News Article

College students’ animation receiving worldwide attention


5/21/2009 10:12:06 AM


Fictional character Kurt Slandertool, is shown in “Shame of the North Atlantic,” an animated film by College of the North Atlantic students in Stephenville.

CORY HURLEY
The Western Star

Students and staff at the College of the North Atlantic have produced a fresh perspective to the expression “seal clubbing".

”The digital animation program students at the school in Stephenville developed a mocumentary around the controversial seal hunt.

The short animated video entitled “Shame of the North Atlantic” features Kurt Slandertool, a correspondent for the European Union Broadcasting System, doing an on-ice expose on clubbing seals. The film, which is introduced with a graphic image disclaimer, is shot on the ice fields of the Labrador sea. The segment turns to night and the reporter whispers as he prepares to expose the horror.

“It’s night, we are very near now to the scene of the clubbing,” Slandertool says. “Listen, you can almost hear the beatings.”

The sound of dance music strengthens in the background as seals are shown bobbing in unison and yelping to the beat.

“Look at them, they are dancing, so 1998,” he says. “Can you believe they are tripping on eel? E-e-e-U-u-u.”

The production was completed by students at the end of their first year as a component of the program. This is the sixth successive year this type of project has been produced at the college.

While there are undoubtedly some messages to be taken from the satirical lines delivered in the video, Luis Castro said it was mainly just for amusement.

“Really, I just wanted it to be entertaining,” he said. “It’s for a good laugh and pretty much a joke, a satire.”

Castro is from Cuernavaca, Mexico and was only slightly aware of the existence of a seal hunt, but not the extent of the worldwide controversy surrounding it.

Jim Grace, the program’s instructor, said the amusement comes from those who know little about the seal hunt; for them the term seal clubbing could very well refer to seals in a dance bar.

“The message is: we have gotten more bloody action and coverage on this whole issue by using satire than we ever would have by jumping up and down, and setting our heads on fire over the poor seals or, for that matter, the poor sealers,” he said. “It’s actually getting a lot of attention internationally, it turns out.”

While each year, the projects essentially amount to a simple gag video, Grace said it doesn’t mean it can’t be universal and/or a little complex. He is not surprised by the attention the video is getting, saying it was designed that way.

There is a whole sense of taking yourself too seriously, he said.

“More than a support for the hunt, it is about ‘c’mon b’ys, get real. What are you getting on with?’” he said. “If you want to get technical and philosophical about it, I suppose we can talk about the economics of it and all that sort of thing. But, that sort of defeats the purpose.”

The video can be seen on the College of North Atlantic website www.cna.nl.ca or on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hL1mMXTPLQ.

Castro said posting it on YouTube is their way of getting exposure, but he didn’t think it would gain the notoriety it has.

“I am very satisfied,” he said. “It was a lot of work and we put a lot of hours into it. I feel good about it.”

The video will be showcased at this year’s Nickel Independent Film Festival, taking place in St. John’s June 23-27.

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Re-printed with permission from The Western Star, www.thewesternstar.com