Patrick Smith has debuted his 2011 short Masks on the Internet. He called upon frequent collaborator, musician Karl von Kries, to work on the film’s music, but unlike their earlier collaborations, they inverted the workflow. On earlier films like Delivery and Drink, Smith created the animation before von Kries scored the film. With Masks, von Kries composed a score first, and Smith then drew what he heard.
Having known Pat for the past decade, I think I can say with some confidence that his greatest love is animation. The raison d’être of his films is a passion creating movement via the currently unfashionable ritual of flipping thousands of crinkly pieces of paper over a lightbox. And yes, Masks was animated on paper, not digitally. I’ve never asked him if he enjoys filling out timing charts and exposure sheets too, but I suspect he gets some perverse pleasure out of the entire process. He’s one of those rare independents who knows and loves Disney greats, past and present. He admires the hell out of Bill Tytla, Glen Keane and Sergio Pablos, and he filters that passion for dynamic, powerful character animation through a more personalized storytelling approach.
In earlier films, Pat has used basic visual analogies to express bigger themes: in Handshake, an entangled man and woman depict individual identities literally consumed by a relationship, while in Puppet, hand puppets with a life of their own become a vehicle the creative process taking control of its creator.
Masks is less conceptual and builds a more complex narrative, but the opportunity for masochistic character animation excesses still presents itself through the mysterious masked characters who chase, chomp and destroy multitudes of tiny, helpless figures. Relevant contemporary themes weave throughout the narrative, from our overuse and abuse of natural resources to the power of the masses against the exploitative classes. If not necessarily his most entertaining film, it qualifies as Pat’s most ambitious and effective work as a filmmaker to date.
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