Food Module: Ryan

Ryan is a 3D animated documentary made by Chris Landreth in respect for his hero, Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator whom is famous for his animations Walking and Street Musique. This animation shows a series of interviews between Landreth and Larkin, as the audience learn about Larkins profession and how he fell from his fame into a vicious cycle of drugs and alcohol. The audience learn how much his addictions took a toll on him, to the extent in which he became homeless, begging on the street. The interviews are very informative with an informal tone to the questions and answers, which give a relaxed appeal to the information however the story that Larkin retells becomes emotional as he almost relives his hardships as he retells his life.

The animation for the interviews enhance the deterioration of Larkin's state of mind. This can be seen with the use of 3D animation that reveals the inside of the characters heads as they talk and move. This aesthetic can be quite cringe-worthy with the movement of the head and limbs, with being able to see bone and missing parts of his head/body. However I felt that this worked well, it depicted how much damage his addictions had taken on him, merging well with his voice as he forgets and trys to remember what he was trying to say. I also liked how it was not just Larkin that had this appearance but also Landreth. Landreth's appearance was full of less missing parts to his body and head, however pieces of colour were revealed from gashes on his face and arms. I felt that this effect showed that not everyone is perfect, everyone has had their hardships. This significance of colour worked well with the use of the missing parts to the body as it almost seemed to suggest the moods and emotions that each character would go through.

I found it quite emotional through how Larkin found inspiration to move on and go to through rehabilitation to work on a new animated film, all because of Landreth's love for this work and interest with his life. Unfortunately as soon as his new animated film, Spare Change, was under production, Larkin died of cancer before completing his work. I found it quite sweet that students took it upon themselves to finish his film using the storyboards and audio that Larkin had made.

Source:

Cavalier, S. (2011) The World History of Animation. Great Britain: Aurum Press Ltd.