A World of Difference by Gerald Guthrie
Urbana, IL (Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 8
Minutes
Screening Time: Oct
25th 6:30pm
Tickets
$10.00 Buy Tickets Here:
'A World of Difference' is a digital animation that moves us
along a bumpy path through Space and Time to discover Truth, Perfection and
Meaning.
Director Statement
Most
often, the inspiration for my work begins with a real world object. I have
always been attracted to microscopes; not only for their visual appeal, but also
for the way they reveal a mysterious world. Since a microscope enables us to
increase the perceptual scale of objects, it seemed appropriately ironic to
increase the physical size of the microscope itself. This device might then be
able to reveal our hidden world at both a microscopic and macroscopic level.
This microscope needed to be located in an older style classroom, so I
wandered through the University of Illinois campus looking for a likely example.
It is contrary to the reputation of a great university to be outdated, but the
challenging search finally ended on the top floor of the English building. A
re-creation of this small, old-fashioned classroom now became the environment
for a standard scale microscope. Since the classroom still had slate
blackboards, it fit with another goal to use a chalk drawing to set up a pretext
for the animation.
I found a pseudoscientific sketch on an obscure “time
travel” website which worked quite well for this purpose. Only later, after the
premise was defined was it apparent that the sketch was even more accurate than
hoped, depicting a passage between the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way galaxy
– coincidentally, essentially much what happens in the animation.
Another
interior space that was appropriated from the University of Illinois campus is
that of the Armory Building. Entering this huge building reminds me of a
recurring dream I have of large interior spaces. Invoking some artistic
liberties, this space became the site of the oversize microscope.
After
five months of preparatory object making and animation, I began a fellowship
with eDream Institute at the University of Illinois. This group, led by Donna
Cox, is dedicated to bringing the arts and sciences together in any number of
creative collaborations. Besides helpful advice and critique, they provided a
network rendering solution that facilitated the production of a high definition
animation after hours and hours of computer rendering. I would not have been
able to accomplish the work without this important resource.
Working with
the general theme of micro/macro, the final sequence, to be viewed through the
lens of the large microscope, offered an opportunity to combine and contrast
cosmic scale with microscopic scale. I came across some beautiful video clips
online of microscopic animal life created by videographer, Craig Smith. I
finally decided on a small pond worm because the water debris surrounding the
animal blended well with the stars in the galactic environment. The amazing
M81(Andromeda) galaxy animation was produced by Robert Patterson and Stuart Levy
of the eDream group specifically for this sequence.
Though I created and
mixed many of the foley noises or sound effects, my long time friend, John
Chase, composed and performed the wonderful music that dramatically ties the
work together. I feel his music adds the, not mutually exclusive, aspects of
warmth and tension.
Mitt Förra Liv by Sebastian Lindblad
Sweden (Milwaukee
Premiere)
Running Time: 3
Minutes
Screening Time:
Juried 7pm, Oct 26th
Tickets
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What you don't know wont hurt you?
Tlaloc by
Sabrina Doyle
Los Angeles (Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 3
Minutes
Screening Time:
Oct 26th 5:15pm
Tickets
$10.00 Buy Tickets Here:
Los Angeles, the hottest day of the year. A Mexican migrant
worker struggles to operate a heavy jackhammer. He wipes his brow with his
bandana, and watches enviously as restaurant patrons sup champagne in nearby
shade. Stoical, he continues working, but the heat and dust just get more and
more oppressive. Relief comes in the form of a prayer. A prayer to Tlaloc, the
Aztec rain deity. The weather breaks, and rainwater pours down from the heavens.
The restaurant patrons rush indoors, while the worker carries on working, cooled
and joyful. Tlaloc smiles, pleased at his work.
TLALOC contains a subtle
social theme, but mostly it's a story about one man and the moment of grace he
is granted - set to an uplifting original score that recalls the tribal beats of
ancient Aztec civilizations.
Director Statement
TLALOC
was inspired by my Father's first job - as a jackhammer operator - when he came
to the UK from Ireland in the 1970s. It was also informed by my own observations
when I moved to LA from the UK. I've always watched builders and manual workers
with interest because they remind me of my Dad, a builder for most of his life.
Arriving in LA, I was blown away by the heat, hotter than I'd ever known. I
couldn't believe anyone could work under that midday Sun, and yet all around me
were Mexican migrant workers laboring in sweltering conditions. I admired their
resilience and tenacity, but I also wished the weather would cool down just a
little to make their day more bearable. From that, came the idea of a prayer to
an ancient rain god. A prayer which, in this short, is answered by a refreshing
downpour.
