Waking Life is a digitally manipulated film, similar to an animated film, directed by Richard Linklater and made in 2001. The entire film was shot using standard film and then a team of artists using computers drew stylized lines and colors over each frame. This is similiar in some respects to the animation style of 1970s filmmaker Ralph Bakshi.

In a broad scope, Waking Life is about a young man in a dream state. During his dream he encounters many characters who philosophize about free will, human existence, perception, reality, and many other topics. There is a large amount of speech done on the topic of existentialism and the misconceptions that are commonly held about it. As the main character travels through his dream he eventually comes to realize that he is dreaming (see lucid dreaming), and that he cannot wake up. Throughout the movie, it is unclear what is happening to the main character and why he is in this dream, and among the possible explanations suggested is that he could be dead.

There is much discussion of existentialism and lucid dreaming. The typical idea of a philosophical coffee shop conversation that many have either overheard or been a part of is represented in this film.

Waking Life has a unique visual style, in that it was filmed in live action and then rendered into animation using a computer. This animation technique is known as rotoscoping, and had the effect of making the visuals more surreal. The animators used Apple Macintoshes and a variety of software, some of which was created specifically for the production.

Nominated for numerous awards mainly for its technical achievements, Waking Life won the National Society of Film Critics award for "Best Experimental Film", the New York Film Critics Circle award for "Best Animated Film", and the "CinemAvvenire" award at the Venice Film Festival for "Best Film". Waking Life was also nominated for the Golden Lion, the festival's main award.

The film's soundtrack, all of it performed and written by Glover Gill and the Tosca Tango Orchestra , except for one track written by Frédéric Chopin, has also been quite successful (especially for a non hit-driven soundtrack). Featuring the nuevo tango style, it bills itself the 21st Century Tango .

See also

• Dream art

External links

• Fan site - Screenplay and hundreds of excellent pictures
• Fan site - Transcripts of individual scenes, and discussion about the film