From Cartoon Brew today I discovered a new stop-motion film titled "Chief Serenbe" (pronounced Seh'-ren-bee) by student director, Evan Curtis. I knew it had to be good as it was being featured as one CB's select student films, but I was completely unprepared for how imaginative and evocative the film was for me. Imagine taking a scene from a Wim Wenders film, setting it in the streets of Atlanta and shooting it as a stop-motion film with a male doll. Sounds crazy, but it works...and them some. Curtis, at is excellent website oregmagifilms.com, states that he wanted to make an "Italian neo-realist stop-motion road film" that reflected his feeling of alienation after having moved from New York City to Atlanta. He felt like "getting on a motorcycle and riding around" with no real destination in mind. So, using a tripod, his Nikon D40 camera and his guy/doll character, he " had no script or storyboard, only a short list of locations".
Using this "loose story structure" as he calls it, Evan created a film that has as much to do with the locations he chose in and around Atlanta as with any kind of "story". Basically, a guy comes into town and kills a day bumming around, smoking cigarettes and looking at things. Letting life happen to him. He's not a homeless guy, but more a kind of middle-class hobo who wants to get out and see things. Eventually, the sun goes down and he's in the city at night. Finally, he bums a ride to somewhere and watches the lights go by from the back seat.
What might be a just another live action "wandering in the city" film becomes a strange and moody journey into the life of a character who might be dangerous, might be kind, you just don't know. That Evan was able to join the two worlds of dolls and the street together using stop-motion into a single world is remarkable. But then his animation skills give life to this inanimate doll and, especially in the scene where he rides in the car looking out the window, you get a real mood from the character and setting. How many times have we seen this travelling shot? But now, with a stop-motion character, it becomes invested with an eerie reality. What is he thinking? Where is he going? He almost looks sad, although I know his features haven't changed. Such is the power of the directors imagination.
People who have never created a stop-motion film have no idea how tedious the production process is. It's slow and hard to visualize the result until you import the single frames you've shot (billions of them it seems for scant seconds of film time) into an editor like Premiere or Avid. That Evan was able to frame his shots so well while essentially improvising the scenes is a testament to his talent and skill as an animator. What a great idea to take the story into a full day so you have a contrast between natural day and night.
I just love this film and find it immensely inspiring. By combining familiar things (road story, city wandering, stop-motion, no dialog, street shooting) with the aesthetic of stop-motion, which immediately creates an odd, new way of looking at scenes, Evan Curtis has created a work of art that expresses a lot of feeling and mood despite the production limitations and lack of prep. I like this style of filmming and hope to emulate it myself. Very pleased to hear that Evan has had this film screened at several festivals (including South by Southwest) and is planning on creating a feature length film using stop-motion.
Wonderful work, Curtis. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work at your website (oregmagifilms.com). Here's wishing you a great year at school. You sure have a bright future ahead of you.
A film by Evan Curtis debuting online exclusively in the the Cartoon Brew's 2nd Student Animation Festival.
Visit the website of filmmaker Evan Curtis at:
http://www.OreMagiFilms.com To learn more about the production of this film, visit:
cartoonbrew.com/brewtv/serenbe.html
