Soothing the Savage Beast
May 8th, 2010 by John WolfeWell, soothing may not be the right word for this film–perhaps staving off the savage beast(s) is a better way of phrasing it. Loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, “The Music of Erich Zann,” this stop motion vid contains great dark ambiance and creepy atmosphere.
In Lovecraft’s original vision, Zann plays very strange music to prevent unseen creatures from emerging out of the great abyss that’s just beyond his window. The creator of this film, Anna Gawrilow, has conveyed a similar story, but in her own unique way.
Source: YT user, derBene
May 8th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
That’s beautiful. I hope you’ve had a chance to see Brothers Quay stop animations. They are the scariest and best in all the world. This one reminds me of them.
May 9th, 2010 at 2:55 am
I had to admit this John but I was not aware who H.P. Lovecraft was until I saw your posting tonight. I’m always on the look-out for extremely talented writers so I thought I would look him up on youtube of course
Holy Moly, his fantasy style of composing seemed more like he was writing about real life than not. He seemed to have an exclusive approach to writing horror that you don’t see from most writers. Have you read much of his work John? If yes, what were your opinions about his writing and the stories he told. I would imagine your mom or dad was reading such books to you at the age of 3 per your request 
I truly enjoyed this video clip but even more so your mention of this astounding accomplished writer so I can expand further online into his stories. Most excellent blog entry dear and I hope you and your Mom had a beautiful Mother’s Day 
May 9th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Very nice. It is well done. This kind of animation is hard to do. So time consuming. Thanks as always.
May 10th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
autumnforest,
Yeah, I’ve seen a few of their shorts. I first stumbled upon them during my usual YT searches, probably six to eight months back. They’re extremely impressive and quite groundbreaking considering when they were made. I’d expect to see something like the Brothers Quay style nowadays but not so much twenty-five-plus years ago.
Goldie,
Honestly, I’ve never read any of his work either. I’ve known of him for quite some time, but only became more familiar with his style recently through the YT tribute vids I’ve posted and come across. From what I have discovered via those films and the bio info I’ve read, it appears he was extremely unique in his approach to the genre, so much so that it created sort of a cult following that is strong to this day. I’m glad this entry has inspired you to pursue his work!
Thanks, we did have an awesome Mother’s Day. I hope you and your mom did as well.
Ethan,
Great point about the amount of time invested. It’s so easy, when watching great shorts like this, to get lost in the story and forget how much is involved in creating the stop motion work. Thanks for checking it out and commenting.