Ryan

Directed by
Chris Landreth
Produced by
Steven Hoban
Marcy Page
Mark Smith
Production Agency
Copper Heart Entertainment Inc.
National Film Board of Canada

Made in 2004, "Ryan" is 13 minutes 54 seconds long and one several awards around the world.
Ryan is described as a tribute to a Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. The short film was made from recordings the director Chris Landreth made while talking to Ryan Larkin. It covers Larkins work that helped inspire many animators and then his decent into Cocain use and now being a drunk that begs for change.

The animation style that's used in the short film is described as "psychological realism" and their are different web sites talking about how he achieves the look. When the film starts out it seems like the animation has been drawn over actual film, like the movie "Scanner Darkly." However the movements are really fluid and after examining the film a couple of times I don't think that's the method that was used. It appears to me that it's really good animated Computer Graphics that's used 3D animated models. The "psychological realism" of the film gives it a surreal feel. Each character, including background characters, are animated in a way to show more about the person, or the psychological mind set of each character if you will.

I enjoyed this film due to its distinct style and the serious content. The animation helped add to the content and transitions in the film. The "psychological realism" helped add to the expressions of the characters and let the viewer see more of each characters persona. Ryan Larkins animated shorts that he was famous for were also incorporated into the film as they talked about them so you could see his work and relate to the character more. Seeing works that were over 30 years old with Landreths' animation style was an interesting contrast but somehow worked in the film.

links for more information:
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=51259
http://growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain/2005/02/chris_landreths.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_%28film%29