"The Secret Miracle" - new short film

[Tore]

On the brink of his life, an artist get the ultimate chance to paint his last masterpiece.

The film is inspired by a story by the great argentine author and poet Jorge Luis Borges.

The animation itself is made from scanned cut outs of acrylic paintings by myself. Animation is done entirely in Moho and grading, mix and cut is done using Movie Studio Platinum.

Hope you like!

https://vimeo.com/222024153

[chucky]

Lovely paintings Tore.
Thanks for sharing.
Your know, artist's procrastination could have really helped that guy, he could have just not-finished that one painting, scrapped it and at the last second paint something more cheerful, then another slightly whimsical , followed by a series of abstracts or nudes.
He could have a whole career of great art that no one would ever see.
Even better upon his eventual death, he couldn't be posthumously exploited by billionaires .

[Tore]

Thanks for the words, Chucky! You're so right about our poor painter - he could have let the show go on inside his head (as many of us frantically do!) but after all, when having completed that one single piece that cannot be added to, cannot be altered, that single piece we all have within - then what more is there? :

[chucky]

Actually I heard an artist on tv last night quote someone with....' paintings are never finished, just abandoned'... made me chuckle.

[Barry Baker]

I like your films a lot, I remember commenting on the Railwayman sometime ago, and it helps that I have also read this Borges short story a long time ago. I really admire your painter's aesthetic, and the handmade feel of the films. Few would suspect this was made digitally instead of being a traditional cut-out animation from the sixties or seventies.

[Tore]

Thanks Barry! Very glad you like my films! In all of them I try to avoid the computer feel by discarding all interpolations (by animating by hand, frame by frame) and generated surfaces (by using natural media paint software for textures and sets).
But "The Secret Miracle" is taken a step further (or backwards, if you like), as it is painted 100% by hand with real acrylic, ink and pencil on real paper - no simulations. I then scanned or - in instances when paper was to big to go in the scanner - photographed the paintings. They where then cut out in a photoshop type program, and finally imported into Moho and animated (again by hand) there.
So this is my most authentic (if that is the right word) animation, since I played around with bloopers ink directly on the filmsurface back in the sixties - and it is very satisfying that it comes across.

[SimplSam]

That is "bleeping" incredible work. I stand in awe of the levels of creativity you have employed here.

I thought it was good when I first saw it, but learning how you made it has taken it to a whole new level!

I also take pleasure in being your 1st follower on Flickr (even though you should have a zillion ...)

[Ghe Adacor]

This is really beautiful and very inspiring for me. Thanks for sharing! Have you considered submitting it to festivals? It's a great movie and it deserves to be seen by many.

[Víctor Paredes]

Fantastic short.
I really liked the low frame rate you decided for the short, it totally fits the art style. It's smart you changed the writing (in the original, he was "writing" a novel by memory, if I remember well) for a painting. Visually, it works perfectly.

Thank you very much for sharing it.

[Tore]

Thanks a lot for all the kind words!

That's right, Victor, originally he is a writer, and uses his extra time to write his final novel, but that was a bit dull visually wise, and especially difficult as I had decided to do this film completely without narration. The painter idea seemed usable without sacrificing any of the story logic, and I am very happy that you liked it!

Ghe, I would very much like to get this, and other films I made, "out into the world", but I am not very good at making my way through the jungle of festivals, PR-stuff and so on, at least not in a consistent way. Any suggestions for some good festivals with a zero (or very low) entry fee?

Oh, and Sam, you are cracking welcome and appreciated as my first Flickr-follower! Some great photos you make of swingin' London!

[djwaterman]

New work from Tore is always appreciated.

[cynthia]

I loved it! Beautiful painted art worked perfectly with the style of animation. My favourite art was the firing squad and the backgrounds in that scene. also when everything is bleached by light when he first steps outside. I thought the character looked like Picasso. I agree you should definitely be entering it in festivals.

[Tore]

Thanks! Glad you liked!

[Ravenshoe]

Beautiful work.

Katharine

[Tore]

Thanks, Katharine!