Genre (1996 film)

Genre is a 1996 Live-action/animated short film by animator Don Hertzfeldt, his second student film, preceded by Ah, L'Amour (1995).

Genre
The nameless Rabbit from the Film.
Directed byDon Hertzfeldt
Produced byDon Hertzfeldt
Written byDon Hertzfeldt
Music byDave LaDelfa
CinematographyCary Walker
Edited byKevyn Eiselt
Release date
1996
Running time
4:58

The 16mm short combines traditional animation, pixilation, and stop-motion animation to present a cartoon rabbit careening through a variety of rapidly changing film genres as his animator struggles to come up with a good idea.

The short is Hertzfeldt's least favorite of his work,[1] but it nevertheless was an animation festival hit that went on to receive 17 awards.

In 1997, it was shown on an episode of MTV's Cartoon Sushi.

On DVD

In 2005, the original 16mm negative was digitally restored and remastered for the first time, for release on the extensive "Bitter Films Volume 1" DVD compilation of Hertzfeldt's 1995-2005 films. Special features included for Genre are Hertzfeldt's original production sketches, notes, and deleted ideas from the film; as well as a very rare 1993 video short called "Escape is Still Impossible": a precursor to Genre that Don created while still in high school. The DVD is available exclusively at the Bitter Films website, http://www.bitterfilms.com

Plot

The plot centers around a hand drawn rabbit, being told what to do by the animator. (similar to Duck Amuck.) The rabbit's activities depend on what genre appears on the screen. (Example, for "horror movie", the rabbit is stabbed repeatedly by a similarly-drawn bear.) Occasionally, the animator's hand will appear on the screen (Example, at the start, the rabbit is trying to run away from the movie, only to be pulled back by the animator's hand).

List of genres in the short
  • The Romantic Film - The animator draws up a female rabbit and the male rabbit dresses himself up and presents some flowers to her
  • The Science Fiction Film - The female rabbit tears off her face to reveal to be an alien-like creature and drags itself offscreen, causing the rabbit's flowers to wilt
  • The Comedy - The animator holds a carrot and the rabbit tries to get it from the animator's grasp, only for the animator to tease him a few times by shifting its hand away. The rabbit then flips the animator off
  • The Black Comedy - The animator draws up a carrot for the rabbit, and he eats it, only to find out it is a "radioactive ebola carrot" and his skin melts off and his eyeballs pop out from their sockets, and the rabbit runs around screaming, then gets hit by three lightning bolts, and hit by a 10-ton weight
  • The Buddy Picture - The animator draws up a bear and he becomes the rabbit's buddy
  • The Porno Film - The bear then imagines the rabbit as a girl (The animator draws makeup on the rabbit) and tries to kiss the rabbit, causing him/her to scream
  • The Horror Film - The rabbit ends up being fine, but is stabbed repetitively and quickly by the bear before stabbing himself
  • The Children's Film - The animator puts a party hat on the rabbit's head, only for it to do nothing, poking him with his finger only sticks the rabbit's tongue out. The animator pulls out a gun, threatening if he doesn't dance, he will shoot him. The rabbit dances as retro cartoon music plays rapidly changing in pitch
  • The Religious Film - The camera pans from left to right by The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, only Jesus's head is replaced by the rabbit
  • The Abstract Foreign Western - The rabbit is dressed as a cowboy, and text is typed below him that reads "I am Cow Boy. My gums are bleeding. Lo, I am ruptured" As someone offscreen says "Czy może pan naprawić to koło? Przepraszam, zabłądziłam." which translates to "Can you fix this wheel, please? I'm sorry, I got lost."
  • The Porno Disaster Film - The rabbit shows off his penis (Shown as a censor bar) and walks in a sexy manner. The penis falls off and the rabbit hides his parts and scurries away
  • The Science Fiction Musical - The rabbit sings "Wonderful buckets of romance for two" and gets abducted
  • The last one is a sign held up by a rabbit, reading "The pretentious student film?" before getting slammed down by the animator's fist

Production credits
  • Written, Produced, Animated, and Directed by Don Hertzfeldt[2]
  • Camera by Cary Walker
  • Editing and Sound by Kevyn Eiselt
  • Music by Dave LaDelfa
  • Stop Motion Assistance by Brian Hamblin
  • Sound Production by Kevin Kelly

Reception

The film was very well received. It was praised by critics such as Felix Hude of the Melbourne International Film Festival and won 17 awards.

Awards
  • Best Short Film - UCSB Corwin-Metropolitan Theaters Award[2]
  • First Place, Animation - UFVA Student Film Festival
  • The Lumiere Award - New Orleans Film Festival
  • First Place, Animated Short Subject New York Empire State Exhibitions
  • Most Promising Filmmaker - Sinking Creek Film Festival
  • Silver Plaque, Animation - Chicago International Film Festival
  • Second Place, Animation - Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
  • Best Santa Barbara Filmmaker - Santa Barbara International Film Festival
  • Gold Medal, Best Animation - Carolina Film Festival
  • Audience Choice Award, Best Animated Short - Filmfest New Haven
  • Jury Award for Humor - Ann Arbor Film Festival
  • Jury Award - Surprise International Film Festival, Taiwan
  • Second Place, Student Animation - World Animation Celebration
  • Bronze Plaque - Columbus International Film Festival
  • Finalist Award - Worldfest Houston
  • Honorable Mention - Humboldt State Film Festival
  • Honorable Mention - Atlanta Film Festival

References
  1. Don Hertzfeldt. bitter films volume one: 1995-2005 (booklet liner notes) (DVD). Archived from the original on 2007-04-09.
  2. "genre". Bitterfilms.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
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