Lady No.4
Lady No. 4 by Tal Hadar, graduate from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. Tal discusses the film below…
who?
The film was made during my last year of animation studies in Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, i have written, designed, directed and animated it, and had the pleasure of working with a bunch of talented people, Roy Yahalomi, a musician and designer who composed the music and worked with me on the armatures and sets, the actresses Natalie Eliezerov and Tal-Ya Yahalomi Levi who gave their voices, fashion designer and stylist Gustavo Mattias Franco, and many more friends and artists that were willing to give their time and efforts for the making of this film.
What?
A lady enters the ladies room and gets carried away into an endless choreography of self criticism in front of the mirror following the other ladies. The film tries to present the absurdity of the society’s impact on the individual, and it is an allegory for the internal need of liberation standing against the desire to get closer to the ideal of beauty.
Why?
I got my inspiration from watching women around me, listening to their conversations and examine their movements while i’m waiting in line somewhere, or in front of random mirrors. I was also inspired by the works of Emir Kusturica, Pedro Almodóvar, Pina Bausch, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and Israeli dramatist Hanoch Levin.
How?
LADY NO.4 is a stop motion animation film, animated with puppets. Each one of the puppets has its own armature that was made to fit its size, and I also used polymer clay and fabrics to finish their looks. The set was build in a way that the walls can be easily removed, in order to shoot in 360 degrees around the ladies. I animated with DragonFrame and used different camera lenses depending on the shot.
Next Project?
Directing a music video for a song from “Practicing Catharsis”, the debut album of Éyal Hai.
Which animated film would you like to have made?
I have to say “Balance” by the Lauenstein brothers, or “The Big Snit” by Richard Condie, there are just too many animated films I was inspired from, it was always hard to pick only one and its getting harder every day..
