 |
Wednesday, 2 November 2005 | Levent OZLER
Suspect Feeds Effects to Stereomongrel
Visual effects and design studio SUSPECT recently completed several visual effects scenes for Stereomongrel, a 12 minute experimental film, co-directed by artists Luis Gispert and Jeff Reed, which premiered at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan on September 15 and has been included into the museum's permanent collection.
Stereomongrel explores a dynamic clash of high and low culture, with the Whitney serving as the battlefield. It revolves around a precocious 10 year-old girl with telekinetic, supernatural powers with a look and feel described by Gispert and Reed as "hyper, supra and marvelous-real". The aesthetic is realized through a highly choreographed tableaux as 3D and stop-motion animation provide depth to the rich palette of New York City, including many scenes shot on location at the Whitney. Characteristic of popular culture, the film pulls from a framework of many contemporary and historical references, including psychological/supernatural thrillers, hip-hop videos, fashion magazines and horror movies from the 70s and 80s. By locating much of the narrative within the museum, a formative site in the cultural canon, the filmmakers add another layer of complexity to this exploration of image and object, class and community, power and subversion.
Along her journey, the child has several encounters with mystical characters who produce fantastic, magical interactions: electrical beams emanate from boomboxes, screams send force fields. As she continues through the city, protective spirits conspire to destroy her narcissistic parents. Representations of Gods and Demons attack the mother and father until they die as the child disappears into a piece of art in the museum.
As the film was commissioned to be viewed on a 30-foot screen, Gispert and Reed maximized the picture area by shooting in Super 35mm and posting in high definition which allowed for a greater resolution with more information.
Tim Crean, SUSPECT Partner/Creative Director/Visual Effects Designer explained, "We were asked to help the artists realize their vision, to bring to the forefront their underlying themes and tie them together with effects. Our main creative challenge was to determine the look of the various visual effects. For example, there was a theme of sound that was prevalent throughout the piece. To visualize this motif required an extensive design phase. What did these soundwaves look like and how would they react to the characters? For example, in one scene we wanted waves to emanate from one of the actors and had to determine how that energy would move. Determining these visuals in different scenes was a real challenge, but once we had answered these questions we were able to bring the elements to life."
"SUSPECT came highly recommended and we wanted to give them the freedom to do what they do best," stated Luis Gispert. "Tim has a strong background in art and art history and immediately knew exactly what we were reaching for. Being on the same page from the beginning made for a very easy and comfortable collaboration. We knew from the onset that SUSPECT was the perfect match for our project and it proved to be a great symbiotic relationship." Jeff Reed added, "SUSPECT was a full artistic collaborator on the film's visuals. Luis and I had never made a film with such a high level of special effects, CG and compositing so we relied heavily on SUSPECT's expertise. We came with ideas and renderings and Tim and his team helped us develop and realize them in ways we had not fathomed. Their contribution was outstanding and far beyond my expectations."
Executive Producer Rob Appelblatt added, "It was exceptionally rewarding to work on a piece with such a creative focus, it speaks to the diversity of work in all media we are striving to work on at SUSPECT."
In addition to the screenings at the Whitney, Stereomongrel will be screened at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, October 15 - December 8th, at the Zach Feuer Gallery in Manhattan from October 8 through November 8th, and at Art Basel in Miami the first weekend in December.
The film's visual effects were created by a SUSPECT team led by Tim Crean, company Partner/Creative Director/Visual Effects Designer, and included Partner/Executive Producer Rob Appelblatt, Compositors Susanne Sharping, Jesse Newman and Greg Cutler, 3D Animator Steve Burger and Visual Effects Producer Joy Copeland.
Stereomongrel is the creation of Dark Palms, LLC (New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA) and was conceived by Luis Gispert, based on a short story by David Hunt, and realized by a Co-Directors Luis Gispert and Jeffrey Reed, Producers Alex Orlovsky and Vikram Ghandi, Cinematographer Andrij Parekh and Production Designer Jared Lawton.
The sound design and original composition which underscore Stereomongrel were created at Enormous Studios (Los Angeles, CA) by Sound Designer/Music Supervisor Jeffrey Reed, Composer Tom Meredith, Music Programmer Jeff Bhasker and Greg Morgenstein who prepared the pre-mix.
Freelance Editor Paul Zucker offlined the project at Artists Public Domain (New York, NY). The film-to-tape transfer was completed by Postworks (New York, NY) Colorist John Crowley. The final conform was handled by Editor Will Cox at Final Frame Post (New York, NY). Freelance Animator Tim Clark (Los Angeles, CA) provided additional effects work. The final audio mix was engineered by Mixer Cory Melious of Sound Lounge (New York, NY).
Suspect: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/5508/
|
|
|
