Eclect Elect

Growing up with a visual diet of stop-motion animation has ceaselessly endeared it to me for its beguiling, dark charm. A regular fixture of my televisual intake, from the synonymous Ray Harryhausen to the pure magic of Czech Animation, stop-motion captured my head and my heart from a very early age. Czech surrealist filmmaker, Jan Švankmajer, is, of course, still propagating his auteurism within this cinematic field, but reaching a new generation with his mastery of the craft, largely via the internet, is the UK’s very own David Firth; animator, musician, video artist, and he of Salad Fingers fame.

Notoriously time consuming, stop-motion has been less of a viable filmmaking option for Firth, but today, reader, we’re going to have a mini retrospective of mannequin-based animations from this particular realm of artistry, beginning with Firth’s own Crooked Rot, and, as inspiration does beget inspiration, Adam Rosenberg’s tributary Manny.

And so I present to you, with music composed by Marcus Fjellström, Crooked Rot…but not before some introductory words on the film by Firth himself:

This project really began when I discovered a treasure cave of strange items in my own back yard including mannequin heads and rubber hands. It inspired me so much that every time I returned I gathered more inspiration.

And now for Adam Rosenberg’s heavily-influenced yet sufficiently self-stamped Crooked Rot homage, Manny:

And here are some links should you wish to further investigate the talents involved:

http://www.fat-pie.com/ for David Firth

http://kafkagarden.com/ for Marcus Fjellström

http://www.youtube.com/user/Moose13088x for Adam Rosenberg

Tagged: adam rosenberg, czech animation, david firth, experimentalism, jan svankmajer, ray harryhausen, stop-motion