Month: March 2017

IT’S LIKE I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU

I’ve always espoused the philosophy that if you’re going tell a story using animation then you should use the medium to its full advantage. That meant exotic sets, non-human characters and things that you couldn’t or wouldn’t do with live action. I’ve also stayed away from green screens and digital sets in favour of an all practical approach. And yet here I am about to make a film with all human characters based in the real world with a whole mess of green screen and digital work. So what’s up with that? Why the about face?

Firsts

If you’re expecting something profound then you’re going to be disappointed. There are a lot of bad digital effects out there and the last thing I wanted to do was add to the pile. Fact is, though I’ve raged against these techniques in the past I’ve personally never felt ready to attempt them with any degree of proficiency … until now. Making FILTH in the same fashion as BROKEN and HIVE would be to spend another 2 years doing the same thing all over again and that just won’t cut it. There will be some angry days ahead as I wrestle with the technology but I also expect many exhilarating moments. And I’m damn curious to see how it all turns out.

GIVING IT ALL AWAY

Him

I’ve been asked at different times if maybe I show too much of the work in progress, that I’m spoiling the film by taking away all the surprises. For the most part, I have found that people look for the behind the scenes material, especially for a film as small as FILTH, after the film is finished. After they’ve seen it at a festival or stumbled across it on line. Aside from the dedicated followers, very few people are seeing any of this stuff as it happens …  but it’s a good chronicle … and I hope it makes for interesting reading right now AND somewhere down the line.