Animated Linguistic Chomsky documentary

Michel Gondry's Animated Noam Chomsky Doc + 'The We & The I'

Gondry: I.m doing an animated documentary on Noam Chomsky. So it.s very specific. I.ve been interviewing him many times and I took all the sound, because I barely shot him. I shot him a few occasions but mostly it.s sound. I.m doing it in animation so I have my animation camera, it.s a Bolex 16mm. And I.m doing all the drawings. It.s something I do every night when I go home. It.s very exciting to be very complex because we talk about linguistics and it.s. captivating because he has this very personal and convincing views on how language was created as a genetic mutation more than a slow, evolutionary process. And I.m illustrating that.

When do you expect to be done with the project?

Gondry: I hope to be done before. I die. Or before he dies. Or before the world dies. So. I hope within two years. Maximum.

The doc will feature a series of interviews with Chomsky but the audio will be placed over an animated backdrop similar to "Shorties Watchin' Shorties" or TV Funhouse's "Fun with Real Audio".

Gondry jests about the challenge, which may in fact be a benefit, of not being a master of the English language himself and how it's affecting his work on the film. Gondry says, "I hear my questions back on the tapes and have no idea how he can make any sense of them. He doesn.t actually mind it. I think he prefers someone who can barely speak than someone who.s coming at him with lots of philosophical baggage.. Gondry can talk a mile a minute though given the right subject matter, and having these two creative minds in one setting with an animated backdrop bringing it to life sounds pretty damn cool.

Chomsky is considered one of fathers of modern linguistics with work spanning into concepts that my years in college never even touched upon. His studies and teachings range from the method and pace at which children learn languages to the use of linguistics in cognitive psychology. Aside from his work with language, he also uses his words to be a strong advocate for anarchism. Despite his desire for less institutionalism, he has been praised by various universities and scholars for his contributions to linguistics and more. Animating the thoughts and concepts Chomsky will likely speak on in the interviews has limitless possibilities with Gondry involved.

As for The We & The I, Gondry has previously said, "I am working on a new drama which we.re going to shoot next summer, which follows 35 kids going to school on a bus. It's about how the group affects the individual. I.d written 25 versions of the screenplay and then we found this after-school activity center in the South Bronx and did a workshop there. Basically we talked to the kids and used their stories." This goes hand-in-hand with what Gondry revealed back in March when he said, " It's about the group effect, how people in groups transform when the group is dislocated, because everyone jumps out of the bus at different times, there is a smaller group and how the relationships evolve."

Stumble It!