The Persistence of Animation

Animating shifts in consciousness: live action and animation in Jan Švankmajer’s Faust and Alice

Abstract: If it is animation’s frequent job to express the metaphysical, and to transform reality, it follows that where animation is combined with live action, it affects and transforms the reality of the live action. The proposed paper draws on psychoanalytic film theory to probe the interaction between the two media in the work of Jan Švankmajer. Focusing on two of his feature films, I will home in on points of transition between live action and animation, setting these against comparable shifts in more mainstream films.

Biographical Statement: Meg Rickards is a lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Cape Town, and a writer-director. She has published articles on anime directors Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon, and her PhD thesis investigates ways whereby filmmakers and animators can convey a character’s thoughts and emotions on the screen. Her co-written screenplay for an animated feature, Zinzi and the Boondogle, is in development, and in 2008 she was commissioned to write animation scripts for a UNICEF campaign in southern Africa. In 2007 she wrote and directed the mini-series and tele-feature Land of Thirst for the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 9:53 pm and is filed under Czech animation, Live action and animation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.