Stop Motion Animation

Len Lye's The Birth of the Robot was a neat short animated film, even though it ended up as an advertisement. I don't think Lye's films becoming advertisements is such a terror to his art. It's not as different as the product placements now seen in most commercial films. What I love about The Birth of the Robot is that the Shell Oil message is obviously tacked on, leaving the brunt of the film out there and available for appreciation.

It's a curious surreal reality that the animated characters exist in. The focus on technology, with a Robot in the title even, is treated well by stop motion. The texture most readily reflects the actions of technology inserted into real life. Now that we have robots hanging in the horizon, it's lovely to see the whimsy of a robot origin story appear on film. I'm a little ill at ease that the birth of the robot is created by the death of the human character in film, but I really appreciate the time it took for Lye to create the film.