EARTHWYN
DIRECTOR-
TIME TRAVELLER.
↓
WRITER-DIRECTOR-
TIME TRAVELLER.
-->THE RAIN IS
STILL
coming down over the commons
of Halifax when I spot
Earthwyn. Despite the time - it’s
past 2 AM on the second of
July, a time agreed following
our work on the City’s Canada
Day 150 Celebrations - the
filmmaker seems unfazed. With
exuding passion and an undeniable
likability, any grievances I
had towards our early morning
meeting soon dissipates, and
before long the conversation is
free-flowing and organic.
Perhaps it’s his child-like
energy, or the genuine love and
passion Earthwyn has for his
craft, that makes our interview
so enjoyable, but as the Toronto-
based filmmaker discusses
his project, I begin to understand
just how much “Sugar
Cube” means to him. This is
more than just a short story…
instead, it’s an examination of
our own thoughts, dreams, and
position within the universe. It’s
an extension of Earthwyn, and a
beautiful one at that.
Over the next hour,
Earthwyn talks me through the
surprising depth of this 12.5
min animated thriller, whilst
opening up about his influences,
struggles and challenges up to
this point…
Q - When was Sugar Cube
Officially released? Sugar Cube
premiered at Hollyshorts in Hollywood,
California on August
11, 2016.
Q- What was that experience
like? Amazing! It met so many
wonderful people and had a
chance to hang out with some
really talented filmmakers,
and of course got to premiere
my film at Grauman’s Chinese
Theatre in Hollywood! I mean,
come on! I can’t think of a better
way to begin a festival run.
I’m truly a lucky kid!
Q – Why did you decide to
make Sugar Cube your first
Animated film? I wanted to
create a thought-provoking tale
that would not only engage
audiences visually, but help
them to understand the deeper
nature of “Creative Blocks,” a
universal struggle that people
of all ages and backgrounds
go through. Many people
(including myself) go through
this process everyday and it
was important for me to depict
this struggle visually. This
film speaks volumes about my
personality and aspirations as a
storyteller, but sadly I believe
this will be my last short film.
Q – Woah - that’s a bit of a
bombshell. I watched Sugar
Cube and loved it, and I’m
sure audiences will too! Why,
then, do you say this will be
your last short? Sorry man, I
didn’t mean to break the news
so publicly to you! (laughs) The
Short Film Genre has been a
blast. I’ve learned a tremendous
amount about being a filmmaker
and really honed my craft over
the last few years, but I think
it’s time for me to venture into
the feature-film world. I’ve had
a lot to say over the last 7 years
and I enjoyed the challenge of
cramming complex narratives
into a dense format like short
films, but I just feel like my
films need to breathe a little
now. I really want to take the
opportunity now to explore the
depth of characters and their
relationships with one another.
Q – What if the film resonates
with audiences, will you
consider making another one?
Don’t get me wrong, I still love
animation as a medium and
think it’s an incredibly powerful
storytelling tool. I definitely
think I will continue to work
with animation in some capacity
in the future, but another short?
That’s a tough call. It would
have to be the right project.
Something even more ambitious
than Sugar Cube, and right now
I can’t even think of what that
would be.
Q – Talk to me about your
influences Earthwyn. Sugar
Cube is one of the most
thought-provoking shorts
I’ve seen in a while: what’s
got you to this point? Behind
every creator - whether it’s
me, the writer, or yourself,
the artist - there is an ultimate
driving force…I was really
fascinated with comic book
artists like Todd McFarlane,
Michael Turner and Alex Ross
growing up, because these guys
always had the ability to take
ordinary characters and make
them explode off the page! Todd
McFarlane for example (my
imaginary mentor) always says,
“why can’t this look cooler?” So
that’s always been my approach
with everything that I do. I’m
not interested in, “how do I tell
this story?” I’m interested in
“how do I tell this story in such
a way, that will glue audiences
to their seats and make them to
go ‘wow!’” If my work doesn’t
impress me, it feels like a waste
of time.
Since Sugar Cube was going
to be my first Animated Short,
I was conflicted with which
animation style I wanted to go
with. I grew up loving cell-animation,
so I knew that has to be
a part of it, but then again I was
also tremendously amused by
shape-shifting animation styles
in movies like “A Scanner Darkly”
and “Waking Life.” So I
decided that if this story was going
to be told properly, it would
have to be this type of “Alice
in Wonderland” fantasyscape,
where the character could shift
and morph into these different
animation styles as narrative
continued. I then thought of
movies like The Animatrix and
Gotham Knight, and that’s really
what gave me the blueprint for
how I was going to produce this
movie.
