User:Melly/interview

The project that I’ve been thinking about for a long time is about how as people we sometimes feel lost and how some people have preordained lives and don’t even realize, thus, it's becomes a cycle and there is no way out of it. Sometimes realizing that might be hard and it's dangerous because one can get stuck in the cycle without ever getting out of it. I often find myself questioning the notion of this theme, it can be something we try to avoid, so I believe that delving deep into it will really make me good discover something that I haven't before. I'm trying to find these shortcut ways to visualize what I want to communicate without having to spend too much time because I don't have that luxury and that limitation might push me to be more creative with it. In the beginning, I didn't know what artistic tools to use to communicate what's in my head, visually. First, I thought of making a short fiction film about, but I did that before and now I'm at a stage in my artistic practice where I really want to experiment with new worlds and stop animation is something that I'm very intrigued by so even though I don't know much about it I just want to dive into it and play around to see the possibilities and the opportunities. I’m compelled to work with miniature scenes and making the art direction myself in a controlled environment. My goal is to investigate this theme further through a character’s eyes, not necessarily a human, maybe an object. My previous projects were predominantly short fiction films which meant that I couldn't really afford the luxury of not knowing what to do, so I made sure to plan every single step. So, as opposition to how I worked before, I think it will be really interesting to go into it without a clear structure. Along the way I expect to discover more, as I produce my own artistic concepts and visual film language. In the process of bringing my ideas to life, in the beginning, I tend to have very vivid visuals in my head that I show but sometimes I don't know the meaning of them so it might be like working backwards a little. Sometimes it’s the opposite, I have ideas and I need to work with them to find ways to communicate them. I try not to force the process, rather try to make it organic because it doesn't really work that way with me. It's not realistic to feel inspired all the time, so to surrender yourself to the flow so to speak and not having that pressure really helps to be authentic. I think the freedom of making something from scratch is going to be also with stop animation because I'm going to make the scenery by myself and build everything, all the details. There are few ways that it relates to my previous work, such as the facts that I'm telling a story through visual film language and it will have a layered story with visual motifs. As opposed to my previous works, I will not be working with actors and the environment will be very controlled and I will not be relying on actor’s performances. In addition, I will have to really know the technical aspect of it whereas before I relied on crew members, so I was just focusing on directing. The decision to fly to Poland where the project will happen is one of the significant choices I made, I decided that because I have a space devoted to produce this project and I have access to equipment and people who are willing to work with me on this project. I have already bought some materials to build set design. I was always drawn to stop animation and had an unsatiable curiosity, but I was intimidated by it because I know how much work, time and devotion it requires. Thus, I was always hesitant towards it. Now I’m looking forward to experiment and on focus on the journey, rather than outcome. As coming here changed my mindset, I know that I will definitely learn a lot on the journey, along the way so that's the most important.