In a room, there are four people.

Interview with Director/Animator Cassie Shao

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I made the film both for the passing of my grandfather and for a dream I had three years ago that stuck with me ever since. I made it to memorise, to question a lot of questions I don't have answers to, to see myself reflected upon the dream realm and to be curious about the lives reflected upon death. I hope to communicate with the others through mutual emotions and fragmented moments, vulnerabilities and contradictions.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

It is an interesting animated experience as you travel in and out of a room where four people are trapped in, through a moment in their lives and finally arrive at the symbol of death that connected them all together. It is a colourful and vivid journey with a mixed-media approach that mixes and blends together both digital (2D cel animation, 3D computer-generated graphics) and analogue (paint on glass, sand animation, pastel drawings, live-action print-outs and screen-printing) mediums. The look is unique, it presents the reality using dream imagery to evoke an otherworldly perspective, and it asks the audiences to look at what is personal from a distance.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

My film is very much based on my personal journey and a chain of reactions/thoughts that happened because of all the things I have experienced in life. However, I try to communicate through feelings and gestures within small moments and would like to think that the emotion conveyed is universal despite difference in experiences.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

It has evolved so much during the production year. The voice-over was re-written numerous times even after most of the animation was done. The writing reflects the evolution of my thoughts and ideas throughout the year. I had a general structure of the film in the beginning and very loose idea about the content of each shot; most of it changed later on to reflect the new dreams I had and new experiments I conducted such as painting and drawing on live-action print-outs. It ended up being quite different from its initial storyboard stage, but in a way, it reflects my growth and development in thoughts as a person.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Varied feedback, it seems like people like to comment on different aspects of the film. Some thinks its sentiments are powerful and the visuals are beautiful, some wants answers for every question presented, some wants to watch it a few more times before they can grasp onto the concept, some says certain images stuck in their head and appear in their dreams, and some thinks it deliberately made itself "hard to understand" that it evokes distance between the film and the audiences.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I am quite happy about the fact that it does different things to different people. It is a very personal film with many stylistic choices in both the art style and storytelling, it wants to find its "target audience" and touch on a certain aspect of what they think it is important, it would be happy for people to both understand and not understand it.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

That it would reach a wider audience, given that the circle of independent animation is not very big, I would hope for it to reach someone who perhaps is not so familiar with this type of films and that it would make them want to watch more.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I hope for the viewers to feel the emotion I intended, to sink into the space I created, and to be curious about what is beyond the surface. I also hope it would speak to the viewers about their opinions on death, experimental storytelling and the potential of animation as a medium etc. Just anything really, I would like to provide the viewers with space to fill in their own imaginations and interpretations of the film, and I want to be inspired by what they experienced as well.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

"who did it?"

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I recently finished a music video for LA-based band Maggie Dave's new single I'm Not Ready. It combines digital character animation with acrylic paintings, it tells the journey of a sheep-shaped man patiently awaits for a never-incoming train. It is available to view on my Vimeo. Other than freelancing and collaborating, I am also working on my next short film about two characters constantly witnessing an explosion very slowly happening in every corner of their lives. It is also going to be mixed-media but probably heavier on the analogue side comparing to There Were Four of Us.

Interview: February 2020

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

There Were Four of Us

In a room, there are four people.

Length: 6:47

Director: Cassie Shao

Producer: Cassie Shao

Writer: Cassie Shao

About the writer, director and producer:

CASSIE SHAO is an Animation + Visual Artist currently based in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of School of the Art Institute of Chicago and School of Cinematic Arts at USC. She works across the field of independent films, music videos, projection mapping, advertising as well as animated television series.

Key cast: Joseph O'Malley (Voice Over 1), Cassie Shao (Voice Over 2)

Facebook: Cassie Shao

Instagram: @karasucassie

Website: www.karasucassie.com

Other: Vimeo

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Animac / Spain - February 27th - March 1st, 2020; Festival Regard / Canada - March 11th - 15th, 2020; Short Waves Festival / Poland - March 12th - 22nd, 2020; Ann Arbor Film Festival / US - March 24th - 29th, 2020.