Animation 03: Billy's Balloon by Don Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt uses a simple stick figure in the animated short Billy's Balloon which was his final student film made in 1998. It also doesn't have any colour in it except the different coloured balloons. The animated short is slightly disturbing because it revolves around the characters getting hurt by the actual balloons as they hit the characters and carry them up into the air and then drop them. The main character is initially portrayed as a baby, and is seen as quite helpless throughout the animated short.
As mentioned on bitterfilms.com "All the camera setups are motionless, distant, and strictly observational, with the total lack of any music also helping raise the tension". When watching the animated short it is quite tense because of the fact that there is no music just the sound of wind and background noise. Also the repetition of the sequence of events was quite unnerving because the extremity of the events kept increasing by adding more characters and balloons, and by what was happening to the characters, i.e. being dropped by the balloon from a height.
In a review by Johnson he states: "Unlike most of Hertzfeldt's other works, Billy's Balloon is a silent film, and so lacks a lot of the quirkiness and depth of his usually outstanding dialogue. Still, it's a fitting short to watch to introduce yourself to his work, as it features his signature bitterness and cynicism while also providing the odd laugh here and there." (Johnson, 2015) This signifies to me that it is not unusual for Hertzfeldt's work to be centered around a unnerving theme such as 'Billy's Balloon' is.
Illustration List
Figure 1 don hertzfeldt (2014) [youtube video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jksRQcI9NA (accessed on 12/10/17)
Figure 2 don hertzfeldt (2014) [youtube video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jksRQcI9NA (accessed on 12/10/17)
Bibliography
'Billy's Balloon' In: Bitter Films [online] At: http://www.bitterfilms.com/balloon.html (accessed on 12/10/17)
Johnson, C (2015) 'Bitter, Rejected and Beautiful: the films of Don Hertzfeldt , ranked - The Spread' In: The Spread, Cinema Jam [online] At: http://cinemajam.com/mag/features/don-hertzfeldt-ranked (accessed on 12/10/17)
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| Figure 1 - stick figure with red coloured balloon |
As mentioned on bitterfilms.com "All the camera setups are motionless, distant, and strictly observational, with the total lack of any music also helping raise the tension". When watching the animated short it is quite tense because of the fact that there is no music just the sound of wind and background noise. Also the repetition of the sequence of events was quite unnerving because the extremity of the events kept increasing by adding more characters and balloons, and by what was happening to the characters, i.e. being dropped by the balloon from a height.
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| Figure 2 - Another character added and them being lifted into the air |
In a review by Johnson he states: "Unlike most of Hertzfeldt's other works, Billy's Balloon is a silent film, and so lacks a lot of the quirkiness and depth of his usually outstanding dialogue. Still, it's a fitting short to watch to introduce yourself to his work, as it features his signature bitterness and cynicism while also providing the odd laugh here and there." (Johnson, 2015) This signifies to me that it is not unusual for Hertzfeldt's work to be centered around a unnerving theme such as 'Billy's Balloon' is.
Illustration List
Figure 1 don hertzfeldt (2014) [youtube video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jksRQcI9NA (accessed on 12/10/17)
Figure 2 don hertzfeldt (2014) [youtube video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jksRQcI9NA (accessed on 12/10/17)
Bibliography
'Billy's Balloon' In: Bitter Films [online] At: http://www.bitterfilms.com/balloon.html (accessed on 12/10/17)
Johnson, C (2015) 'Bitter, Rejected and Beautiful: the films of Don Hertzfeldt , ranked - The Spread' In: The Spread, Cinema Jam [online] At: http://cinemajam.com/mag/features/don-hertzfeldt-ranked (accessed on 12/10/17)
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