ESCAPISM: An Interview with Sandrine Champagne

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘Escapism’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?

To tell you the truth, ‘ESCAPISM’ is the very first short film (and film in general) I have ever made! However, I can tell you what kind of projects I made before studying animation: back in my visual arts days (it was a two year-long scholar program),  I would make intricate drawings, paintings, and even sculptures (I even got the opportunity to do printmaking, screenprinting, and also video art)!

This trained me to experiment with multiple different techniques and materials, as I have learned to go with the flow. I did make a few silly animations too at the time, but I never took it as seriously and passionately as when I first started university.

The answer as to how I’ve started learning filmmaking can simply be put by school and a lot of creative energy that needed to be unleashed. Ironically, I’ve always been fascinated with drawing and painting eyes and dream-like pieces (sometimes abstract), which has been translated into ‘ESCAPISM’. I’ve always unconsciously associated animation with dreams, because anything seemed possible in those wonderlands of cartoons and bright hues. Therefore, that is why, when I animate, I like to think I’m creating a part of a dream, which only makes the process more exciting!

Furthermore, despite my lack of experience, I already feel a much deeper connection with traditional animation than digital. While digital art can be controlled and precisely manipulated in ways that real life objects or substances can’t be, the natural colors and textures of non-digital mediums have a charm that can never be fully replicated by any software. It is in their most raw and unpredictable outcomes that they create a unique beauty and spark. 

Currently, I like taking the unpredictable route more than before, and while it can leave me in the dark as to how my animations will exactly look like, I know for a fact that in the end, I will have made something very, very interesting.

Tell us about ‘Escapism’. How do you describe it?

‘ESCAPISM’ is beautiful chaos. It is a deceiving universe of cold hues. ‘ESCAPISM’ is a contrast of comfort and discomfort, both sensations bringing life to a more complex situation and use of a coping mechanism that many minds, especially the more creative ones, could relate to.

The traditional materials used in this project should feel grounding, but as they blend together, they become one. They become a single reality, one that isn’t real. It’s beautiful… and it’s horrifying how easy it is to get sucked into a world of wonders such as this one.

What is  the cost of using escapism? Is it truly a safe haven? Is it really better than the ‘real world’? Why the escaping? Sometimes it’s easier to remain stagnant within a frequent habit than reflect upon it and its consequences.

On top of this, in many people’s eyes, there is more beauty in fiction than in real life. What is impossible in reality can suddenly become a child’s play in invented universes. To lock ourselves into our comfort and dive into it for god knows how long may feel blissful, but it doesn’t erase the longing feeling of wanting to have a better life in the true reality, the reality that still waits for us to sober up from our daydreams or distractions.

Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.

I am in sheer admiration of Norman McClaren for his great talents and his courage to explore so many different techniques. Learning about him during my first semester at university has truly opened my eyes on the infinite possibilities in the world of animation. Once I got my hands on traditional materials to do ‘undercamera animation’ (it’s how we call it at school, there are multiple stations with high, fixed cameras pointing downwards on a table on which we manipulate different mediums), I fell in love with it, and I’m most likely not going to stop any time soon. This artistic genius makes me want to discover all plausible animation techniques in the world, and perhaps even go as far as inventing some new ones. I especially love his works of “Pas de Deux” and “Begone Dull Care”, but in my opinion, anything that he has ever made is very endearing and hypnotizing to me.

Another filmmaker that inspires me is Joan C. Gratz and her unique technique of ‘clay painting’. This technique requires different clay of colors to be mixed, so that it may turn into a mesmerizing sculptural ‘painting’. I have tried ‘clay painting’ for ‘ESCAPISM’, but it is absolutely nothing compared to the majestic work of Joan C. Gratz, no one can do it as beautifully as her!

One last filmmaker I would like to talk about is Eiichi Yamamoto. I have only watched one film from him, but said film has brought to me a level of inspiration and fascination I didn’t even know was possible. The piece in question is “Belladonna of Sadness”, a gorgeously drawn and animated film with very dark and heavy (and surely triggering) themes. In fact, this film has impacted me so much that I even wrote my entire History of Animation essay about it. The most outstanding aspect of this movie in my opinion, is its beauty of watercolor animation. This masterpiece was the main (dare I say, SOLE) reason why I wanted to try my own take on animated watercolors. Needless to say, I am now obsessed with this technique, and I intend on bringing to life more complex and beautiful subjects with it compared to the hypnotizing but simple abstractions I’ve animated in ‘ESCAPISM’.

If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?

Oh dear, great question! I would definitely work on longer and bigger projects (fifteen to twenty-five minutes long instead of a cute minute, though I would still make micro films, they’re just too much fun!), a big majority of them animated, of course, and I would be willing to create more complex visuals and potentially hire a good musical band instead of making my own melodies with my very limited musical abilities (to feed your curiosity, I can sing somewhat decently and play the guitar half-mediocrely and half-acceptably).

I would probably still do most of the work myself (what can I say, I like accomplishing most tasks or objectives on my own, I’ve always been like that!), but I would learn to collaborate more with people regarding the conceptualization and the sound design, as it can be very useful to hear out other people’s opinions and have them help on one’s projects with their unique skills.

