Sztuka Spadania/Fallen Art [3D short animation]

Tomek Baginski (Credited as the name behind ‘The Cathedral‘, and short film ‘Fallen Art‘, a very different, very black comedy) has been working at Platige for seven years now, but he was only ten when he realized that making computer animation was the cheapest way of making films. “I wanted to make films for as long as I can remember so the choice was natural”, says Baginski. “I started with an Amiga computer. I’ve gone through many different programs and platforms and then finally landed with 3D.” Baginski’s first 3D student film ‘Rain‘ was good enough to land him a job in Platige Image and straight after the appointment, he quit college where he was studying architecture. “I didn’t really like architecture,” Baginski muses, “but in Poland studying something was the only way to avoid the army.”

While working on ‘The Cathedral‘, Baginski was thinking about film ideas he’d like to produce afterwards. A folder slowly filled with photos, stories and sketches so he wouldn’t forget them. He couldn’t work on them but he could save them for later. “I chose ‘Fallen Art’ because it was very different to Cathedral and I was sure that I had to make a different film to avoid comparisons. ‘The Cathedral‘ was quite successful and making a short with a similar kind of mood could have been a dangerous trap. I decided to go the other way.”

The message behind ‘Fallen Art’ changed during production. At the beginning Baginski wanted to make just a funny film about the army, but many things happened in the world while the crew was fine-tuning the storyboards. The army topic has became much more stark, and much more serious. “Consequently, we decided to make the story darker than in the beginning”, says Baginski. “It wasn’t only my idea. The music my brother found was much more insane than I’ve expected. The character design done by the very talented young painter, Rafal Wojtunik was also much more wicked that I though it would be. Of course it is still a comedy, but it is very dark comedy.” Very rough sketches and some written characteristics were handed to Wojtunik and that was all. Baginski admits he wasn’t really paying any attention to the design process and the characters and set design have become crazier than he expected. Wojtunik based his drawings on the paintings of the Polish painter Jerzy Duda-Gracz, but most of the ideas were born inside his head. “When I saw the first designs I was quite surprised”, says Baginski, “but at the same time I was really impressed. Giving the designing part to Wojtunik was one of the best decisions I’ve made during the project.”

Parachute tower in a forgotten military base. Hefty warrant officer of an unknown army presents a medal to an emaciated recruit only to kick him off the platform. When the recruit – in the name of whatever, but without a parachute – reaches the ground, he immediately turns into a bloody lump of meat, carefully photographed by doctor Friedrich. The photograph reaches the general, who, while having it processed (digitized?), changes into a mad performance artist plunging into a frenetic dance of death. Then all goes silent and a tear appears in the general’s eye. But the next moment, the ritual from the tower is repeated: the medal, the salute, the kick and the fall. Another piece of cannon fodder turns into a sophisticated nouvelle cuisine dish.

Movie website http://www.fallen-art.com/

• Animation: Lukasz Pazera
• Animation: Zbigniew Lenard
• Animation: Marcin Wasko
• Animation: Arek Zawada
• Animation: Grzegorz Jonkajtys
• Designer: Rafal Wojtunik
• Director: Tomasz Baginski
• Executive Producer: Marcin Kobylecki
• Producer: Jarek Sawko
• Producer: Piotr Sikora
• Producer: Tomasz Baginski
• Writer: Tomasz Baginski

Awards:

• Special Jury Award – FF SIGRAPH, Los Angeles, 2005;
• Golden Palm Award for the best animated film at the International Beverly Hills Film Festival, 2005;
• Grand Prix at the International Short Film Festival in Teheran, 2005;
• Grand Prix at the Tirana International Film Festival, 2005;
• BAFTA – The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award in the short animated film category, 2006.