In 2003 discussions began between master puppeteer Paul Zaloom, writer Marcus Sanders, and filmmaker Sean Meredith to begin work on the epic poem following Dante's descent into hell. It may seem outlandish, to try and tackle such a piece of work; but it's no unchartered territory. After all, Hollywood has tried to tackle the epic poems of The Iliad and more recently Beowulf with big budgets, and, has been making movies of the Bible for some time now. But, to try and create a movie of this caliber, without a big budget, would take some serious creativity. Luckily, these artists had their work cut out for them and they took the archaic art-form of puppet theatre to the forefront of animation and cinema to bring Dante's Inferno to life. To get the picture on this project I had a chance to speak with Sean Meredith regarding the film's development.
Sebastian Frye:
Thanks for agreeing to conduct this interview, it's a real pleasure. Can you just provide some background info and how you became interested in beginning this project?
Sean Meredith:
Sandow Birk, the artist behind the film's imagery was in the midst of a project covering the entire "Divine Comedy". His drawings and paintings were incorporated into a series of books. Each book of the "Comedy" ("Inferno", "Purgatorio", and "Paradiso") were re-interpreted by Birk and the writer Marcus Sanders. We all wanted to make another film together after finishing our mocumentary "In Smog and Thunder: The Great War of the Californias" in 2003. We knew we wanted to make a film version of the "Inferno" and just needed to decide on an approach.
The project involves quite a few individuals. Was it the brainchild of just one of you, or did each of you have your own ideas which you incorporated into the project?
Well, Birk's project was the main inspiration and jumping off point. But it was Paul Zaloom who suggested we make it as Toy Theatre film. Once the story and the concept were imagined together the ideas never stopped. My main thoughts before writing began was to make most cinematic puppet film we could. Most puppet movies are shot with flat lighting common in comedies. I wanted this to be darker and be able to swing the mood of the film based on the set design.
I read that the project started as a live concept, that there would be real actors. Did the idea to make it a toy theatre evolve slowly as Paul Zaloom attempted to convince you or was it pretty immediate? What really turned you onto the idea?
We each had our own ideas floating around in our minds. Zaloom always had a good point, which was we all wanted to make this film together and that we should develop an approach that would challenge all of our abilities. Birk had ideas of doing a kind of mash up, where we'd shoot some stuff and edit a bunch of other found clips and old movies to create our film. I had the idea to do a live Dante's Inferno set in one night in downtown Los Angeles. And, yes, Zaloom hit us with the idea of toy theatre. Birk and I were weary. We liked puppets, but I didn't know that puppets could be have much range besides comedy. I'd seen and loved a lot of films by Jan Svankmajer, the Brothers Quay, and other stuff. But so much of their stuff is stop-motion, which I didn't imagine having the patience for. But Paul showed Birk and I some toy theatre books and we both immediately saw the potential.
What does the world you created imply? When I saw the trailer it is as though it is in a dream, and even the opening has Dante waking up. It reminds me of the line which opens Fahrenheit 9/11 "Could it all have been a dream?". I find myself asking myself this question lately.
I remember seeing Jimmie Dale Gilmore performing about ten years ago and he quoted Bertrand Russell. Paraphrasing he said: No one can prove that the world wasn't created five minutes ago with memories and everything. I do have a memory of when we began writing, which was that we didn't set out to bracket the film with an obvious device like a delusion or a dream. The film has a lot of different settings, some have a real dream like quality. But the consistency of using paper cutouts does thread together a unified world. Traditional toy theatre was almost all paper cutouts, but modern toy theatre usually juxtaposes lots of different styles and objects of differing scales. We started out exploring this type of collage, but we got so enthralled and immersed in the singular style of the cutouts that found objects and mixing design genres were dropped almost completely from the film.
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Continuing with the previous question; did you take a critical and satirical approach to the project, or, did these things slip in because of the material you were basing it on? |
We took the poem itself very seriously and studied it in depth. Then when we began writing the script the satire emerged. Some scenes from the "Inferno" were shoe-ins for inclusion in the film, but others were just too obscure or meaningless to a lay audience to include. In those instances, we made up our own scenarios and skewered cultural icons of the 20th century. One of our rules was that everyone in Hell had to be dead already. We couldn't put Tom Delay in the eight circle of Hell just because we wanted him in the film.
