The Cave
Dir. Michael Ramsey / USA / 3:00 / Fiction
Synopsis: An evocative claymation adaptation of the allegory of the cave, a classic commentary on the human condition.
What Moving Stories Films Advisors Are Saying…
I loved mixing Plato with Claymation, the imperfection and essential goofiness of clay putting a literally earthy human twist on the philosophy. I’d never really thought of Plato as a story-teller before.
- Anne Collins, Publisher
Both the narration and the animation have a gritty, visceral quality that works in perfect harmony with the material, and that makes you feel as if you are seeing a world stripped down to its most basic elements. A truly beautiful and moving piece.
- Nino Ricci, Author
The premise was really interesting: the idea that the prisoners only know the world through the shadows in front of them and muffled sounds behind them is quite compelling. Art direction was nice and it was refreshing to see animation that was crude and less than perfect. I like it when I feel the humanity in animation.
-Gary Thomas, Filmmaker
ABOUT THE FILM: An excerpt from Plato’s Republic, the ‘Allegory of the Cave’ is a classic commentary on the human condition, brought to life by shooting over 4,000 still photographs of John Grigsby’s wonderful claymation. The look was achieved by use of candlelight in a real fire that burned at the back of the set. USA Film Festival Short Film and Video Competition 2008 (1st Place Animation).
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Michael Ramsey has provided production services on over 300 films and television programs. His work as a producer, director and cinematographer has appeared in feature length documentaries, music videos, television series, animations, and commercials. His Boulder, Colorado based company Spoken Image is now providing services for documentary, commercial, NGO’s, and web clients. John Grigsby has been animating since he was about 9 years old. Starting with flipbooks, it then evolved into claymation and other stop motion techniques such as rotoschoping and pixilation. One of Grigsby’s most recent animations entitled, “An Introduction to Lucid Dream Exploration” was painstakingly created, frame by frame on an etch-a-sketch, and has appeared in over a dozen film festivals world wide. Grigsby is also a musician and plays, as well as creates, many musical instruments. He recently toured the world as a bassist with blues musician Otis Taylor. John Grigsby is pushing the limits of audible and visual art.
Based on the Philosophical Dialogue The Republic
By Plato
Penguin Classics
ISBN 978-0140455113
FILM CREDITS
DIRECTOR, WRITER, PRODUCER
Michael Ramsey
CLAYMATION ARTIST
John Grigsby
VOICE
Kristopher Hutson
PRODUCER
Timothy Schultz
PHOTOGRAPHY
John Grigsby, Michael Ramsey
EDITORS
Bruce Rudolph, John Grigsby
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