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Film
In 2004, the Québécois
animation artist
Jacques Drouin made the film Imprints (Empreints).
The film uses the Couperin piece as the basis of its
sound-track. The film is made by the pinscreen method of
animation, a technique of which Drouin is practically the
only major contemporary exponent. In this method, a screen
with an enormous number of pins is used. The pins can be
depressed in various shapes, and the whole is then side-lit
and filmed for its shadows and depth effects. The film is
described thus, on the website of the
National Film Board of Canada:
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Jacques Drouin draws us into an unforgettable
sensory experience. On the surface of the
pinscreen he imprints his desires and his
intuitions, hurling himself into a hand-to-hand
tussle with his favourite instrument. He
positions the camera and the lighting to reveal
the relief formed by the pins, and continually
pivots the screen so that the viewer can glimpse
the images hidden behind this mysterious
barricade. The repeated harmonies of a rondo for
harpsichord by François Couperin give the film
its rhythm and shape. Alexeïeff's invention,
caught up in this whirlwind of creativity,
appears in a new light.
At
the start of the film, Drouin sits down in front
of the pinscreen like a musician at his
keyboard, preparing to leave his mark on the
work. When the animation begins, the pins and
the music answer each other, vibrating in unison
like the rhymes of a poem. Imprints is a film of
love about an object as beautiful and rare as a
harpsichord, made by a filmmaker at the height
of his powers. |
Stills from the film can be
seen
here. The link to see an animated video excerpt of the
film does not work on this page, but does on the
French-language version of the page
here.
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Simon Evnine, last updated: 9/25/07
