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Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Negative Space (2017)


I really loved this movie, and it is my choice to win the Academy Award in the Best Short Animated category.  And I would say that there are some aspects of a love letter to a departed parent in this, so as we circle between my anniversary and Valentine's Day, this seems to fit within that them, of loving, and losing, and remembering.
The animation is spectacular stop motion.  I would recommend watching the trailer about the making of the movie, which while twise as long as the movie itself, gives a real sense of the creative process that goes into making something like this. 
And then there is the inspiration for it all.
The poem it is based on is by Ron Koertge:

My dad taught me to pack: lay out everything. Put back half. Roll things
that roll. Wrinkle-prone things on top of cotton things. Then pants, waist-
to-hem. Nooks and crannies for socks. Belts around the sides like snakes.
Plastic over that. Add shoes. Wear heavy stuff on the plane.
      We started when I was little. I’d roll up socks. Then he’d pretend to put me
in the suitcase, and we’d laugh. Some guys bond with their dads shooting
hoops or talking about Chevrolets. We did it over luggage.
      By the time I was twelve, if he was busy, I’d pack for him. Mom tried
but didn’t have the knack. He’d get somewhere, open his suitcase and text
me—”Perfect.” That one word from him meant a lot.
      The funeral was terrible—him laid out in that big carton and me crying
and thinking, Look at all that wasted space.

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