Essay Draft 1: JOANNA QUINN & THE QUAY BROTHERS

I will be writing about the directors Joanna Quinn and the Quay Brothers as I enjoyed Quinn's 2D hand drawn short film "Body Beautiful" but not the stop-motion piece "Street of Crocodiles" by the Quay Brothers.

Body Beautiful was created in the early 90's when women were slowly becoming accepted as director's and respected in high positions in the creative industry. It is not strictly a feminist piece, but it breaks the mold by being a story for women and expressing the voices of women who are even today still widely not catered for in the media. It is written like a slice of life piece in the way it follows a normal woman with body confidence issues who has a normal blue-collar job. The way the characters banter and interact with each other is relatable and quite humorous.

Street of Crocodiles, however is a much more abstract and intensely metaphorical film. The protagonist is a silent puppet who wanders a dark world and becomes tempted by commercialism, only to find that trivial and material things are not as desirable as he once thought.

The style of animation used by Quinn is more relevant to my own work as I prefer 2D animation over CGI and stop-frame. Her work is captivating to watch due to the constant movement of her characters, which are almost like rapid life drawings made into caricatures of real people. She occasionally uses repeated sequences to show the monotony of working in a factory line, then bursts of exaggerated motion to show the excitement of her characters. I like how the colours are not overbearing but still with hints of bright colours such as red that keep the piece fun. Quinn uses many traditional methods from cartoon style to show movement in the film such as rapid lines and overlaying frames. Her characters are all very individual and instantly recognisable which is very important for following a narrative.

I dislike Street of Crocodiles because I find the models creepy and the doll eyes uncanny. The animation is overall quite unsettling and I struggle to enjoy watching things made in this way. The animation itself is well done as the Quay Brothers made inanimate and bizarre objects full of personality and life but to be honest I wish their characters would just stay dead. This film was made in the mid-80's so animation was not very advanced or perfected, but the film is revered for the way in which the brothers express movement and emotion, especially considering that the models themselves have no facial rigging aside from the eyes.

From researching both of these director's I have gained an understanding of the themes behind their work and the historical context they fall in to. I can appreciate the use of animation in both pieces, but I feel more strongly towards Joanna Quinn's work as I am naturally more attracted to 2D animation as well as her use of humour and narrative. In conclusion, I find a director to be more successful if their work is relatable.