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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stunningly beautiful, tragically flawed, November 8, 2008
Dave McKean's Keanoshow is both an inspiration and a caution for visual artists working in motion. In this large collection of short films, well-regarded illustrator/comic book artist Dave McKean translates his visual style into film using puppets, masks, actors and computer graphics. The work is sumptuously beautiful, but in the end is difficult to watch because it functions more like painting-in-motion than film. The problem is not the weakness of the narratives or stories as much as the way that McKean treats film as an extension of visual art. Film works best when told through the viewpoint of its characters. McKean, on the other hand, is always present in his work trying to design and compose his characters into existence. By imposing his vision from without, he sucks the spontaneity out of his creations, objectifying them. The effect is like watching storyboards in motion awaiting a spark of life.
Perhaps the most effective pieces here are the films. The use of real sets and the palpability of the film grain gives them an energy and integrity missing in the CG work. In his CG videos, McKean superimposes scratch film effects in an attempt to reinvest these videos with liveliness. But while this surface effect aspires to energy it ultimately discloses only the quick and easy reality of computer compositing.
Audiences interested in this kind of video/film may enjoy Chris Shepherd's short film Dad's Dead available on youtube and at higher res on the Sunshine DVD. Shepherd's approach is similar, but ultimately more successful in its ability to meld the layered, spatial world of visual art/special effects with the sequential nature of film.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Keano must improve his on screen narrative, October 5, 2008
First of all, I must say that I'm a huge Dave Mckean fan, I've bought every graphic novel, comic and art book he's made and some of the CDs he's designed even if I didn't like the music. I've always admired his way of telling stories, his visuals are astounding and fantastic. I've waited years for these short films to be collected in one single dvd and after seeing the whole contents I have to say that I'm dissapointed. Here's why: as hard as it is for me, I've really come to accept that Dave McKean fantastic abilities to tell a story in a graphic novel are not the same when it comes to film. The moving image acts and reacts very different than the still visuals. Dave's photos and illustrations are very rich and filled with symbols, details and situations, but somehow, his genious doesn't apply to cinematics at all. Ultimately, his short films result in a boring experience because a beautifully composed image isn't enough to support and develop a great story. This breaks my heart, but also makes me realize the capabilities and shortcomings of an artist. Not all great writers are great artists and viceversa and for some time McKean proved that he could be more than that in every field he dared to set foot in. 'The week before' is his only masterpiece in the cinematic medium so far and I believe that is because of the simple but cleverly well staged production and the funny story and brilliant acting.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Quintessential moving pictures portfolio for Dave McKean, October 29, 2008
Keanoshow features all of Dave McKean's moving pictures and film projects over the last decade. This compilation also features clips that Dave created while still in art college, and show a terrific mind working through creative expression while at university. This collection features some films that have previously been seen on VHS (The Week Before, [N]eon), as well as stuff that has never been seen by Dave fans before.
This dvd is split up into categories that showcase his short films, commercials, advertising, etc and feature quite a fine mix of examples of his genre-busting artworks.
My one nitpick with this DVD is I would have LOVED to have some kind of commentary by Dave on each of his pieces, but as it stands, I simply love that I can now own all of Dave's short films on one DVD and can re-watch them as many times as I need.
This is the perfect bookend to watch with "Mirrormask", and I can't recommend this release enough. It is the perfect moving pictures portfolio for my favorite visual artist of our generation.
Bravo to Dave for finally making this collection a reality.
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