Thaumatrope nº1

Thaumatrope n°1 is an avant-garde non-narrative animation created physical using the Victorian optical toy. The thaumatropes are made through a combination of illustrations and photographs. It aims to portrait anxiety and explore ways to expand cinematic language.

  • ordnajelA zenìtraM
    Director
  • ordnajelA zenìtraM
    Animator
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 15, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Spain
  • Country of Filming:
    Spain
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of the Arts London
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - ordnajelA zenìtraM

ordnajelA zenìtraM (Alejandro Martínez) is a plastic and audiovisual artist, doing mainly, but not exclusively, illustrations and animations. Beyond his artistic career, he is a climate activist and is currently combining both passions academically in UAL teaching about Climate Emergency through art.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Using thaumatropes (pre-cinema victorian optical toy) I have tried to recontextualize an object from the past, finding new ways to use it.
With this I was trying to experiment with creating motion in an unconventional way, expanding the concept of what we currently understand as animation, while looking for new forms of visual and cinematographic language in dialogue with the forms of the past.
A very important element in this form of animation is the physicality of the object, playing directly with it to create movement and rhythm in real time while shooting live - a process opposed to conventional models of producing animation.
Similarly, I have used the limitations on the number of images and their repetitive nature to represent the feeling of anxiety.