The Illusionist

I had heard that the animation 'The Illusionist', was meant to be quite good, and with it being a silent animation I was quite intrigued to see what it was like. Silent movies are really a thing of the past now, there is no need for them you could say as we have sound, sound part of our senses so we must use it. However with a silent movie, and 'The Illusionist' in particular, it lets you concentrate on surrounding things you might not notice - the design, colours, drawing style. It's a breath of fresh air from all the action movies that you see now a days. It's the simplicity of it that makes it.

You have to pay attention to get into film but with this you are therefore more involved, more in-tune with the emotions of the characters. You see each character develop through their expressions and movements. This is crucial as without sound, how else can you know? There are only a few words spoken throughout the film, the rest is helped along by music. Music always plays a bit part in any film, game or animation for that fact, yet it becomes more noticeable when there are no spoken words. Music is another way of telling the viewer how they should feel, what emotions should be evoked. When you watch this animation, you know the music is there, yet it blends in with the style and the whole theme. It's not something separate but more of an extension of the film itself.

I really liked the style of this piece, going back to the roots of traditional animation, where it all began. To me it is an art form and you don't see enough of it these days. If this was a CGI animation, it may not have worked as well. It might loose the delicate feel and even though CGI can make it more realistic I don't think it would have suited. It's like turning a Disney classic in CGI, you just can't imagine it. If you like animation then I would thoroughly suggest this. It opens your eyes to something different and shows that it can be accomplished. Digital technology is great, however sometimes going back to where things started can be even better.