interviews Revolting Rhymes Room 123 Journal Rintje No. 4 | 2017 ECFA Seminar report December Photo: Revolting Rhymes www.ecfaweb.org INDEX EDITORIAL 3-5 Revolting Rhymes Interview Always worth taking a spective. Through visual practice we can take part in 6-7 ECFA Award 2018 each other’s perspectives and experiences. In a de- mocratic society we must be able to make visible a 8-9 Room 123 different perspective diversity of perspectives, to make the image of our Interview society complex and nuanced.” 10 Joe Boots Can Cinderella’s Prince be an obnoxious guy? Is a na- Doxspot ive type of animation a suitable format for discus- Therefore enjoy taking a different perspective – it sing a troublesome domestic situation? Are horror broadens our minds and brings us closer to our tar- 11 The Shelter films suitable for children? get audience. Interview Well, read the journal and you’ll see that you can 12-13 Screening for Children answer all these questions with ‘Yes’! – Seminar Report Margret Albers REVOLTING RHYMES, THE SHELTER and ROOM 213 ECFA President 13-14 Linda Sternö: The Truth and take different turns on supposedly known stories, The Camera subjects and genres. In a very interesting, as well as Seminar Report entertaining way, they convey that it’s always worth 15 The Incredible Story of Giant Pear taking a different perspective. Work in Progress This was also the core of the ECFA Seminar 16-17 Films on the Horizon ‘Screening for Children’ on September 20th in Stockholm: the approximately 80 participants from 18 12 Dares Work in Progress now on will never get the same perception again re- garding balloons, kites and bicycles on screen. They 19 Night Girl were inspired by best practice from Italy, Slovenia, Short Film France and The Netherlands, reminded how crucial perspective is for telling a story and that children 20-21 Rintje Interview should be enabled to find and express their view on the world. I’d like to quote from Linda Sternö’s 22-23 Children’s film in Russia presentation on ‘The Truth and The Camera’ (of Interview which you’ll find a complete summary in this ECFA Journal): “We see different things; we value diffe- 24 Wendy rent things. Every individual has a unique, personal Interview perspective on the world. Nevertheless, some people 25 KIDS Regio 2018: Immersive media tools want us to unite and gather around one shared per- Guest Page 2 | Journal 04 | 2017 INTERVIEW Jakob Schuh & Bin-Han To about REVOLTING RHYMES “What to do with a chopped off head?” Snow White and Little Red Riding probably goes to Disney.” Even if those Hood are BFF’s. Do hungry wolves versions slightly differ from what RE- prefer pigs, grandmothers or chil- VOLTING RHYMES is offering… dren? Jack is in love with Cindy but she’s ogling the Prince. And where Bin-Han To: With Roald Dahl’s book, does this giant beanstalk in Jack‘s we had more than enough cruelty on garden suddenly come from? The ad- our plate: two decapitations, and Dahl she’s forced into a pair of metal shoes Little Red Riding Hood just showing aptation of Roald Dahl’s REVOLTING writing in detail about the sounds of that have been heated in the fire, and up and shooting people without any RHYMES sets in motion a colourful the heads when they roll… Such de- while the crowd stands watching, she clear reason. We had to invent motiva- parade of fairy-tale characters, scriptions have a clear layer of attrac- has to dance until she dies. tions for all characters. But in general through an ingenious story addres- tion, but when translating them into I like book adaptations. It’s like going sing all ages. Hilarious, poetic and full film, you have to measure how omni- In the book six fairy-tales are inclu- on a sailing trip: you’re pushed for- of unpredictable twists and subplots, present that violence should be. ded, the film has only five. ward by a really strong wind, with nu- this story was originally conceived in a Jakob Schuh: We only realised this Schuh: We only had 60 minutes to merous elements to hold on to. Espe- TV-format, yet equally appeals to ci- the minute we started drawing story- cram in as much of the story as we cially with an artist like Roald Dahl. nema audiences (as is currently being boards. What to do with the image of could, so we cut Goldilocks and the Bin-Han: Dahl has such an awful lot proven in Belgium and France). a head rolling? We tried to keep all the story of the Three Little Pigs, we com- of admirers who all expect nothing cruelty as funny as possible. But all pressed into one scene. less than a genius movie. Especial- On the occasion