The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
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| The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello | |
|---|---|
 "Do you wish to see a miracle?" Dr Claude Belgon, Aerial Biologist |
|
| Directed by | Anthony Lucas |
| Produced by | Julia Lucas |
| Written by | Mark Shirrefs |
| Starring | Helmut Bakaitis Joel Edgerton |
| Music by | Bruce Rowland |
| Editing by | David Tait |
| Distributed by | Monster Distributers |
| Release date(s) | 20 January 2005 (Limited) |
| Running time | 26 mins. |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | AUD 600,000 (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello is a 2005 Academy Award-nominated animated short film. The first episode is labeled Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship.
Contents |
[edit] Story
[edit] The First Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship
The story starts in the city of Gothia, an industrial, smoke-ridden city using flying steam-powered ships as transportation. Here a terrible flesh-eating plague is devastating the population. The narrator, Jasper Morello is a royal navigator who suffers from guilt, after a mistake in his calculations that cost the life of a crewmember on one his former voyages. Following his reprievement, by the "Authority", Jasper is assigned on another voyage, the purpose of which is to deploy mobile weather beacons, en route to the neighbouring Republic of Lawrencia. The expedition is led by Captain Griswald, his former captain who hasn't forgiven Jasper for his last mistake. Jasper's host ship, the "Resolution", is also crewed by Kemp, an engineer and technician, Kovacs, a linesman and worker, and Emile LeBrun, a cook. The Resolution's guest passenger is the mysterious Dr. Belgon, a doctor researching the cure for the plague, but ridiculed by his institute, the Royal Academy, for his methods.
During the trip, the Resolution gets into a storm and collides with another abandoned vessel, the "Hieronymous". The crew flees from their own ship and boards the new one, but, during the evacuation, Jasper looses his compass. He tries to navigate the ship further, but soon after he learns that his wife, Amelia, a nurse who he left at home, has contracted the first phase of the plague. As a result, Jasper enters a state of temporary panic and tries to take the ship back home, after which Dr. Belgon sedates him.
After Jasper subsequently awakes, he enters the ship's deck, where he finds Kovacs and Kemp observing a large concentration of bright rays, with smaller particles of light floating in midair. Kovacs identifies the rays as being a borealis, but Kemp believes the lights to be "souls of the dead". Soon, LeBrun is infected by the plague. The captain decides to turn around and head home, but they encounter a seemingly deserted levitating island. After boarding the island, Jasper is attacked by a large bug-like creature, whom they manage to subdue, albeit to the great discontent of Dr. Belgon, who wanted to preserve the specimen in it's originality, regardless of its deadliness. Upon eating the remains of the monster, the crew notices that the boiled blood of the creature cures LeBrun. Belgon insists on bringing back some cocoons of the creature to Gothia, in order to establish a breeding colony.
The cocoons soon hatch and the creature is isolated into a separate room of the ship. Dr. Belgon reveals to Jasper that he discovered that the creature lives on human blood, and he has been feeding it with his own blood. Jasper insists to tell Captain Griswald, but Belgon convinces him that if the crew gets to know, they'll kill the creature and with it, the cure for his wife. During the night, after the crew members rejoice after Kovacs catches a delicate "Porkfish". Jasper notices that Belgon also joins the debauchery, despite never seeing him drinking before. The crew wakes up to find Kovacs missing. They conclude that he fell overboard drunk, and mourn him. As LeBrun goes missing, Jasper becomes suspicious and looks into the creature's room, where he founds the monster devouring the cook. He is then ambushed and sedated by Dr. Belgon.
He wakes up chained to the steering wheel of the ship. Belgon, obsessed with his quest, tells him that he sedated the rest of the crew and plans to feed them to the creature, because he sees this as the only way to retain it. He keeps Jasper alive to deliver the ship home. Jasper, knowing that he's in imminent danger by both the creature and the insane Dr. Belgon, and that his wife is in need, guides the ship towards home. When Belgon suggests that he will kill Jasper before they reach home, he unexpectedly rams the ship into a nearby iceberg. Belgon falls overboard, but grabs the ledge, and begs Jasper to save him in order to save Jasper's already guilty conscience. Jasper, however, is still chained to the deck and unable to reach him. Dr. Belgon is crushed when the side of the ship collides with the iceberg. Jasper is subsequently able to free himself, using Belgon's discarded keys.
