The Politics of Art & Authenticity

The short film “More” is about an older man who struggles all his life to find the secret to the happiness of his youth. But he doesn’t realize that when he was younger, he wasn’t happy because of things can be bought. The reason he was laughing and carefree in that memory was because he was having fun, with his friends, outdoors. The whole time the man thinks that he can buy or create something that will bring the “light” back into his life…but really the light is inside himself! There is no external source for it. But when the man forgets this, and places all his hopes in one invention that he thinks will solve all his problems, he is left with nothing else to derive happiness from. His invention isn’t successful in causing real, lasting joy, and he he has no idea left of how to be truly happy.
Even though the world of “More” is gray, it’s hopeful to note that the people still have “light” (i.e. hopes and dreams) inside of themselves. No matter how heartless and cold the world may seem, it’s up to us to choose how to perceive life. The children at the end of the film are just as truly happy as the man had remembered. This happiness is especially noticeable in children because it is often when we are young, before we need to worry about money, that we’re happy with just feeling loved and secure. Whenever we feel down and unhappy, we need to ask ourselves if we’ve placed too much hope in our “Bliss Glasses” and if we can remember what we used to derive joy from, before those “Bliss Glasses” were even invented. Because this is such a universal message, it’s interesting to note that “More” doesn’t identify a particular nation for its setting and that the characters themselves aren’t very gender-specific. This is because the world of “More” isn’t about a person or a place. It’s about a frame of mind.

The voyage of Madame Tutli-Putli also takes place within the mind, but this time it’s specifically her mind which is being explored. At the beginning of the film, Madame Tutli-Putli, the only woman shown throughout, is trying to escape the men who have treated her badly. She is bogged down with all the baggage from her experiences and memories. When the butterfly (a symbol of feeling light and free) first flutters in front of her, she impatiently waves it away, unable to believe that she will ever be able to unburden herself. Once she is on the train (beginning her voyage to actualizing her inner strength), we see that her baggage is related to her dealings with men because her bags literally contain men (the ones playing chess). The game being played mirrors Madame Tutli-Putli’s inner struggle to figure out an escape strategy. She then turns to the ugly little boy (an ugly thought within her), which urges her to take action, to “handle her enemies”, and and stop running from those who have hurt her. Finally, she is faced with a dilemma…the man who harasses her on the train. Does she stand up to those who have stepped on her for so long, thereby freeing herself of all her baggage, or does she continue to be taken advantage of?
Throughout the film, Madame Tutli-Putli gets uglier and uglier, as she is forced to face this ugly part of herself that is leading her to kill a man. While the reason she does it is to stop feeling victimized, she is still a murderer. She is the one who kills him, though it feels like there is a force overtaking her that she cannot fight against (represented by the green gas). Before she is overtaken by this murderous side of herself, the side struggling to finally be strong against her oppressors, Madame Tutli-Putli sees the butterfly again. But this time she is encouraged by its symbolism and devises the only way she can think of to finally feel free.
After she kills the man, we see that the train hits a moose – an innocent bystander. This is because Madame Tutli-Putli’s journey towards freeing herself has led her to kill an innocent man. Though he is disgusting, he is not the one who has caused all her built-up pain and suffering. He is only a representation of all that she has endured. Afterwards, the voices in her head telling her how to free herself (the men playing chess and the boy reading) disappear along with her baggage. And she herself feels free and light, ultimately becoming one with the butterfly, which was a symbol throughout. But she has made herself ugly in the process, and her hands and shoes remained stained. Though she feels free and empowered for the moment, she has had to turn herself into something repulsive to do it and she can never free herself from the guilt of her murder. She is forced to carry around the burden of killing an innocent man (represented by a part of him that she takes – his liver) forever.

