"Star Life" by Philippe Andrevon is a film were big movie stars who have never appeared together in a single film meet on the beach, in a bus, in a supermarket or at a bar.

My major interest in new technologies is not for themselves (even if I have got undeniable pleasure from working on that type of equipment), but essentially for the large exploitation field they permit on the level of representation.

When I talk of new technologies I don't only talk about computers; in fact from a "plastic" point of view, I am a partisan of the "composite images" (a mix of virtual and real sources). This position is the result of desire to research into audio-visual language where there is still so much to do concerning these new images (language softly touched in musical videos where everything is permitted, but rarely in more structured productions). By the way, an important point must be emphasised: technical performance and gratuitous effect don't interest me at all, and can't be used as a pretext. Anyway the vital role that technological images have today, and the larger role they will take, confirms my point of view and my desire to persist in that direction.

Concerning the subjects, or concepts of my products, I haven't any peculiar preoccupations; but many levels of "reading" must exist, the first one, being entertainment. I am also working on a perspective of television broadcasting, trying to realise"opened" and intelligent videos but also commercially profit-earning ones. Profit-earning, in the case of relatively expensive productions, means an international aspect, as much in the image as in the concept. These practical reasons include the fact that I am only working on short programs; but would really enjoy directing longer realisations (50 min) in "composite images". . .

"Star Life" was for me, in the first place, a game. A game, where I was playing with "mythical" characters (the movie stars), aswell as everyday life situations, and mixing them together to obtain impossible cross sections of life involving familiar movie stars. But it became, for the (film enthusiast) spectators too; a game where they had to recognise every star, furtively crossing the screen and the movie from which they have been picked out (just try to play the game)!

Anyway, "Star Life" is essentially a homage to the great movie legends and through them, to the cinema.

False article about "Star Life"

Have you ever dreamed of a single film casting with Gérard Philippe and Alain Delon, Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, James Dean and Sean Connery, Ava Gardner and Greta Garbo and ... thirty or forty of the greatest movie stars?

Nonsense, isn't it? But it's not,: this film exists. One film? What would you say about learning that there are actually five films, each of them only lasting a minute and all with the same title: "Star Life" ...

Is there a knack?

Of course, this is a work of computer animation, where only a few frames of Marilyn, James, Ava and the others are mixed and edited for these five marvellous moments of humour and invention. A crowded bus, a beach, a bar, a night-club, a supermarket and ... action!

"Star Life" could also be the prelude to a rather difficult game, where we have to discover in seconds, which masterpieces these well known silhouettes are extracted from. In any case, several viewings of these sequences don't decrease the charm of this tribute, where memory turns to nostalgia, and runs at 25 (synthetic) frames per second.

Technical Background

HW: Getris, Atalis
SW: G. Paint, G. Anim