{"id":26047,"date":"2016-06-22T11:20:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T11:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/?p=26047"},"modified":"2016-07-16T10:40:58","modified_gmt":"2016-07-16T10:40:58","slug":"jan-svankmajer-qa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/jan-svankmajer-qa\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan \u0160vankmajer answers Skwigly readers&#8217; questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26053\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/jan-svankmajer\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26053\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26053\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/insectscover.jpg\" alt=\"The title photo of Jan \u0160vankmajer's Indiegogo campaign for his last feature film, Insects (\u00a9Athanor)\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-26053\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The title photo of Jan \u0160vankmajer&#8217;s Indiegogo campaign for his last feature film, <em>Insects<\/em> (\u00a9Athanor)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em><strong>Following the successful launch of celebrated Czech animation filmmaker Jan \u0160vankmajer\u2019s proposed \u201clast film\u201d <\/strong><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/insectsmovie.com\/\"><strong>Insects<\/strong><\/a><em><strong> , the film has already amassed over 130% of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/projects\/the-last-film-by-jan-svankmajer-insects--4#\/\">initial target<\/a>, with a hopeful stretch goal in place that would guarantee the film&#8217;s production budget via crowdfunding alone. As part of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/jan-svankmajer\/\">recent interview<\/a> discussing his work and latest endeavours, Skwigly were thrilled to give our readers the opportunity to grill Jan \u0160vankmajer themselves! Read on to see his responses:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skwigly\">@skwigly<\/a> describe how you involve your human actors in the animation process<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fiona Dalwood (@fidalwood) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fidalwood\/status\/733576870868836354\">May 20, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nCombining animation and live action together always proves to be a problem. The animation doesn\u2019t have blurred frames, which is why animated motion has a different character then live motion. Therefore I always seek to make cuts in mid-movement when I\u2019m cutting from live to animated shots (and vice versa). I start the motion in animation and finish it by moving the camera. As for the whole sequences I use lowered frame rate (e.g. 16fps) or I animate the actors.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\"><p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skwigly\">@skwigly<\/a> Who is animating today that you think we should be watching?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Keith Bloomfield (@hardluck_hotel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hardluck_hotel\/status\/733621130989293568\">May 20, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I have to admit that I don\u2019t follow the animation community very much. I regard the animated film as just one of the means of expression. Poetry is singular no matter the way we choose to take hold of it. So forgive me, but amongst the people whose work I follow are a very few animators<strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0Specifically: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/bfp15-retrospectives\/\">Brothers Quay<\/a> and David Lynch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_26054\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/svankmajer_litografie_02_10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26054\" class=\" wp-image-26054\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/svankmajer_litografie_02_10-620x620.jpg\" alt=\"Jan \u0160vankmajer working on one of the unique lithographies that will be available as rewards in the ongoing Indiegogo campaign for his final film. (\u00a9 Luk\u00e1\u0161 Bucman)\" width=\"550\" height=\"550\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-26054\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan \u0160vankmajer working on one of the unique lithographies that will be available as rewards in the ongoing Indiegogo campaign for his final film. (\u00a9Luk\u00e1\u0161 Bucman)<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skwigly\">@skwigly<\/a> When you are such a prolific filmmaker how do you remain creatively satisfied on every project?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rhiannon Evans (@Re_Anon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Re_Anon\/status\/733611965545844736\">May 20, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAccording to Freud, any process of artmaking is a sublimation of libido. Hence it brings appeasement to its creator. So if you have functional libido it\u2019s not even possible for the creation not to satisfy you.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\"><p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skwigly\">@skwigly<\/a> Which 1 of your short and feature films would you take to a desert island?Then I&#8217;d tell him his Alice is the best version on film.