Tracks

Tracks - 2003

Fluid sand animation and brilliant backlit landscapes create a dreamlike vision of the African savannah as animals gather at a waterhole for an evening drink.

Description:

Evoking the awe of the African Savannah at sunset, wild animals gather in a moody landscape for a last drink before nightfall. With the aid of a unique combination of fluid sand animation and backlit collages, Tracks creates a subtle, striking tribute to nature.

This was my first film as a graduate student at USC. Based on my experiences on the African savannah, the film is a visual poem about animals gathering at a waterhole for an evening drink. I animated a thin layer of sand (straight from the beach!) on a plexiglass plate to make the silhouetted animals. The backgrounds are a backlit collage of theater lighting gels. The effect is a striking series of silhouettes that flow into and out of each other.

The original a capella soundtrack is by Iguewa Ni Mbia from Cameroon.

View the film

See pictures from my trip to Cameroon.

Production Info:

Title: Tracks

Director: Corrie Francis

Original Music: Iguewa Ni Mbia

Music Recording: Joe Rider

Sound Design: Corrie Francis

Sound Mix: Juri Hwang

Running Time: 2 min 15 sec

Screening Format: 16mm/1.33/Color/Optical Mono Sound

Distribution:

Allison Hirose

Coordinator of Festivals and Distribution

University of Southern California

850 W 34th Street, Room G132

Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211, USA

Tel: 1.213.740.4432

Fax: 1.213.740.5226

Email: allisonm@cinema.usc.edu

Bio:

Corrie Francis is a freelance animator and photographer based in South Lake Tahoe, California. A classically trained animator with an MFA from University of Southern California in Los Angeles, she has recently shifted her focus to documentary and is exploring how drawn images can imaginatively compliment documented reality. Corrie’s animation emphasizes the integration of digital and traditional mediums and a dialogue between technique and mediums. She has worked with sand, paint on glass, cut-outs and hand-drawn mediums. She recently spent 15 months in New Zealand as a Fulbright Fellow while working on her 5^th film, Conversing with Aotearoa/New Zealand and enjoys wandering in and out of the world’s beautiful landscapes as she creates her films.

Filmography

Festivals and Awards: