Rhode Island International Film Festival - Ma’agalim
Official music video for Jane Bordeaux's 'Ma’agalim'. In a forgotten old penny arcade, a wooden doll is stuck in place and time.
Interview with Director Uri Lotan
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Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I was hoping to make a music video for awhile and around the same time I moved back to my motherland - Israel - after a long period living abroad. I figured it had to be an Israeli band and as soon as a friend of mine introduced me to Jane Bordeaux I just knew it would be a perfect match.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Well, you're already a member of the audience, might as well watch, right? On a serious note though, Ma’agalim is about a feeling of being stuck in place while everyone around you is seemingly progressing in life. We’ve all been there or will be and hopefully there’s some comfort in knowing that we’re not the only ones.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Since the the lyrics of the song are in Hebrew we realised we wanted the visuals for it to be as universal as possible - so anyone can relate to it. Some of the themes we deal with are relationships and their inevitable progression, greed and desires and of course mortality. These are all represented by the different characters the girl encounters as she world around her revolves.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
Yes, the initial concept always stayed the same but the plot changed constantly. And the interesting part was figuring out the ending. Early on we decided that the ‘circle’ will be a dominant element throughout the film. The circular design is in the cylinder world itself, the gears, many of the characters features and set properties, basically It's everywhere graphically and thematically.
In one of our first meetings with the band we pitched an idea that the whole music video runs as a loop, which tied in with the circle theme, they suggested that as the music intensifies towards the end we shatter the world to pieces. We agreed with the note but couldn't find a justification for that to happen. What does shattering the world mean? How does it relate to the lyrics? We kept banging our heads, with one question to guide us: How do you break out of a circle? A Line! A line has a beginning and an end, it’s the opposite of a circle. It seems so obvious now but it took a while to get there. That led us to transform the cylinder into a flat surface, finally breaking our protagonist out of her cycle.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, people from all around the world seem to relate to the girl and the situation she’s in. It seems that many people feel that life just flies right by them and they are just passively watching by. The feedback has been really heartwarming and makes the whole project that much more meaningful.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We always wanted the ending to a bit vague and ambiguous - in a way where you as the viewer get to decide what it means for you. It’s been great seeing all the different interpretations and philosophical discussion it brings out of people, and they've been all across the board, from the most optimistic to the horribly pessimistic ways of looking at it. I think that’s the true power of films, it’s not necessarily bringing your point of view across, rather it’s raising questions that evoke the viewer's point of view and life experience into making their own interpretations of it.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It would be great to have your viewers watch Ma’agalim and hopefully enjoy it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I think this project has fulfilled itself and I don’t see it growing anymore than it already has however I’m always thrilled to get to know new people who are excited about films.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope people can find it relatable and comforting.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I’d rather let the film speak for itself, it does a much better job than I do.
Would you like to add anything else?
I’d like to thank our amazing team! You guys rock!
Producers: Uri Lotan & Yoav Shtibelman
Director: Uri Lotan
Co-Director: Yoav Shtibelman
Art Director: Ovadia Benishu
Additional Art: Avner Geller
Lighting and Shading: Yosef Refaeli
Additional Lighting: Uri Lotan, Rob Showalter
Storyboard: Yoav Shtibelman
Modeling and Rigging: Uri Lotan, Ore Peleg, Or Ofri
Texturing:Yosef Refaeli, Dor Ben-Dayan
Animation: Yoav Shtibelman, Toby Pedersen, Ron Polischuk
Effects: Phenomena Labs
Compositing: Uri Lotan, Ilya Marcus
Colorist: Ilya Marcus
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m currently working on a few commercial projects alongside a personal short film about an incident that had happened when I was 13 during a day trip to a water park.
Yoav Is working on a bunch of very very exciting commercial projects that should be coming out soon enough.
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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Ma’agalim
Official music video for Jane Bordeaux's 'Ma’agalim'.
In a forgotten old penny arcade, a wooden doll is stuck in place and time.
Length: 3:31
Director: Uri Lotan
Producer: Uri Lotan & Yoav Shtibelman
Writer: Uri Lotan & Yoav Shtibelman
Release date: April 2016
Where can I watch it in the next month? Flickers, OULU Music video festival,