Rhode international Film Festival - AU FIL DE L’EAU (on flying water)
An original metaphor of life visualized by the short life time of water droplets, surviving as long as they can, until they are exposed by their toughest natural enemy.
The music combines instrumental sound techniques and electronics for some noise (like shouts etc, and sound-design) of the drops. The hero drop is represented by piano and violin solo, and each little drop is represented by one instrument.
Interview with Producer and Composer Julia Pajot
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Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The director, Dominique Monfery, has a preference for traditional animation, so despite the fact that it is computer animation, it is in 2D. He loves to animate non living objects, as we can see with these droplets that are personalized and move very naturally, as when real droplets fall.
There was no narration, dialogue, in this film, so when I scored it, I used musical sentences as if there were words. Instruments act as voices. I was really inspired by the concept of this film, personalizing water droplets this way, especially when the director gave me the storyboard and the animation.
Monfery is a Disney veteran (animator and supervisor), as well as director or the legendary Dali/Disney DESTINO for which he received an Oscar nomination, I was very proud to work with him. He worked in the great films that rocked our world since I was a child! It is funny, we are both French with an “Anglo-Saxon” background. I've almost always lived and studied in the US and London. I also liked the style of the film, of course, and wasn't surprised that he liked mine and it became a stylistic melting pot.
I’ve been writing pictorial and concrete music for years, and saw the way to develop this on a film, with my other fellow artists. We can do so much more when each of us - in our particular field - gets together on a work, research or anything that develops art!
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
It is an approach that needs to be developed, it reminds me of the short film AN OBJECT AT REST by Seth Boyden, where he animated a rock. His film was incredible because not only did he personalized it, but we feel emotions as if the rock was a living character. In our film, it is more playful, cute, death being dealt with lightly, focusing on the lively personality of the drops, who can't escape their fate.
It is a bit short unfortunately, so the audience doesn't really have the time to properly feel for the characters, as it is more of an introduction. The Monfery wrote every single droplet’s name (A-S, X, Y, Hero droplet), but on the screen we do not see this since they are all of the same color. What surprised me from the director is that from the beginning, when he gave me the annotated breakdown of shots, he wanted us to know which droplets were at each particular moment. But on the image, they are all blue! So we don’t know which are which…
The audience needs to associate the droplets with the instruments, which are entirely linked. The music is neither an orchestration nor a traditional tutti in the climax, but the sound representation of the characters visualized on the screen. This is only the beginning of an approach that I am developing with other artists.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The message of this film is that life goes on, no matter what happens, some fall, some succeed, but as if shown by the hero drop, one has the ability to change his fate and lead the others away from their fall.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The difficulty for Monfery was that he went directly to the animation, with no script, no storyboard. He gave me the annotated breakdown of shots so I could synchronize everything, and especially, analyze the different changes of shots and where each droplet was, in space. I even used the rotation and speed changes to create my music! I thought about gravity, too, in terms of dynamics.
I approached the music as I always do in my concert works, most of which is pictorial: expressing the emotions of the characters, depicting movement and physics (breaking, jumping, etc), and personalizing the characters (this time it was a timbre, “color” leitmotiv).
The music and sound design is a narration, like musical voice acting. Each character droplet is represented by a different instrument, until the orchestral tutti when all of them gather together on the spider web during the first, middle climax (not the finale). The drop dying in the trash is formed by 5 droplets, represented by the lower instruments: bassoon, trombone, tuba, harp and contra-bass. Hence this is the last time that we hear these instruments in the film.
The hero drop is represented by piano and violin solo. The sound effects are mainly instrumental sounds written directly with the score, and blended with Monfery’s effects samples, such as car horns, birds, wind (surrounded by my white noise “on the bridge” bowing on the string's instruments, heard in many of my concert works such as LE CHANT NOCTURNE and TEMPETE ENSOLEILLEE).
Structurally, the theme is heard in full (well, it ends on a half cadence, the Tonic’s dominant. A question, really…) at the introduction of the string quintet solo, and is heard over and over again throughout the film. It is always transformed and fragmented (the harmonies always stay the same however), or broken to constantly have the first note of its beginning fall on the next “shot” or important action or event. The quintet solo is again heard at the conclusion in a fade-in when the last droplet died on the electric thread under the sun, and continues throughout the credits.
Unfortunately, we needed to release the film to a tight deadline to send it to the Academy (Oscars), (thanks to everyone and all the members who helped me to qualify as it was new to me, and everything else!), so I didn't have time to really use all the possibilities of panning on the surround speakers. I was having recording sessions in London, working with the sound editor in LA, and Monfery in Paris, to make it more complicated...
But if we really achieved everything as needed, we would feel not only a movement of left-right, but a circle of left-front to back-right, coupled with high to low registers which were moving along the movement that the droplets were doing when they were all gathering together and the shot was emphasizing on their movement towards us.
If our panning across the surround speakers had been really developed, the audience would have felt as though they were in the middle of the droplets. We do feel the horizontal movement and the vibrations, in the theatre. It helps when the audience listens to and for this…
We didn't have any budget, production or team behind this film. The director created the whole animation himself, and I took care of the whole concept with the sound and music, post-production, marketing the film, organizing our theatrical run last year, finding all the best festivals that would be great for it, etc.
The only folks who joined us were the sound editor, the distributor (thanks to Fortissimo Films for recommending us), and his lab and mine for the creation of the ProRes and DCP. It is good to be in a very small team sometimes, but for this kind of film we needed a budget and many more people with us to really take the time and mean to achieve our goal. We learned many lessons, though!
