Daniel Greaves’ returns to the festival circuit with new short ‘Mr. Plastimime’ – Say No More!
Skwigly
Mr. Plastimime is the latest short film by Oscar winning director Daniel Greaves. It is a dark but classic love story that is peppered with some wonderful comedy moments and contains a surprising twist at the end.
The synopsis reads – “Mr. Plastimime is a funny and moving story about a man who faithfully practices a dying art, a man whose timing is a bit off, a man whose skills aren’t recognized, a man who is unlucky in love; But this is a man who keeps moving forward, faithfully believing he will one day finally be ‘seen’. That day has come…but he never expected it to be like this.”
Daniel says of his inspiration for the story –
“I had been considering the story of a mime artist for some time as an interesting subject to explore, because a common perception seems to deem mime artists as lonely people, from a bygone era. I liked the idea of highlighting the undervalued talent of a mime artist, while at the same time balancing it with the appreciation of an adoring secret admirer. I also felt that animation was ideal for the subject as it is possible to control the actions and performance of a mime artist with great accuracy, precision and believability.”
It has been suggested by his colleagues that Daniel has included an unconscious subtext which reflects the way he feels about stop motion animators and the animation industry as a whole. Viewing the film is made more poignant knowing this as you’re pulled into a world where an artist struggles to get the recognition he deserves. Something many animators may be able to relate too.
After Daniel had privately funded development and initial stages of production, the film came to a halt as cash flow became tight. Daniel was encouraged by Producer Emma Burch to raise completion funds on Kickstarter and luckily the campaign was a success, (raising £34,500), meaning production could resume and the film be realised. The campaign was featured as one of Kickstarter’s Project of the Day, along with being highlighted in their weekly newsletter. Emma says of the Kickstarter process –
“I had been following Kickstarter since it’s launch in the US and was been fascinated by the crowd funding concept. With such little funds available for short films in the UK, it seemed like we had nothing to lose but try crowd funding. It was either that or stop production indefinitely. The campaign was a lot of hard work but it was an amazing educational experience too. What’s great is you get to engage an audience before the film’s release.”
When asked about the chosen animation techniques used, Daniel explains his choices –
“Stop motion as a medium is so expressive and tactile, I felt that it would be the best way to convey convincing emotion through the character. I also couldn’t resist the challenge of animating through a medium I had no previous experience in.”
Although the main technique used is stop motion, it uses a complex combination including claymation, traditional drawn animation, digital 2D animation along with CG backgrounds and props, celebrating the many disciplines of animation. It’s no wonder with so many techniques used that the 10 minute film took 2 years to produce. Animation fans, particularly those who love the craft of stop frame animation will be blown away by the quality of the work.
Daniel explains how certain crew members became interested in working on the project –
“Once I had written the 1st draft of the script, I began to think about who could animate the plasticine characters. I had been in contact with an animator called Steve Edge for several years but we had never had the opportunity to work together although we came very close many times. This time however, Steve was available and we met for the first time and he reacted positively to the story. More importantly he understood the character of Graeme and his animation proved this in the understated and beautifully observed performances. As the film organically progressed, a small but committed crew, through word of mouth, developed over the course of the following months.”
Music is an equally strong feature of the film. The Tango music that accompanies the unexpected 2D dance sequence was composed by Daniel’s long time collaborator Russell Pay. The end credit sequence music features the vocals of BBC Radio 1 DJ, Greg James. The track was written by Mcasso Music’s founder, Mike Connaris over 15 years ago, but it was decided that the lyrics were the perfect fit.
Mr. Plastimime was also the first film score project for young composer Mike MacLennan. Even though this is his first film score, the music sounds extremely accomplished and he was a natural at directing the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra. The SFX & Foley were created by Mcasso’s MD – Tom Martin.
As with most short films, the film making process was a real labour of love with many of the crew donating their time at heavily discounted rates. Some of the 2D facial animators worked remotely across the UK to also help keep costs down. Fellow animation director – Chris Gavin documented the various production processes in a series of films published on Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/album/1991310
Coming to the end of production on a passion project is usually a difficult process as there are inevitably things a director would like to change. But budgets and schedules dictate when you are forced to walk away. Daniel reflects on the filmmaking process by considering his next steps –
“My plans for the future are a little sketchy at present, and I have not decided on what kind of film I will be focusing on, but I imagine I will embark on a less costly technique, so that should help me narrow down the possibilities! In the meantime I continue to draw and scribble down random thoughts.
The film was previewed by an audience of close friends and family on Friday 23rd May at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. The evening was sponsored by Mike Connaris of Mcasso Music, London. Mr. Plastimime then has it’s festival Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 22nd with many more announcements to follow!