At the start, we had to come up with a story.
Just how painful could that be? I would say that this was
our most diffucult decision. We spent countless hours drawing,
brainstorming, writing, and especially arguing. After about
a month, we had collected numorous stories to choose from.
So we began to weed them out. We didn't want to do anything
too strange or too trite. The three of us agreed we wanted
to create something close to an indy flick feel. After much
deliberation, we came to a final decision on our story [with
the help of Maria Palazzi].
What
type of story did we choose to dedicate a large amount of
time? It turned out to be "Gladden". "Gladden"
is our codename/working title at the moment for our animation
project. And it's a sad but humorous little short story.
I
must mention that this story in the beginning was a combination
between an excerpt from a classic text called the "Boxman"
by Kobo Abe and some personal thoughts of my own [Ian Butterfield].
In Abe's book there is a subculture of people who live in
cardboard boxes. They live separate from culture and don't
have to worry about who or what they are. It really hit a
nerve with me; especially some of the shocking narratives
of the "Boxman". Some parts of the "Gladden"
story glare back at this source. This animation isn't a part
of Kobo Abe's book.. But was inspired by it.
For
me, the story started as a commentary on all the images that
bombard each one of us daily. How these images shape us, turn
us into things, or hurt us. More importantly, for most of
us, there isn't a way to live the perfection that is shown
in media. More to the point, the story is about how there
is always a need to change, correct, or redefine ourselves.
Who hasn't felt this?
So
our character Gladden is very unhappy with himself. He has
an idea on how to redefine who he is. He decides to place
pictures from magazines all over his body. These images are
of other men who Gladden feels are ideal. With the help of
these "ideal men", Gladden plans to hide the man
he is. And to recreate himself in a new more acceptable image.
Soon after, Gladden is visited by his friend "Lenny".
This encounter, where Gladden hides from Lenny, shocks him
back to reality. Afterward Gladden is faced with making a
decision on who he is and what is he going to become.
For more information: http://accad.osu.edu/~ibutterf/group/
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