Q – Now I’ve spoken to
professionals in the animation
business about producing
Animated shorts and features
and it’s never an easy road.
This being your first animated
film, how did you manage to
keep your head above water
and produce a film that had
so many moving parts? The
film was essentially broken
down into 3 major scenes. Each
scene had its own narrative and
specific visuals that needed to
be shown on screen, but the
context of each scene was never
described to the animators that
worked on them. Each animator
was simply given a task, a
vision and a deadline. Making
it work within that timeline was
up to them. I knew this would
frustrate some artists, but we
continued to push hard on our
deadlines and answered only
specific questions. I needed the
animators to stress a little bit and fumble through the exercise
because it was the only way
for me to guarantee authentic
results. Some people got it right
away, some people quit, and
some people floundered through
the process, but that entire
struggle is what I think makes
this movie special. We’re not
just talking about the breakthrough
process with pretty
visuals; we’re actually seeing
the process tunfold in real time
on screen.
↑
varsity
jacket By Champion
" Some people got it right away, some people quit, and some people floundered through the process, but that entire struggle IS WHAT I THINK MAKES THIS MOVIE SPECIAL "
Q – There’s an interesting
quote at the beginning of
your film from the Institute of
Physics that reads; “An atom
is about 99.999999% empty
space. If you removed the
empty space from the atoms
of all people, the entire human
race could fit in the volume of
a sugar cube.” Why did you
choose that specific quote to
open your film? The first time
I read that quote I was blown
away. Not so much by the fact
itself, but by the profound
size analogy it unknowingly
represented. As human beings,
we tend to assert ourselves as
the most dominant beings on the
planet. So when you equate the
entire human race to an object
(that we can literally stick into
our coffee cups in the morning)
it becomes an incredibly humbling
exercise in perspective
that I felt compelled to share
with the world.
Q – That’s incredibly deep
Earthwyn, but why do I feel
there’s more to it than that?
Tell us the truth: what were
you hoping audiences would
gain from this?
OK, you got me Luke! (laughs)
It was really about orienting
the audience. I used this quote
and played around with big
and small imagery throughout
the film to juxtapose the vast
difference between a creative
block and a creative mind.
In the life of an artist, or an
individual facing a deadline (ie.
everyone on Earth) a creative
block tends to manifest itself as
the most pressing, soul-sucking
obstacle, standing in the way of
progress. But what is a creative
block relative to an idea? A
creative block is one thing, but
the mind, and our ability to
generate new ideas is infinite.
Therefore, a creative block in
the wake of a tsunami of ideas
shouldn’t stand a chance right?
So what’s the problem? It’s our
humanity. It’s the 99.999999%
of metaphysical space outside
of that cube that makes
the human race so complex. It’s
the space that we inhabit, know
very little about, and seldom
explore. *Takes a long sip of
coffee
So I thought to myself “that’s
it! That’s what I’m going to
do. We’re going to shrink the
entire human race down and
stick them inside this cube and
then, instead of killing each
other (like I’m sure we would
if we were actually sharing
space inside of a sugar cube)
we’re going to work together to
navigate these unknown lands.
Q – “Outside the box”? It’s a
cube Luke. A friggin’ CUBE!
Q – I suddenly feel like I
missed so much. (laughs) It’s
meant to be watched a few
times. *winks
Q – Ah, I see what you’ve
done there. Where can people
see your film? Sugar Cube is
available on iTunes and Google
Play store, or on our website at
www.sugarcubethemovie.com
LUKE CONNOLLY is a writer
based in Toronto, Canada.
This is his first story for
1987 PRODUCTIONS.
E
|
|
|
|
DIRECTED BYEarthwyn
An Original Design ByEarthwyn
In association with Pure Percent Entertainment starring Peter Madison "Sugar
Cube" Animated By Jason Stamatydes, Juan Correa ∧ Shamel Esmail Music By
Kira May ∧ Jeremy Langlois Sound Design and Foley Yves Middleton Music
Mix Ian Boddy Sound Mix Kyle Anderson ∧ Calvin Greening Production
Design Taylor Armstrong