2008 promises the inclusion of more interesting new (and old) filmmakers to our brand new Film Community. We'll continue to wander through their minds by exposing them...
This time, *woobiee


-Nico: Why film among many art languages?
-Andy:Film is actually quite new to me; it was only about a year ago when my interest in film became paramount. Before then it was all about animation, receiving a degree in animation in college. But after 7 years or so of animation I find myself doing the same thing over and over again, creating stale, flat and to-the-point works. They were stereotypically clean and perfect, non-emotional, and strictly for entertainment purposes. And so, I wanted a change, a darker and more multi-faceted change that would have more passion and feeling in my work. The use of people and the abstract thought of nature and life also account to my change. Film fit the bill. With film I did not have to concentrate on the modeling of a character, designing an environment, or making sure the character’s movement was correct. Now I can focus on the story, the concept, and the audio of the piece. To me film is raw and unclean than animation. It’s natural and not synthetic.


-Nico: How many film works have you completed thus far?
-Andy:Realistically around 3-5. Counting all the silly and stupid ones; the ones that I’ve done back in the day which I usually am embarrassed to share, probably 5-10.


- Nico: Do you live of film or plan to go professional in the future?
-Andy:I think so. I would love to get into the indie film scene! But for Hollywood, I may stay away because of its commercialized nature. However, it would be difficult to ignore as it is has become omnipresent. I think if I ever worked in a Hollywood production, I would be quite selective on which production I work on.


- Nico: Your stop motion techniques are very impressive. Do you prefer stop motion to live motion cameras?
-Andy:Thank you very much! I do not think I like one or the other better; I like them both! Each method produce very different qualities and it is very hard to choose one over the other. It seems stop motion today is more novel than mainstream and thus maybe this is why it is so attractive to me; perhaps this stop motion quality generates a type of aura of uniqueness.

I think with motion cameras, the emphasis is with the actors/subjects whereas with stop motion, the emphasis is on the animator. Ultimately I believe stop motion gives the creator more control, assembling frame by frame, piece by piece. You can also do some unique special effects on location with stop motion, without depending on green screen, motion capture and post production in general like motion pictures. In the end though, stop motion involves more work.


- Nico: Can you explain for those who have no idea, how you achieved the revolving in the air sequence in your film -revolve around me-?
-Andy:Sure thing, it’s pretty simple. Film/video or any type of motion media usually plays a sequence of images. Film is 24fps or 24 individual images a second. So if capturing a walk sequence at 1 step per second, you will need 24 individual images to complete one step. Imagine taking that movement of stepping, from start (both feet together) to end (one foot in front) and dividing that motion into 24; these are your images that you will be playing back. Most cameras do this automatically; press the record button and it runs, all you have to do is point the camera.

With ‘Revolve Around Me’, it was shot with a still camera, one image at a time. To have the girl float, I just had her jump in mid air, and with good timing, take a photo of her while she is off the ground. You do this a hundred or so times and at playback, frame after frame, at 5 frames a second (this was the chosen frame rate for the piece), it will appear that she is floating.


- Nico: What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?
-Andy:Definitely the family's camcorder (I believe it was Hi-8). I did a lot of stupid stop motion home movies with my toy figurines and a horrible music video with my brother. The camera may not be considered a ‘toy’ but to me it was!


- Nico: Do you explore other art mediums?
-Andy:Absolutely! I was an animator by trade so animation is a biggie; 2D and 3D. I've played piano for 16 years, wrote a few pieces and occasionally mix electronic tracks ([link] and [link]). Been a photographer for a few years and it may be apparent that ‘Revolve Around Me’ is a visual fusion of Photography and Animation. I've also done a few websites through the years, the most recent: [link] . And speaking of which, commonvision is where I currently work at. It is a print/design shop and this is where I am currently developing my graphic design skills.



- Nico: What inspires you?
-Andy:Oh there is a ton of inspiration around! I think the big one is school. The masters degree at UMBC is quite stimulating with the freedom of exploration. Another inspiration is more obvious and that is other people's films; and to be more general, just the art all around.


- Nico: Describe yourself in three words.
-Andy:passionate, diligent, workaholic


- Nico: Who's your favorite artist?
-Andy:Oh that is a hard question. There are so many that I admire. Hmm…well it may have to be Georges Seurat or Roy Lichtenstein. (They may seem quite different but they both use one method or another of pointillism).


- Nico: Who's your favorite film director?
-Andy:Provided that I am just starting out with film and been only exposed to a very limited selection, Stanley Kubrick would be my favorite at this time.


- Nico: What's the last book you read?
-Andy:A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink


- Nico: Name at least one movie you own. Why?
-Andy:One of my favorites would be 'Garden State'. It has an honest story and some interesting shots. All in all, it is a terrific film that depends on character development and storytelling rather than special effects which a lot of films depend on these days.


- Nico: A current project?
-Andy:Of course! I am always on a project! It will be a short film this time around. We are still conceptualizing so we are still not sure what it will be about. It may be about suicide, flaws in society, escape, learning, and self-realization.


- Nico: What do you think of deviantART Film this far? Do you have any suggestions to better improve our community?
-Andy:I think it is wonderful! If there is anything I would change (most likely will not happen) is the restriction of copyright music.


- Nico: Please feature three works from other filmmakers, from our deviantART Film Gallery.








- Nico: Thank you, Andy! We can't wait to see more from you. Personaly, I'm very impressed by your work and very glad you are sharing it with us through deviantART Film
I would like to take the chance to answer you about music copyright and remind you and other filmmakers, about how volatile, complex and political the music industry is. That's why we're giving a little step at a time on the subject, and have a legal team working on this, and very surely we'll be able to establish more concrete policies regarding the use of music in film.


Thank you all for reading.