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There is no greater fear than becoming something you swore to fight against. But that is the unfortunate reality for Mark Osborne’s claymation figure in More. At first I didn’t understand why they showed the children playing when the main story became centered in the depressed worker who has a dream to create something better than “Happy.” He used his own spirit to power his dream machine which he called “Bliss.” By using his spirit and putting it into his invention, he eventually loses his spirit even though he accomplished his dream. He became his own boss and the boss he hated for so long as a factory worker. He only realizes that he lost himself when he sees young colorful children playing. The color they have represent hope for the future of this dark and grey life where the cycle of despair continues, which makes him happy and hopeful. Even with the great “Bliss” there are still oppressed and depressed people such as the main character’s own factory workers. He lost sight of his true goal of creating a better life and instead brought about a fake version of “Bliss.” Now he can only hope that someone else will have a better dream and help everyone better than he did.

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But Madame Tutli Putli is an extra weird short film. I first thought it was a comedy, the scene with the train riders in Madame Tutli Putli’s cart was hilarious, with the future North Korean leader child and the two guys in the suitcases playing chess with the train making every move and the creepy pervert tennis superstar sitting across from her. But then the film took an eerie turn. First of all the train was breathing, like it was representing some living entity, probably the madame. Then when the creepy organ stealers came on the train and began to take people’s organs I thought I was watching some black market organ business at work. The train began to ride extremely fast, as if running away from this grim reality that the madame just witnessed, which is what she began to do when she woke up. She was the moth that was stuck in the light. She was running away the same way the moth was flying around in the beginning and then she became trapped in the train the same way the moth was trapped in the light if the train. She couldn’t escape, instead she went from being trapped in one place to being trapped in another. It seems there was no running away from her past.

Spending a lot of time on something can really make it incredible. Thats what I learned from the two short films we watched in class, More and Madame Tutli Putli. Both films were created using stop frame animation, an extremely time consuming technique. Every minute of film represents hours upon hours of hard work and effort by the creators of the film. And when I watch it, I can really feel the superior quality that comes when passion is invested into a creation.

Interestingly, this idea is conveyed in the film More, when the bliss glasses are created from the literal passion of the creator, and they are a big hit. Bacause people like good things, and good things come from conviction.

These are the eyes of Madame Tutli Putli

The film Madame Tutli Putli also was made painstakingly. Aside from the obvious labor that the film making process must have taken, Each frame was edited and human eyes were inserted into Tutli Putli’s face to create a window to her “soul”. Each moment, the pair of eyes needs to match, needs to move smoothly, needs to flow. And the effects are done so well that it is almost impossible to sense exactly what it is that makes you feel. But then you realize.

Once, i heard something that stuck with me. The best type of makeuop is makeup that nobody can tell your wearing. The most expensive and flawless products are also the most natural and organic. The most valuable things are hardly detectable. Making something look simple is the most complicated task out there, and both of these films are perfectly and complicatedly simple. Ahhh.

Performances using clay and puppets are normally associated with trivial child’s play and meaningless storylines. In the case of the two short films, however, that assumption can’t be more wrong. Both MORE and Madame Tutli Putli exhibit a deep and dark portrayal of a protagonist’s struggle to escape.

 The details vary in both but the central theme seems to be the same.The factory employee in MORE struggles to escape a drab, materialistic, and lonely world by creating Bliss (a product in which one can see the world in a distorted rainbow filter). Madame Tutli Putli boards the train with a mountain high pile of luggage as if running away from an unsatisfactory life. The employee in MORE struggles to escape from frustrating thoughts saying that he will fail to build anything. Madame Tutli Putli struggles to escape thoughts of fear and intimidation as she observes the other passengers on the train and at another time when she observes a strange blue light outside of the train.

The factory employee in MORE fails to find a truly happy life even after creating a name for himself and attaining success. Thus, he looks through his lenses and engrosses himself in the dreamland he wants to escape to. Madame Tutli Putli fails to travel peacefully. Thus, she seeks to escape dangerous characters on the train. In both films, the main characters continually struggle to break free from a certain force, whether the force is society, the character’s thoughts, or external characters. In almost every scene, some character is running away.

