(i chose this russian cartoon as my inspiration for this animation project.)

Heres another inspirational video, probably the most beautiful video i've ever seen:
Hedgehog in the fog by Yuriy Norshteyn



the way Norshteyn uses glass plates and reading further, using very thin papers to produce the fog is just perfectly beautiful... He achieve this very sincere depth of feeling through the material as well as the movement and coordination.  What also interests me about the video as well as many russian cartoons of the time is how they can be equally moving for adults even though they at first appear as made for children.  The mature themes used to tell stories come through in a very honest manner that can be adapted to all ages.  Its nice that they were made keeping children in mind, which in turn references their openness with children without being in any way condescending.


Svankmajer

Svankmajer is another video maker who uses stop motion however he often combines with live characters.  By combining the two worlds, a third surreal world develops.    The videos often have "dark" undertones and reference surrealism in attitudes and dimensions.  He uses angles often to develop infinite spaces which i found really interesting but to point out single moments and characteristics is really difficult as his work spans in so many different directions.   He uses sound as a predominant tool in setting the atmosphere (very little verbal dialogue if any) and often the speeds of which things are animated is changed according to the current moods ( i hadnt really seen much of that before in such a purposeful way) .  Youtube is a great resource for his videos but Im interested now in the "full featured' ones which i can only see snippits of.