Broken Saints
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''Broken Saints'' is a partially
Flash-animated Adobe Flash animation or Adobe Flash cartoon (formerly Macromedia Flash animation, Macromedia Flash cartoon, FutureSplash animation, and FutureSplash cartoon) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) p ...
horror drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...
by Brooke Burgess, with technical direction from Ian Kirby and artwork by Andrew West. First released online from 2001 to 2003, it is one of the earliest examples of a
motion comic A motion comic (or animated comic) is a form of animation combining elements of print comic books and animation. Individual panels are expanded into a full shot while sound effects, voice acting, and animation are added to the original artwork. Tex ...
. Characters for the most part remain in static poses and dialogue is indicated by
speech balloons Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...
, but animated sequences are used to switch scenes and help advance the story, while music and sound effects are included. It tells the story of four strangers in different regions of the world – Shandala from
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
; Raimi from the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
; Oran from
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
; and Kamimura from
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
– all of whom suddenly experience an apocalyptic vision or series of apocalyptic visions. All four set out to uncover the origin and/or meaning behind their experiences. After its online release was concluded in 2003, the series was released as a limited-edition DVD in 2005, featuring voice narration, upgraded artwork for the first 12 episodes, some alternate technical effects for those episodes and subsequent ones, and numerous special features. A subsequent mass-market DVD release was distributed in 2006 by
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. It is the same as the first release, but features upgraded artwork for the first 13 episodes (compared to only the first 12 on the previous DVD release), as well as the alternate technical effects, and many more special features, including audio commentary for every episode. While ''Broken Saints'' was met with unanimous critical acclaim, it has remained relatively obscure since its initial release. Its word-of-mouth reverence from fans and subsequent popularity on
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has led the series to develop a
cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.


Premise

Centered on
philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
,
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and spiritual themes, ''Broken Saints'' tells the story of four strangers from "the quiet corners of the globe" connected by a vision or visions they all receive of a coming evil. Their search for the truth behind their experiences leads them to far larger and more disturbing truths than they could have expected. The details of their respective visions vary, but each one contains a giant red cat's eye (accompanied by an electronic screech), the ubiquitous symbol of the series. After seeing it, the four main characters fall into a temporary coma. For the online release, several haikus are presented as each episode loads. All versions of the episodes contain quotes at the beginning and end from various sources, both tying in with themes and events of the respective episode. Each episode contains animated scenes which introduce and close the episode, and allude to various pop culture media such as ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
'', ''
Donnie Darko ''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katha ...
'', ''
Fight Club ''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is d ...
'' and '' The Wizard of Oz''.


Characters

Shandala Nisinu: Commonly Shandala, she is an 18-year-old
altruist Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for the welfare and/or happiness of other human beings or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core asp ...
living an idyllic life. She came to the uncharted
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
an island of Lomalagi (or "Heaven") as an infant floating on the waves and was adopted by the island's wise tribal chief Tui Nisinu. The mysterious circumstances around her birth will return to haunt all who come to know her—and affect the whole world. In the DVD version, Shandala's voice is provided by
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-award winner
Janyse Jaud Janyse Jaud (, born November 26, 1969) is a Canadian actress, musician and author. Her major voiceover roles include '' Hulk Versus'', '' My Little Pony'', ''Inuyasha'', ''Ed Edd n Eddy'', '' Batman: Black & White'', ''Baby Looney Tunes'', ''War ...
. Raimi Matthews: Raimi is a 24-year-old Canadian non-practicing
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who lives in the fictional
Coast City Coast City is a fictional city in the state of California, created by John Broome and Gil Kane, which appears in stories published by DC Comics. It is depicted most often as the home of the Silver Age version of the superhero Green Lantern, Hal ...
, United States. He works developing software and security (and then finding ways around it) for a global
telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
and
pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...
company called Biocom, which has just irked him with a sudden unexplained termination from an important project. The electronic information he cracks from his company leads him on a personal mission that ultimately brings the four strangers together. Raimi is voiced by
Kirby Morrow Kirby Robert Morrow (1973 – November 18, 2020) was a Canadian actor, comedian and writer. In animation, he was known as the voice of Miroku from ''InuYasha'', its four movies, and '' Inuyasha: The Final Act'', Van Fanel from the Ocean dub o ...
. Oran Bajir: Oran is a 29-year-old devout
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
from
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. At the outset of the story he is involved in an armed resistance against Western domination, left to guard a small bunker in solitude. With nothing to do but read the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
, Oran begins to doubt his mission and himself. Oran is voiced by Michael Dobson. Kamimura: Also known as "Kami", he is an elderly
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
mystic and former
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
from rural Japan. He was estranged from his former Buddhist order over an incident concerning relics given him that he swore to protect. Goku, a former student, had demanded the box, in order to sell its contents. However, Kamimura had given his word and his word was his bond. Kamimura's voice actor is Colin Foo.


Production

Each of the chapters was written and directed by Burgess, with Kirby doing the technical direction and West providing the artwork. The series was co-produced in the first year (first six episodes) by Vancouver-based Switch Interactive with Budget Monk Productions. Illustrator Andrew West and Flash designer/programmer Ian Kirby were employees of Switch Interactive, and brought the concept to the studio's attention in 1999.


