Animated short films by Emilia Prosol

I came across these two animated shorts by Polish artist Emilia Prosol this afternoon when I was feeling Youtube-ish and just plain sluggish.

It was the Gorillaz' "Clint Eastwood" short that got my attention because of its brightly colored images. The funky animated creatures just stood out on the page while I was looking for a birthday video for Chloe Sabedra (former roomate and recent officemate), who had been berating me for not greeting her on her birthday, the date of which I absolutely forgot. And so I posted Jeremiah's "Birthday Sex" music video just to tease her. Hehe.

But anyway, I ended up clicking this video of Emilia Prosol's short and I'm glad I did. Check this out.

What's more amazing was the description under the video. Ms. Prosol said this video is composed of, believe it or not, 2,500 frames! A year's worth of work for her! Amazing!

And here's the other video - this one features a Tom Waits song, "Singapore." I've always loved Tom Waits ever since I heard his other songs, particularly "The Piano has been Drinking." So I watched this other video, too. And woah! What a ride! The black and white take on the video, along with the sketchy, gritty drawings compounded the roughneck sound and content of the song.

Unlike the Gorillaz, Tom Waits isn't really most people's cup of tea. He's more like every sailor's bottle of scotch. And there aren't really that a lot of sailors in the area who can stand scotch, and Tom Waits voice just sounds like he has swallowed many a glass, so here's the lyrics for everybody who'd like to really like to get to know the words. They are quite fun.

"Singapore" by Tom Waits

We sail tonight for Singapore
We're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for tawny moor
Took off to the land of Nod
Drank with all the Chinamen
Walked the sewers of Paris
I danced along a colored wind
Dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me

We sail tonight for Singapore
Don't fall asleep while you're ashore
Cross your heart and hope to die
When you hear the children cry.
Let marrow bone and cleaver choose
While making feet for children shoes
Through the alley
Back from Hell
When you hear that steeple bell
You must say goodbye to me.

Wipe him down with gasoline
Till his arms are hard and mean,
From now on boys this iron boat's your home
So heave away boys.

We sail tonight for Singapore
Take your blankets from the floor
Wash your mouth out by the door
The whole town is made of iron ore
Every witness turns to steam
They all become Italian dreams
Fill your pockets up with earth
Get yourself a dollar's worth
Away boys, away, boys, heave away

The captain is a one-armed dwarf
He's throwing dice along the wharf
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King
So take this ring

Repeat First Verse  

So, there you go. These shorts are just great, they picked me up. Despite the obviously drug-induced euphoria that the first one seems to talk about and the sinister way the other one ends, they're great. Emilia Prosol's great. The Gorillaz and Tom Waits are great.