Dylan Marshall Sisson
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Contact Information*:
San Francisco California USA |
Contact Type: Artist |
| web: www.dylansisson.com | |
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Bio:
Dylan Marshall Sisson lives in San Francisco, working on independent animation projects from time to time. Filmography/Awards Info: 1. Why did you make this film? This film was an experiment where I tried to create the feeling of my pen and ink drawing style in a computer animated piece. The idea was to create a visual style for the animation which was a little darker, where crosshatching and and textures could evoke a particular mood. The characters and the story of Object Lesson all followed from the pursuit of the experiment. 2. How long did it take to make this film? A long time. I tried to keep the project to a manageable size, trying not to be too ambitious with props and characters, but there was still much work to do. Fortunately, another local animator, Andrew Woods, worked with me on some of the animation for the project. After the finishing the animation, I had a local musician, Kyle Hanson, write a musical score for the animation. The whole project took hundreds of hours spread out over more than a year, and ate up many weekends and evenings. 3. What was the biggest challenge you faced in making this film? Completion. Getting all of the elements finished and put together. Each phase of the project presented its own challenges. Sometimes they were artistic challenges, and sometimes equipment failed at the last minute, when it needed to work. Seeing that every aspect of the film through to the end and then bringing everything together was the trick. 4. Do you have any "war stories" that you would like to tell us about the making of this film? Let me just say that computer animation doesn't come without headaches . . . 5. What can you tell us about the technology/equipment that you used? Camera? Editing? Software? Hardware? Film stock? Video tape stock? Sound equipment? Etc. Object Lesson is a computer animated short. Virtual models needed to be created, animated, and made into images. Alias Power Animator was used to build the characters and the sets. The characters were then animated with Power Animator. After that, images were created from the animated models. To render these images we used RenderMan software. The music was recorded in a living room on a portable hard drive. The image sequences and music were edited together in AfterEffects, and that was dumped to Betacam SP. 6. Do you enjoy one aspect of filmmaking more than any others? The best part of the film was animating Flotsam, deciding how he would move, finding out what kind of personality he had. Admittedly, Flotsam is a simple character . . . he doesn't have a mouth, or even eyebrows, but he definitely has a personality. Animating Flotsam revealed his character beyond the static model, to make him live. 7. In what country or region do you live? Is it important to your art? If so, in what way? I live in Seattle, and I 've grown up in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe, for me, what's most important about living in this area is the other people I know who live in this area, too. Specifically, other animators and artists who I can talk to about projects and have occasion to work with. It's good to see other people working. 8. What does "Microcinema" mean to you? 1) A showcase for independent works without mainstream forums. 2) A theater the size of a pinhead. 9. What does "Independent" mean to you? 1) Shoestring budgets. 2) Motley content. 3) Loss of sleep. 10. What are a few tips you can give to other filmmakers? Damn the torpedoes. 11. Do you have ideas for another film? If so, will you share them with us? Sure, but it won't make much sense here. 12. Who is your favorite animator? One of my favorite animators is the Czechoslovak, Jan Svankmajer. When I saw "Punch and Judy" for the first time I thought, "So this is animation in Czechoslovakia." He had done things that I had never seen before, and I liked it. 13. What is your favorite animation? Fantastic Planet, by Rene La Loux, is one of my favorites. The animation technique and story are unconventional. For a feature length animation, Rene La Loux used hand-drawn paper cutouts, to tell a story about a race of giant blue beings who keep humans as pets. 14. What else would you like to tell us? Object Lesson is just the first "episode" of the Flotsam and Jestsam Show. Flotsam and Jestam play out a rivalry in their slightly surreal world. I've got a backlog of episodes to do, and perhaps I'll get to some of them in the future. This Contact appears in this database if Microcinema International has screened a film directed by the Contact, a film directed by the contact is featured in a DVD distributed by the Blackchair Collection Shop, or featured an organization or activity linked with the Contact. This database is used for commercial as well as informational, non-commercial purposes. It is a historical archive of Microcinema International's activities. Inclusion in this database and archive in no way implies a continuing formal relationship or affiliation with Microcinema International or the Blackchair Label nor an endorsement of its activities by the Contact. Contact details are not displayed in order to protect privacy. If you wish to contact this artist please see their website as listed above or write Microcinema International and we will be happy to forward your e-mail.
Microcinema Interview/Article:
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