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Cartune Xprez 2008 cover image

Cartune Xprez 2008 2009

Recommended

Distributed by Microcinema International/Microcinema DVD, 1636 Bush St., Suite #2, SF, CA 94109; 415-447-9750
Producer n/a
Director n/a
DVD, color, 60 min.



College - Adult
Animation, Art, Film Studies

Date Entered: 12/02/2009

Reviewed by Linda Frederiksen, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA

This collection of experimental animated films features the works of various artists and musicians from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Assembled by two Carnegie Mellon graduates and Pacific Northwest residents, the compilation is the second production by post modern Hooliganship band members Peter Burr and Christopher Doulgeris. The video is made up of both short works and repetitive animated loops, all made within the last ten years and varying in length from about 2-10 minutes. Each of the 15 pieces is a unique and highly creative stand-alone work.

The 8 shorts selected for this anthology demonstrate a wide variety of production and post-production multimedia techniques and styles. From cut-out photography set in dizzying motion to abstract and geometric shapes superimposed over other images; from colorful kaleidoscopic figures to crude black and white pen and ink drawings, the films and loops all have a contemporary, imaginative and sometimes bizarre or psychedelic quality. Although the majority of the films, and all the loops, are non-narrative, some do follow a slim story line, as with Ola Vasiljeva’s MJ 5, Shana Moulton’s The Mountain Where Everything is Upside Down, and Jim Trainor’s The Moschops. Likewise, while some of the shorts have no narration or audio, others feature inventive soundtracks that are as much a part of the film’s appeal as the animation. For the most part, what is on display are new and exciting sound and animation techniques and ideas that push the boundaries of visual, multimedia art.

The experimental and abstract nature and techniques of the works represented here will likely not appeal to children or most general audiences. Art, film studies and animation teachers and students, however, will find a great deal to analyze, argue and discuss in this compilation.

Included on the DVD are:

  • The Comic that Frenches Your Mind (Bruce Bickford)
  • Copenhagen Cycles (Eric Dyer)
  • The Mountain Where Everything is Upside Down (Shana Moulton)
  • Glyden Load (Hooliganship)
  • Lich Piercer (Adrian Freeman)
  • Whirr (Timo Katz)
  • MJ 5 (Ola Vasiljeva)
  • The Moschops (Jim Trainor)
  • Explosions (e+rock)
  • Loop from Muto (blu)
  • Amalgamide Tide (Taras Hrabowsky)
  • Dudulup 01 (Peter Burr)
  • Mz Mnnzn (Christopher Doulgeris)
  • Downward Dog (Josh Mannis)
  • 25/27 (Lief Hall)