The Film and Concerts committees hosted a joint Animal Collective event last Wednesday, April 20. The film “Oddsac,” a 53-minute collection of new songs and score by Animal Collective and Danny Perez, an experimental video artist, was shown in Gardner to a small but captivated crowd.
“Oddsac” is the one collaboration of the semester for the two committees; Chairs Courtney Sheehan ’11 and Nic Wilson ’12 decided April 20 was a most opportune time to host it.
“Nic and I had planned to do a joint event this semester, and the recently released Animal Collective movie seemed like a good choice,” said Films Chair Sheehan.
Last semester the joint event was a showing of a concert video, which, perhaps similar to this film, catered to a specific crowd.
“We showed a Bjork concert video which had, let’s say, niche appeal. But I got to wear a swan dress for hype,” Sheehan said.
“Oddsac” begins with a close up of a patch of lush grass and a shot of a woman at first all alone, but then appears to be in an open space with someone making a giant ring of fire. The movie continues with this idea of open space, showing many vacant landscapes, although none very welcoming. Movement in general seems to be a strong theme of the film, which connected the visual to the audio.
Disturbing, dream-like images abound in “Oddsac,” such as a wall with black ink melting from it and a man that looks like a clown with his head changing colors. The journey through the film is comparable to an array of psychedelic drugs.
Preparation is required before engaging in the rapid mix of images and sounds in “Oddsac”—some peaceful and calming, others scary and unsettling.
There are many abstract as well as representational images throughout the film and “Oddsac” is quite successful in blending them into one mirage.
“What I enjoyed the most was the tensions, between different images, from those that were more recognizable to those that were much more abstract,” said Concerts Chair Wilson.
Although there is a great, cartoonish aspect to the film, there are also a few scenes with just a tantalizing blend of colors. In one scene there are just four colors that continuously revolve around each other.
“I liked all the colors in that one part, there was no real representation just four minutes of orange, pink, red and black. That was really cool in retrospect,” said Winsome Eustace ’12.
While some viewers felt that this was similar to other Animal Collective work, others thought it was much louder and had a more chaotic sound.
“I am definitely a fan of Animal Collective … this had a more darker and scary tone to it,” said Moira Donovan ’14.
Some viewers seemed to find the sheer ridiculousness surprisingly hilarious, but the film might have provoked a little more fear and horror than could be desired on 4/20; the ghastly blood, fighting and screeching was excessive at times.
“I found the vampire teeth terrifying, not the best stoned material,” said a member of the audience. “I prefer rainbows and puppies, less blood.”
