HOUND: An interview with director Georgia Kriss
Man’s best friend comes in all shapes and sizes, though none quite as varied and as abstract as the ones featured in HOUND, the colourful and creative film from RMIT University graduate Georgia Kriss. This delightfully bizarre love letter to the humble pooch twists the breeding and inbreeding of dogs to absurd levels through a series of vignettes caricaturing each breed with a bizarre dreamlike intensity.
The film is wonderfully illustrated and expertly realised this student film is packed with a keen, humorous eye for design that is present in both the animation and the characters themselves. An aspiring example of what a student film can be make Kriss a talent to keep an eye on from now on.
We caught up with the director to find out more about the film and see some behind the scenes sketches.
Tell us a little about yourself and how you can to make your graduation film HOUND?
Well, I’m a lady at the ripe old age of 22 who is a recent graduate of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia which is also where I live and work. Though I’m originally from Shepparton, which is a rural town 2 hours north of Melbourne. I came to make HOUND because I had a dream that for my graduate film I created a short all about dogs and in the dream it seemed to go down pretty well. So I woke up and thought, I guess I better make that.
HOUND seems to be a grotesque love letter to absurd breeds of dog, what else inspired this?
I have a ridiculous obsession with dogs. I mean who doesn’t like them? They’re great. So my own love for them as well as my interest and somewhat disgust in selective breeding / man kinds influence over other living beings was mooshed together to inspire me to create HOUND.
Do you have a particular dog caricature that you’re most proud of?
I’m very proud of my centipede Dachshund. It was probably the trickiest shot animation wise. Though the giant Pointer that crushes people like ants is pretty satisfying to watch, and it is inspired by my own hound Benji so that ones very special.
Stylistically I’m reminded a little of TV shows such as Adventure Time, did you have any other influences from TV or film?
Yes Adventure Time is obviously a big influence, it’s a beautifully made show and flippin’ hilarious, though for HOUND my major influence was Reka Bucsi and her short Symphony no. 42. I’m also very much influenced by my peers from RMIT and Melbourne such as Felix Colgrave, Nikhil Markale, Aggelos Papantoniou, the Rubber House fellas and a bundle more.
What’s the animation scene like down in Australia for people leaving uni and starting off in the industry?
I’m not 100% sure as I have only just started to enter the industry as I just graduated last year, but I’m getting a bundle of work which is nice and am going to start working on my next short film soon. Also there is a really tight animation community here which makes meeting other animators and artists very easy and fun!