LOS ANGELES — At one minute 45 seconds,
with credits, “Fresh Guacamole“(酪梨沙拉醬(一種含酪梨泥的墨西哥涼拌醬)) is the briefest film ever nominated for an Oscar. It’s a
stop-motion short in which that popular avocado dish is remade with different
ingredients, starting with a grenade (手榴彈)in place of the avocado(酪梨). The short, made by an animator known as
PES, is a sequel (續集) of sorts to “Western Spaghetti,” a stop-motion (停格動畫) recipe (食譜) of pickup sticks pasta and Rubik’s cube
garlic. It’s the first film PES, born Adam Pesapane, submitted
(呈交) for Oscar consideration
(候選、考量), a process that presented some
challenges for a filmmaker whose work usually lives on YouTube.
PES
“Fresh Guacamole,” a
nominated animated short, is by PES.
“You have to jump
through some hoops (束縛、箍)” to get a theatrical
(劇場的)
screening (選拔、篩選), as required (必須的) by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (動畫藝術和科學學院，奧斯卡的官方選評單位), Mr. Pesapane said in an interview on Tuesday from his home in Santa Monica, Calif.
The film, commissioned (受委託的) by Showtime, had its premiere (首映) before “The Artist” at a Hollywood theater last year and was
programmed by the Laemmle Theaters, an art-house chain here. Despite its brevity (簡短，brief的名詞變化型) and deceptively (迷惑地) simple concept the short took four months, upward (超過) of $50,000
and a team of technical (技術的) experts
(專家) to create. “The guys who did ‘The Dark
Knight Rises,’ the Bane mask (蝙蝠俠黑暗騎士：黎明昇起裡戴著防毒面具的一個角色) , painted all the
stuff for this film,” Mr. Pesapane said.
With a career as a
commercial (廣告) director,
Mr. Pesapane, 39, who is working on a feature-length
(正片長度) project
(計畫) or two — an
adaptation (改編) of the Garbage Pail Kids (垃圾Pali孩，某部劇本) series may get off the ground (開始) first — said he hoped the Oscar nomination for his micro-opus (微著作、微電影)would help him gain
Hollywood momentum (動能). Thanks to a recent rule change this year
the entire membership of the Academy is invited to vote on entries in the
short-film categories. (The Oscar-nominated shorts, animated and live action,
open theatrically
(戲劇化地) on Friday.)
“You can’t get any
higher award for making short films, let alone minute-and-40 second films,” PES
said. In place of the usual “For Your Consideration” ads that studios run
touting their films, he and his wife and collaborator (合作者), Sarah Phelps, had another slogan (標語) idea: “For Your Amusement.(樂趣、娛樂)”
Focus Features
“ParaNorman” joins two other stop-action Oscar
nominees.
While no one was looking, this year’s
Oscars have become a hotbed (溫床) for animation lovers. For starters an
animator, Seth MacFarlane, a creator of “Family Guy” and “The Cleveland Show,”
is hosting the ceremony (典禮) on Feb. 24. There are 5 nominees (被提名者) for best animated film — usually there are three — reflecting (反映) a record 21 such features (作為主要角色、角逐) up for consideration this season.
(There were also more contenders (競爭者) in the shorts categories.) Collectively (共同的) the full-length Oscar hopefuls have made more than $542 million at
the box office (票房), mostly thanks to Pixar/Disney’s “Brave,”
a rebel (反叛) princess story with a bow-and-arrow-shooting heroine (女英雄), and “Wreck-It Ralph,” a pop culture mash-up
(大亂鬥、大雜燴) of retro
(復古、懷舊) video games and cartoons. The other
three nominees are done in stop-motion, an old animation form (體裁) that rarely crops up (被提到) so frequently
(頻繁的) in one year.
“When we did ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (聖誕夜驚魂，以黏土、人偶、定格模型所做成的動畫) in 1993, a stop-motion (定格動畫) feature was pretty much unheard-of,”
said Tim Burton, whose “Frankenweenie,” using the same technique
(技術), is a nominee this year. It is based on a
live-action short he made in 1984, when he was briefly an animator at Disney.
