From Director Jerrold Chong:
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Inspiration:
– I have been curious about the philosophy of perception and the way we humans see the world differently, colored by our past experiences and memories. I came to know of a friend who was born blind, but she had an amazing talent at music, and it dawned on me that her world would be very different from the rest of us.
– My films often deal with the dichotomy between reality and imagination, and stop-motion allows me to present a story through their imagination. Hence, each locale and shot are all constructions within their mind, while their conversation presented a chance to flit in and out of their imagined ‘reality’ and the dreamlike states of past memory.
Conception:
– The film began as one with no dialogue. But for a film about communication and connection, it felt right to explore dialogue through a conversation. The script was co-written by myself and Jiaying Lee, and we went through a back and forth process in writing the script. Jiaying brought in fresh ideas and helped changed the direction of the film. I felt we were able to input our distinct views of life, and it can be observed in the play of perspective between the two characters.
Visual Design :
– Art direction was a big challenge and a key storytelling element, because I knew early on that I wanted to recreate the feeling and aesthetic of abstract expressionist / cubist paintings. I envisioned the construction / deconstruction of the world around them, and it took a while before we found an efficient way to pull that off with the set.
– The puppet designs were influenced by the abstract sculptures of Alberto Giacommetti and Henri Moore, as I didn’t want the characters to have specific visual appearances (i.e. colored clothes, detailed faces, etc). I wanted to convey an essence of form and a sense of mystery, as the two figures could not see each other. Their ideas of one another would only be based on touch, smell, hearing, and imagined notions of one another.
Dragonframe:
– Dragonframe has been wonderful software, and I greatly appreciate its flexibility. I like using a combination of media to express the story’s emotions, and Dragonframe helped me integrate 2D and stop-motion techniques. For the opening abstract sequence, I animated pastel drawings on paper, under the camera. With Dragonframe, I could pull reference videos/image and even do a test animation digitally and use it as a reference to animate straight ahead with traditional media.
Favourite stop-motion films / directors:
– I’m a big fan of the works by Ainslie Henderson, Dan Ojari & Mikey Please. I feel their works take advantage of the materiality of stop motion, and their films convey narratives that are often visually innovative and thought-provoking. I would absolutely love to pursue my MFA in animation at RCA or NFTS in London.
– Some of my favorite films include “Moving On”, “I am Tom Moody”, “Slow Derek”, and “Marilyn Myller”, and most recently, “The Bigger Picture”.
Thank you, Jerrold! We certainly look forward to seeing more of your ways. -Dragon
blog written by Vera Long
Credits:
Directed & Animated by Jerrold Chong
Written by Jia Lee & Jerrold Chong
Production Design: Chase Ko
Sound Design: Pin-Hua Chen
Music Composition: Cooper Babbes
Voice Acting: Nathan Nonhof, Sadie Schwolsky
Costume Design: Jessica Dabovich
Violin: Yvette Hernandez
Set Design Assistance: Kelly Glaubig
Additional 2D Animation: Ariel Navas, Zack El-magharbel
Made at CalArts 2015
Blog written by Vera Long