Brothers Quay Artist Response

Pre-video discussion, I had gotten the impression that the film Street of the Crocodiles was some sort of off-color, not quite macabre manifestation of an idea by the Brothers Quay. Having viewed only one of their other films previous to this, I had just assumed it to be nothing more than a creepy depiction of a man getting lost in a place that he was not supposed to be in and his ambiguous demise therein. (It's very hard to describe but bear with me.) Anyways, throughout the video there is this creeping feeling that can only be experienced when one is in a room full of old dolls with the lights off, it's a sort of paranoia that you tell yourself doesn't exist yet for some reason you can't help but think that there still may be a small possibility the dolls are alive. The usage of everything old and outdated, the dirtiness of the set, the creepily fluid motion and mechanics of each movement work in harmony to create this feeling I'll nickname "dollhouse paranoia." The ambiguity of what is going on for the first portion of the film also feeds into this feeling. The music was the perfect combination of high-pitched dissonance and ominous, foreboding bass. I don't think that there could have been a better soundtrack for achieving that effect. One thing that I didn't understand was the little boy with the mirror, because after learning that this film was about the effects of the industrialization on the human condition, his role and antics didn't seem to fit in with what was going on. It would be something I would omit since I don't see any hidden meaning in it.

Before talking about the "Street of Crocodiles" in class, I was very confused by the meaning of the video. This film was eerie and creepy, with both music and lighting to help make it dark and spooky. There was no narration or explanation of what was happening, and that's why the plot was spooky and difficult to understand. The only time I've seen anything by the Brother's Quay has been in class, and I don't know much about their work or the meaning behind it. However, I do think that they used exceptional use of music, lighting, and characters to get their dark mood and setting across. I also think it was interesting how they chose to use screws and other objects to tell their story.

When we watched the “Street of Crocodiles” I thought it was a interesting, weird, and creepy piece of work. It was like a horror film made in the early1990’s with disturbing dolls like chucky. I probably experience this feeling because of the music and sounds the film was creepy and that they make the dolls come to life. When they played like squeaky noise in a dark setting it made it frightful. The mood of this film was dark and scary. They did a great job

"Street of Crocodiles" by the Brothers Quay was extremely more complex and purposeful than I had expected it to be. However, while watching it, I had a very hard time figuring out the actual plot of the stop-motion video. It was not until the end that the class discussed the fact that it was a sort of political or governmental awareness piece of art. The textures in this masterpiece were insane! I think that it was the biggest contributor to the overall feeling that the viewers had, aside from the music. The way everything looked old, dusty, worn out, neglected and dark was sheer perfection in my opinion. The soundtrack the Brothers Quay put together was very beautiful and was essential to the plot of the film. They put a lot of conceptual thought into the scenes of this film. I am sure they did so by discussing every little detail such as the way the objects looked when their heads were turned a certain way and by spending days working on the sound effects and etc. I wish I had the time and motivation to do something as ambitious as this piece, unfortunately I do not have six years or so to spare. It was a neat piece of work, though!

While I was watching the "Street of Crocodiles" I had a feeling of weirdness that was coming from the video. I think this was happening because I did not understand what the video was about. Just watching the video without having knowledge of what the video is about is a big factor in what kind of feelings you are going to experience while watching the video. Another thing that played a role in making me experience the feelings I felt was the music. The soundtrack to the video was mostly played in notes that make the music sound out of tune and that those sounds are what make it sound creepy and weird. The lightning and the way they made the dolls move was another way they made the audience experience different emotions. The overall set where the video was made, made me feel like the place was dirty and disgusting, it was a place I would not like to be in. I think that if anything was changed from the original video it would not give off the same type of mood it was intended to give the audience. Maybe it would still give the same mood if the music or the setting of the video were to use a similar soundtrack or set, but if they were to change a lot it would probably ruin the purpose of the video. I thought the Brothers Quay did a really great job in making their audience feel different kinds of emotions.

Yeah. So, I think the first thing worth noting is the overall aesthetic of Street of Crocodiles. Everything is, rusted, antiqued (maybe dilapidated is a better word), and dusty. The idea of rust and dust are more dealing in the realm of texture, which was an important component. It felt as if we were going through an old cabinet, one where no one had looked in for years, where spiders had laid eggs and nails had fallen and rest in pools of dripping water. Maybe cabinet isn't the best word, as the world didn't feel particularly small. The contrast in the lighting adds a very isolated effect. It isolates the viewer, maybe... from wherever the light, which is of course the arcane symbol for like... good and shit. I don't know.

Really, I think the soundscape is what created the mood. Obviously the film was key as well, but watching sections in silence, creates a completely different effect. I was recently told by a professor here that people don't go to movies to watch anything, they go to listen, which doesn't have anything to do directly with this video. It does lend itself to the idea that the soundscape is what made this particular film, but I guess I don't think that's true, I don't think the soudns made the film, just had the most contribution in creating a mood for this piece. The sounds matched the imagery, metallic and sharp. I don't think I understand music enough to really give it any justice on to "how" it created such a mood. Then again, I don't think I understand any of this enough.

There isn't really anything I would change, but I don't really know the artists intentions and I trust the Brothers Quay as artists more than I do myself. Honestly I don't know what to say. I really struggle to say anything about this, I'm pretty unfamiliar with film. Something I did enjoy and thought was successful was the use of vignettes and the composition of those was very successful, I thought, in conveying that mood. Bleh.

"Street of Crocodiles"... really, for the most part gave me a very, very "eery" feeling. I am almost positive this was the feeling I was supposed to get given all the dark colors and textures, antique furniture and the slow paced movement of the characters. The complexity of the film was quite astonishing, and the movements in the film were so precise it was hard to tell it was "stop-motion" at all. I think the music had an exceptional effect on the how to film was to be perceived. It's slow tempo really made the characters and the rest of the architecture of the film come to life with a frightful appeal. The only thing I would change about he film would be is to make the plot a little more clear, because without discussion after watching it I would have never even considered. Adding more characters could have made all the difference.