BEHIND THE SCENES AND Q&A > GREEN FABLES
Green Fables
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Q&A WITH DIRECTOR JOE WHELSKI
1. Where did the inspiration for this video come from?
I actually wrote “The Tree” 10 years ago on a plane to South America. I was feeling guilty about taking a vacation (I know, Type A all the way, right?) and I thought I would squeeze a little writing in before I arrived. I’m a big supporter of all things environmental--and I wanted to film something really simple that could act as a sort of Public Service Announcement for the Earth. The idea of a tree that was out for revenge came to me and just stuck. There’s something about the idea of nature reclaiming itself that feels just in my book. For the reason it took me 10 years to film it, please see question 2. 2. What were your film making challenges? The sketch is pretty straight forward from a production standpoint, but there’s one sticking point. It requires a tree costume. I would have filmed this sketch years ago, but the tree costume was intimidating me. In my mind, I wanted something that recalled the scary talking trees from the Wizard of Oz. Of course, that look is dated now, and the modern alternative was just a bit pricey, as you can imagine. But I had just worked with this great costume designer, Cheryl McCarron, who made a shark costume for a PSA I created for the Shark Angels. I bought a generic, online Halloween tree costume as a base, and asked Cheryl to work her magic. She added a body suit to give the tree a rounded look and built an awesome head piece by hand. We also had to visit multiple spots in the city till we were able to find fake leaves that looked real on camera. I was so happy with the results, I’m potentially filming additional tree pieces to take full advantage of that costume. 3. How did the Magnet Video Lab help you grow as an artist from Season 1 to Season 2? I really respect the experience that this group brings to the table. So from a growth aspect, I’m continually learning from everyone—from the script doctoring, to the day of the shoot, to the editing room, they have so much expertise in so many areas. As a filmmaker, I tend to gravitate toward slower, longer cuts that allow me to linger in the emotion of the scene. In this season, I made videos of 15 seconds, 1 minute, and 1 minute and 25 seconds - on the advice of my lab mates - and it worked really well for this tree series. 4. What's next? One of the great things about the lab is it’s a safe place to explore. I really want to do something that’s “off the wall”. I want to do something a little risky that I can’t explain. I had the great privilege of taking a workshop with Monty Python’s Terry Jones, and I loved what he said about comedy (and I’m paraphrasing here). “Real Humor is something that can’t be explained. You laugh it at, but you can’t exactly say why”. So I’d like to give something like that a shot. That moment when you’re with a great friend and they do something that causes the two of you to burst out laughing and you haven’t the foggest idea why! That’s what I want to attempt to capture on film. |
VIDEO
An Angry Arbor Gets His Revenge
Cast: Girl - Mila Milosevic Guy - Jonathan Stephens Tree - Joe Whelski Written/Directed - Joe Whelski Cinematographer - Jim Turner Tree Design - Cheryl McCarron Sound - Annie Quick PA - Shalini Tripathi Music - www.shockwave-sound.com A Lonely Tree finds Love
Cast: Girl - Mila Milosevic Guy - Jonathan Stephens Tree - Joe Whelski Written and Directed by Joe Whelski Filmed by Jim Turner Created by Magnet Video Lab http://www.magnetvideolab.com Tree Costume: Cheryl McCarron Sound: Annie Quick Music: www.shockwave-sound.com/ Can the Tree outsmart the ax man?
Cast: Ax Man/Dan Dobransky Tree/Joe Whelski Written and Directed by Joe Whelski Filmed by Jim Turner Created by Magnet Video Lab http://www.magnetvideolab.com Tree Costume: Cheryl McCarron PA: Mila Milosevic Music: www.shockwave-sound.com/ BEHIND THE SCENES GALLERY
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