“Though even in the ’80s Rick Heinrichs,” his production designer (設計師), “and I pitched (定位、定調) it as a stop-motion film,” Mr. Burton wrote in an
e-mail. “It seemed the perfect medium for the feature. There’s something tangible (實體的) and so beautifully textured (特徵顯著的、特色鮮明的) about stop-motion. I’ve always
loved it.”
And Mr. Burton helped inaugurate (使…就職) a generation (世代) of artists: Chris Butler worked on “Corpse
Bride (喪屍新娘)” (directed by Mr.
Burton and Mike Johnson), a nominee in 2006, before going on to write and co-direct (共同執導) “ParaNorman,” another stop-motion nominee this year. Though the
stop-motion films earned a fraction (小部分) of the ticket sales of their fully digital (數位的) compatriots (夥伴), their triple recognition
(賞識) acknowledges
(公認) “the craftsmanship
(技術) and the art that goes into these things,”
Mr. Butler
said. “We always say it’s like making a live-action movie in miniature (縮影) at a glacial (冰河時期的) pace
(速度).”
In a joint
(共同的) phone interview
(採訪) on Tuesday, Sam Fell, the other director
of “ParaNorman,” about a boy who can communicate
(溝通) with ghosts, added that “quite often it’s
the stop-motion movies that are more out there,” adding, “They’re a little quirkier (詭詐多變的), they’re a little harder to pin down
(約束).”
“Frankenweenie” is a horror-inspired (由恐怖片受啟發的) take on a boy who reanimates (使…復活) his dead dog, with gleefully (歡欣的), ghoulishly
(殘忍的) Burtonian
(Burton式的，聖誕夜驚魂作者的姓轉品為形容詞；他的作品風格多為陰暗、詭異又帶點可愛) results. Mr. Burton said that film is “about how people question
the value of science and art in this world, the creative mind in general, and
accepting someone who thinks differently.”
Another nominee, “The Pirates (海盜)! Band of Misfits (不合群的傢伙),” directed by Peter Lord, is a resplendently (耀眼地、燦爛地) silly tale (故事、傳說) that joins Charles Darwin, Queen
Victoria and a formally clad chimp (穿著老舊正式襯衫的黑猩猩) on the high seas.
With “ParaNorman,” “Frankenweenie” and “The
Pirates! Band of Misfits” in production at roughly
(大約地) the same time, there was even a shortage
(短缺) of stop-motion experts. “We
had to find a whole bunch (一票) of people, the next generation even, young
people who just made a short film in their bedroom,” Mr. Fell said. “It really
grew the community this year.” With the lengthy production process (過程), “one movie in this medium is long enough for someone to really
progress from being very inexperienced to having a real handle on the medium,”
he said.
Since the animated feature category (項目) was introduced (作為…開始) at the Oscars for 2001 productions
(製作), the Academy’s short film and feature
animation branch (分支), which includes career cartoonists as well
as designers and filmmakers, has regularly included stop-motion and hand-drawn (手繪) fare (費用) — the work on which many in the field cut their teeth (第一次學到經驗). The nominees are chosen by a volunteer group of 100 to 125
Academy members, half from the animation branch and half not, who must watch at
least three-fourths of the eligible (合乎資格的) films, all on the big screen, said Jon
Bloom, a governor (董事) and the chairman
(主席) of the branch. This has led to some grumbling (抱怨、發牢騷) that the committee (委員會) is a self-selected group, perhaps retirees (退休人員), whose tastes might skew to (偏向) the pre-computer graphics era.
“The category is likened (把…比做) to foreign film and
best picture, meaning that what we’re instructed
(告知、吩咐) to vote on is the entire achievement (成就),” Mr. Bloom said. “We’re not voting on the best animation but the
best animated film in its totality (整體), and that means story and performance and
animation and everything.”