TLALOC is an American Film Institute cinematography project,
designed to tell a story through entirely visual means. With that in mind,
cinematographer Stephen Paar and I chose two film stocks: Kodak 5207 and Fuji
Vivid 160. Our opening image uses a gold filter, supplemented with lots of dust,
to set up the dry, hot look we were going for. Once the rain god, Tlaloc,
responds to the worker's prayer, we switch to Fuji Vivid 160 tungsten-balanced
film stock for a cooler look. We tried to create a stifling feeling for the
first half of the film: by short-siding the worker, placing him in awkward
frames, and over-cranking the image. In the second half of the film, we liberate
the camera with a euphoric hand-held move circling around the worker. The Tlaloc
sequences were shot using a strobe light to simulate thunder.
I hope
people walk away from TLALOC feeling joyful and liberated. Life provides us with
answers to our problems, and sometimes happiness comes from unexpected sources:
in this case, a simple rain shower.
Production Notes
"Imagining Tlaloc"
With Production
Designer Vicky Chan, we researched images of the Aztec rain deity, Tlaloc. We
found out he had bulging eyes and long, protruding fangs. From this, we realized
our rain god had to be more awe-inspiring than benevolent. Capable of
destruction as well as creation. Feared as well as revered. We decided to show
Tlaloc in both human and statue form. Our actor, Chuy Garcia, has all the
loftiness and nobility necessary for the human embodiment of Tlaloc. Vicky was
wonderfully inventive when it came to creating the Tlaloc statue. She fashioned
him out of papier-mâché, then painted him blue and gold. Make up artist Kelsie
Gygie colored Chuy's face with a paste she made herself: out of a clay face mask
and crushed blue eye shadow. A major inspiration for the visual style of Tlaloc
was the Smashing Pumpkins' first music video, Siva, which uses tribal images
very effectively - both painted human faces and primitive-looking statues.
"Casting The Worker"
David
Saucedo, who plays The Worker in TLALOC, came to the audition entirely in
character. We didn't even realise he was American because when he introduced
himself to us he spoke in broken English. Holding auditions for an MOS project
is challenging. You don't have dialogue for people to read, so you have to rely
on physical action and space work to judge performance. The moment we knew we
had to hire David was when he spat on the ground (this spitting action actually
made its way into the final film). Later, he told us that he'd been determined
to push himself during auditions: not relying on the obvious, but finding
specific and unexpected behaviors that would be revealing of character. David's
commitment to his character extended into production. Before shooting, he
observed Mexican migrant workers attentively, noticing many carried bandanas
inside their hard hats to wipe off sweat from their faces. This detail, once
again, made it into the final movie. David is a shining example of how an actor
can augment a director's vision.
From the Darkness Theatre by Michael Viers
Milwaukee
Running Time: 11
Minutes
Screening Time: Juried Films 7pm. Oct 26th 2013
Tickets
$10.00 Buy Tickets Here:
The private life of a local television Horror Host named Uncle Seymour Cadavers - a life filled with dingy theaters, old movies, and sinful actions. A nod to the infamous, yet never completed, Maniac 2. Written and Directed by Michael Viers, the film had been a passion piece for two years. The film stars Michael Denk and Thad Dulde.
Trailer:
IMDb
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People Aren't All Bad by Matthew Hashiguchi
Cleveland, OH (Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 4 Minutes
Screening Time: Oct 26th 5:15pm.
Tickets $10.00 Buy Tickets Here:
Born in San Francisco in 1924, Yutaka Kobayashi endured many
obstacles in life. As a young boy he was labeled stupid by his teacher for
refusing to learn Japanese. Later, after his high school graduation and at the
start of World War II, his attempts to enlist in the US Army were refused
because of his Japanese heritage. Then, in 1942 he was sent to the Topaz
Japanese American Internment Camp. Surprisingly, it was during this dark period
in his life that he experienced compassion and kindness from where he least
expected it, a gun tower guard from within the Topaz Japanese American
Internment Camp.
Yutaka now lives in Newton, Masschusetts, with his wife.
Trailer
Temenos by Adriane Little
Kalamazoo, MI
(Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 3
Minutes
Screening Time: Oct 26th 5:15pm.
Tickets
$10.00 Buy Tickets Here:
By origin, the word temenos is used to mark sacred space that
encourages or creates shelter for disclosure and discovery. This act of
revealing can be towards another or inward and beyond a physical sense of place.
Playing off the idea of death as 'six feet under', Temenos creates a space six
feet up. Within a spatial awareness of temenos, exists kairos or the
unstructured time of personal insight and growth. Combined, temenos and kairos
create place and time for ritual, meditation, mourning, psychic disruption and
renewal.
To Dream Away by Si En Tan
Singapore (Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 5 Minutes
Screening Time: Oct 26th 1:15pm
Tickets $10.00 Buy Tickets Here:
An ordinary office worker grows disillusioned with his tedious
life. The ocean offers a metaphysical release that tempts him
