StephenBosustow

Major post 8 By Victoria Courchesne

*Continued analysis from my major post 7*

 Bosustow challenges animation as a medium by creating the multi-media film using several different animation techniques. He successfully utilizes the 2 ½-D animation technique while incorporating live action clips among the animated sequences. What comes out of this application of multiple mediums into one short film is a period piece that seems to remain relevant throughout time. While his images depict an artistic symbolism of stereotypes from different movements, he manages to communicate clearly upon who the subjects are intended to be.

The film overall carries an ambition that can only be derived from an artistic origin. There is no superficial comedy nor does the style fit the mainstream animation design of the time. The film strives to be thought provoking without reservation in attempt to appease one group in particular. It is a call to the world to react and change.

            Bosustow’s final call to action reverberates as this “…the search for the truth is never over- that the challenge is always the same; to stop fighting long enough to listen to learn, to try new approaches, to seek and test new relationships, and to keep at a task that never ends”.

            The final image to close the film shows the words “Not The End”. And in that last remark, the message of the film is echoed to us that the fight is an unending one. Even in the year 2019,  almost 50 years after its release, we can still learn from the film.

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Major Post 7 By Victoria Courchesne

            **For sake of word overload- I split this analysis into two parts, the second part will continue in my Major post 8.**

            Before reading the post, I implore you to watch the animated short Is it Always Right to Be Right? (1971) along with my previous blog post #6.

            In this post I will discuss the short in an analysis and my overall opinion on the piece created by Stephen Bosustow studios. The 8 minute short features narration done by Orson Wells and discusses a divided world where everyone thinks they are right. The film mainly features the two sides, the “old” and the “young”. The “young” seem to represent different movements within the late 1900’s in America, such as the peace& love movement and the civil rights movement. The “old” seems to represent the people in power at the time of those movements, such as the government, certain political figures, and large corporations. The style of the animation in the film is a loose, sketchy style, fitting well with the blend of the various live action television shots Stephen incorporates. He also breaks the narration with cuts of sound clips that apply to each side. The sides continue to divide until the turning point of the film upon which the film introduces a question “But what if I’m wrong”. The film’s division seems to unravel itself from there, concluding that both “sides” could come together to find their common ground and be responsible for creating a better world. 

Continue by reading my major post 8.