The Night I Wake
An animated film by Šimon Koudela with music by Jan P. Muchow
A long warm night in the middle of a city. In two houses opposite one another on a certain street, life and death are separated only by a wall, glass or the mere flutter of a moth. It is quiet, peaceful enough for love, for memories, for the bearing of (human) young; it is so calm you can hear the fall of a caraway seed. Just before daybreak the birds fall silent for a moment and before the new day dawns, the souls of the dead fly away.
The film’s animation is unique. In some cases, filmed studies of real human movements and facial mimicry served as a model. These sequential shots, however, were not used as the basis for the animation as is the case with rotoscoping, for example in the film Alois Nebel. Everything was reconstructed and created anew using the digital animation of two-dimensional objects and, primarily, so-called morphing. The film has been shown at international festivals in the Brazilian cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and in Hiroshima, Japan.
ŠIMON KOUDELA (born 1974) studied at FAMU (animation and multimedia production and direction). He has created several documentary films for Czech Television and the firm FEBIO. He directs television programs, live broadcasts and musical concerts. He is the creator of the special effects film Robinson as well as the animation and animated shots in Goodbye Sun about the fate of Alén Diviš, František Kupka – Symphonist of Colours and Painter of the Cosmos, and Klamovka about the legendary Košíř pub.
