Waking Life

Waking Life is a digitally manipulated film, similar to an animated film, directed by Richard Linklater and made in 2001. The entire film was shot using digital video and then a team of artists using computers drew stylized lines and colors over each frame. This is similar in some respects to the animation style of 1970s filmmaker Ralph Bakshi.

Related Topics:
Animated film - Richard Linklater - 2001 - Ralph Bakshi

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In a broad scope, Waking Life is about a young man in a dreamlike state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like appearance and reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life. Along the way the film touches on other topics including existentialism, posthumanism, and the film theory of André Bazin. With the protagonist's philosophical awakening comes his realization that he is dreaming and that he is unable to wake up. By the end of the film, he fears that he might be dead.

Related Topics:
Philosophical - Reality - Free will - Meaning of life - Existentialism - Posthumanism - André Bazin

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Unsurprisingly, given the above themes and content, Waking Life is much more focused on dialogue (often even monologue) than on plot action. In this emphasis, it echoes the 1981 film My Dinner with Andre. Long sections of Waking Life consist of nothing but shots of one or two people's heads while they expound on some philosophical idea. However, the boredom that such a style might potentially inflict on impatient minds is alleviated by the film's innovative animation techniques. Scenes were first filmed as live action. Using a process known as rotoscoping, animators then overlaid the live action footage with animation that roughly approximates the live action image. Different animators animated different scenes, so few scenes have exactly the same appearance or "feel." The result is a surreal, shifting dreamscape that is as riveting as the heady philosophical ideas discussed. The animators used relatively inexpensive "off-the-shelf" Apple Macintosh computers (as opposed to expensive supercomputers and computer clusters used by Pixar and DreamWorks) and a variety of software, some of which was created specifically for the production by Bob Sabiston.

Related Topics:
1981 - My Dinner with Andre - Rotoscoping - Surreal - Apple Macintosh - Supercomputer - Computer cluster - Pixar - DreamWorks - Bob Sabiston

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Nominated for numerous awards mainly for its technical achievements, Waking Life won the National Society of Film Critics award for "Best Experimental Film", the New York Film Critics Circle award for "Best Animated Film", and the "CinemAvvenire" award at the Venice Film Festival for "Best Film". Waking Life was also nominated for the Golden Lion, the festival's main award.

Related Topics:
National Society of Film Critics - New York Film Critics Circle - Venice Film Festival

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The film's soundtrack, all of it performed and written by Glover Gill and the Tosca Tango Orchestra, except for one track written by Frédéric Chopin, has also been quite successful (especially for a non hit-driven soundtrack). Featuring the nuevo tango style, it bills itself the 21st Century Tango.

Related Topics:
Soundtrack - Glover Gill - Tosca Tango Orchestra - Frédéric Chopin - Nuevo tango - 21st Century Tango

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