Mark Osborne’s short film, MORE, was amazingly done. This six-minute film took Osborne nine months to finish it. It took so much effort and time to put this piece together. The grey civilians were very detailed. One can see the bags under the eyes of the main character. It must have been very difficult and time-consuming to make every single factory worker move in multiple frames. Although there is a somber mood throughout the story, I would definitely recommend seeing this film because of Osborne’s brilliant artistry and it has an important message.

The main character in the beginning of the short film was a lowly worker creating “Happy” products for an oppressive boss. Everything in this world was grey and dull. He wanted to make people see the world in a new blissful way. He used his imagination and the magic inside of him to create “Bliss”, an invention that can change the way one views this dull world into lively and colorful one.

Even though the main character became wealthy and was considered the greatest inventor ever, he became this tyrannical person like his former boss. He loses himself and the magic that was inside him is now gone. His original intentions of the “Bliss” product have been overshadowed by fame and money. This product creates a virtual dynamic world through a pair of lens.  However, reality doesn’t change; the world is still gloomy and people are still unhappy. It only creates bliss temporarily.

The message the creator was trying to convey was that no one could buy happiness. It isn’t something one can obtain in a box. At the end of the short film, it shows children who are having fun on the merry-go-round. It is odd how the children are colorful in a grey world. This symbolizes youth and joy from such a simple object. Melodramatic music is played throughout the film. Whenever the clips of the children on the merry-go-round show, laughter will play. The creator wants to show that as one gets older, they lose their happiness. The short film gives off this depressing vibe of inevitably growing up and ending up being someone you once hated.

Sacrifice is something that is a major part of all our lives, something that we face everyday, something that makes us choose between two outcomes. MORE, a short film from Mark Osborne, accurately portrays this theme through the daily grind of his protagonist. The audience is made aware of his unhappiness, not only through facial expressions and body language but al

so by the music that Osborne chooses and even the symbolism of his gray environment. The one thing, it seems, that keeps him going is the inspiration inside, a memory that he ho

lds very dear and draws on every time he’s been discouraged. When the protagonist does finally have his major breakthrough he makes the choice to share his inspiration at the expense of losing it forever. Once he creates this life-changing invention, he is met with acclaim and immediate success. However, as he sits in his executive chair, in his corner office, he removes the goggles and is reduced to an immediately depressed state. He proceeds to look inside himself for the one thing that has kept him going all this time only to find that he is empty.

Before viewing the second short film, Madame Tutli Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, my professor told us to keep an open mind.  She was definitely right in saying so.  This stop-motion film was done with puppets, but not just any ordinary puppets. The eyes of the main character were actual human eyes.  While I was first watching the film, I noticed Madame Tutli Putli’s eyes and how they looked so life-like, especially when she began to cry. At some points in the film, I actually forgot that the characters were puppets because they had such human-like qualities.  The train, where film was set, was also very authentic with its sound and movements.  It really makes the viewer appreciate the time and effort that goes into making the film.

Besides the technicalities I wasn’t able to take much else away from the film.  I’s not because I didn’t enjoy it.  The film was just very confusing.  I understood the symbolism of the butterfly throughout the film, and how it represented hope and transformation for Madame Tutli Putli.  But I don’t understand how the black market organ trading, the perverted passenger, and all the other strange occurrences fit into the story.  I know that everything put in short films is there for a reason, because the creator only has a little amount of time to get their idea across.  In this case, I’m not sure what idea the creators were trying to show, but I almost think that was the point; to confuse the audience and really make them think about the meaning behind the film.  I think that the creators want each viewer to take something different away from this film and come up with their own interpretation.  If this was their goal, then they definitely achieved it.

I never really took the time out to watch short films but after watching two in class the other day, I really appreciate the work and time put into making these short films. During the films, I started to see the transition of each picture to each picture in such a short time but the film a whole was amazing. Each film was so short and each person can have a different view on each film.

