The Computer Cube
A man struggling to finish some work inadvertently gives his computer sentience.
Interview with Director/Animator Alex Kropinak, Writer/Producer/Actor Anna Rubanovaa and Producer Adam Bozarth
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
ANNA: Production-wise, we wanted to experiment with different animation styles including stop-motion and motion capture. And we just love working with each other and this was a great opportunity to do that.
ALEX: As a huge fan of Adam and Anna's work, I was very excited to bring their writing to animated life through this project.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
ANNA: To show what's possible with a shoestring budget and just three people with a bunch of software and time.
ALEX: To experience a visually-unique comedic film.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
ANNA: Because this was originally a comedy sketch, this is simply meant to be fun. We appreciate serious, thoughtful films but honestly, this isn't one of those. However, it does seem that we accidentally hit upon some current concerns over AI and artificial sentience.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
ADAM: Beginning as a comedy radio play, it has built itself up here into a fully fleshed-out visual world.
ALEX: Yes, in the process of adapting Anna and Adam's audio sketch into a visual storyboard, we started to see what these characters' worlds looked and sounded like. I created and photographed a physical "Computer Cube" prop, which Adam then transformed into an awesome digital puppet with blinking eyes, moving eyebrows, and a great-looking soundwave-esque mouth that was animated through live-action motion capture. We superimposed this piece of animation against a miniature set and stop-motion-animated characters. Once we saw all of these elements start to combine, we had fun with extra visuals like the Post-It Notes and Reminders decorating the workplace and The Cube's killer tentacles.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
ANNA: We're thrilled with the positive response, so far.
ADAM: It's very exciting to start getting it out into the world through the festival circuit. We're looking forward to hearing feedback from a larger audience.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
ANNA: Not too much at this point, we expected viewers to enjoy it and so far, they have.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
ADAM: We made this to put our work out into the world to a larger audience.
ANNA: As independent creators, it's difficult to bring eyes on the things that we create. We're very proud of the work we do and we'd love to bring it to a wider audience.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
ANNA: As a small team, this was sort of a test run to show what we can accomplish. The message being: Incredible things are possible with small crews and budgets.
ADAM: Anyone who's able to help us make more things like this in the future. We'd love to work with like-minded individuals looking to make the next big thing.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
ADAM: Laughter, we can all use that.
ANNA: I agree.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
ANNA: We didn't intend to, but we accidentally hit upon the question of over-dependence on technology and the future of artificial intelligence. Is AI really going to take over our world?
ADAM: Yes, are we too reliant on technology that we don't completely understand ourselves?
Would you like to add anything else?
ANNA; We hope this project helps connect us with other like-minded individuals. Through the pandemic, meeting collaborators has been difficult so hopefully, this helps bring more of us together.
ADAM: I'm also excited that we were able to create this short as stop-motion animation because it's so fun to look at and a medium that we don't see very often.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
ADAM AND ANNA - We produce two comedy-fiction podcasts, Left Handed Radio and WLHR: Fake Public Radio. We're also developing our creative production services company, Computer City Productions, which produced this short in collaboration with Alex's video production company: Jam Roll Studios.
Interview: June 2023
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
The Computer Cube
A man struggling to finish some work inadvertently gives his computer sentience.
Length: 3:07
Director: Alex Kropinak
Producer: Adam Bozarth, Anna Rubanova
Writer: Anna Rubanova
About the writer, director and producer:
A fan of horror, sci-fi, and all things action, ALEX KROPINAK has netted over a decade of stop-motion experience working for companies like Marvel Entertainment, Sesame Street Studios, Topps Cards, Inc., and many others. Alex lives with his family in Pittsburgh, which is also the home of his company, Jam Roll Studios.
ANNA RUBANOVA is a writer, voice-over artist, podcaster, impressionist, and animator. She began her creative career with ten years of improv and sketch-writing in NYC. During this time, she helped found Left Handed Radio (@lefthandedradio), a sketch comedy podcast. LHR’s catalog of nonsensical narratives includes NPR parodies, absurdist character pieces, and anything audibly imaginable.
ADAM BOZARTH is a comedy writer, actor, improv performer, podcast producer, and animator. His work has appeared on McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Someecards.com, UCBComedy, and more. Adam has also worked as a comedy producer for truTV's Impractical Jokers. He is a founding member of Left Handed Radio, a narrative audio collective. Since 2010, Left Handed Radio has crafted numerous album-length episodes of original sketch comedy and created a fake public radio network called WLHR: Fake Public Radio. Adam was born and raised in Quincy, Illinois, and graduated from Western Illinois University.
Key cast: Anna Rubanova, Adam Bozarth
Looking for: buyers, sales agents, journalists, distributors, film festival directors, producers
Facebook: Jam Roll Studios
Twitter: @LeftHandedRadio
Instagram: @computercityproductions
Hashtags used: #TheComputerCube
Website: www.computercityproductions.com
Other: jamrollstudios.com/home
Made in association with: Musician Dan Warren
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Dances With Films/TCL Chinese Theaters, LA - June 24, 2023 at 11:45 pm
Atlanta Shortsfest/RoleCall Theater, 675 Ponce De Leon Avenue NE Suite W113 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 - June 3, 2023 at 5:15 pm