Press Kit
DANSE MACABRE DIRECTOR: MAŁGORZATA RŻANEK ORIGINAL TITLE: DANSE MACABRE CATEGORY: COMPUTER ANIMATION COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION: POLAND YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 2013 RUNNING TIME: 5
SYNOPSIS A dense, pitch black night. The moon glances balefully. Someone will die tonight. Suddenly the carousel of death moves on and there is nothing to stop it. Joined by a ne thread the skeletons waft up and then fall straight into the clip of the fatal revolver. The bones are patiently assembled and decomposed by a mysterious machine that shues them so precisely that they cannot be told from one another. The skeletons brought back to a deadly dance try their hand one nal time before the Grim Reaper cuts their heads o for good. The animated Danse Macabre is a rhythmic and hypnotizing reection on death, that one day will inevitably ask each of us to dance. NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR Danse macabre is an adaptation of medieval dance of death motif. It is also a very personal attempt of approaching the subject matter of death as an artist. I decided to picture this medieval motif in a new, perverse way. Danse macabre which is a graduation animation I made at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw is a continuation of my previous work Cementery. Both feature the motif of anthropomorphization of the cross something I worked out when I started my studies and which I was certain to keep on developing in the future. stems from my inclination for searching the simplest means of expression that would project the subject matter in a sucient way. I am not afraid of generalization. I believe that the more concise my work is the greater are the chances that the meaning will reach the audience. If we manage to nd the right depiction we may hope that it will appeal to viewers consciousness or unconsciousness. I nd the creativity and the simplicity of thinking crucial. What I especially value about the animation is so called visual game that is based on ambiguity of shapes that we perceive. This thinking was common for the Polish School of Poster, that has been inspiring me for quite a long time now. I admire its pure and lapidary means of expression as well as the irony and innovative approach to the subject. I created following the principle let each shot be a poster. Although Danse macabre is based on death motif it is still quite a humoristic story. I personally tend to use a lot of humour in my work. Danse macabre is characterized by purism that
MAŁGORZATA RŻANEK director/graphic designer/animator Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with a MA degree in 2012. She was granted a degree with honours from the Hieronim Neumann s Studio of Animated Film and Lech Majewski s Studio of Graphic Design. She specializes in animation, eects, short lms, promotional videos, music videos, scenarios and storyboards. ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN WARSAW KRAKOW FILM FOUNDATION The Krakow Film Foundation was set up in 2003 with the goal of insuring the stable development of the Krakow Film Festival. In 2007 it expanded through the creation of a lm promotion agency, which helps lmmakers and producers make their rst appearances at international festivals. The agency runs three main programs: POLISH DOCS, POLISH SHORTS and POLISH ANIMATIONS. Making nearly 1000 festival screenings annually, the agency successfully facilitates spreading the word about contemporary, Polish documentary and short cinema. (Polish: Akademia Sztuk Pieknych w Warszawie) is a public university of visual and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The Academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in 1812. As a separate institution it was founded in 1844 during the Partitions of Poland. In an upgrade in 1904 it was named the Warsaw School of Fine Arts; and in 1932 it received recognition as an Academy.
CREDITS WRITER/DIRECTOR/ANIMATOR: MENTOR: Hieronim Neumann Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie MUSIC: Magda Grabowska MUSIC: (piano) Aleksander Debicz, (flute) Ela Drozdowska, (horn) Dominik Kosyrczyk, (clarinet) Jerzy Matysiak, (oboe) Dominika Paszkowska, (faboe) Cezary Remisz SOUND DIRECTOR: Paweł Janułajtys RECORD DIRECTOR: Marcin Wolniewicz CONTACTS ul. Joliot Curie 16A/29 02-646, Warsaw, Poland tel. (+48 22) 509 931 916 e-mail: goch55@o2.pl Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw ul. Krakowskie Przedmiescie 5, 00-068 Warsaw, Poland tel. (+48 22) 320 02 63 fax. (+48 22) 826 75 47 e-mail: graka@asp.waw.pl tel. (22) 320 02 00 fax. (22) 320 02 14 e-mail: rektorat@asp.waw.pl http://www.asp.waw.pl/ Krakow Film Foundation ul. Basztowa 15/8a 31-143 Krakow, Poland tel./fax: +48 12 294 69 45 zoa@k.com.pl info@k.com.pl www.k.com.pl http://polishshorts.pl/en/lm_catalogue/animation/1214/