Turk Theater Presents - Flash Edition

A very special Turk Theater.

Gentle Readers, welcome to another installment of Turk Theater Presents. Today, we step outside TTP's usual scope (see sometimes good, but usually bad movies) and discuss an important and contemporary art form - flash animation. Several months ago, Video Games and Myth discussed Terry Cavanagh's "Don't Look Back" as an artistic re-imagining of the classic Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice. In that segment's introduction, we discussed the prevalence of flash animation on the internet and elsewhere, and flash's importance as a cheap alternative to studio production that allows animation artists to cut their teeth. While "Don't Look Back" was a creative and impressive use of flash animation, its minimalist style fails to demonstrate flash's incredible range. So, instead of reviewing traditional films, TTP introduces two flash artists from whom I'm always excited to see new creations.

Name: Adam Phillips

Online Alias: chluaid (pronounced "Clyde")

Known Best For: Brakenwood
Website: Bitey Castle

(Picture property of Adam Phillips)

A prodigy illustrator from South Wales, Phillips is a former Disney artist who began making his own flash animations in 2000. By 2003, Phillips created Bitey of Brakenwood, a second installment in an award-winning series that most of his flash-work now surrounds. The series Brakenwood is set on an arboreal planet of the same name, mostly absent of human life. The series predominately follows the exploits of Bitey, a mischievous, satyr-like creature whose advantage lies in his incredible running speed and the possibility that he is the sole, sentient being in a vast forest of unique wildlife. A rascally trickster figure, Bitey spends his days taking all that he wants and running the forest rampant by pranking the unwitting inhabitants on sheer whim. In each installment Bitey attempts to avoid the consequences of his actions at the hand of a different foe, slowly learning the value of camaraderie and friendship in the process. Most episodes feature minimal-to-no talking and entertain the audience with mostly sound-effects, an impressive soundtrack, and the animation on the screen. Below you'll find a link to Phillips' latest work, The Last Dashkin - providing an official introduction to the series protagonist, complete with "Nature Channel-esque" narration (and the option to go without).

It's just... so... pretty...

As you've probably noticed, Brakenwood is full of beautiful, otherworldly landscapes featuring flowing and smooth animation to aid its story telling. Each installment in the series is, at its worst, impressive and, at its best, breathtaking. If you like what you've seen, you'll be delighted to know that Adam Phillips is currently outlining plans for a Brakenwood feature film to come out in the near future.

Name: Michael Swain

Online Alias: The Swain

Known Best For: Blockhead

Website: www.theswain.com

(Picture property of Michael Swain)

A jack-of-all trades, at 27 Swain produces flash animation, flash games, and internet comic strips streaming directly from his website (link above). According to his website and interviews with Newgrounds.com and Brainwash Studio, Swain began animating flash in 2005 - depicting a character he had been doodling on notebooks since the 6th Grade. Originally a mockery of his friends, who could only draw stick-figures, Blockhead quickly evolved into a character that embodied, "ill decision without consequence... bliss through ignorance, and... knowledge without responsibility." In each episodic installment, Blockhead has an "adventure" where he traverses out into the real world with complete disregard for all social standards and morays. Accompanied only by his conscience - an old, fat, mulleted, jersey stereotype - Blockhead commits atrocity after hilarious atrocity at the futile protest of his bitter, tired inner voice. Starting out as a one-note gag, Blockhead's evolution quickly produced musical episodes, fictitious holidays, and a selection of story-telling styles. The entire updated run of Blockhead can be found in the link below - with more to follow in the future:

Introducing...

What I like about Swain is that he's always improving and trying something new. Each Blockhead progressively tweaks and changes, keeping his material from being static and stale. In addition to blockhead, Swain has created the Mastermind series, a collection of webcomics (including... Racist Vampires!?), and his newest work, a flash game/Japanimation Ninja Warrior spoof titled Ching-Chog Beautiful: A Game of Great Endurance Challenge. Swain maintains an interesting, clever, yet slapstick approach to animation while paying apt attention even to the subtle details of his own works. He is always working on something new - keep an eye out for more Swain in the future.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Turk Theater Presents, Gentle Readers. While unorthodox, I hope it allowed you to explore artistic and entertainment avenues you would not have normally. What did you think? Any favorite artists or animations out there? Post below.

