Serena Epstein » Film

De Vilde Svaner

Serena — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:45:24 +0000

I’m always on the lookout for new adaptations of lesser-known fairy tales, and just over a month ago I was lucky enough to find one practically on my doorstep, at the National Gallery of Art.¹ De Vilde Svaner (The Wild Swans) is one of Hans Christian Andersen’s most beautiful stories,² and I had high expectations. The more I read about this production, an hour-long Danish film with art design created by–no joke–Queen Margrethe II of Denmark,³ the more apprehensive I became. A film with découpage backdrops and actors greenscreened in? I just wasn’t convinced that they’d be able to pull it off.

And oh boy, was I wrong! I spent that hour in the National Gallery watching one of the most artistic, imaginative films I’d ever seen. The integration of two-dimensional art with live actors was seamless, and the movie somehow bridged that gap between the limitless world of storybook illustration and the realism of live-action cinema. As the actors wandered through the extraordinary, ornate sets, I had to remind myself that it was all just made of magazines, cut out and glued in place. I had the surreal feeling of experiencing the story both on paper and on the screen.

Take a look at two of the sets:

Unfortunately, the DVD isn’t available in the US, so the only way you can see what I’m raving about is by watching the (very beautiful) trailer:

And in case you’re not already thinking of running away to Denmark to catch a screening of this film, here are even more gorgeous images:

I wish the National Gallery were actually on my doorstep. That would be fantastic.
Read it here!
The crown prince and princess, who happened to be in town, were there to introduce the film. Only in DC, right?

No Lions in the Scottish Highlands

Serena — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:37:15 +0000

I finally got around to uploading part of the film I worked on last year for my independent study. This is just a 4-minute clip, but it will have to do for now. If you read my earlier post about storyboarding with photographs, you’ll probably recognize the second scene.¹

The songs used are, in order: “7 pm” and “La Vie Quotidienne” by Yann Tiersen

Animated Bluebeard

Serena — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:31:21 +0000

I briefly linked to two animated versions of Bluebeard in my last post, but they’re both so interesting that I wanted to do them justice. The first, “Blue Beard’s Last Wife” (“La Dernière femme de barbe bleue”), blends the Bluebeard legend with ancient Greek mythology in an unexpected (and humorous) way.¹ The second, “A Very Blue Beard” (“Ochen sinyaya boroda”) is a Russian musical short about a detective investigating Bluebeard’s crimes… with a surprising twist! So take a break, put your feet up, and watch a couple of really neat shorts!

Blue Beard’s Last Wife:

–

A Very Blue Beard:

It is also unmistakably French. You know what I mean.

storyboarding experiment

Serena — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:17:52 +0000

In addition to the more traditional storyboards, I thought I’d try a photographic approach for a couple of early scenes in my new film. (With the help of my lovely assistant Em, of course.)

–

EXT. ALLEY

Alley in town, angled light. GIRL enters, looking around sadly at the ground, searching.

Passes a HOMELESS GUY,

who is tracing/drawing the outline of a shoe on the ground with a piece of chalk over and over, around and around, while staring at nothing.

EXT. TOWN SQUARE

GIRL enters a square, crosses it, sits down.

SHE peels a clementine, the peel spiraling in one piece.

SHE looks at a closed door nearby.

Looks down.

Stands and slowly makes her way over to the door. Knocks.