top of page

Harpya (1979)

Synopsis

 

During an evening walk, Mr. Oscar witnesses an assault. To his great surprise, he finds that the victim is an authentic harpy. His interest has been aroused, but not without danger ...

 

“'Harpya' was my first attempt to combine live action images with animation. The images of live actors had to be embedded in the graphic backgrounds. Since digital technology did not yet exist at the time and the well-known 'mask' procedure turned out to be priceless, I developed my own technology with a combination of leg animation, front projection and multiplane recordings. The result was ultimately very satisfactory, but the process was extremely time consuming and could only be performed by one person. Hence, 'Harpya' will probably remain the only film made with this technique. ”

 

Palmarès

 

1979: Palme d'Or: International Film Festival - Cannes (France).

1980: Voted by international film critics as one of the fifteen best animated films of all time.

2006: In a Top 100 of the most striking short works from a hundred years of animated film, commissioned by the Festival of Annecy and the film magazines Studio and Variety prepared by 30 international specialists, Raoul Servais is in 14th place with 'Harpya'.

 

 

Technical sheet

 

  • Format: 35mm

  • Colour

  • Frame: 1 x 1.33

  • Sound: Optical-Mono

  • Length: 9 '

  • Original version: International - no dialogues

  • Directed by: Raoul Servais

  • Script: Raoul Servais

  • Animation: Raoul Servais

  • Backgrounds: Raoul Servais

  • Music: Lucien Goethals

  • Cast: Fran Waller Zeper, Will Spoor, Sjoerd Schwibettus

  • Produced by: Anagram, realized with the support of the Flemish Community

!
bottom of page