‘Condimental Love’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opbi4ieYyug

Filed under: A2 Film Studies, Creative Project

Reflective Analysis of ‘Condimental Love’

‘Condimental Love’ is a stop-motion animation which is very unique and quirky reflecting the mood of romance and flirtation. The film creates a response of ease and happiness within the audience which makes the film more enjoyable. The film tells a story of the developing love between condiments within a romantic dinner table setting: the premise being, ‘What if a romantic meal wasn’t just romantic for you?’. The main characters are a salt and pepper shaker, with supporting characters being champagne glasses and napkins. All aspects of the film including the accompanying music, the setting, the mood, the animation and the narrative all play huge roles in creating this romantic stop-motion short.

Within the choreography of the animation there is clear inspiration of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers shown through the routines and upbeat, happy atmosphere. At the beginning of the film there is a sense of flirtatious chasing between the salt and pepper shakers, this idea is repeated several times and is seen in many early 1930 to early 1950′s romance musicals for example, ‘Shall We Dance.’
Similar to most stop-motion animations there are slight staccato and an almost robotic feel to the movements due to the frame lengths; however this enhances the film as it clearly shows it has been animated rather than being smooth like video footage, it adds age to the film which is effective as the jolts create an essence of the silent movie style.

The narrative of the film has the clear equilibrium, imbalance and re-equilibrium structure shown through the relationship between the main characters. Their love blossoms until they are broken up by the champagne glass; the emotion here is shown by the tears on the female condiment and the prolonged frames, this is the imbalance within the narrative. The equilibrium is regained once the male condiment rejoins and consoles the female and they stride off to live ‘happily ever after’.
The narrative is very similar to a typical romantic storyline; however the situation and characters adds individuality. There are other editing aspects which have been added that also reinforces the ‘romantic musical’ genre: these are the circle iris transition at the end and the cursive text of ‘The End’. This builds on the idea of it being created in a different era; however with a modern twist because of the characters.

In reference to the choreography of the animation, there are interesting and challenging aspects to the characters dance as well as popular dance moves. The ‘dip’ is shown after the birds-eye shot of the couple twisting as one, this birds-eye shot is to show the symbolization of how the characters are only whole when they are together, visually this is reinforced by them looking similar to a ying-yang. The ‘dip’ follows which could have been more fluid with extra connecting photographs, the petals move quite a lot in this shot as well; however this is effective because it symbolises how he has ‘swept her off her feet.’ The synchronised routine which is after the champagne kiss works really well and looks effortlessly graceful, this coordinated sequence is another element that is recognised within the dance routines of romantic films.

My personal favourite part of the film is the kiss between the two champagne glasses, I think this was cleverly done and spontaneous, it also reinforces the mood of romance making the genre even stronger and clearer within the animation. This part also seems to create a response within the audience because of the endearing and sentimental gesture. I think it’s also nice to see the distribution of love between all the characters within the film. This shows how the mood is immersed within all aspects of the animation; not just the main subjects.

The non-diagetic accompanying music of Nat King Cole’s 1965 Jazz song, L.O.V.E; works really well and the timing is impeccable. The lyrics harmonise with the animation very sophisticated: the main examples where this happens is the beginning, in which the flirting begins. The lyrics are, “L, is for the way you look at me,” when ‘look’ is sung, there is a focus shift and the female condiment spins around and out of the frame, this shows how rhythm has been added to the animation and how well the music has been coordinated with the movement of the subjects.
Another example where the lyrics synchronise with the narrative and animation is when the equilibrium is disturbed and the champagne glass whisks the pepper shaker away. When the tears appear on the salt shaker the lyrics are, “love is all that I can give to you,” this adds emotion as it creates the feeling that the salt shaker has been rejected after she has given her love, at this point the music also becomes more elaborate and the dynamics are louder, this creates a sense of unease and symbolises how people can get caught up in the moment when love is involved.
Other significant moments in which the music accompanies the animation are: the introduction of the champagne glasses, the strings within the song are also introduced; the synchronized routine begins at the time of the Trumpet solo and instrumental; and finally after the equilibrium is regained, the lyrics are, “love was made for me and you,” at this moment the condiments come together and glide off out of focus.

The influence of the title, ‘Condimental Love’ derived from the classic phrases like, ‘an unconditional love.’ Due to the unique situation and narrative the creation of the word ‘Condimental’ emerged. It’s definition being an adjective to describe a subject in relation to condiments. The title is simple and clearly associated with the film itself, it also creates questions within the audience’s mind about why and how? The title therefore is effective as it produces a response very early, before the film has begun which is the same for many popular movies.

An audience response feedback questionnaire was given out to various members of the audience at a viewing in order to gain a greater understanding of how the film was received. The answers showed personal opinions and the viewers emotional response to the romantic genre. One audience member claimed, “the film made me smile and laugh,” another wrote, “it was heart-warming.”

Overall ‘Condimental Love’ is a great animation that combines the conventions of a romantic musical, modern props and classic elements of film-making. The focus-pulls, minimum depth of field and close-ups are all conventions of the romance genre, each of these were used within the film. There were also interesting aspects for example the origami of the napkins which made the film have more depth and layers to its narrative.

People have commented, saying that they enjoy watching the film as it provokes a sentimental emotional response; therefore the film achieved the aim that it set out to accomplish.

 

 

  

 

 

Filed under: A2 Film Studies, Creative Project