I’ve been a fan of animation since I was younger. While I've enjoyed a variety of cartoons, I've found myself interested in darker works, such as shows like Courage the Cowardly Dog, which unsettled me but left me wanting more. There was something about these animations that drew me in, and over the years my search lead me to creators like Robert Morgan.
Robert Morgan was raised in Yateley, Hampshire. He developed an interest in film after watching Fiend without a Face (1958), which was shown to him by his uncle on an 8mm projector. While attending The Surrey Institute of Art and Design he began experimenting with manipulating sculptures, which lead to him studying animation (“Robert”). I'm enthralled by Morgan's brilliant use of stop motion, one of my favorite types of animation and a style that I wish would be explore more in film. Morgan finds that stop motion animation is a perfect medium to augment the eeriness in his films, as “[t]he way everything moves has an unnatural, uncanny feeling, a weird jerkiness. Everything is alive and dead at the same time” (Vollenbroek).
Although some of his films are incredibly bizarre by his standards, particularly Overtaken, these short films exhibit a creativity and ingenuity that is lost in many of the mainstream releases today. Overall I greatly enjoy Morgan's works, but there are two in particular that I keep coming back to: The Cat with Hands and The Man in the Lower-Left Corner of the Photograph.
 |
| An absolutely brilliant film. |
The Cat with Hands is a short film I discovered in my teenage years as I began to explore the Goth subculture. While I was looking for media that would make me appear more “Goth” to my peers, what I got as a brilliantly subtle, yet eerie story based on a recurring nightmare Morgan’s sister had during her youth (Duncan). The brilliant use of animation combined with a succinct plot made for a chilling short film. This is a fantastic work of art that has been one of my favorite films for years.
The Man in the Lower-Left Hand Corner of the Photograph is a film I discovered after searching for more of Morgan's work. It tells the story of a lonely old man who sees a picture of himself as younger and happier and tries to recreate that happiness. One of the things I loved about the film was the decaying imagery contrasted by the song playing on the phonograph. This haunting atmosphere left me bracing myself for what would happen next.
It is because of these surreal and haunting films that Robert Morgan is an interesting and extremely talented filmmaker; I would definitely recommend reading this interview for further insights into his thought process. Despite the fact that I consider the aforementioned two my favorites, all of these films are definitely worth a watch; they would certainly make a Halloween horror night interesting.
Also, as is this blog’s tradition, I have prepared a Halloween playlist, which can also be found here. In case YouTube doesn’t load, here is the tracklist:
The Bolshoi - Barrowlands
Chelsea Wolfe - Demons
Blessure Grave - 17 Years of Hell
Cinema Strange - Aboriginal Anemia
Plastique Noir - Fugitive Dawn
Spiritual Bats - Romantic Decadence
Southern Death Cult - The Crypt
Nervous Choir - Alsations
And Also the Trees - Virus Meadow
Bauhaus - The Three Shadows Part II
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Night Shift
Joy Division - Dead Souls
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Red Right Hand
I hope you have a wonderfully decadent Halloween!♥
Sources Cited:
Duncan, Lizzie. "Film Review: The Cat with Hands (Short Film) (2001)". Horror News.Net. 10 March 2016. Web. 26 October 2016. (link)
“Robert Morgan”. Animus Films. N.d. Web. 15 October 2016. (link)
Vollenbroek, Tunde. “The Art of Animating Horror: An Interview with Robert Morgan”. Cartoon Brew. 1 August 2016. Web. 15 October 2016. (link)
No comments :
Post a Comment