The short film More by Mark Osbourne was my favorite out of the two that we watched in class. The reason I liked this short film the most was because it seemed realistic to me. The film was about this man who tries to find a way to be happy in this world. Then as he invents these glasses that bring color to his life, he is happy and becomes praised by society. The moment he is praised by society, he is the man that controls the world and in the end he is not happy because he became the person he didn’t want to become. I feel this is how the world revolves around. That a person tries to find something to change the world because what the world is now is not doing well. Then the moment that person finds a way, everyone praises him/her for their amazing idea. Since everyone praises him/her, they are given the upmost power or the control in a way. In the end, the person realizes that they aren’t truly happy with where they are and they go back to square one, unhappy. That’s why I enjoyed this film because it just brings truth to the table for people to see. This film doesn’t hide the facts but rather brings them to light for the people to see.

The other film, Madam Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, was an interesting film. The one thing that stood out to me the most was that the eyes of the character moved. In short films, eyes don’t usually move, only the body does to show movement, but in this film the character’s eyes moved. When Professor Davis told the class that the eyes were actually an actor’s eyes, I was completely blown away. It’s incredible how technology has grown and that directors and film producers are able to use real eyes for a short animated type of film. The idea of the eyes also freak me out a little because it’s real eyes just looking at you. Other than that, I didn’t really understand the point of the film since there was so much going on. Altogether, I just feel that the film was about a woman trying to run away from her past but she couldn’t and in the end she finds some sort of freedom and that’s where the butterfly plays its role. The whole guy stealing body parts and all her things were missing didn’t make any sense to me and I’m still completely lost about that. Plus, the idea of someone stealing body parts in the train doesn’t seem natural or realistic whatsoever.

I am still trying to absorb the two short films I viewed last week in class.  The first film was More, created by Mark Osborne.  If you have never seen this short, I recommend you do so.  For one, it is so beautifully made utilizing the stop-motion technique, as well as Claymation.  These two methods are very time-consuming and difficult to create, and both were done to the fullest in this film.  It took nine months to create this six-minute film.  This time and effort is seen throughout the film; especially when you can see the fingerprints on the clay figures.  It shows that every detail counts when making a short.

I also really love the underlying meaning behind the film, More.  It tells the story of a clay figure (let us call him a person in this situation just to make it more realistic) and his desire to want more out of his life.  He is searching for happiness in a society where everything is grey and uniform. Where happiness can be found in a box, and people use it as their way out of their depressing world.  For the beginning part of the film this person has a “light” inside him, which gives him hope of a better life.  When he uses this “light” to create an invention for bliss he loses that part of him that was special and pure.  In the end of the film we see our main character look into the distance, where there are people playing and actually having authentic happiness.

The main character’s image of pure happiness.

This last scene really hit me.  I think that it shows that thing in life that we all strive for and chase, but never seem to reach.  We are too focused on success and material items that we lose sight of what we were looking for in the start.  Our “light” soon goes out and we forget what made us special and unique.  We can only hope that the next generation won’t make the same mistakes that we have.  That they won’t keep looking for more and will just be satisfied with what they have.  It reminds me of the saying, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it all.  Even when we get everything we want, we still feel empty and alone.  I think Mark Osborne was trying to show his audience that wanting more would only cause you to lose yourself and everything you stood for.  It sounds very depressing, and it is.  That is why viewers must realize that they cannot let their lives go down this type of path.

I’ve never watched a film like MORE but it was definitely something interesting. As we all discussed in class, the music and darkness in colors present gave the film a ‘depressing’ aura. At the same time, the detail and effort it took to make the film made it an incredible work of art. The same things that made us feel gloomy, were the very things that made the film so powerful.

The clay figure doesn’t seem happy at all even though that’s the name of the product he’s producing. He seems frustrated and angry and literally looking inside himself to escape this apparent misery. He creates his own product and for some time he seems as blissful as the name of his creation but that soon dies down. He becomes the image of the man he aspired to get away from and no longer has that spark he had within to keep searching for happiness. In class, Cassie mentioned that the film wasn’t depressing, rather a realistic take on life and watching it again made me realize that I agree with her. I feel like so many of us fall into the same cycle that the clay man fell into. Working, succeeding, feeling an ephemeral ‘high’, and crashing. It seems as though he has everything, but nothing at all. He has wealth and fame but not what he was searching for all along: happiness.