The film ends with Jasper, left alone, attaching a blood-sucking machine to his arm to feed the creature. Knowing that he may not survive, prior to reaching home, Jasper reassures his wife that he will be, with "The great company of souls, riding the borealis to eternity" (a reference to his previous observation, of such a sight). "Perhaps," Jasper ridicules, "They will require a navigator".
[edit] Animation Style
The short films are set in a world styled like Victorian England with iron dirigibles and steam powered computers, where giant mechanical airships are the main mode of transport. The characters are animated in the style of Wayang (Indonesian shadow puppets) best described as silhouettes, but the backgrounds often have added textures and colours rendered using CGI. The style is similar to that used by the 1926 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed (the oldest-surviving animated feature film). Despite the unconventional look, the entire film is computer-generated.
- See also:Silhouette animation
[edit] Characters
- Captain Otto H. Griswald - Aeronaut Captain, 7th Class
- Mr. Jasper Morello - Navigator, 3rd Royal Cartographers, Difference Engine Operator 2nd Class.
- Engineer Kemp - First Engineer of the Ironclad RES
- Linesman Kovacs
- Mr. Emile LeBrun - The ship’s cook.
- Dr Claude Belgon - Royal Academy Member, Electrical Aerologist 12th Class, Doctorate of Cloud Biology. KP, RTS, q-23P.g.k.o.
[edit] The series
Jasper Morello was developed and produced in association with the Australian Film Commission; developed and produced with the assistance of Film Victoria and produced in association with SBS Independent.
- The First Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship
- The Second Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Return of Claude Belgon
- The Third Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Ghosts of Alto Mea
- The Fourth Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Ebenezer of Gothia
[edit] Awards
[edit] Nominations
On January 31, 2006 it was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film.
[edit] Wins
- Australian Film Institute Awards, BEST SHORT ANIMATION, OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CRAFT IN A NON-FEATURE, Production Design,
- 2005 IF Awards. Winner, Digital Pictures IF Award for Best Animation
- Flickerfest 14th International Short Film Festival 2005Yoram Gross Best Animation Award Audioloc Sound Design Award for Best Achievement in Sound
- The 29th International Animated Film Festival, Annecy, France 2005 - Le Cristal D’Annecy - Grand Prix Court Metrage
- Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto, Canada 2005 - The C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures Award for Best Animated Short Film
- Dendy Awards for Australian Short Film, Sydney 2005 - The 2005 Yoram Gross Best Animation Award
- Sicaf Film Festival, KOREA 2005 - Special Jury Prize
- Dragon Con –Sci Fi USA, 2005 - First Place Animated Fantasy and Science Fiction: Best of Fest award, Best Animated Short.
- Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, USA, 2005 - Runner up Jury Award
- Valladolid International Film Festival, 2005 - 50th Anniversary Prize
- Atom Awards, Melbourne 2005 - Best Short Animation
[edit] Festival Selections
- Fantoche International Animation Festival, Baden, Switzerland
- Feile Bochan, Kilkenny Ireland
- Ottawa 05 International Animation Festival, Canada
- Athens International Film Festival, Greece
- Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2005
- Melbourne International Film Festival 2005
- 14th Brisbane International Film Festival 2005
- Edinburgh International Film Festival, UK 2005
- Imago 2005, Portugal
- Animadrid, Spain
- Cardiff, Wales UK
- Buster, Copenhagen
- Leipzig, Germany
- Wiesbaden, Germany
- Redcat, Los Angeles
- Les Nuits Magiques, France
- L’Etrange, France
- Wessembourg, France
- Montreal, Canada
- Chang-Sha, China
- PISAF, Korea
- Asiana, Korea
- Golden Horse, Taipei
- Best of Short Films Festival in La Chiotat, France
- Cinanima, Portugal
- Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, San Sebastian, Spain
- Tollywood, Best of Annecy, Toyko
- FIFM - Festival international de films de Montréal
- Wiesbaden International Weekend of Animation, Germany
- Dokfestival, Leipzig
- I Castelli Animati, Italy
- InDPanda International Short Film Festival, Hong Kong