Your last project 'In Smog and Thunder', although I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet, seems more humorous and documentary-like, this film is more of a narrative. How else does this project differ?
"Smog" had very little live action. We shot a few interviews with fake war veterans and historians, but most of the film was composed using motion graphics in a computer. Our other rule for ourselves in "Dante's Inferno" was no post production effects. If we wanted to have a special effect, then we had to devise a way to shoot it live with theatrical puppet effects. We shot it in 12 days over a two week period (plus 2 days of reshoots).
On writing it, how did you begin to adapt Dante's masterpiece?Did you stick to the translations of the Cantos or did you take each incidence and re-write it in more conversational language and more contemporary characters?
We worked a lot with Birk and Sanders contemporary interpretation (which is available from Chronicle Books). But referenced about five other translations on a daily basis. We were all over the map in how we approached the writing. Sometimes we had a visual idea (Dante falling Vertigo style), sometimes we had a public figure in mind (imagine Strom Thurmond in a mammy costume), and sometimes we adapted characters from the original (we moved Francesca and Paolo to a peep show room).
Was this a tightly sealed project or did outside interest begin to seep in once you began?
It wasn't tightly sealed, but we didn't seek outside interest. We got a few calls from journalists, agents, and distributors during production and post. We spoke with some magazine writers, but I was too busy in post trying to get the film done to return calls. Plus I really didn't want to start showing rough cuts to producer's reps and agents and such. I get emails about the film everyday, but it's still far removed from the media's radar.
The film's aesthetic is very dark and grimy, did the film's look evolve as well or was it more a vision?
It evolved and revolved. After the first draft, Zaloom and I would rewrite scenes together and send them off to Birk and Elyse Pignolet for building. Things were constantly changing and evolving as we worked together interpreting the poem and each other's ideas. I believe it's also a natural direction that Toy Theatre brought us in.
The entire film is very original, was their any inspiration for the artistic direction of the project?
In 2002, Sandow Birk, the film's art director, decided to tackle Dante's "The Divine Comedy" as an art project. He created drawings for every Canto of the book plus many paintings. The undertaking became three gallery shows, a traveling museum exhibit, and a series of books. Birk's drawings served as inspiration for the film's look and overall tone.
Now, do you consider the project 'fine art' or is it just another film project your underwent?
I think of film as an art form. We just wanted to tell a story in a new and beautiful way.
How long has this been in the works for? Can you break down the stages of development?
In early 2003 we began discussing the idea in general terms. In early 2004 we began planning and discussed the direction we wanted to take with the film. Then soon after began the script. At the end of 2004 we finished the first draft of the script and the stage was built. In the first half of 2005 we'd rewrite each scene. As each scene was completed we'd release it for building. We shot the film in July 2005. Editing and post production went on for almost nine months after that.
This is a refreshing project, something that I rarely get to see, and I'm sure the same goes for most people. It reminds me a lot of 'The Adventures of Prince Achmed' by Lotte Reiniger. Is this an attempt at a puppet revolution, or just a creative step to bring something new to film?
I missed Prince Achmed at REDCAT early this year due to the film. It looks amazing. I think there is something refreshing to see something that's handmade and not computer driven. Especially when it's stylized in service of the story and pushes the art form forward and other platitudes.
To follow up on the previous question, how do you plan on distributing this film? 'In Smog and Thunder' was run on the festival circuit with great praise, do you envision bringing this film to a wider audience? In other words, how can our readers catch a glimpse of this magic?
We're just beginning to explore distribution. It's a world that takes careful planning. You can work on a film for five years and it doesn't get spoiled, but if you release a film badly it can lose steam in an instant. After examining the successes and short comings of "Smog", I lost my disgust of marketing and realized that every project needs to have a very carefully thought out way of communicating to your potential audience. It'll hit the festival circuit first, then hopefully they'll be some kind of art theater run.
Well, just about to wrap up, but before we go: I've been dying to ask, what can we expect from you in the future?
Sorry, not to be secretive, [but] I'll be mum for the moment.
It's really been great to have a chance to speak with you, congratulations on completing the project and I wish you the best of luck, not only in the success of the film, but in any other endeavors you conduct. Thank you.
The movie is now finished and is awaiting viewers like you. For more information about the movie, the cast, and the crew, visit http://www.dantefilm.com.
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