My ideal project would have fantastic music (the kind I would never be able to compose myself, most likely a mix of classic and metal music, and independent genres too), with VERY detailed animated subjects that I would manipulate with acrylic paint, oil paint, watercolors, clay, and/or anything really. Traditional and experimental animations are awesome and I MUST create everything that I can with these two genres! Apologies for the intensity, I just LOVE experimenting with traditional materials. Oh! And regarding the overall aesthetic of my ‘ideal project’, it would probably look very otherworldly, colorful, and maybe psychedelic at times. It would feel so magical for both me and my hypothetical production team, as well as for the audience. In the past, Norman McClaren said that animation is the illusion of movements, and I wholeheartedly agree with him, but I also think that it’s the most magical form of art that there is.

To put it briefly, my dream film would be a much longer and outstanding project that would bring hope in the lives of many people. Animation is magic, and magic brings hope, it’s beautiful.

Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?

Quite simple. Communication is key and always remains key in any projects, so I would speak to everyone on the specific deadlines of the whole film production steps. I’d also encourage them to talk to me if anything were to happen for their late arrival or absences (life is very complex and unpredictable, you all know that already).

If staff would not be within the possibility to arrive on schedule, I would either delay the specific step or event (if allowable) until they arrive (if they do, that is) or I would try to get an emergency replacing person with the skills to complete the tasks at hand (I think that this option is VERY unlikely to happen, but you never know something until you try it!). Or, I could try to complete the task at hand myself, although I can’t master everything, so it would depend.

However, if certain production team members would willingly arrive late or just make things unnecessarily complicated, I’d tell them something along the lines of “I’m the director, and I have directly told you to come do your job DIRECTLY TODAY, and you’ve chosen to directly laze off? Our schedule is tight (which I’ve directly told YOU and everyone else MANY TIMES), and with this behavior of yours, I’m afraid I might have to directly fire you if this continues. So I’ll be as direct as possible with you, COME TO WORK ON SCHEDULE, THE SCHEDULE IS DIRECTLY AVAILABLE FOR THE WHOLE TEAM, AND YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DIRECTLY KNOW WHEN TO COME ON PRODUCTION! WE CAN’T AFFORD YOUR NEGLIGENCE DIRECTLY, GOD DARN IT!!!”. You know, I’d get a little… direct with it, if such things were to happen. 

Though to be honest, I’m a bit scared of working with a whole production, it sounds overwhelming, and not to mention, confrontation has never been my strong suit. However, I would rather face my fears and confront the people in question, than just chicken out and cause more problems with such negligent directing. I’m also scared of anything going possibly wrong even if that’s normalcy in the world of filmmaking and working with people and OH MY GOD, I’M SCARED, SOMETHING WILL DEFINITELY GO WRONG, OH NO-

Perhaps you can’t tell, but I’m a slightly anxious person, though I always try my best. Still, for the most part, I would communicate with everyone as much as possible so that the whole team may arrive on schedule and we can directly start shooting or achieving whatever steps necessary. I hope this directly answers your question. : )

What was the hardest part of making ‘Escapism’.

The hardest part of making this short film was to make it visually coherent and create a fitting sound design for it (that’s technically two parts instead of one, but you get the point).

I’ve used three different mediums for a short forty seconds of animation, which is very quick for a screened project. I initially wanted to use five or six mediums (oil pastels, soft pastels, water colors, clay, play dough, and I don’t remember if there really was a sixth one), but after having made multiple animation tests before working on the official animations, I did agree with my supervisor that it would be wiser to ‘only’ use three techniques maximum. Once I completed the final shots, there came the montage. I was very unsure if it would work, but compositing shots on top of each other has made it visually captivating and coherent. With the right levels of transparency and color effects, it ended up working! I was so relieved, since my peers and myself weren’t sure if I would execute a multimedia visual narration well, but I did. Thank god!

Regarding the sound design, for reasons I can’t really put into words, I absolutely wanted to use the sounds of church bells for the main score. However, once I finished my first pass of sound design and showed it to class (showing  our progression to the whole class almost every single week is part of the process, just so we may get feedback), I’ve been told that it sounded like a horror film and that the bells had an awfully dreadful effect to them. It didn’t make my peers want to dive into the animated world I’ve created, instead, it made them want to run away from it! It was funny, but a further indicator of how sound design can completely change the tone to one’s films. What is heard is as equally, if not, more important than what is seen, and if executed poorly or clumsily, it will inevitably show. In the end, for the final pass of my sound design, I played a simple melody I’ve invented on the guitar, and it worked much better than those cursed bells… The music sounded soothing and had a more or less subtle eeriness to it, and it ended up sounding even better after the sound mixing!

If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?

Oh boy, do I have A LOT of ideas planned.

According to my film journal (where I write most of my ideas for future films), I will surprisingly be continuing my experimentations with traditional animation. Shocker, isn’t it? I’ve even started to hypothesize on what kind of live-action projects I would create. Naturally, I could tell you about all of the concepts I have planned so far, but instead, I will write a sneak peak of dialogue for the next short film I plan on making for my Fall semester of this year:

“I don’t know what it is, but I know I MUST keep running. I can’t stop, even if my legs drop dead to the ground. This can’t go on forever… I know that. It would be so much easier if I could just un-run away from it all.” Yes, there will be a theme of escapism in this one as well, just not as central as ‘ESCAPISM’.

Thank you so much for interviewing my amateur self of a ‘filmmaker’. Although I’m not the most talkative individual on Earth, I love yapping about art and animation, and this was a great excuse to do so! I hope you will all enjoy my special little animated film at the festival, and if you end up disliking it, then I hope this interview will have entertained you at least. Well, I’m going to go draw something weird, see you all another time, perhaps! : )