This is one of my favorite Joanna Priestley shorts, the other two being Dew Line and The Rubber Stamp Film--both of which are distinctly missing from the IMDb... but anyway...
This is the only one of hers I know of thus far that has a plot, and I find her certain way of expression works well with it. It's a folk tale about a coyote dancing with the bulrushes. It's really a sweet tale, but the animation is what makes it really interesting.
It's animated using sand on black glass. I couldn't tell what it was without looking it up and it looked very interesting and fantastic (as in, fantasy-based). It worked well with the story and I felt like I was experiencing something from a distinct culture (which I was, but I mean as if Joanna herself was a part of that culture).
I find the story interesting in a different way than it's--probably--original intentions. A major component of the story is the personification of the bulrushes, but it's experienced from the personified mind of a coyote, which is interesting since a large part of the story involves the bulrushes NOT being human, but we have to accept humanness and sympathy from the eyes of the coyote... Tricky and illusive approach, humorously fitting the idea of the coyote as the infamous trickster hero.
This is the kind of thing I'd like to show people if they were interested, but makes me depressed because not that many people really do seem interested. I hope there'll be more opportunity for it to be found by others. It's on a DVD compilation called "Fighting Gravity", which I would hope that others are interested in picking up.
--PolarisDiB
This is the only one of hers I know of thus far that has a plot, and I find her certain way of expression works well with it. It's a folk tale about a coyote dancing with the bulrushes. It's really a sweet tale, but the animation is what makes it really interesting.
It's animated using sand on black glass. I couldn't tell what it was without looking it up and it looked very interesting and fantastic (as in, fantasy-based). It worked well with the story and I felt like I was experiencing something from a distinct culture (which I was, but I mean as if Joanna herself was a part of that culture).
I find the story interesting in a different way than it's--probably--original intentions. A major component of the story is the personification of the bulrushes, but it's experienced from the personified mind of a coyote, which is interesting since a large part of the story involves the bulrushes NOT being human, but we have to accept humanness and sympathy from the eyes of the coyote... Tricky and illusive approach, humorously fitting the idea of the coyote as the infamous trickster hero.
This is the kind of thing I'd like to show people if they were interested, but makes me depressed because not that many people really do seem interested. I hope there'll be more opportunity for it to be found by others. It's on a DVD compilation called "Fighting Gravity", which I would hope that others are interested in picking up.
--PolarisDiB
