Treme 'Carnival Time' | Masking Indian Part I

In the early days of the Indians, Mardi Gras was a day of both partying and bloodshed. “Masking” and parading was a time to settle grudges. However, in the late 1960s, Tootie Montana, "Chief of Chiefs", fought to end violence between the Mardi Gras Indian Tribes. He said, “I was going to make them stop fighting with the gun and the knife and start fighting with the needle and thread.” Today, the Mardi Gras Indians are largely unplagued by violence; instead they base their fights over the “prettiness” of their suits.

Text from Wikipedia page on Mardi Gras Indians

The City of Samba 2011

Made by Keith Loutit and Jarbas Agnelli, captured during Rio de Janeiro Carnaval of 2011. Music by Jarbas Agnelli.

With the constant shift in perceptible scale, from tiny model-city to large cityscape, -which is largely due to the combination of the stop motion and the 'tilt shift' filter- I was pondering whether perhaps I was actually watching an improbable, fabulous and fantastic Carnival put on by insects...or perhaps it's actually an amazingly elaborate plastic model which someone has somehow managed to convincingly animate. Generally I can't abide use of the despicable 'tilt shift' filter/effect (I'm well aware that I'm probably alone in this camp) however, I'm forced into rethinking this standpoint as it has been so cleverly employed here. I've always been fascinated with the surreal spectacle that is Carnival and the acrid, over-vivacious saturation and stop-motion effects in this clip, heighten this captivating display, moreover, the frenzied, ant's-nest / bee-hive-like energy of Carnival is definitely present.

The City of Samba from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

p.s. wish I could choose a different still for the video embed, don't let the somewhat crass title-sequence put you off.