BSA126 The Secret of Kells (2009)

The Secret Of Kells

Directed By: Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey.

Produced By: Paul Young, Didier Brunner, Vivian van Fleteren.

Studio: Cartoon Saloon.

Awards: Academy Award Nomination for Best animated feature film.

Boulder International Film Festival 2010 win.

Zagreb World festival of animated films 2009 won special recognition.

Style and Animation Method:

2D animation using lots of celtic motifs. Very flat, with many scenes looking almost as though they were drawn on a page of a book with everything seeming to be all on one plane. Simplistic, geometric design and patterns such as circles and spirals. In regards to characters, characters drawn using simple geometric shapes also with little realistic features. Colours are vibrant and made to look as if done by watercolour. Lots of shading and use of different shades of colours blended together to manipulate how we see the light and to add to the richness of the colours.

Why it appealed to me:

I like the style and design of the animation as it is very different to any I'd seen before. The use of spiral patterns and other celtic design and the creative ways that they are incorporated into the film interested me because I hadn't seen anything done quite like that before and in that detail and the film seems to have created it's own original and distinct style as a result.

I also appreciated the use of colour. It is given a very rustic feel by the use of many shades of greens, browns and blues throughout. I also liked the vibrancy of the colours which added to the sense of wonder that Brendan has himself throughout much of the story. I enjoyed to see the contrast of the vibrant colours against the muted, duller colours that they used during scenes where it was foggy. At these moments the fog made the colours appear muted and covered by a layer of white with even whiter tendrils emerging for the whiteness. This use of colour made us feel the mysterious atmosphere and frightened mood that Brendan felt in the fog.

The drawing style was interesting also, particularly the designs of the vikings and wolves. The wolves are very stylistically designed with particular attention placed on their facial features but without them looking like realistic wolves. On the other hand, the Vikings are just simple shapes like the others but they are entirely black and faceless which I think makes them seem more threatening.

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Image result for the secret of kells design

Comments

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German Expressionism in film came about after WW1, after Germany lost the war. Germany wanted to revitalise the film industry and to create a better impression for the country. The German government subsidised the UFA (Universum-film AG), whose studios were the largest and best equipped in Europe. This became Germans golden age of cinema. German Expressionist film lasted from 1919 to 1933 when Adolf Hitler came into power. Unlike other Western films of that period that focused more so on creating realism, German Expressionism distorts reality to create an emotional effect. Expressionism films employed stylised set design, elaborate costuming, shadowy lighting that emphasises bold contrasts of dark and bright highlights and unnatural make-up. The settings are typically distorted and exaggerated, with key themes being madness, criminality and fracturing of identity. German Expressionism was a huge influence in developing the horror genre. They began to tell the story ...

Nina

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