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Friday, March 04, 2022

Lotte Reiniger - Silhouette art and animations

I think like many kids of my generation amongst my first experiences of television
were the animations of Lotte Reiniger and they take me back to a magical period
of deja vu, a time of a very particular flavour and feeling, at once haunting and mysterious
I am eternally grateful to my parents for letting me watch these
and they always affected me.
That she was a great artist and fairy tale exponent was a given
but her artwork of cut out silhouette paper with their peculiar movement
lent tham a particular tenor that has stayed with me to this day.






nobrashfestivity:

Lotte Reiniger, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926

It is the oldest surviving animated feature film; two earlier ones were made in Argentina
by Quirino Cristiani

but they are considered lost.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed features a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented

which involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera.

The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets,

though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action.

The original prints featured color tinting.





It is my belief and yet I am unsure as to whether it is acknowledged anywhere but the animation
by Ben Hibron of the tale of The Three Brothers in Harry Potter and
The Deathly Hallows is a tribute to her that struck me as delightful as soon as I saw it.

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