No, they don’t. Dark humor is used in advertisements all the time. Promoting Blender is a side-effect, but I don’t see it stated as the primary purpose anywhere. If “being positive” was a requirement, that would heavily limit the creative work.
If you say you don’t like the content for being negative, that’s one thing. From this you cannot conclude that the film shouldn’t have been done this way. The reactions so far are overwhelmingly positive, just like for the other Open Movies (all of which also have “negative” content to them).
The graphics style gives the wrong impressions about the content, and attracts the wrong target audience anyways.
So what? All “cartoony” shows with adult content have the same problem. That doesn’t mean the “cartoony” style should be reserved for children’s shows. Parents have to deal with this anyway, for everyone else it’s just not a real problem.
I agree that the movie could do with a PG-13 rating because the image of a sheep trying to hang itself, not because of a word. As a person living in Sweden I hear worse cursing coming from the mouths of kids under 7 every day (literally right now outside my window) so the “F-bomb” is really tame here.
It is really weird to me how American children can watch blood, sex and violence freely on TV but a word is considered worse.
Anyway the movie was visually and technically great. I loved the smoke and hair sims.
The story is not explained at all but the whole scenario reminded me of the movie Predestination.
Overall it was not a great movie but it brought some cool improvements to Blender so I am happy with it.
Ah yeah, I think you’re on to something there, I was thinking along the same lines too :yes: it’s my theory for his “simplistic” look anyway.
I like it a lot Non-Blender people around me are invariably asking what happens next, which is exactly what I wanted to hear. The “visuals” are stunning, and not just technically. I’m on the side that doesn’t mind the hand-held look at all. And yeah, although Victor seems visually out of place, I suspect that was very much on purpose, but that’s just a theory of mine
I really like the way the story telling progresses. You can compare the lack of empathetic build to the fantastic one in Up, but that’s not quite a fair comparison. They are telling the story in a different way, but with purpose (in my opinion). This is a story about Franck being given an opportunity (or maybe a lesson) to explore who he really is (or thinks he is). The Franck who is committing suicide isn’t the REAL Franck, he is a shell of what he wants to be, and who he could be. But alas he is trapped under a thick coat of wool and on an island with no escape. So he tries to free himself the only way he knows how, in a cowardly, “sheepish”, manor.
Personally, I prefer stories that leave me in the dark and let me do some thinking and build theories while the writer gives me some clues and sheds light. Discovering how much you like something is always more exciting to me than being shown why I should like something.
I think we are left with enough information to get the subtext and realize what is happening and why. Sheep are lead, they are herded, while Franck is sentient and self aware. He is different and walks his own path. He is trapped on an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean, furnished with nothing except grass, smooth unassuming hills, and literally only a single tree. Franck is physically a sheep, but he is also a “lone wolf”. An interesting contrast considering that wolves eat sheep. He is clearly a mixed up fellow under distress.
Without giving any spoiler theories (or anything that isn’t in the movie thus far), I want people to think about some of the quick themes/connecting threads that I noticed off the top:
Love:
The mix-tape has “Franck + Tara” written on it. Who is Tara, is she a love he lost? Or a love he has yet to discover maybe?
Victor empathises with Franck, they are the same to him. Is victor searching for something, or something else. Is he living through others?
Spirituality/Cosmic powers:
Reincarnation
Angels? (I am assuming everyone has noticed the embroidered wings on his suit jacket).
Why a Laundromat:
He is literally being washed, cleansed of all his regrets and previous self. Think of themes of baptisms.
He is a sheep, he is covered in wool. Wool is hard to wash.
He is living in each world/being for a set amount of time, physically wearing a timer.
He is in a spin cycle, rotating from one life to the next.
Machines/doors become portals to other realities.
How many of you have lost something in the machines while doing laundry?
Those are just some quick thoughts, that bring about a bunch of possible theories and possible storylines. Brings about a bunch of questions too, which I think is the awesome part - makes me want more to answer them.
I followed the blog a bit so personally I don’t think it was on purpose it just looks and feels like a character they struggled to nail the look of. The part that really bothered me a bit is that there is some weird topology issues going on with his forehead so when he frowns you get this weird ‘H’ on his brows.
I think overall that visual development is a part of the open movies that is still very week and probably was the strongest on BBB. If you look at the drawings that were been done I don’t think the are as strong(in terms of design) as what you would normally see for the animated movie project outside of Blender.
It’s a specialist job and BF needs to find an artist that is trained at it. I can’t remember his name but the guy that was doing the storyboard his drawings felt the most solid to me.
This is by far the best movie they have done, the animation was really super. I loved the little acting details like Franck is a nervous character that lacks self confidence so he never maintains eye contact for long and his eyes dart around and look at the ground a lot.
Camera shaking was all over the place. Disgusting, unnecessary and overdone.
I’ve been saying this from the beginning but character execution is pretty terrible. If you see the designs they don’t look anything like it.
