Google Doodle

 The dorky modern dancer in me loves this: yesterday the Google Doodle was an animation of Martha Graham's Lamentation to celebrate the modern dance pioneer's 117th birthday.

Recognize the artist? Ryan Woodward - the same artist from my first post about the animated dance, "Thought of You". Yea bringing together creative spirits from all over time and space! Sometimes Google is awesome.

Why Can't We Walk Straight?

"There is a profound inability for humans to walk in a straight line when blindfolded or when there is no fixed point - no sun, no moon, no mountaintop - to guide them."

Interesting. And I like the animation. Reminds me of {L'illusionniste}.



A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

Thought of You

Alright, check this out.

It’s beautiful.

It’s not often I say that about dance. Anyone who has ever sat next to me at a dance concert, listening to my brutal critiques, knows I am not easily impressed.

So when I found this little gem that so intimately captures something raw, I had to know more. I tracked down the film’s website and making-of documentary (which I encourage you to explore).

“Thought of You” was a personal project dreamed up and fulfilled by the obviously talented Ryan Woodward, an animator, designer, and storyboard artist working for the big names in Hollywood – from Disney to Dreamworks – and teaching at his alma mater, BYU. He speaks of his reasons for the project – to “combine several art forms into one exhibition”.

And he clearly does so using music, dance, and animation to tell a story. Abandoning traditional narrative for individual interpretation, Woodward notes “a graceful moving human form can communicate more emotion that any length of dialogue.”  He plays between “academic” and “creative” drawing, letting the story and his aesthetics guide the imagery and style.

To the untrained eye, it’s sometimes hard to discern between quality and sh*t. But to a dancer, every detail matters – the placement of a hand, the sway of the back, the rotation in the hip. It is incredible that Woodward, having no dance training, was able to capture with such precision the subtleties in movement, body placement, and emotions of the dancers sans the use of facial expressions or words. This is dance.

It is a feat in itself to produce good choreography for the stage. When you translate dance for the camera, it’s as if a veil has been placed between the dancers and viewer. Something is lost – that real, raw quality. Thus it’s even harder to capture choreography on film, much less in animation. At 24 frames per second, I can only imagine the absurd attention to detail Woodward had to devote to create this three minute piece. Talk about late nights in the studio…

With nearly 500,000 views on Youtube alone and a busy Film Festival schedule ahead, it is clear that many people are inspired by this film. And needless to say, I am too.

Animation: Ryan Woodward       Music: “World Spins Madly On” by The Weepies