Sans is my first year group project film created at the UCA, Farnham using traditional 2D animation and post production effects.

 

 

 

Synopsis

An abstract animation based on the prose 'Lessness' by Samuel Beckett.

This was a group project with my fellow classmates Mark Fuell, Cem Hizli and Oliver Jones. We split the animation between the four of us (see my sections in the Sans Film Screenshots page of the Gallery) and also took on other roles to split the work. Mark and I worked on the editing and effects of the animation visuals and I also created the diegetic sound work and sound editing.

 

Treatment

As a group we wanted to express our own personal interpretations of Samuel Beckett’s prose through our own compilation of metaphorically based images. However making the animation accessible to any audience we focused on a minimal structure and the use of striking visual stimuli. Emphasizing the anti-narrative form as a group we wanted to reflect the non-linear structure as much as possible and by rein acting Beckett’s own method to structure the prose we could highlight an almost Arthouse technique. ‘Lessness’ gives an imminent feeling of dread and distress, yet there is an almost idealism of the desolate environment. Acting on the struggle of loneliness and lacking substance it represents the irritancy of never quite reaching an end and the build up of frustration that it takes trying to get there. This is played upon using repetition to convey a constant nagging presence and the idea of the drawn out existence of life expresses an ambiguous state of mind.

As a group we saw ‘Lessness’ as an animation that could play on the common conceptions of intense representation and using strong iconography in actions such as the cursing of God and blood seeping from the wall and dripping down the hand we indicate the extreme mental state that the prose portrays. The constant reiteration of the isolated surroundings conflict with the flashing psychological memories and gradually they grow more and more grotesque. Boxed imagery and descriptions of being swallowed reinstate the feelings of being trapped whether in existence or statement of being unknown.

As the animation drives on the annoyance, pressure crescendos to the severe blur of images recurring over and over to the point of climax. Here the abstracted impressions begin to die down only for the statement to suggest the loop to begin all over again like a fluctuating rollercoaster ride.

The idea of the animation of ‘Lessness’, or ‘Sans’, is although incredibly descriptive and the result has been extremely complex. We found that from all the mix of sound, visuals and editing techniques the animation works so that the more you watch it, the more is revealed. Alike the prose, the expression of patience and time works on many levels and works as though it needs time to be appreciated to its full potential.