Here is an interview of a renowned filmmaker Michael Dudok de Wit m@dudokdewit.co.uk
He is one of the artists we referred and studied for our own films style & look development. Some of his best films are ‘Father & Daughter’, ‘Monk and the fish’ and ‘Tom Sweep’. You can watch his films on youtube before reading this inspiring interview.
Interview of Michael Dudok de Wit for the Toronto Animated Image Society
by Patrick Jenkins, ©June 2002
- What was the inspiration for the story of the Monk and the Fish? How did you come up with the idea of the Monk in pursuit of the fish?
The idea just came. A lot of wishes all came together and from that I distilled the film. For instance, I wanted to use the sense of space and of light, the simple beauty of Romanesque architecture, the chemistry between music and movements, I wanted to use the brush and to draw a lively character, and most of all I wanted to explore a particular quality in the ending, a quality which I find both beautiful and impossible to describe.
- Water is a major symbol in both of your films. The fish hides in the water of the viaduct in the Monk and the Fish and the father disappears at sea in Father and Daughter. Do you see water as an mysterious element? What does it represent to you?
Water represents so many different things to me, in particular emotion and serenity. In The Monk and the Fish the water has, as you say, a mysterious element, because we never see through the surface, and yet water has a particularly open and transparent quality, as expressed in the large and fluid watercolour washes. A water surface is such an intense presence, wherever I am, that it seemed an obvious choice to explore the use of water in a film. I was also very interested in the use of reflections.
In Father and Daughter I used the large water surface for a number of reasons as well, for instance to accentuate the separation, to use the theme of water making way for reclaimed land, and to contribute to a quality of timelessness.
- Your drawings have a very distinctive brushed line quality that is almost like calligraphy. How did your style develop? Who were your influences?
I just enjoy brush lines. They have personality. Something which had a big impact on me was a book with brush drawings made by Japanese Buddhist monks from previous centuries. I don't have the book anymore but I remember the extraordinary simplicity of the drawings, drawings which were both spontaneous and mature.
- The Monk and the Fish has a very spiritual quality to it which is almost Zen like and very minimal. I'm thinking of the symbol of the bow and arrow in Zen Buddhist practice or the image of the fish in early Christianity. Are you interested in religious experience or are these more subconscious images?
In answer to subconscious images: when I am most creative I move backwards and forwards between the subconscious (ideas appear seemingly out of nowhere), the chest (when something feels right I register it as a great feeling in the chest, in the heart if you like) and the reasoning mind. The film has a spiritual dimension for me because it is set in a monastic atmosphere and because it uses symbols, but more importantly because of the way it handles the theme: separation followed by union. I can't think of a more beautiful or more spiritual theme. And at the same time I am very happy if someone relates to the film without making references to spirituality or religion. I don’t belong to an organised religion myself.
- You made The Monk and the Fish at Folimage. What is it like working there? Did you enjoy the experience?
I had a great time at Folimage. The atmosphere was relaxed, friendly and supportive, and I was intensely happy to be working on my film. My wife, who is French, and our two young children were with me, and they too made friends very quickly. The only downside was that I had to work flat-out to fit the whole production in a period of seven months.
- Do you do all of your own animation, colouring and inking or do you have an assistant? Do you use any computer assistance or is the work done on cels and paper?
With the exception of some of commercials I have directed I tend to do the bulk of the animation, and all the backgrounds. The backgrounds are usually the most enjoyable part. Depending on the job I use assistants and co-animators. On the Monk and the Fish for instance I had help from a Canadian animator Guy Delisle. I did the brush and ink lines in that film with an ordinary watercolour brush and Rotring film ink. Most of the animation was done on paper first, some directly on cell. On Father and Daughter I had great help from Dutch animator Arjan Wilschut. The animation was drawn entirely in pencil, and then scanned into Animo for colouring. The backgrounds were made with pencil and charcoal, and manipulated with Photoshop to create the sepia colours. Sometimes I tried to emulate the transparent quality of watercolour with charcoal.
- Are all of your films planned from the beginning and storyboarded or do you allow room for the story to change a bit when you start animating?
My storyboards are planned rather carefully, I want to start animating with a solid confidence in the storyboard. At the same time, like most film makers, I allow changes throughout the production.
- How did you come up for the idea for Father and Daughter?
I was working on another idea which was not satisfying me, when I asked myself the question: what do I want to express most in a film? The answer was surprisingly clear: longing, the deep quiet longing we all know (I think). The story developed quickly from there. It is not an autobiographical story, I have a young daughter with me, and I see my father regularly. The landscapes in the film are inspired by the large open landscapes I used to love so much when growing up in Holland.
In Father and Daughter the bicycles seem to be a seem to punctuate the cyclical passage of the seasons and time with the rolling of the wheel of life. Was that a conscious decision on your part from the beginning?
Yes, in this film time is both circular and linear.
- In Father and Daughter you did a remarkable job of animating the subtle movements of the bicycles. Were they animated on ones instead of twos?
The animation of the pedalling cyclists was on twos but the cyclists and their bicycles were then moved digitally across the screen on ones. If they had moved across on twos the result would have been uncomfortable for the eye.
- The ending of Father and Daughter is quite enigmatic. We don't know if what we are seeing is dream or reality? Do you like to make endings enigmatic with an indefinite sense of closure? Why is that?
The endings of Father and Daughter and of The Monk and the Fish are not rational, they are open to interpretation, in the same way as poetry, music, and indeed animal language often has the highest impact when interpreted individually. My biggest wish is that the endings feel right, that the films feel whole.
Posted with the permission of Michael Dudok de Wit and Patrick Jenkins for the Toronto Animated Image Society.
