Hip Shot: Planet Egg
BRIAN ABELMAN
JUL 19, 2012
JUL 19, 2012
They say: "Tiny puppets made of vegetables and stereo parts make their film debut- live onstage, before your eyes! Witness the spectacle of Planet Egg: crash-landings, cultural misunderstandings, murder, romance, forgiveness and revenge. Performed and filmed live with a full score of Foley. Silent performance/movie. Produced by Ali Skye Bennet."
Brett's Take: Whimsical live-action puppet film! Two guys, one puppet-scape turntable, one camera, one projector screen, one Foley gal. Outer space background. Music. Live creation. Magic: visible strings, unhidden mechanisms, undisguised vegetable props = beauty. Also magic: faceless, speechless characters = articulate emotive expression. |
Lastly also magic: filmed tiny prop reality = 3-D absorbing film. Proof: one & only pre-filmed sequence: flat, unattractive (still whimsical).
(Two guys: Zvi Sahar, Justin Perkins. Foley: Ien Denio. Talent! Craft! Interesting facial hair!)
Protagonist: spark plug-head scaredy-cat spacemonaut. Spaceship. Meteor. Crash landing. Lost. Tiny empty refrigerator. Hungry. Food search. Mysterious planet. Broccoli trees. Potato plants. Spaghetti volcanoes. Inedibles. Inhabitant: radish tentacle native. Inhabitant's friends: cute cuddly mushroom people. ("Shroom! Shroom? Shroom!") Protagonist + inhabitants: "cultural misunderstandings." Consequences.
Slow tranquil pace: wonderment. One hour, brief plot. Delightful cheese. Bittersweetness. What-will-they-do-next. Funny. Clever. Aww. Simple enough?
See it if: Happiness, ingenuity, old-timey-ness.
Skip it if: Edginess, insight, modernity.
(Two guys: Zvi Sahar, Justin Perkins. Foley: Ien Denio. Talent! Craft! Interesting facial hair!)
Protagonist: spark plug-head scaredy-cat spacemonaut. Spaceship. Meteor. Crash landing. Lost. Tiny empty refrigerator. Hungry. Food search. Mysterious planet. Broccoli trees. Potato plants. Spaghetti volcanoes. Inedibles. Inhabitant: radish tentacle native. Inhabitant's friends: cute cuddly mushroom people. ("Shroom! Shroom? Shroom!") Protagonist + inhabitants: "cultural misunderstandings." Consequences.
Slow tranquil pace: wonderment. One hour, brief plot. Delightful cheese. Bittersweetness. What-will-they-do-next. Funny. Clever. Aww. Simple enough?
See it if: Happiness, ingenuity, old-timey-ness.
Skip it if: Edginess, insight, modernity.