STANLEY PICKLE #2

Stanley Pickle is a romance film by Vicky Mather about transformation and change depicted in a fresh stop motion fashion. It is what I would describe as a hidden gem on Short Of The Week where I watched it after a while of searching for a suitable film to research. In summary, Stanley Pickle is an extraordinary introvert who is lives in a robot-like, mechanical world of his own creation. Throughout the film we see Stanley's comfort in his world of control and consistency as he has automated every element of his life in a complex windup system. As a result, Stanley lives in a predictable, rigid world exempt from change or mishaps that he cannot fix and that is the way he likes it. It also means he is missing genuine interactions however his clinical mind does not notice the absence of this initially. That is, until he sees a mysterious girl from his window which disrupts his comfortingly consistent world. Soon after this he begins to withdraw from this comfort zone as events in his life change. Reluctant to change, Stanley attempts to use his extraordinary knowledge of mechanics to repair the damage to his life by helping the mystery girl however this only serves to push earlier events of disruption along.
This unusual mixture of concepts and themes into the film
are what makes it so original as it creates a style and tone that i have never come across when watching any film to date let alone and short 111 m minute film. Mather's ability to create such a stunningly artistic piece that has such a limited duration is impressive

THE STYLE
This film is animated in a pixelation (live action blended with stop motion) visual style which is refreshing and unique to the romance genre. The execution is not only clean and visually appealing, but the delivery of the pixelation effects add to the mechanical motif of the film. The technique of claymation is commonly associated with pixelation however the story I feel would lose credibility had Mather decided to go in this direction and claymation has been used and used and used one more time -  i think it is worn outThe clockwork motions of everything in Stanley's life mirror real life and the passing of time but are just heavily exaggerated. In the first few moments of the film, Stanley's life is depicted as an image of perfection and consistency with visual retro colours create a vibrant and upbeat tone. However this is contrasted with another essential stylistic aspect to this film, which is the weaving of funny elements that are disturbingly morbid and these elements are imbedded in the foundation of the film. Without this morbid yet comedic tone, the dynamics of the film would be missing something as it lightens the rigid atmosphere in which these clockwork c. The atmosphere and style are almost Burton-like in the film's  presentation, with similar gothic and graphic components which solidify the edge to it. As well as this, it makes the film so admirable and satisfying to watch.

"The approach to Stanley Pickle was 
to make a film which was technically 
challenging, with strong art direction, 
and most importantly a clear and 
heartfelt narrative." - Vicky Mather


TODOROV'S EQUILIBRIUM THEORY
Todorov presented the concept of his equilbiurm theory which describes five stages that can all be applied to every film. These five stages include:

1. A state of equilibrium - Stanley's comfort in the security of consistency of his life shows the state of equilibrium and balance as everyday is the same, moving like clockwork
2. A disruption of the equilibrium - the introduction of a mysterious female character disrupts his world of comfort as events begin to change. 
3. A recognition of the disruption - The girl enjoys the company of a large dark bird which eventually dies and this impacts Stanley as he sees for the first time the concept of something fading and being beyond repair
4. An attempt to repair the damage caused by the disruption - Stanley attempts to cheat death by turning this natural creature into one of his mechanical experiments that he can repair and return to the girl who he hopes to make happy. However this attempt at the restoration of the bird does not go to plan as the birds behaviour is altered and the girl is scared away
5. A restoration of a new equilibrium with a happy ending  - The creation of a new equilibrium comes from Stanley's acceptance that nothing can last forever, not everything is fixable, it is acceptable to let things go and that taking the risk to step out his comfort zone gives him a sense of freedom and adventure that he has been missing

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN OUR PROJECT AND STANLEY PICKLE 

• The theme of isolation - the character of Stanley Pickle happily lives in his own bubble, however it is evident to the audience that he is missing genuine social interactions, isolated from the outside world as he spends all of his time in his room playing with toys in a childlike manner while also conducting mechanical experiments. This theme of isolation is key to our coursework project also as it features the main character who feels ostracised from society and in order to distract himself from this and feel connected to society, he begins to stalk a young women he takes an interest in. Both characters are presented as initially innocent and are later revealed to have a dark side
• Night vs Day - the connection and meanings of night and day are essential to our project as they both impact the way that the character presents himself (during the day he upholds a fake personality that is influenced by his fantasies and is seemingly normal, however at nighttime he lets this guard down as we see a different, more chilling hidden side to him as his true nature as a stalker becomes apparent. This mirrors the characterisation of Stanley Pickle who appears seemingly innocent and normal in the daylight but at nighttime his inner darkness is exposed to the audience to match the association to morbidity and evil with nighttime
• Developing infatuation or interest in an unknowing young woman from a distance