Staff Pick Premiere: "O Black Hole!" Written by Renee Zhan |
Are you curious about how the process of creating a black hole? This week's Staff Pick Premiere "O Black Hole!" from Renee Zhan is an epically large and profoundly transforming music that captures one of the most intriguing creatures of the universe using clay colors, and song. The mystery of the beginnings of the black holeand its demise -- is depicted by Zhan within a realm that's awe-inspiring and inventive.
To protect the beauty around her to last forever, a young Eve-like character takes the bold decision to devour everything she likes. Consuming everything quickly and with a high degree of chaos, the speed and chaos that she eats creates an explosion of black holes through that nothing escapes. She eats planets, seasons human beings, even moons, as a way to give life forever. When she awakes in the dark cavernous hole one of the characters known as the "Singularity" is able to meet with beings that require her assistance. They ask her to climb towards the top of the black hole to convince the creator of its existence to release its prisoners to be treated as they are meant to and even to allow the entire universe as we know it could be able to come to an end.
"O The Black Hole!" is a tale about not holding onto the love you have for too long. The vivid paintings and clay-based imagery create a variety of imagery about the passing of time and ending of your life.
There's a lot to this film's craft as well as its story; we had the chance to chat with its animator and director, Renee Zhan, to break down every question we asked about the film. Read on for answers:
On inspiration:
"A most of my films are based on one or two dominant images that I am imagining in my head. A while ago I sketched this woman wearing a dark charcoal smear on her face where it should be. I spent quite a while exploring this image, and trying to identify the woman she seemed to be. It was then clear that her head was black.
HTML0 This film is about an individual who is concerned about the passing of time that she locks everything and person she loves inside her to ensure their safety throughout the remainder of her life.
She visits the entire world until eventually, she's just spinning around by herself.
"The black hole moves in counterclockwise circles because she's Against Time Following that, when Singularity's intervention, all the inhabitants of the dark holes begin to move clockwise according to the nature-inspired patterns in the Universe. Then they restart. "
Utilizing 2D and 3D methods:
"I've always been a huge fan of film with multi-media and enjoy using visceral texture as well as conventional media. I was of the opinion that the plot of the black hole was a good fit for these two different mediums: 2D as well as 3D.
The outside of the black space, which is where the time goes by, is depicted in 2D with charcoal, pencils, watercolors and oil paint as it is fleeting and ephemeral. Within the black hole everything it has sucked inside itself and made permanent, is 3D hard.
As Singularity is moving towards the beginning of the black hole up towards the top, those walls of the hole start slowing turning liquid. It's similar to the way the grasp that the hole has has become much looser there. I wanted the various mediums to flow in each seamlessly shift from 2D to 3D, and then back to 2D.
It's important to leave room for experimentation as well as play while making films. You have to discover things through the process. The idea of creating the interior of a black hole was very appealing because no one has any idea what this would look like. Production designer Richard Henley and I had the opportunity to be totally imaginative. It gave us the chance to create a distinctive and captivating universe. It was decided to be an eerie, dark and twisted caves, reminiscent of liquids that solidified after time was stopped . "
Her original vision of the film in opposition to. the final version:
"When we first started filming I didn't know how the film would turn out like. I'd never created stop-motion before or worked on something of this magnitude.
In a certain way I was disappointed in a few ways to not have it look quite as I imagined it would. My animation I believed was not good enough, and the result was unfinished and rough. It's odd, because I enjoy seeing this kind of roughness and imperfection in movies made with stop-motion, however with my own work I was so angry over it.
Other ways I was in awe of our work. The music composed by Harry Brokensha and epic sound design created by Ed Rousseau were beyond what I had ever imagined.
Lore Lixenberg's amazing voice as Black Hole and Emmy the Great's unadulterated tones as Singularity added so much to the performance.
A lot of times I'm happy with what we've made in the group. "
Themes of mythology as well as humanity, she has written her work:
"I'm intrigued by the origin myths that are spread across the globe. They raise questions about the existence of humanity and attempt to answer with exciting and big tales about diving birds, eggs or natural spirits. Mythology usually includes huge epic tales of heroes, the quests of their heroes. It's part of this human need to understand the nature of the world which we inhabit.
It's possible that on a less intimate level, I'm trying to convey with my film. Through my filmmaking, I'm constantly looking at my fears and anxieties along with my fascinations. "O Black Hole!,' I imagine it as a modern myth of Creation. I was really interested in making films that included personal philosophical issues, the entertaining story of a film about a quest and a crazy operatic score ."
The challenges encountered during the creation of the film:
"This was probably the most challenging film I've ever created. A stop-motion/2D 16-minute musical that had a woman with extremely long and curly hair (that kept melting midway through!) filming on a very tight schedule led to some really dark times. It's easy to go on about the issues. The film is packed with many details for as a film of a shorter length. In the end, I'm grateful that I had the chance to produce such a brief film and work alongside the most wonderful group of filmmakers. I'm hopeful of having many chances like this soon and continue to make films with fellow filmmakers ! "
The lesson from 'O Black Hole! ':
"The final lines of the film read "O black hole, don't lament, it's just a dream the universe has dreamt. ...' The idea behind the film revolves around the beauty in the midst of change. A black hole girl takes in the whole world around her because of her fear of changing. The experience teaches her that the process of change brings the new meaning and energy to our daily lives in this world.
It seems like the movie is trying to demonstrate that all things changes and end up dying and then new ones come and flourish, and that's amazing and normal. This is why I believe that viewers will understand the message receives. To be honest I'm trying to convince myself! "
Her suggestions (or lack thereof) for aspiring filmmakers:
"Maybe you should listen to your parents and be engineers instead. No, I'm kidding! Just kidding! I'm not certain however, I'm feeling that I'm an aspirant filmmaker in my own way. This means I might require some help . "
The next step:
"I'm working on a live-action/animation hybrid horror-comedy short film with BBC Films. The plot follows a Chinese-born British violinist called Fei whose world turns around when he meets the new arrival of a violinist who is renowned as Mei.
In addition, I'm developing an animated feature film idea regarding a religious cult that is dedicated to the birds! "
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