And last the project itself. I haven’t seen anything backfire like this project in years. The Foundation was aiming for a full length film and came out with 10 minutes? After the failed kickstarter (that should have returned the money) they should have backed off and rethought the whole project.
Such failure in every single aspect, there are people working alone that can put a better project together.
very stunning visuals, i’m really impressed. story-wise i’m very interested to see what it’s futher about, let’s say i’m inrigued. i find the camera shaking ok. also i dont know why you people make such a fuzz about the f-word. the storm is beautiful.
That does look interesting, no doubt, and it obviously has some attention, but I hardly think it is an example of something better, and I don’t think they are really comparable pieces. Again, you are welcomed to your opinion.
Amazing work by the artists. Animation, shading, lighting, effects, all were superb - the team can surely handle big productions.
But as I feared, a weak script makes the story unrelatable - it has many things in it that make no sense. It’s one thing to envision an unrealistic universe where sheep talk, but then you have to make it internally consistent: characters have to react to situations appropriately, events should logically follow one another. Otherwise we don’t hook up, and have this vague feeling that the story is uninteresting. This stuff has to be thought out to remove any inconsistencies. It wasn’t in this case.
Some examples, with quick and dirty solutions:
If Frank lived on his island all his life with sheep that can talk, then how can he talk or interact with people? - Show him interacting with someone other that Victor for a couple of shots. An old man that takes care of the sheep and lives in a shabby house on the island alone?
Why is he the only sheep that can talk? - Explain, in a short scene. Or make all of the sheep talk (in sheep-talk), but just be more stupid.
Why is he totally uninterested with Victor, and hesitates to devote his time to listening to him - does strange people bother him on his island every day? - Make him exited that something is finally happening on the island. Or make the story take place in a less secluded area that would have visitors often.
Why is he trying to hang himself when there is a perfectly good cliff close by? - Remove the cliff.
What does Victor mean saying that Frank is so much more than just a sheep? - Don’t provide additional information if you are not going to explain.
How does Victor know Frank’s name? - Provide short Victor backstory - Does he have a list? Does he observe the “adventurers” in his washing machines? Then show him doing that.
The script does not provide a backstory, instead resorting to making things vague and implicit. Which is usually a bad idea, because the screenwriter has all the plot in his head, and so underestimates the viewer’s ability to decipher his story. Or, if all this stuff will be eventually explained, then it will be explained too late - backstory/world building should be done at the beginning, otherwise we just don’t really care about what is happening.
The problem with the swear word is not “political correctness” - it just makes the writing seem amateurish. Just like depicting feces onscreen, there must be a reason to do it. Otherwise it just seems someone did it just to do it, like a kid who wants to be rebellious just to be rebellious. In this case there was no reason really. There would be if Frank was rised by a sailor for instance, and did it all the time.
I agree fully with NinthJake that Blender Foundation should post a PG-13 sticker on this movie.
After reading B-Rae’s post about reincarnation and angels this movie made it even worse for me.
In my first post of this thread I mentioned reincarnation and a suicide prevension advert and IMHO i think Blender Foundation should stay far away from religion and politics. They should learn from and follow Pixar, Dream Works and other animation studios and appeal to the biggest common denominator.
Mature themes and content (suicide, profanity and cigarettes) should be avoided as much as possible. Blender is for all ages, from 0 to infinity. I’m not saying you should make a teletubbies/sesame_street or something, just don’t depict a suicide attempt in the first shot of the movie.
After watching it now with headphones I also noticed the audio of the voices was terribly recorded, especially noticable with hard “s” and “sh”, and the accents still bother me.
Franck is just metaphor (I hope this is the right word) for every human being that’s living a sheep’s life. The island itself is a metaphor for any environment from which suicidal people cannot escape (a dictatorial country, an abusive family, a shitty workplace with no prospect of finding a better job, etc.). Yes, kids with no real life experience and mankids who spent their lives in ivory towers will not understand what this movie is about.
I think Cosmos Laundromat represents everything that is great about true indie movies. Some people want Blender Foundation to follow Pixar, Dream Works and others. They want Blender Foundation to be a sheep.
Don’t be a sheep Blender Foundation. You’re a lone wolf!
Fuck, fuck, fuck yeah (it’s just a word expressing emotion)… well executed, so much of present inside, ironic, satirical, beautiful… i love it, kids love it… & they want to see more & learn blender!
Goal achieved :yes:
i too living on an island and has suicidal tendency, i reach this community via the only isp here, very slow connection, blender to me is the washing machine, most guys here are victors, i can relate to frank
Non-Blender people around me are invariably asking what happens next, which is exactly what I wanted to hear. The “visuals” are stunning, and not just technically. I’m on the side that doesn’t mind the hand-held look at all. And yeah, although Victor seems visually out of place, I suspect that was very much on purpose, but that’s just a theory of mine 
