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The Meaning of Life


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THE MEANING OF LIFE (2005)
Technique: Traditional 2D Animation
Country: USA
Running Time: 12:00
"A vast, beautiful study of time, life, death, and Tchaikovsky, exploring evolution on Earth over the course of a billion years. The Meaning of Life is the epic end result of tens of thousands of drawings, single-handedly animated by Don over the span of four years."

No computers were used at any stage of this film's animation or photography. The entire piece was photographed traditionally to 35mm, with all of the difficult visual effects work meticulously created in-camera through traditional double exposures, optical compositing, and innovative trick photography techniques. Over 60 actors recorded vocal performances for over 150 individual human characters. These intense first three minutes of the film alone - "the crowd scenes" - took around two years to complete. Eventually, over 45 minutes of footage was photographed for the film's 12 minute running time -- an enormous shooting ratio for any animated film, thanks to the unprecedented amount of experimental lighting and visual effects trial-and-error.

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Written, Directed, Animated and Produced by Don Hertzfeldt
Edited by Rebecca Moline
Sound by Tim Kehl

Official Site: www.bitterfilms.com

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