Format and publication

''Broken Saints'' is broken into 24 Flash-animated episodes that were released from 2001 to 2003. It totals about 12 hours of running time. The chapters vary in length and become progressively longer, many with two or three acts. The shortest is nine minutes long, while the longest, the 24th episode "Truth", is five acts long with a prologue and epilogue, totaling 1 hour and 23 minutes. It is one of the earliest examples of a
motion comic A motion comic (or animated comic) is a form of animation combining elements of print comic books and animation. Individual panels are expanded into a full shot while sound effects, voice acting, and animation are added to the original artwork. Tex ...
. Like a
comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
, characters for the most part remain in static poses and dialogue is indicated by
speech balloons Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...
. However, rather than exclusively using sequential panels, animated sequences are used to switch scenes and help advance the story. The series also includes sound effects and music, composed by Tobias Tinker and Quentin Grey with classical pieces by Mozart and others. Samples of songs from
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
-based band
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located i ...
were looped extensively in the soundtrack, and much of the dialogue, particularly in the 14th episode, "Harbingers," is taken from the spoken word portions of their songs (some directly, and some slightly altered). The group is listed in the credits at the end of "Harbingers" under "Loop Worship." Dani Atkinson of Sequential Tart found the work difficult to categorize, saying, "I'm honestly not sure what ''Broken Saints'' is. There's a lot of ongoing debate regarding how much animation a webcomic can contain before it stops being a comic, but I'd have to say ''Broken Saints'' has crossed that line, however blurry the line may be. But it uses elements of comics storytelling, particularly in the early chapters, and throughout the story it uses word balloons and captions instead of spoken dialogue. So it's a comic that moves, if there is such a thing, or it's a movie you read." Two DVD versions have been released. The first was released in 2005, and featured improved or wholly redrawn art for the first 12 chapters, numerous featurettes, commentary on select chapters, and voice narration for all dialogue. The voice actors included
William B. Davis William Bruce Davis (born January 13, 1938) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on ''The X-Files''. Besides appearing in many TV programs and movies, he founded his own acting school, the William Davis Ce ...
,
David Kaye David Kaye may refer to: * David Kaye (voice actor) (born 1966), Canadian-American voice actor * David A. Kaye, actor who played Jesse Waingrow in the film ''3000 Miles to Graceland'' * David Kaye (footballer) (born 1959), English footballer * Dav ...
,
Kirby Morrow Kirby Robert Morrow (1973 – November 18, 2020) was a Canadian actor, comedian and writer. In animation, he was known as the voice of Miroku from ''InuYasha'', its four movies, and '' Inuyasha: The Final Act'', Van Fanel from the Ocean dub o ...
, and
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
Award-winner
Janyse Jaud Janyse Jaud (, born November 26, 1969) is a Canadian actress, musician and author. Her major voiceover roles include '' Hulk Versus'', '' My Little Pony'', ''Inuyasha'', ''Ed Edd n Eddy'', '' Batman: Black & White'', ''Baby Looney Tunes'', ''War ...
. Burgess himself provided character voices. This version is now out of print. The second DVD version, released in 2006, is being distributed internationally by
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. It is the same as the previous version, with a few slight differences, including a reworking of the artwork for the 13th episode, "Insertion," and commentary for every chapter. The creators of ''Broken Saints'' received a grant from the Canadian government to assist in publishing the work to DVD.


Future

On November 30, 2008, Brooke Burgess announced on the official ''Broken Saints'' blog that a TV series was on the way. In the blog post was also embedded a trailer. The trailer was later revealed to be a pitch for a series. In 2015, on the series Facebook group, Burgess said he had a specific idea for a possible second season that would pick up 30 years after the events of the first.


Awards and reviews

Broken Saints is the winner of various awards including: *2001 Pixie Award Winner: Best Website that Incorporates Motion *Flash in the Can 2002: People's Choice Award *Flash Forward 2002: People's Choice Award & Best Cartoon *Netfestival Brazil 2003: People's Choice Award *2003 Audience Award at the Sundance Online Film Festival *2004 Horizon Interactive Awards: Best in Show *
Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in V ...
Grant Award 2004 *2005 Annual Rue-Morgue Awards: Most Innovative Concept *2005 Canadian New Media Awards: Producer of the Year (Brooke Burgess) Reviewing for Sequential Tart in 2004, Dani Atkinson gave the work an 8 out of 10. They advised patience in the slower parts, such as the beginning, which "develops very slowly... taking several chapters to build momentum and develop the characters.... But as the comic nears the end, the plot kicks into high gear, and everything starts clicking into place. I spent the final chapter glued to the screen and teetering on the edge of my seat." They called the soundtrack "atmospheric." But for online viewing, they complained about the Flash format which offered no pause or rewind function. Atkinson described the art as "strongly manga influenced, but done in full colour with rough, sketchy line work" and noted that in later chapters, the animation becomes more elaborate and is "less like a comic and more like a movie." They called the story "emotionally intense, and very consciously spiritual," and said, "It's a work with high ideals and high hopes for itself. I respect that." The review noted a lot of cursing and "a few really disturbing images."


References


External links


Raimi Matthews' website

Fan Forum

Gnosis Games


a
www.sci-fi-online.com



Exclusive Interview with Brooke Burgess
* * {{AllMovie title, 349356, Broken Saints 2000s webcomics 2001 webcomic debuts