Podcast: Rune Spaans (‘The Absence of Eddy Table’)
In episode 67 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast we welcome Norwegian animator, VFX artist and director Rune Spaans, AKA Superrune. Hailing from Brønnøysund in Norway, as a self-taught visual artist Rune began working in video games in the 90s before moving on to advanced visual effects and animation work.
In his first animated short The Absence of Eddy Table, produced by Eric Vogel and Anne Bergseng (Tordenfilm), we accompany the titular character – who has arrived in a mysterious forest via means unknown – on an increasingly strange and intense series of encounters with its inhabitants. With a cast of supremely versatile actors including Mike Patton, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal and Yngvill Haga, the film was written and designed by Dave Cooper, the Harvey Award-winning Canadian artist whose work includes the adult graphic novels Suckle, Crumple and Ripple as well as the picture book Bagel’s Lucky Hat and and the Nickelodeon series Pig Goat Banana Cricket for younger audiences. The film also boasts the talents of sound designer Fredic Vogel and score composer Kaada.
The Absence of Eddy Table has screened all over the world at festivals including the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Fantastic Fest, Norwegian Short Film Festival and Giraf Festival of Independent Animation among others, with upcoming screenings scheduled for Clermont-Ferrand this month and Festival Ciné Court Animé in March. Rune’s body of work also includes sequences for the independent Norwegian feature Troll Hunter (Dir. André Øvredal) and directing the animated children’s features Ploddy The Police Car and Knutsen & Ludvigsen.
Also discussed in this episode: Nominations for the animation categories at the 2017 Oscars, the strength of Theodore Ushev’s Blind Vaysha as a contender, the NFB’s inventive implementation of stereoscopy and new work in the pipeline from previous podcast guest Signe Baumane. Stream below or download on Souncloud:
You can also learn about the music created for The Absence of Eddy Table in our recent interview with John Erik Kaada in our podcast special Animation Composed:
To learn more about Rune Spaans visit superrune.com