In a world with an insatiable hunger for the latest, the fastest and the flashiest in media and technology it is easy to become misguided. In fact, as filmmakers our obsession with technology has the potential of steering us completely away from the things that inspired us to become artists in the first place. That one pure moment of inspiration soon becomes lost in a minefield of technical considerations and before you know it the particular codex, pixel ratio or post workflow of your film overshadows the essential message.
There is no doubt that powerful and affordable new digital formats for instance give the modern filmmaker vastly more options than before. We can generate motion graphics independently of large post-production facilities. We are able to manage grading and editing on a simple little laptop computer. One could go so far as to say that the sky is virtually the limit. This may be true today but the truth is that it has always been this way. Great filmmakers have always been guided by the impulse of imagination and not by the limitations of their gear. Innovation is powered by imagination and not technology. In this breathtaking music video co-directed by Yanni Kronenberg and Lucinda Schreiber the film has been stripped of all the devices that under normal circumstances help to hide the production process and elevate the production values. The marks created by the artists remain as ghostly trails on the backdrop, evidence of the laborious process of the frame by frame animation. We see the piles of rubbed chalk dust grow and morph at the bottom of the board - And now the undesirable byproducts of the filming process become a charming addition to the final product. A perfect example of taking the limitations of the production process and turning them into a unique asset.
Firekites’ album ‘The Bowery’. music video co-directed by Yanni Kronenberg and Lucinda Schreiber.
Over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minute film.
What if you watch a film and whenever you pause it, you face a painting? This idea inspired Reza Dolatabadi to make Khoda. Over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minutes film that would meet high personal standards. Khoda is a psychological thriller; a student project which was seen as a ‘mission impossible’ by many people but eventually proved possible!
Director and art director: Reza Dolatabadi
Written by Reza Dolatabadi & Mark Szalos Farkas
Animation by Adam Thomson
Music by Hamed Mafakheri
Winner of the Best Animation Canary Wharf Film Festival (London) Aug, 2008
Winner of the Best Student Animation Flip Festival (Birmingham) 2008
Winner of the Best Student Animation, Royal Television Society Award, Scotland (rts) 2009
Official selection for the “Best Short Film Program” at Waterford Film Festival (Ireland) November 2008
