Let’s face it: modern life is just too convenient. There was a time when we had to at least make an effort when we got hungry, but no more. That’s why Bristol, U.K.-based Aardman Animations, turned their 3D animation talents towards getting England healthy again.
Directed by Aardman director Steve Harding Hill, Change4Life (www.change4life.com) uses whimsical, stop-motion style animation of both the 2D and 3D variety to urge Britons of all ages and sizes to “eat better, move more, and live longer.”
Opening with two brightly colored, plasticine-like people against a simple 2D backdrop, a laidback sounding voiceover begins: “Once upon a time, life was pretty simple…” One of the characters hits a tree with a club and catches a falling apple, while another chases a wooly mammoth, and still another clubs a dinosaur into submission. As life becomes more modern, however, such active food gathering is replaced by comfy cars, more comfy buses, video games and fast food. Suddenly the characters realize the children are gathering more and more fat into their systems. A visual aid reveals how this can lead to “heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and many could have their lives cut short.” Shocked, our characters rush to a park to eat better, move more, and live longer. The message could not be more clear, but it is funny and engaging to watch.
“We were committed to this very straightforward, simple approach,” said Hill. “Initially, we thought that approach would be best served through strictly 2D animation, but came to believe that the characters could be made more tactile and organic. We wanted things to be stop motion-like, not too slick and stylized. We ended up making photocopies of our drawings, sticking them to polyboard, and shooting them with still cameras. Our backgrounds were created like theater sets, flat and layered up. The black lines were crucial to the overall graphic sensibility and also made it possible for us to do some 2D animation and mix things up a bit.”
Creatives for M&C Saatchi, London, were James Lowther and Bill Gallagher.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More