Surreal Animation

'Jan Svankmajer s a Czech surrealist artist. His work spans several media. He is known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Quay and many others. Svankmajer has gained a reputation over several decades for his distinctive use of stop-motion technique, and his ability to make surreal, nightmarish and yet somehow funny pictures. He is still making films in Prague at the time of writing. Švankmajer's trademarks include very exaggerated sounds, often creating a very strange effect in all eating scenes. He often uses very sped-up sequences when people walk and interact. His movies often involve inanimate objects coming alive and being brought to life through stop-motion. Food is a favourite subject and medium. Stop-motion features in most of his work, though his feature films also include live action to varying degrees. A lot of his movies, like the short film Down to the Cellar, are made from a child's perspective, while at the same time often having a truly disturbing and even aggressive nature. In 1972 the communist authorities banned him from making films, and many of his later films were banned. He was almost unknown in the West until the early 1980s.'

Jan Svankmajer (Meat Love 1989)

Dimensions of Dialogue Part 2 (1982)

I find Jan Svankmajer's work to be very disturbing and creepy, i find it difficult to watch as it freaks me out so much. Everything is so surreal and unusual that it is bizarre to make sense of what is going on. I feel that the surreal aspect of Svankmajer's animation is something that will inspire my work but i don't want to make it so uncomfortable to watch. I'm sure that not everyone feels the same way as i do about his work but i would not enjoy working on an animation that would make me feel on edge before even showing my audience. As i said i will take some of the aspects from these animations into consideration but not so much the aesthetics.

Brothers Quay

What makes this animations stand out is the use of objects we know and recognise but their characteristics and movements we are unsure of. They create scenes where inanimate objects are portraying human characteristics and the audience may feel on edge and overwhelmed with questions that cannot be answered. I want to create a scene of unfamiliarity but nothing that is uncomfortable to watch.