Danielle’s last post got me thinking: is there an indie film out there that has made use of concept art? And moreover, is the conceptual artist only alive and well in Hollywood nowadays? What’s a good indie film that has featured the work of talented illustrators? Does “Waking Life”/ “Scanner Darkly” count? This would exclude films from the 60s and 80s which by today’s standards may be called independent, by the way. I’m talking more about that vintage 70s/80s style of production, films such as “The Dark Crystal”, which had an estimated budget of $15 million. Actually, the illustration-heavy “A Scanner Darkly” qualifies as a mid-Indie, with a budget at $6 million. And there are thousands of film artists still working in animation today, often on miniscule budgets. One of my favorites is Signe Baumane, a friend of Indiepix. Her work, brash and inventive, often deals with sex, pain, and pleasure in a uniquely humorous squirm-in-your-seat kind of way. One of my favorites is perhaps “The Witch and the Cow”, a short from 1991 all done up in faded yellows and browns. A little witch on a farm must contend with maneuvering around her broomstick while immersed in giant cow dung. There’s racier stuff here as well. Indeed, a warning on her website urges that her work is “not for children, the easily offended, the delicate of sensibility, or the faint of heart!” It’s good to know that there’s still some of this stuff being made out there, without the aid of a giant superstudio making it possible.