…with those eyes of yours. The makers of a new Canadian short film have integrated real eye performances with stop-motion animated puppets. The result looks quite spectacular: both emotionally engaging and spooky. The NFB-supported film, Madame Tutli-Putli, looks fantastic, at least judging from the trailer and “making of” stuff I’ve seen on the web. I can’t wait to be able to see it in its entirety.

The eye replacement “trick” they’re using is something that I’m sure will be copied in Hollywood and independent films alike, simply because it’s a great idea. It may be a ton of work to do well (read more about portrait artist Jason Walker’s digital compositing work here, or look at the gallery on his site), but hey — what isn’t painstaking in the animation world?

I suppose it would be only fair to mention the vaguely similar yet completely different Québécois animation phenomenon called Têtes à Claques. (Caution: only attempt to enjoy these goofy episodes if you are fluent in Joual! ;-)

In the same way that the bullet-time effect became almost cliché after The Matrix showed us how cool it was, I wonder if, in a few years, we will be rolling our eyes (quick, someone, grab a video camera!) to see this new technique being used in yet another film. For now, though, it’s fresh and innovative — if Madame Tutli-Putli is screened in your town, go see it and simply enjoy the filmmakers’ magical visual style. Also, its about riding a train cross-country, which is always cool. I haven’t seen it yet, so I can’t claim to know Mme. T-P personally. But on first appearance I think she looks like she may be the love-child of Amélie Poulain and Charlie Chaplin. Could be the hat. Or maybe it’s those big eyes.