Saturday 3 October 2009

Harpya

Raoul Servais is a Belgian artist and animator who in 1963 founded Europe's first animation school at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. His 1979 film Harpya is a genuinely creepy tale of a man who rescues a woman from an assailant in the street, before realising she is half bird - a harpy. It earned Servais a Palme d'Or, but also (perhaps understandable but not necessarily founded) accusations of misogyny. Harpya was filmed using innovative techniques, with actors filmed in 35mm against black velvet backgrounds, then the scenery added:

"Harpya was my first attempt to combine live action images with animation. The live actors had to be incorporated in graphical backgrounds, for which I had to invent my own technique at the time. The result was rather satisfying but very time consuming, because it really was limited to a one person's job. I guess Harpya will remain the only film ever made in this technique." - Raoul Servais, from his website

Watch it here.

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