Wioletta Sowa – "Refreny" (2008)

By: Juan Camilo González

REVISION: I first thought the the film was just the second video and even thought I found it nice technically, was not very impressed with it as a whole. But I found that I was missing the first 10 minutes and I have to change my mind completely about this film. I am very impressed specially by the first 2 minutes that beautifully introduce the pace and mood of the film, the whispers and tranquil sound paired with the slow animation, is something that I don’t usually see in animated films and in this case I found very powerful. I appreciate the sensibility of the filmmaker for taking the time to introduce the calmness required to appreciate the nostalgic theme expressed by the film.

Post before finding out that I was missing the first part… I found this because Jerzy Kucia appears as “artistic director”. The music makes me uncomfortable, in my opinion the sweetness of it takes away from the simplicity of the story and beauty of the technique. But I found it very appealing when I saw it again and muted the sound. In a very simple way, this piece uses the soft edges and kind of blurry look, to reflect the nostalgic story. I will continue posting examples of hand drawn animations and see possibilities of building meaning into the way drawings are rendered. Very simple concept but worth examining in detail to study cases in which the technique speaks in the different levels of meaning that a film can have and not just the mere surface. In other words, explore when the drawing is not only beautiful, but has embedded meaning in its formal characteristics.

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