Jan Švankmajer - Lunch (Food 1992).

Jan Svankmajer is a Czech is a filmmaker and artist who's body of work spans over a variety of media. One of his short films he made in 1992 called 'Food' is an example of a stop-motion animation using claymation and pixilation. Which is inspiration for my own animated outcome. I am going to focus more one the section titled 'Lunch' and the effects he used in order to create such an impressive piece of animation. This section of the film depicts two gentlemen sitting down to eat in a restaurant. It follows with a compilation of each man eating anything and everything around them, from the flowers to their shoes, the plates, even the table. It is meant to represent mans relationship with food and the routines we go through. Below you will find this particular animation;

I have taken much inspiration from this short film and the way Svankmajer uses a mixture of claymation and pixilation to get the correct effect. You are able to see the clay parts more when the characters attempt to eat much larger objects which is interesting and effective in my opinion. As it gives the film character and a much more playful appeal. You begin to understand the purpose of the animation more and what Svankmajer was trying to convey. From first analysis it comes across as a visual take on greed and how food can be a source for peoples need for consumption, and how many struggle to be satisfied. Or how there is a constant need to be competing with the people around you, as the further on the animation went on I noticed each individual would either copy the other or try something else to look better. A simple yet unique way of representing peoples self-destruction when it comes to social rituals and conditioning.

In addition, I like the way the characters are opposite one another and stay in that position for the majority of the film. It makes watching the film less complicated to put together and understand for the viewer. We are able to focus on the actions the characters are doing more,rather than the environment, which is also important for any film. However for a short film it is best you get across your focus in a much more broken down and simpler way. Animations with a specific purpose count on the actions and reactions of their characters in order for the work to be understood in some way.

What I will take from this animation is Svankmajer's ability to exaggerate the clay and makes the faces look stretched. With claymation (especially with faces) the more abstract you can make it and allow yourself to exaggerate the features, the more interesting and captivating the overall outcome will be. Therefore, the focus on identity (more specifically masculinity and femininity) will be a fun and fascinating approach to claymation.