Street of crocodiles is probably one of my favourite animations. The Brothers Quay use a mixture of live-action, puppetry and stop-frame animation to create this captivating and dark piece.
Although at times, it can be quite repulsive and terrifying, I find this piece mesmerising and inspirational. The sense of uneasiness and curiosity is powerfully felt through the actions of The Puppet as well as the dysfunctional and fluctuating musical score. The camera angles challenge you to look further into what the shots have to offer, due to the long close-ups and slow focusing shots. No matter how many times I have watched this, I still feel like it goes on for a lot longer than it does. I feel like this is due to the eerie music, gradual build up and the cautious way the characters move.
The brothers Quay skilfully bring, not only the puppets to life, but screws, slabs of meat and pins. This to me is fascinating, because of how delicate they can make clunky, heavy objects into dainty, lively beings. I feel like this duo challenged the way people perceived animation and films as a whole with this significant style and alternative approach to atmosphere and metaphors.
The mechanical vibe from this piece stands out a lot, with the use of rusty, aged machines, screws and various more found objects compiled together to create characters . Overall, I feel The Brothers Quay took a simple idea of a puppet being cut loose to explore a dystopia, and created something with a grimy, creepy and almost tragic atmosphere that has stayed with me for years.
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