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Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: yu-huang on December 09, 2005, 06:25:37 pm

Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: yu-huang on December 09, 2005, 06:25:37 pm
You might be unaware of http://fat-pie.com.

It's the showcase for Flash animtions by one David Firth, who happens to have a terrific grip on matters most unsettling. He's a younger angrier David Lynch, and if you excuse the occasional slips into cheap schlock horror, you might find plenty to enjoy there. His command of the media is remarkable (even more so because he turns budget deficits into aesthetic solutions - those of you who tinker with Flash will probably agree). The soundtracks for his animations are flawless, his dialogues and speech patterns are on the spot, his imagination is dangerous and his voice characterizations are just perfect. I get *tense* from watching them (those gigantic concrete slabs with square holes for windows... brrr...).

He's acquiring some über-underground-ish notoriety on the seamy underbelly of internet animation, in great part due to the success of his "Salad Fingers" series, now on the 6th chapter. My favorite is the 5th, "Picnic": http://fat-pie.com/salad5.htm

You don't have nothing resembling internal logic in his work. The atmosphere and the way the scenes progress feel much like the way dreams unfold - some stuff remains unexplained, others receive an explanation that makes no sense whatsoever. Just like dreams, they make all the sense while you're immersed in them, but once you're out you're left wondering: "How didn't I notice that something was wrong when Prince Ferdinando showed up for tea mounting an ostrich named Carlos, who by the way was in a hurry 'cos he had to go to Poland to be anointed as the Queen's official stamp licker?" So you have these "mood pieces" instead of traditional tales structured around plots - also it makes things much easier for David Firth, who doesn't need to come up with straight answers for anything he does. I am not saying that there are absolutely no straight answers for some aspects of the cartoons. But you'll see.

Here some other examples of his work:

The Spoilsbury Toast Boy series:

http://www.fat-pie.com/spoilsminus1.htm

http://fat-pie.com/spoilsminus2.htm


Ptikobj, one of my favorites:

http://fat-pie.com/ptikobj.htm

10 Different Types Of Soup

http://fat-pie.com/sock3.htm

And BurntfaceMan, which is just silly and gross.

http://www.burntfaceman.com/episodes.htm

Of course, none of those are worksafe, and such, and such.
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: side_show on December 09, 2005, 06:29:30 pm
Dude, come on, we  already have a thread for this! (http://achewood.plagiarist.com/viewtopic.php?t=2221&highlight=david+firth)

But yes, I enjoy him.
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: yu-huang on December 09, 2005, 06:32:38 pm
Shit.
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: AlohaDawg on December 09, 2005, 06:42:28 pm
Ya GOTS to READ the threads.

We TALKED about THIS.
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: miles on December 09, 2005, 09:59:10 pm
Well, I missed the first one, so thanks!
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: antioch on December 10, 2005, 03:35:22 am
Yeah, and when you read the threads, read the -whole- thread. Especially when hyperlinks are involved. I need to wash off my eyes real quick.

My eyes and my soul.
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: V-Adore on December 10, 2005, 07:57:45 pm
This gets into a delicate board-etiquette question: is it better to start a new thread on something that was discussed a long time ago or to bring the old thread back to life? I've been on some boards where "thread necromancy" was considered pretty dirty pool, but I really don't know around here. Thoughts?
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: wombat on December 10, 2005, 08:01:36 pm
Start a new thread and link to the old one?

PS: That site's blocked at work.  I'm finding it fascinating to work somewhere where they bother to do this.
Title: The joy of David Firth
Post by: jough on December 10, 2005, 09:38:02 pm
It's always better to post to the old thread, especially since the old topic wasn't exactly discussed to death.

This thread serves no further purpose.  Post to the older one.

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