How does Torrey Pinesā animation technique/style speak towards and support the themes explored in the story?
The story of Torrey Pines is a coming of age story. So there are multiple references of maturity and identity in the film. The use of paper stop motion allows for the film to seem more childlike. This fits with the viewpoint of the story being from that of a child. Itās style keeps itself restricted in that it cannot do certain things like show depth or do lighting incredibly well. This however just adds more to the stories themes of a childās vision. Stop motion is one of the easier forms of animation to create, which is why kids will dip into things like stop motion and flip books. However, stop motion is much harder to do effectively, and Torrey Pines is one that does it exceptionally, while also keeping the values of youth still retained within its design.
Another one of the themes of Torrey Pines is of self-identity. The matter of someone fitting into their own skin is one of the core concepts of the character Petersen. She goes through the struggle of being terrified of herself, not feeling correct in how she looked and felt inside. With the childish overtones of the cut out stop motion animation, it creates a creepy effect. The hallucination scenes where she is birthing multiple children, growing large breasts, and having her period all in the same moment is a frightening experience, and it must have been even more frightening to think about as a 12 year old girl who didnāt feel like they were the correct gender. This makes the other hallucination with the beard growing, muscle showing, and manly voice seem more exciting and joyful. Itās not made out of fear, itās made out of understanding what the character wants to be. Finally knowing who they are inside and what they should be.
Another technique that the animator did that helped to drive the authenticity of this film is the use of entirely physical practices. The fact of this story being told as a personal true story means that this is something that the creator really cares about. This kind of care is shown through the amount of time and dedication it took to craft this film. The use of a multiplane camera and entirely physical materials such as paper cutouts shows the time the creator put into this piece. It shows how much it truly meant to them and how badly they wanted this story to be told to the world.
How does Torrey Pines utilize specific anecdotes and perspectives to relate to the viewer on a personal level? Comment on the overall effects of retelling a narrative through a personal lens.
The use of a personal perspective in Torrey Pines allows for certain details to be added that the creator remembers and adds to the story to create a more personal story. The film tends to feel broken up between the anecdotes it portrays, but that portrayal is what makes Torrey Pines feel more personal. These details create a dialogue between the characters and the viewer in order to break the barriers the film has of being a 2D stop motion animation. One detail that stuck out is when Torrey Pines was putting a jigsaw puzzle together and started out with finding the edge pieces and setting them aside. This is something that I personally have done when putting a puzzle together, thus giving me a connection to the characters of the story and getting me more engaged with it. A more general example is the dinner scene, where Petersen is eating and doesnāt want to eat her vegetables. A lot of people can relate to not wanting to eat their vegetables when they were kids. The film also develops the nature of school with short scenes taking place in a classroom, each giving a different experience that gives the viewer a sense of relatability. Things like the teacher speaking in nonsense while lecturing, dissection of animals, the passing of notes, all things meant to relate to the viewer. Torrey Pines is one of the more relatable animations out there, especially since it was based on a true story. It is hard to pick out moments that didnāt feel relatable to the viewer. Even when in the realms of animation, it makes everything feel more like a real story unfolding before you when it becomes more relatable to the viewers.
There are however other effects to a narrative being told in a personal level. That being certain details can be omitted or get lost within the story because it is being told from one side. We donāt know about many other details besides what the one character knows, thus creating a lack of outside knowledge for the viewer to understand. Just based on the hallucinations alone, it is difficult to tell how the mother is schizophrenic. The main reason many viewers know is based on the description of the film rather than the viewing of the film itself. The initial reaction when viewing the ending was an extreme surprise when we found that Petersen was actually being kidnapped by her mother. The fact that this came as a surprise is hard to tell if it was because of the story being told from a single perspective which doesnāt allow enough information to be given to the viewer, or if this was supposed to be a surprise, and the creator is giving the viewers the same surprise they felt when it happened to them. This portion of the personal story can cause the viewer to disassociate from the story, because they lack crucial information that can aid their developing attachment to the story.
How does Torrey Pines develop characters and narrative successfully without dialogue?
Torrey Pinesā mostly nonverbal storytelling covers a vast majority of topics that are involved with the themes of the film. The way this is achieved is by visual means. This includes the physical actions of the characters as well as their facial expressions. Certain examples of this includes how Torrey Pines treats others, where in the beginning she was nasty to a boy and would generally shut others out of her life. Later on in the film she learns to accept others and be more open, like when she was nice to the bearded man at the end. There is also a consistent use of hallucinations, dream like sequences, and floating disembodied visuals that describe the garbled dialogue the characters are speaking. Another example of character development and how the film portrays this is how Petersen views themselves throughout the duration. They at first are unhappy about their future as a woman, and are terrified by how their body might change. This is visualized in a hallucination where Petersen becomes an adult, and begins to birth multiple children, as well as lactate. However after the events of the movie, the character finds what they truly want, and what would make them happy in the future, which is being a man. This was shown through another hallucination, where Petersen has large muscles, no pig tails, and a full grown beard.
There are also very simple details that can be exaggerated to benefit the development of the characters. The grandmother being able to go through an entire pack in one sitting shows how much of a chain smoker she is and this detail may be minor, but it is blown out of proportion with how many cigarettes she smokes, and then it keeps it consistent throughout the film. This is also the same with the boy in school that sat next to Petersen. He would lightly make jokes to make Petersen interested, and then would lead into the eventual passing of the note. His character was built to pass this note, and to give the viewer the notion of how Petersen feels about boys and relationships with them.
Another method Torrey Pines uses to develop its characters is through the use of nonverbal sounds. The film uses a large amount of grunts when displaying emotion, such as when Petersen lets out a noise to show their disgust with their food. Torrey Pines also uses certain amounts of music to the benefit of its characters, such as when showing Petersenās development into a punk by hanging out with a punk rock band. There are multiple forms of communication that can display character development without the use of verbal dialogue.
James Stephens 