The exploits of a roving band of Uncle Sams.
Ray Kosarin produces and directs animation for film and television, both U.S. and international coproductions. In Europe, he has worked extensively with Svensk Filmindustri, based in Stockholm and Paris, as supervising director of the series THE WORLD OF TOSH;, head director of the Nickelodeon/Fox series THE THREE FRIENDS AND JERRY; and supervising producer of DA MOB for Fox/SKY. For MTV Networks in the United States, he has worked as supervising director of the hit series DARIA, directed many episodes of the television series BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD, and directed extensive sequences in the Paramount feature film BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA. He has also directed animation for prime-time television specials, including the HBO musical IRA SLEEPS OVER, winner of the ACE Award for Best Animated Program.
Ray Kosarin formed Kosarin Productions, Inc. in 1998, to meet the growing demand for his work from the international television market, and to facilitate working relationships with independent producers and animation artists in Europe for specialized projects. Since 1991 he has served on the ASIFA-East executive board.
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What inspired you to make this piece?
I drew the storyboard for UNCLE in 2003, just as the United States was beginning war with Iraq. For a long, dark period after the attacks of September 11, America seemed trapped in an intimidated silence. Not Congress and, more frighteningly, precious little news media dared ask the most fundamental, common-sense questions that desperately needed asking about the very radical actions Washington was taking -- from stripping ordinary citizens of basic constitutional rights to waging an unjust, unprovoked war. Multiplying the horror for me was the sense that these actions were being perpetrated with a recklessness that belonged to low comedy -- while the consequences were not funny, but deeply tragic. I hated this perverse mix of feelings and was heartsick at what had become of my country, yet felt certain that despite the silence, there were others who did too. I made UNCLE to reach out to them and say: "You are not crazy, and you are not alone."
Briefly tell us how you made your film or video: what camera and format did you use to shoot your piece, and what system did you use to edit it? What is your working process? Did you use any special techniques to make this work?
I made UNCLE using traditional drawn animation on paper, with hand-painted backgrounds. In place of the animation camera, we used compositing software to capture the artwork and add color to the characters, then output the completed images to 35 mm film. The working method for this film grew naturally from the music track, Sousa's "Washington Post." Starting with the storyboard, I built the film in close tandem with the score, matching its narrative structure to Sousa's AABBCCC scheme, and choreographing the timing of individual actions and cuts so that the musical phrases reinforced and informed the visuals.
Do you have any interesting behind-the-scenes stories about the making of this particular work?
I worked with several other animators, with the bulk of the animation by Paul Sparagano, Eileen Claffy, Doug Compton, and myself. It felt important that the film maintain unity, and especially drive, from start to end. To preserve the consistency and momentum of everyone's work, I made layout drawings of the key actions and gestures for each shot, with detailed timing sheets specifying by the frame how each action should fit the music. With more conventional storytelling, it's usually better that the animator, like a good actor, have more freedom to shape each character's performance (it's much more satisfying for the animator as well!), but the nature of this particular project made the animators' task less like actors' than like that of a corps de ballet. Even so, a good animator's work, like a jazz musician's, cannot help bear his or her signature in its nuances. Doug's animation balances a natural grace and elegance with an understated mischief -- everything he did struck just the right ironic note, without a hint of indulgence. Eileen's animation takes obvious delight in slapstick -- she was a natural fit for the execution shots, perfectly balancing their inherent grisliness with a strong infusion of broad comedy.
The background paintings were by Beatriz Ramos, who, on seeing the storyboard, talked me into using acrylics rather than the watercolor style I had first imagined, and she was absolutely right. Her paintings, with their candy-colored, saturated palette and frenetic brushstrokes, evoke an almost subversive mood of hysteria that could not have been a better match for the film.
What is the relationship between your work as a video/filmmaker and life in the New York metropolitan area?
New York is -- for better or worse -- probably the most stimulating place I know. Just about every kind of person, culture, art form, or food can be found here, and the constant collision of everybody and everything can't help but inspire anyone lucky enough, or crazy enough, to live here.
What films/videos and makers have inspired you or influenced your work? And why?
Almost any good, honest film or work of art -- visual, performing, literary, or otherwise -- teaches and inspires me; and there is no artist's name I can mention without neglecting scores of others. I do believe that each project, if you're awake, will steer you to its own set of influences -- certainly other works, also direct observation or personal experience -- according to its nature and to what you wish to say. My favorite animators include John Hubley, Jiri Trnka, Yuri Norstein, and Jan Svankmaier, but UNCLE probably owes a greater debt to "Schoolhouse Rock," Chuck Jones's Warner Brothers cartoons, and, not least, choreographer George Balanchine, whose work was a direct inspiration for sections of the film.
If viewers are interested in obtaining copies of your work for rental or purchase, whom should they contact and at what address and phone number?
UNCLE is available in both 35mm and video versions. Anyone wishing to own, license or exhibit UNCLE should contact Kosarin Productions, Inc., 437 Bay Ridge Ave., Ste. 3R, Brooklyn, NY 11220, telephone +1 718 921 1717, fax +1 921 0013, e-mail:
kosarinprodsinc@aol.com.
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