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rhys Howell (@Ghop56) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ghop56\/status\/733582532726296578\">May 20, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Probably none, because it would be a big problem to screen it there. Nevertheless I consider <em>Conspirators of Pleasure<\/em> to be my most authentic film, <em>To The Basement<\/em> the most autobiographical one and <em>Lunacy<\/em> is probably the most philosophical piece.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_26048\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Svankmajer_Lunacy_2005.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26048\" class=\" wp-image-26048\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Svankmajer_Lunacy_2005-620x415.jpg\" alt=\"From the making of Jan \u0160vankmajer's film Lunacy, 2005\" width=\"550\" height=\"368\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-26048\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From the making of Jan \u0160vankmajer&#8217;s film <em>Lunacy<\/em> (\u00a92005 Kazumi Terazaki)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s it like animating fresh meat &#8220;puppets&#8221; (like tongues, for example) &#8211; do you have to animate them quickly or do you prepare the set\/prop so that they last the shoot? And what technique do you use to animate them, do you just manipulate the meat a certain way or do you build an &#8220;armature&#8221; for them? Are there any materials or methods left that you would still like to animate?<br \/>\n<em>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/miketharme\">Michael Tharme<\/a><\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The meat is animated partly by hanging it on nylon<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>threads, partly by sticking aluminium wires into it. For my work the topic itself is pivotal, not the technique nor the material. I don\u2019t begin to work on a film by asking myself: What haven\u2019t I animated yet?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skwigly\">@skwigly<\/a> &#8216;Did you eat the steaks afterwards?&#8217; \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Emma Reynolds (@EmmaIllustrate) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EmmaIllustrate\/status\/733581434556841984\">May 20, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nAfter a working day the meat we animate goes gray under the lamps and begins to reek. Therefore when we use flesh or tongues in our shooting, we require an allied butcher who must provide us with fresh goods every day. So no, I didn\u2019t eat it. My dogs did though.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\"><p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/skwigly\">@skwigly<\/a> is there still a place for surrealism in contemporary art?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sean Vicary (@SeanVicary) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanVicary\/status\/733674888796471296\">May 20, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There certainly isn\u2019t, because surrealism is not a form of art. Surrealism is a specific revolutionary view on life and the world itself. There is no canon of surrealistic esthetics. Surrealism is a path.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Your violence often seems gastronomical; aggressor and victim seem to relate to one another almost like ingredients in a cooking show (eg. the deaths in <em>Virile Games<\/em>). Do you purposefully aim to give human suffering an &#8216;edible&#8217; characteristic?<br \/>\n<em>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/nfb-hothouse-10-focus-alex-boya\/\">Alex Boya<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As Dal\u00ed once wrote: \u201cBeauty should be edible, or not at all.\u201d We could incorporate violence into this statement: \u201cViolence should be edible, or not<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>at all.\u201d I\u2019d like to point out that I\u2019m always concerned with the negation of a negation, and that\u2019s not negativity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/jan-svankmajer\/\">recent interview with Jan \u0160vankmajer<\/a> on his latest project <\/strong><\/em><strong>Insects<\/strong><em><strong>, which will be accepting donations until July 5th. To learn more about the projects and the variety of exclusive perks available to funders visit <a href=\"http:\/\/insectsmovie.com\">insectsmovie.com<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the successful launch of celebrated Czech animation filmmaker Jan \u0160vankmajer\u2019s proposed \u201clast film\u201d Insects , the film has already amassed over 130% of its initial target, with a hopeful stretch goal in place that would guarantee the film&#8217;s production budget via crowdfunding alone. As part of our recent interview discussing his work and latest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,4094,755],"tags":[2727,4278,4275,4086,4085,4274,3678,4277,4276],"class_list":["post-26047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-independent-animation","category-interviews","tag-alex-boya","tag-alice","tag-conspirators-of-pleasure","tag-insects","tag-jan-svankmajer","tag-lunacy","tag-rhiannon-evans","tag-to-the-basement","tag-virile-games"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jan \u0160vankmajer answers Skwigly readers&#039; 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