Slamdance 2019 – Eyes at the Specter Glass
An otherworldly vision of the power of light and the weight of planets.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Matthew Wade
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The honest answer is, I found myself becoming bored with movies. This happens about once a year. I find myself going to the theater a lot and streaming stuff to sort of catch up on everything I missed throughout the year. Dialogue, editing, even types of shots, are all so boilerplate with most movies. It's like, how many times can you do the same thing over and over again? And how is that fulfilling as a filmmaker?
My producing partner/wife, Sara Lynch, and I have had this conversation many times over the years. Usually, my new projects sprout from a kind of desire to see something that I feel I'm otherwise unable to watch.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
In an era where movies seem to cut faster and faster and (likely as a result of television's constant need for expose) disseminate information as quickly as possible, I'm always hungry for work that takes its time and moves at a different pace; that tells stories in different, exploratory ways. Standard narratives are fine and universal and blah, blah, blah, but I'm much more taken with work that forces its audience to engage with unfamiliar tone, atmosphere, sound, and pacing.
So much of modern moviemaking is just reference to other movies, genres, and filmmakers. I hope people can experience the audio/visual aspects of Eyes at the Specter Glass as something new, because as I was making it I had no point of reference to it, either. It was something I had to engage with as it was coming about.'
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film is abstract. I purposely never tell anyone what my projects mean or what they are supposed to get from them. There is a story, and while I know what the story is (and in this case, much of it is indicated in the title), as it exists to me, that doesn't really matter. I'm not trying to convert anybody or tell anyone something profound. I'm just trying to leave enough room for people to get lost for 12 minutes it the safety of a movie screen.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script was essentially a bunch of little drawings in a notebook with some words about the feeling, and how each shot should transition so that I knew how the subsequent shot should start. A rule for myself was never to look at a scene once it was done and only to move on using my notes. So I didn't see all of the shots together until the day I put them all into my editing software, in chronological order of when they were made. That was it; no editing or trimming. The shots are just lined up exactly how they were made.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Not many people have seen it. Basically myself and Slamdance and some various press people.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I was happy and surprised it got into Slamdance. It was the first place I sent the film.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
The more eyes, the better. Low budget animation is both largely unknown, even in the indie world, and very difficult to get screened in any sort of public venues. I just hope people come out and see the amazing animated shorts Slamdance & Sundance are screening.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
It's always a neat idea to get a distributor interested in a short film because that is rare. It can definitely give exposure to things that are usually only seen in festivals and then maybe on Vimeo or Youtube. It'd be nice to see more shorts getting some sort of curated attention, the way they were on Filmstruck (RIP), paired with a feature with their own special mention.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I'd like people to engage with it for what it is and then have whatever reaction they honestly feel.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What is Specter Glass?
Would you like to add anything else?
Criterion, please keep the tradition of short film pairings alive when you launch your new platform!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
The core team that made Eyes at the Specter Glass are finishing up a feature film, A Black Rift Begins to Yawn. It's a dramatic mystery with elements of horror and sci-fi, which is currently in the sound design phase. We won a couple of grants for it in 2018, which was great. I'm hoping to have that wrapped up later this year.
Next up, we're working on a comical animated short (maybe a pilot) that would be along the lines of something you might see on Adult Swim. I've written most of that and it's going into pre-production once I'm back from Park City and caught up on my sleep.
I'm also just stoked to see where Eyes at the Specter Glass continues its journey.
Interview: January 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. 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
Eyes at the Specter Glass
An otherworldly vision of the power of light and the weight of planets.
Length: 11:30
Director: Matthew Wade
Producer: Matthew Wade
Writer: Matthew Wade
About the writer, director and producer:
MATTHEW WADE is a classically-trained animator, filmmaker, and visual artist from the northwest United States. He works as a freelance animator and makes strange music and movie projects on his own time.
Looking for: film festival directors, distributors, journalists
Facebook: Matthew Wade
Instagram: @mattheworks
Website: http://matthewade.com
Other: https://www.skymeltfilm.com
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Slamdance Film Festival/Park City, UT - Jan 28, 7:45pm and Jan 30, 11:00am, both screenings at the Treasure Mountain Inn on Main St.