Consuming Spirits

Nearly 15 years in the making Chris Sullivan's Consuming Spirits is a meticulously constructed tour de force of experimental animation. Shooting frame by frame in 16mm Sullivan seamlessly blends together a range of techniques—cutout animation pencil drawing collage and stop-motion animation—into a distinct signature visual style. In the process he constructs a hypnotic layered narrative a suspenseful gothic tale that tracks the intertwined lives of three kindred spirits working at a local newspaper in a Midwestern rust belt town. The accumulation of these images builds to a great atmospheric effect achieved through an adroit combination of inventive set design ever-shifting visual perspectives fluid camera movements a vivid color palette and a haunting music track. Sullivan succeeds in creating with great artistry a hermetic self-contained world emanating from his own unique and vivid imagination. (Jon Gartenberg Tribeca Film Festival)