The feature winners are chosen by the
Academy over all. The animation industry’s (產業的) version of the Oscars, the Annies, will
be handed out (送出、繳出) on Saturday; all five Oscar nominees are
contenders there too, with other studio films like DreamWorks’ “Rise of the
Guardians” and Sony Pictures’ “Hotel Transylvania.” “Brave” won the Golden Globe (金球獎) for animation but awards watchers are
split (意見分歧的) on whether it,
“Frankenweenie,” “ParaNorman” or “Wreck-It Ralph” lead the field at the Oscars.
Clark Spencer, the producer of “Wreck-It Ralph,” whose art direction spans (延伸到) the evolution (發展) of video games, from the earliest eight-bit (八位元) to the complex digital multiplayers
(多人玩家連線) today, said that as audiences have
been primed (為…準備好) by all different
styles of animation, they are eager for more, whether that is a retro
stop-motion look or a cutting-edge (前衛、尖端的) 3-D scene. “You tell a great story,
but people always want to know what’s going to be unique
(獨特) about it visually,” he said.
And the Academy, Mr. Bloom said, is acutely
aware (察覺) of the role that blockbuster (票房強檔) animated films play in the telecast (有線電視節目). That’s why the award is usually presented early during the ceremony.
“The Academy is hoping to get interest in the Oscars from young viewers who may
be going to bed soon afterward,” he said, “trying to indoctrinate
(灌輸、教育) a new generation.”
【文、圖／Tripass景點家提供】
我國與愛爾蘭打工度假計畫（Working Holiday Programme）即將於明（102）年1月1日生效施行，愛爾蘭移民暨歸化署（Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service）已自即日起開始受理國人申請打工度假授權書。我國年齡介於18歲至30歲的青年可以申請前往愛爾蘭觀光、參加不超過6個月以上的教育及訓練，以及從事非長期雇用性質的工作。
明年想要到愛爾蘭打工度假的民眾，即日起可開始申請。（資料來源／愛爾蘭移民暨歸化署網站）
由於愛爾蘭未在台灣設立代表機構，申請人需至愛爾蘭移民暨歸化署網站（www.inis.gov.ie）點選「Immigration」，再點選「Working Holiday Programme Between Ireland and the Republic of China （Taiwan）」後，下載「打工度假授權書申請表」（Application for a Working Holiday Authorisation），於齊備相關文件後，逕寄至愛爾蘭移民暨歸化署申辦。相關申請程序可上愛爾蘭移民暨歸化署網站或我外交部網站（www.mofa.gov.tw）查詢。
In the past, studying abroad was the alternative chosen by students who werent able to secure a place in top local universities. Nowadays, students and their parents are forsaking local schools in favor of getting a degree in the US.
Most parents even decide to send their children to the US as early as high school to better their chance of getting admitted into an ivy-league university. They dont want their children to concentrate day and night on getting a good grade on the Gaokao, which is the only thing Chinese universities consider in admitting students. They want the American style of education where the focus is placed on the student, what his needs are and what he wants to do in the future.
Due to Chinas recent economic boom, many parents are wealthy enough to send their children and pay full tuition. This, of course, makes them very attractive to US universities that are experiencing budget cuts. Recent statistics show that the number of Chinese students currently studying in the US increased by 23% and they make up most of the international student population in Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
To meet this increasing demand for international education, several US universities, like New York University, have launched local branches in China. Many Chinese high schools have also included international systems such as International Baccalaureate and A-levels in their curriculum.
而哈佛英文留遊學中心顧問也表示自從赴美免簽後，詢問美國遊學的人數也有提升，哈佛遊學顧問也特別替同學規劃免美簽遊學專案，只要符合以下條件：1.12周語言課程。2.每週20小時以下的課程。而其他關於免美簽的細節，哈佛英文留遊學中心，也歡迎同學來電做諮詢。而哈佛也提出了一些方案供同學做選擇。位在比佛利山莊Mentor Language Institute獨家推出 英語+才藝課程：學校只要走五分鐘就能到名店街（Rodeo Drive），是加州必遊景點，來比佛利一定要逛的精品街，雖然價格很高，可是看看不用給錢嘛，很多的電影都在這取景，在這也可以看到許多名人、名車。這樣看起來學校的學費應該會很貴吧，不過我們特別搭配免美簽位同學推出高貴不貴，小而美的方案！
