This mini movie compilation is one that I appreciate greatly in its simplicity and creative imagination. The creative elements are so random, yet make sense and conveys accurately to the audience Bill’s experiences with his unnamed mental illness beyond any live action film could tell. The film follows the mundane day to day life of a stick figure named Bill, as he cascades deeper and deeper into an unnamed mania. Although the film seems to randomly follow a series of vignettes of Bill’s life and family, most of the visuals we see on screen are quite absurd. In the trailer, you get a taste of the visual theme throughout the film. It has a variety of colors, creative elements, film techniques all mixed together to create almost a disorienting effect to the viewers (which is the whole point, we want to see what Bill sees). It is predominantly animated, drawn frame by frame, yet we also get a touch of realism in it. Non-diegetic inserts are very common, making the world within It’s Such A Beautiful Day seem magical and surreal. (A non-diegetic insert is any clip or series of clips shown that don’t belong in the space of the narrative of the film.) For example, clips of beaches or flowers will commonly be shown, yet we know they do not belong in Bob’s world because he is animated. They are there for associational purposes, many elements contributing to the narrative in a purely associative manner (I don’t believe this film is the best example of associational form in experimental films as a whole, but it definitely contains similar elements at given moments ). Deeper into the film, as Bill falls deeper into his mania, we begin to see more and more elements of the realistic world, and the black blocking of the screen becomes less abundant in volume. In the link below the trailer, we see Bill breaking out of his animated world, showing him meditating in a dreamy yet real looking desert, and walking in the woods. My deeper analysis of this film is very lengthy, but in terms of class topic this week, I thought this was relevant (and exciting! for me) example. I would highly recommend Don Hertzfeldt is amazing and the film itself is only roughly an hour long. I love films that remind me of the intrinsically artistic nature of film being like other forms of art in the way that it can make you feel some kind of way that can’t be put into words; not only for the purpose of depicting real life, or telling a story. 

Short Clips:

https://youtu.be/1IUX0Qy-IDM?si=ATKTviQrHLnpr5zd (This is the beginning, less realism than the second link)

https://youtu.be/8NpbDgIogKw?si=jc3eCSelpZX1n-ZD (This one is the ending, peak realism)

MORE DON HERTZFELDT (FOR FREE!!):

https://youtu.be/4PUIxEWmsvI?si=k4TABqHuLtjipiRx