Bruce Bickford

Nacimiento : 1947-02-11, Seattle, Washington, USA

Muerte : 2019-04-28

Historia

Bruce Bickford (February 11, 1947 - April 28, 2019) was a maker of animated films who works primarily in clay animation. From 1974 to 1980 he collaborated with Frank Zappa. Bickford's animation was featured extensively in the Frank Zappa videos Baby Snakes and Dub Room Special. Zappa also released a video titled The Amazing Mr. Bickford, which was entirely composed of Bickford animations set to a soundtrack of Zappa's orchestral music.Bickford's animations depict surreal scenes based on his unique worldview. Often outwardly seeming to be somewhat disconnected from the world around him, Bruce Bickford's work is extremely subjective in its content and concepts, making for some disturbing and shocking imagery. Much of his video work depicted fast-moving, fluid-like transformations of human figures and disfigured faces into odd beasts on surreal structural settings with impressive camera effects (moving around within his stop-motion animation).His life and work were featured in the 2004 biographical documentary film Monster Road, directed by Brett Ingram, which has won numerous film festival awards and garnered acclaim in many countries.He is currently working on Boar's Head/Whore's Bed (line animation, 4500+ frames and counting), Tales of the Green River and Castle 2001, a feature-length film which is animated using 3D shapes made out of bits of paper.A new DVD was released by Bright Eye Pictures in early 2008, titled Prometheus' Garden. It includes the first film that Bickford had complete control over, the 28-minute Prometheus' Garden, originally completed on 16mm film in 1988. The DVD also includes Luck of a Foghorn, a new 30-minute documentary about Bickford by the director of Monster Road. Mr. Bickford was the first ever guest to appear on the internet radio show Pussyfoot.

Películas

Zappa
Self - Animator
Con la ayuda de más de 10,000 fanáticos dedicados de Zappa, este es el proyecto documental definitivo largamente esperado de Alex Winter que documenta la vida y carrera del enigmático e innovador estrella de rock Frank Zappa. Alex también utiliza en esta imagen miles de horas de videos, fotos, audio, escritura y todo lo demás cuidadosamente digitalizados de los archivos privados de Zappa. Estas crónicas nunca antes se habían presentado a una audiencia pública, hasta ahora.
Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme
Animation
Frank Zappa: A Token of his Extreme is the 1974 television special recorded at Kcet in Hollywood that was produced by Zappa and aired only in France and Switzerland. The program, as thoroughly tweezed and produced by Zappa for his own Honker Home Video label, includes the following musical performances by Zappa and his band: T”he Dog Breath Variations/ Uncle Meat,” “Montana,” “Florentine Pogen,” “Stink-Foot,” “Pygmy Twylyte,” “Room Service,” “Inca Roads,” “Oh No,” Son of Orange County,” “More Trouble Every Day” and “A Token of My Extreme.” In the words of Zappa himself as he said it on The Mike Douglas Show in 1976, “This is put together with my own money and my own time and it’s been offered to television networks and to syndication and it has been steadfastly rejected by the American television industry.
Cas'l
Director
CAS'L' is a 45-minute stop-motion clay animated film by Bruce Bickford.
The Comic that Frenches your Mind
Animation
A 5 minute, 2D, straight-ahead animated film by Bruce Bickford.
The Comic that Frenches your Mind
Director
A 5 minute, 2D, straight-ahead animated film by Bruce Bickford.
The Comic that Frenches your Mind
Narrator
A 5 minute, 2D, straight-ahead animated film by Bruce Bickford.
Monster Road
Himself
Explores the wildly fantastic world of legendary underground clay animator Bruce Bickford. Traces the origins of his remarkably unique sensibility, journeying back to Bickford's childhood in a competitive household during the paranoia of the Cold War. Finally, the film examines Bickford's relationship with his father, George, who is grappling with the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.
Prometheus' Garden
Animation
Inspired by the Greek myth of Prometheus, a Titan who created the first mortals from clay and stole fire from the gods, Prometheus' Garden immerses viewers in a cinematic universe unlike any other. The dark and magical images of this haunting film unfold in a dreamlike stream of consciousness revealing an unlikely cast of characters engaged in a violent struggle for survival.
Prometheus' Garden
Writer
Inspired by the Greek myth of Prometheus, a Titan who created the first mortals from clay and stole fire from the gods, Prometheus' Garden immerses viewers in a cinematic universe unlike any other. The dark and magical images of this haunting film unfold in a dreamlike stream of consciousness revealing an unlikely cast of characters engaged in a violent struggle for survival.
Prometheus' Garden
Director
Inspired by the Greek myth of Prometheus, a Titan who created the first mortals from clay and stole fire from the gods, Prometheus' Garden immerses viewers in a cinematic universe unlike any other. The dark and magical images of this haunting film unfold in a dreamlike stream of consciousness revealing an unlikely cast of characters engaged in a violent struggle for survival.
Frank Zappa presents: The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Director
Several pieces of Frank Zappa's music are set against clay animation by Bruce Bickford.
Frank Zappa presents: The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Himself
Several pieces of Frank Zappa's music are set against clay animation by Bruce Bickford.
Video From Hell
Animation
In a little over an hour, 'VIDEO FROM HELL' provides a preview of current and projected Honker releases, including 'BABY SNAKES', 'THE TRUE STORY OF 200 MOTELS' and 'UNCLE MEAT' (all 1987 releases) along with segments of 1988 shows still in preparation ('YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON STAGE ANYMORE'- which will be released after the multi-CD package, 'I NEED YOUR LOVE' - the homespun philosophy of Al Malkin, and 'AN AMERICAN DISSIDENT' - the homespun philosophy of Frank Zappa).
Baby Snakes
Director
Rock artist Frank Zappa hosts a concert in New York City. This movie contains tons of on-stage footage, off-stage footage, and animation.