whom the art director loved,
and vasily Kandinsky's style,
In the end, the flat, geometric lines, and hand-drawn rendering style of "The Secret of the Book of Kells" was formed, which was born out of the above but did not make people feel that it was copied in full.
The Secret of the Book of Kells has amazed countless people and provided a brilliant footnote to the Book of Kells, an early model of graphic design.
Compared with some unashamed goods, Uncle just wants to say that this is called "borrowing".
Fortunately, the kung fu paid off, "The Secret of the Book of Kells" won the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature film that year, and the opponents that year were extremely strong, which showed that the position of this nomination was also of great significance:
Disney's last attempt to turn the tide with the classic two-dimensional "princess" animation (although it failed).
Wes Anderson's stop-motion animation The Great Fox Daddy.
Henry Selek directed and produced by Laika Studios, Ghost Mother.
The ultimate winner is Pixar's 3D warm masterpiece "Flying House".
At an awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Moore met his smoking idol Hayao Miyazaki, and the otaku's heart was lifted.
"I don't usually smoke, I specifically asked someone to borrow a cigarette, and I kept coughing, but it was amazing to smoke with Miyazaki Hayao~"
After the success of "The Secret of the Book of Kells", Hollywood invitations poured in, but it did not change Moore's original intention of doing two-dimensional animation wholeheartedly.
He always believes that compared to 3D animation, traditional two-dimensional animation also has an irreplaceable charm:
With simplified characters and rich backgrounds, create situations that everyone can substitute for themselves.
"For me, 3D animation is like a live-action movie, using the same technique, I look more like a bystander when I watch it, and two-dimensional animation, at least in my opinion, is immersive."
Perhaps this is also the reason why he is obsessed with making two-dimensional animation.
The rapid development of 3D animation has not been regarded by him as a flood beast, but has provided convenience for two-dimensional animators:
With the help of computer graphics, small companies can also produce two-dimensional animations with less manpower and less cost, and animators have more room for technical exploration.
Most of the Secrets of the Book of Kells are hand-drawn with pen and paper, and only a few shots use flash;
Moore's second work, "Song of the Sea", uses tvpaint's full-hand drawing, which is not only richer in texture, but also more dynamic.
"We're lucky, you know? We have thousands of years of hand-painted history to learn from! ”
Uncle can almost imagine the silly expression of this little otaku when he said this.
Moore's obsession with two-dimensional animation not only injects a clear stream into the animation market that is now prevalent in 3D, but also creates a unique style on the basis of predecessors, opening up a broad world, and cartoon saloon's works have also become a gorgeous business card of Irish culture.
According to Moore, the studio's next work, Wolfwalkers, is also based on creatures from Irish legends.
Moore, who has received Oscar nominations for two consecutive works, may also use the next one to complete his "hat trick".
This Miyazaki junki, who insisted on his favorite painting style and stood on his own, did not give up his dream because he was swayed by the complicated market environment, so that we are now fortunate to see such a unique and magnificent animation.
It is precisely because of such cute animators that we can believe that tradition will never die and culture will be passed on in innovation.