Food - Jan Svankmajer (Pixilation Research)

Now I love food, and I have this thing for it because i'm a vegetarian and therefore have to scope out sufficient foods which actually don't taste like cardboard, however after watching the first part of this film I could have easily been put off it for a long while. Not that the food in it was unappealing, but the way in which the characters moved and the closeups of certain body parts in combination with revolting noises, quickly eliminates any appetite you could have had to begin with.

What started me off feeling uncomfortable was when the character on the left literally gets up on all fours on the table and leans on top of the character on the right to read instructions on his blazer. Whilst doing so, he is groping and rubbing the table and if that doesn't seem slightly disturbing then I don't know what does. In my head I kept saying to myself 'This is so weird! This is so weird' and I couldn't help it, I have never seen anything like it! It felt so intrusive and voyeuristic I really didn't know what to make of it.

I did like how Svankmajer incorporated this robotic element to the characters as if they have to be operated by someone else. The use of sound is critical in this pixilation in demonstrating that and also the particular camera angles. I would of thought considering camera angles when being caught up in creating a pixilation would be something you would least think about, but I feel like they truly add to making the viewer feel uncomfortable, and even though it may not be the most pleasant of feelings, at least it is provoking some sort of emotion. 

There is also a huge amount of cross cutting in 'Food' and usually cross cutting is done so much so that it is so natural you barely notice it. However because the repetition of going back and forth is so frequent, your status as being an outsider literally becomes the only thing you think about. Why are you there? What is actually happening? What is going to happen?

I found this pixilation to be really bizarre for me. I felt like I was too close to the characters at certain points and that I was violating the characters dignity. This animation taught me what makes an audience feel the opposite to appealed, attracted and enticed to a piece, but it has also taught me that sound is crucial, and if I have time I will definitely be attempting to add some to my own pixilation this week. As weird as I found 'Food', it really stuck in my head and made me want to write a blog post on it as soon as possible. Perhaps because it is so out there and different to any animation I have ever seen in my entire life, it has imprinted in my memory. 'Food' is most definitely not like Jan Svankmajer's other piece, 'Alice' and I am quite curious to see what other weird and wonderful subjects he has touched upon in his other works.