Dolby Digital in San Francisco and Karl Cohen hosted the last Bay Area Oscar Tour screening for ASIFA San Francisco members. The filmmakers greeted ASIFA members in the lobby and talk about their films before the screening began. Marcy Page, producer of Wild Life, joined us for the evening.
The Q&A brought lots of great questions. The ASIFA SF community is quite knowledgeable about animation, always eager to engage the filmmakers. A teacher in the audience asked Patrick Doyon to explain the process of how he created Dimanche/Sunday. Patrick described how he would draw each frame by hand, even the shadows and the snow. He then would scan the drawings into the computer. From there, he did compositing in After Effects before the final sound was added. Patrick said it was important for him to keep the original lines of his drawings. Marc Bertrand added that he didn’t think storytelling or great design needs computers, it just needs to be simple. He thinks Dimanche/Sunday is compelling to people because of the special moments in the film that are simple, and people can relate to them.
A second question was asked about Wild Life and how the film uses sound. Marcy responded by saying that directors Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby know sound. They bring ideas to the table that strive for a certain originality. She also noted that this is the first time they have used lip sync in one of their short films.
An ASIFA member then asked, “How do you know you are done with a film?” Patrick Doyon answered first and said that during the making of the film he thought it was terrible some days and was always looking for another better film to work on. He then went on to say that when the music seems right in a film he knows it is finished. Producer Lampton Enoch said, in terms of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, they needed to meet deadlines for film festivals. This drove them to get the film out into the public. Bonnie Thompson and Marcy Page said they just know when it feels right.
Once the questions were answered, we drove to Picaro, a nearby tapas bar. It was loud, but had great decorations and lots of parties were gathering in the restaurant. The staff was very accommodating and we were served many different dishes. I really enjoyed the broccoli with almonds. It was very light and made me wish I was able to cook something as good as what they served at the restaurant.
It was a wonderful evening and a great end to the trip. We said goodbye to each other and I know I am definitely going to miss them. I asked Bonnie Thompson before leaving what her favorite part of the trip was and she said, “It was meeting the filmmakers and being exposed more to the animation community.”