Video Games and Myth: Don't Look Back

Stripping video games to their bare essentials, programmer Terry Cavanagh presents Don't Look Back - a pixelated platformer reminiscent of old school Atari (and other similar platforming systems). In his recently released project, Cavanagh uses flash animation - a reasonably affordable alternative for independent artists to animate, voice, and distribute their work directly to the consumer on the internet. Flash has been the up-and-coming animation form for game programers and visual artists alike for years, used in everything from talk show intros to "office time-wasters" to Adult Swim cartoons like Metalocalypse. Using this contemporary medium, Cavanagh dives into "the Classics" by retelling the Greek tale of Orpheus in his return to "classic" gaming. (For those interested, the game is free and can be played without download here)

Don't Look Back begins as seen above, with a man standing in the rain at the grave of (what can be assumed is) a recently lost lover. Of course, our protagonist has no choice, but to turn right and travel into the bowels of the Underworld in an attempt to bring her back. By doing so, our nameless hero must run, jump, and shoot through a barrage of 8-bit monsters, vanishing bridges, and other hazards to achieve his goal. Already, the player can see some obvious parallels with the famed Greek myth. 

In the tale, Orpheus was a musician who was happily married to the beautiful Eurydice until, one fateful day, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and she died. Distraught and torn, Orpheus began to play and sing a grouping of the most beautiful, yet sad songs ever heard. So mournful were they that the immortal nymphs and gods all wept without reservation. On their recommendation, they bid Orpheus to the Underworld in hopes that Hades and Persephone would be so moved by his music as to take pity on Orpheus and return his love to him - neither of which had anyone ever succeeded. On his arrival, Orpheus played and sang for Hades and Persephone his sad songs and, in their tears, they allowed Orpheus an exception with a condition: that on his walk out and up from the Underworld he must always face forward and have faith that Eurydice is right behind him until they both return to the world of the living. Orpheus ascends without turning around, but as soon as he exits he turns only to see Eurydice vanish from him forever, as he had not afforded her the time (and faith) to step into the living world herself. Careful analysis of Cavanagh's gaming platform reveals some striking parallels (with artistic liberties).

Although the hero from Don't Look Back is not a musician, it is notable that once he begins his decent that the music begins to play. The midi classical string-orchestra presents a melancholic tone accentuated by a color scheme of mellow, dark browns. By doing so, the game is able to evoke an impressive emotional response despite its simplistic design. Here, Cavanagh proves he has an eye for detail, even including the occasional Greek pillar in the background as a "salute" to his source material. The hero continues to descend through the Underworld, able to leap down cliffs with ease (the rules in the Underworld are a little different), battling it out with the various inhabitants, until he reaches a cliff where his love rests as a spirit, floating above the abyss - waiting. He turns around and she begins to follow him out, facing new obstacles as they climb their way up. Keeping with the myth the player must not turn around, else his love will vanish and he will have to start the screen over as if he had just died. Eventually, the hero makes his way outside, into the rain, and back into the living world. In surreal fashion, the hero returns to the grave, lover in toe, only to see himself standing over the tombstone again, alone, as the vestiges of the self and the lover that have just returned vanish forever. The player is left to wonder whether the hero ever left at all, whether he is caught in an eternal loop, or whether the person he sees when he returns is really someone else. In so doing, we are left to wonder which facets of the phrase "don't look back" apply, as there seem to be several. It is rare when something so simplistic retains such poignancy.

Orpheus was the classic tale about the relationship between loss and faith. Of grief and closure. These themes become more and more relatable as people mature and grow older and have the life experiences that encompass them. Whether they have died or not, most of us will lose someone who we would do anything to have back, but understand we cannot. Cavanagh uses his art form to explore these themes through classic myth and does it successfully by using the bare essentials of classic gaming.