That's (Book-Related) Entertainment

I don't know about you, but I am feeling the need for some entertainment right about now. We have a million options, granted, but I'd like to share some of my favorite book-related videos. They've been around for several years, but I watch them over and over. Each one, when I first saw it, made me want to dance or gasp or laugh. I found all of them mesmerizing, and share them with my classes every semester as examples of how the book can be pushed beyond the page.

The first one is called "Old-Time Film" by Barb Tetenbaum and Marilyn Zornado. They created this stop-motion animation by using old engravings and wood type that Barb has in her letterpress shop. If you like this toe-tapping video, with music by the Macrae Sisters, consider supporting the band, and consider supporting Barb and Marilyn by buying a copy of the video. It's worth it for the cool packaging, an original still and particularly for "Le Making Of," as they say in French.



Old-Time Film from Marilyn Zornado on Vimeo.

Now, hang onto your bonefolders, the next one is by Shitdisco, a former band from Glasgow, Scotland (they broke up in 2009). This is their music video called, "OK." It is clean, fun, and catchy. Watch it all the way until the end, it keeps getting better. 



For our third and final video, a quieter, eerie Western from the New Zealand Book Council, called "Going West." The audio may be tough to hear, but you can read the words in the book Going West  by New Zealand novelist Maurice Gee. Just so you know, the book doesn't do what it does except in the video.


Books make great props, as evidenced in several mainstream films such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (the diary), and I'm always happy when I find a book in a film. But I think it is much more fun to see books and letterpress prints in the starring roles than as the supporting objects.

Got a letterpress film or flip book up your sleeve? Barb and Marilyn are putting together Animated Type: A Showcase of Letterpress Animation. Deadline is December 1, 2013.

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