of the ‘JEF launching this seems like nothing, when compa- ly with this book, that is part of the weekend’ in Antwerp, two out of the red to the original fairy-tale versions, What was the biggest challenge in school curriculum in France and Bri- three directors Jakob Schuh and Bin- dating from centuries ago. The things adapting this particular book? tain. Children know it by heart. I didn’t Han To (Jan Lachauer is the third) tire- happening to Little Red Riding Hood Schuh: In the book all stories are told fully grasp this book’s status until I lessly work their way through nume- and Cinderella are horrifying, pure separately without any interconnecti- was approached by random people rous Q&A’s. “Today’s youth still knows torture. In Snow White the evil queen on, the character arcs are mostly fun- in the streets of London, asking me their fairy-tale classics. That credit is invited to the wedding ball. There ny, without much panning out. Like questions like ‘what is your favourite 3 | Journal 04 | 2017 INTERVIEW rhyme?’ That’s when we realised: this act on their computers. We talked might somehow get us in trouble… all scenes through with them. After Schuh: In Britain they have a Roald receiving the rough versions, we cor- Dahl Day, during the Roald Dahl Year rected some facial expressions and (celebrating his 100th anniversary) gestures. That’s how we slowly pro- there were mass events going on ceeded through 1017 shots. every month, they had a Roald Dahl Bin-Han: Even with three directors celebration in a football stadium! We REVOLTING RHYMES was very deman- love Roald Dahl, but Brits seem to ding: so many scenes, so many loca- have a semi-religious adoration for we started working on the visual gags. tions, so many story elements. During ning against a wall. But when painted him. Compared to your earlier work, THE the first months of the project, we in a 3-dimensional way, they obtain a GRUFFALO and STICK MAN were sat together, discussing the vision certain thickness with little holes and Imagine soon your film might be like small diamonds, while this one and style. We developed the creative irregularities on the surface. screened in a football stadium, is a much bigger diamond, with a foundation together, and when we fi- Bin-Han: Even in a constructed world, watched by 60.000 delirious peop- much broader spectre. nally went into production with a big the incoming light should convey that le, with a quick game of football in Schuh: Those earlier films had a rather team, we split up the work among us. wood looks like real wood, and fabric between the two chapters... From simple storyline and little dialogue. In Our visions were so synced, that each looks like real fabric. The tactile quali- which phase did you get involved in THE GRUFFALO, compared to the ori- of us could individually take care of ty should feel real. the project? ginal book, some narrative elements every single scène. Schuh: We had worked with the Magic had to be added to stretch the story. How did you fit so many different, Light production company in London REVOLTING RHYMES was completely The textures are amazing, with a beautiful locations together in one before, and there was a certain level the opposite. The first animatic was very tactile look in all the materials. coherent universe? of trust. They sent us the book as a 96 minutes long, and from there on Schuh: Jan (Lachauer) and I visited a Schuh: We worked with two worlds: completely open offer: this is a book we had to constantly narrow things, puppet museum with a collection of the frame story and the main story, we’d like to do but we don’t know how make the story tighter. THE GRUFFA- beautiful old marionettes. We obser- both having a different look. For the – what would you suggest? We deci- LO had five main characters, in RE- ved the chipped, painted faces, the fairy-tale world two animators de- ded on the spot all stories should take VOLTING RHYMES we had overall 42 hair sculpted out of wood, and cloth signed quite bold designs. Look at the place simultaneously in one location, characters. for the costumes. The marionette sta- town square: the composition of the and we should interconnect them all. ges were quite lush but all flat, with roofs is decisive and far from natura- We started writing the script, but the How did the animation procedure cut out objects in 2D. We too decided listic. There is a layer of texture and final shape was only revealed in the work? to keep our stages simple (and che- light washing over it, as a strong sty- second phase: the storyboarding.