What type of feedback have you received so far? Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback has been great universally, as shown by the many awards we have won, and the audience, whether industry professionals or general audience, loved the natural way the droplets are moving (animated). Many people were impressed by the extremely detailed synchronization sound/image, and how well blended my instrumental sound effects were with the rest, they didn't realize it was created by instruments and that i wrote everything on the score… I was very happy by how they felt!
But everyone had the same feeling, the end was too fast, 30 seconds would have been enough. Where we most felt the need of making it longer was to expand the animation at the end: during the progressive dying-out of the droplets and to have more time for my orchestral fade-out - that we don't feel - (when all the instruments come off one by one, following the progressive dying-out of the droplets), since we have only a half or quarter of a second, for each step.
We would have an end where we learn what happened to the hero droplet after she led the others away from the trash spider web. Indeed, those droplets die on the thread under the sun, but she is not on there… And this would have been a coming-back to the beginning, ending on the pond where we see under the dew, at the beginning of the film, but this time under the sun with another life waking up… The message of that film also is that, despite the droplets dying under the sun, another life is being born… The film didn't show this enough.
The theme would fade exactly as it does when the sun comes up after the death of the last drop, and continue for the same duration, except instead of being in the credits, the animation would continue as suggested above, and when the film’s true end would fade out, the theme would fade in and continue throughout the credits and end as it does in this film.
Also, we don't know what happens to the hero drop since the only drops we see last after she leads them are all those forming the big drop, dying on the thread. The film should have come back to the beginning, with the pound, to show the new life under the sun. The message of that film is also that, despite the droplets dying under the sun, others are born… The film didn't show this enough…
When the director gave me the film, he told me that the animation was done. I didn’t think it was finished, but i started as a composer, not yet as a producer at the time, so I didn’t tell him what i thought.There was also other feedback which i won't talk about, I'll let the audience decide! Overall, most of the feedback we had didn't surprise me at all. I was very conscious of both the craftsmanship and artistry in this film, and what we could have developed much more.
We were selected at numerous famous film festivals (now, Rhodes Island IFF), and won various awards of excellence, gold, silver, at prestigious competitions such as Accolade and others, for the film production (we shared the wins for creativity/originality, concept etc), as well as for original score and animation.
I have won Global Music Awards silvers for the score, concept, creative approach, as well as for an original concept of score in animation, which is both underscoring (synchronization and instrumental concrete sound effects and design) and “traditional” music/scoring (emotion-driven). There is even an Academy member who told me they thought that the animation was created on the music.
Here is what another Academy member, documentary branch - who had switched from the animation branch - wrote to me about the film. Side note: he is 75, white, retired. He is one of these called “rank-in-file” members, but like the others, his work is beautiful, unique, and even genius sometimes. Members are not “horrible” as people think… But it is so hard to be attacked the way they are, their “brutally honest” anonymous comments are quite due to this. He is only one of many like him:
“I watched your film tonight, and I was utterly charmed by it. I especially liked the music, and was very impressed that you were credited for it. When I made short films back in the 1960s I would hire composers to do my scores and it was always wonderful to work with them. I also loved the way that water was animated into characters, so natural and beautiful. I now understand why your film has achieved such success at festivals, and I hope you make the finals for the short animation Oscar. If I were on the selection committee for animated shorts I would have given it a 10. It was that good. Unfortunately I'm not on that committee; but if it ends up being nominated I will definitely watch it at one of the animated short screenings and will definitely consider it for my Oscar vote. Thank you for sharing it with me. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the big screen.”
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
The more people know about our film and what we tried to achieve, the best it is, as they will discover our concept and approach, which in my opinion should be developed. I hope other artists will do the same. I am developing my concept, which I started years ago in the contemporary classical music world, wrote my Masters thesis, and have worked with my peers on this research. This film was only the small beginning in my film development.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We only have a distributor, but we need to have the film shown in other theatres, on TV, international festivals who would take it i non competition and especially, interviews, so that people know about it.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope people will talk about it and spread the word… We hope to have the means of achieving our goal, next time, whether creatively, technologically, financially… Right now, the most important thing is to get it released. I hope to regroup it as part of a feature-length of shorts with the same approach.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I guess it would be any question about what we were trying to achieve, what the audience is supposed to feel…
Would you like to add anything else?
Not now, but it will come with your and others’ questions, I'm sure!
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
The director has released two albums of graphic novels TIN LIZZIE. He is now directing a series. I am developing my research on Atmos films, and associations between sound and visual arts’ parameters (texture, color, etc) on both the physics of movements and emotions. I am working with many of my peers in various fields for this. You can read more about it, as well as the director’s background, in our information below
Interview: August 2016
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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AU FIL DE L’EAU (on flying water)
An original metaphor of life visualized by the short life time of water droplets, surviving as long as they can, until they are exposed by their toughest natural enemy.
The music combines instrumental sound techniques and electronics for some noise (like shouts etc, and sound-design) of the drops. The hero drop is represented by piano and violin solo, and each little drop is represented by one instrument.
Length: 2 minutes 21 seconds.
Producer: Julia Pajot
Director: Dominique Monfery
Writer: story by Dominique Monfery
Music and instrumental sound effects: Julia Pajot
About the writer, director and producer:
Monfery: http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0597963/
Pajot: https://www.thescl.com/profile/32807
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): sales agents, buyers, theatrical and TV distribution, film festival directors, journalists.
Release date: 18-24 September 2015
Played at LANDMARK'S REGENT, Westwood and LAEMMLE'S NOHO 7, SEPT 18-24th.
landmarktheatres.com/los-angeles/film-info/short-films-documentary-live-action
Where can I watch it in the next month? i dont know yet, i am waiting for one or two festivals, but RIFF is one of the last festivals i submitted to, and now we are looking more for festivals who would screen it out-of-competition.