It didn't seem like it added much to the film, apart from Freck's hallucinations (they were impressive) and the shifting, dizzy atmosphere of some scenes. The scramble suits aren't an improvement at all; they're distracting over-the-top eyesores. If I directed this film I would have made the scanner suits full-body faceless latex masks; I think then they would have conveyed Dick's original concept in a more appropriate way.
shareThe process was done by digitization, but it was by a version of a rotoscope. The rotoscope was invented during the very dawn of motion photography.
The animation was done by hand, and this film is one of an extremely few animated films which have been done by rotoscope. The older Disney films were done with a rotoscope. It is a very unique, labor intensive process.
''I'm fortunate the pylons were not set to a lethal level.''
From The Wiki Of Life (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping):
In the mid-1990s, Bob Sabiston, an animator and computer scientist veteran of the MIT Media Lab, developed a computer-assisted "interpolated rotoscoping" process, which he used to make his award-winning short film "Snack and Drink". Director Richard Linklater subsequently employed Sabiston and his proprietary Rotoshop software in the full-length feature films Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006).[7] Linklater licensed the same proprietary rotoscoping process for the look of both films. Linklater is the first director to use digital rotoscoping to create an entire feature film.
Great insight on the emotional distancing effect of rotoscoping. I agree with this and it fits the themes of disassociation in the movie. The rotoscoping also adds to the overall theme of being not quite in touch with reality due to drug abuse for me.
shareLOVED the plot. Hate the "animation" style. Beyond peoples' personal taste, I see no logic in it feeding the story. I GET that it is supposed to make you feel drugged as well, but if that is needed to enjoy the story, then the plot has failed. Like the movie did. Maybe if it WASN'T animated, it would have attracted more people, and they could have seen things they could do to make it better.
shareThe rotoscope animation is a character in this film. It's perfect. This is a forever classic and a beautiful piece of art. I swear this is perfect. Someday we will have movies (and already do somewhat) that are so perfect that the actors will just have to voice over. Compare and contrast the later Matrix sequences or Avatar. It costs either alot of time by rotoscope or a lot of money super computer animation. I for one appreciate all the work. Any other adaptation is going to come up short.
I believe in coincidences, I just don't trust them. - Source debatable.
cathyguy^
Nicely written post!
I loved the animation and thought it, too, was perfect for this film.
"Much communication in a motion, without conversation or a notion"
Perfectly said cathyguy
shareI loved the animation. It changes the dynamic of the movie and makes it very unique. I am surprised it didn't do better in the theaters than it did, especially with Reeves still running high only a few years after the Matrix Trilogy.
shareThe rotoscoping added an eerie/futuristic/drug-induced-haze-like tone. I thought it was well done and added a lot to the film.
That being said, I would still love to see the unrotoscoped version of the film, just for the novelty of it. Obviously we wouldn't get to see Donna or Arctor actually in their scramble suits since it would just be them sitting there in sweatpants and sweatshirt. There's a lot of other CGI that would need to be added, but I'd still watch the raw cut without CGI just because it would be awesome.
Agreed I would love to see the non drawn version as well.
I just picked up the movie for $5 off ebay and loved it. I am really surprised it didn't do better than it did in theaters when it came out.
At least $15-20 Million I would have thought but only $7.8 Million....dang.
I'm guessing it didn't do well because it was actually faithful to the source material, as opposed to say, Minority Report: the film is much less complex (i.e. no minority reports instead of 3) and much less faithful to PKD's short story, but they turned it into an action-drama-thriller and it did well. It just appeals to more people that way.
The other reason is, I think A Scanner Darkly (film) should have been longer. A lot was left out from the novel; a lot of context. But I guess the studio made them cut a bunch of stuff.
It also could be the fact that it took over a year to just animate the movie that we saw. Doing more would have delayed the movie longer.
shareBillyBeefcake, there were a lot of scenes that were animated but cut from the film. You can actually catch a few glimpses of them in the official trailer. I started a thread about this a while ago. It looks like they actually filmed the scenario where Freck gets out of his car to go meet Donna, just like in the novel, but it was not included in the movie.
shareAt first I considered the same: "Was it necessary?"
But then, as the movie progressed, I really loved that "rotoscoping".
And the 2nd time that I watched this film, then I really liked the "rotoscoping" even more.
It was well made, but quite distracting for most of the time. I definitely could have done without it.
shareI was thinking that for most of the film but I think the end, perhaps the last 10-20%, justified the animation. It was only then that I felt I was in a Philip K Dick story and the cartoon imagery was the best way to realise his vision. Not that I've read this particular story or even like PKD that much as a writer but he did have a distinctive style and this film captured it - IMHO.
shareI agree that it should've been a traditional live-action film. The animation really serves no purpose, except to make the scramble suits look normal. I would've been fine if the movie switched to animation during the drug trip scenes; I actually think this would've made those scenes more interesting. I just think that the animation hinders the experience and that the film probably would be much more widely loved and appreciated had it been a live-action movie, and it would've done a lot better at the box office. Robert Downey Jr probably could've secured an Oscar nomination if you could actually see what you're supposed to be looking at.
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