about: PAUL WHITTINGTON

I am a filmmaker from Vancouver Island. I mainly produce short films and stop-motion animation. I also screenwrite and I’m working towards creating feature films.

I’m currently working on a short film called ‘I Killed Ricky’ which is mainly a test film designed to help me hone certain filmmaking techniques and styles that I wish to use later on for an upcoming feature I’m writing. ‘I Killed Ricky’ is finished shooting and is currently in post-production. It will be available for viewing later this fall (2009) at: www.orangecorefilms.com.

If you have a bachelor degree/education background; what is it?
I have no degree or education in anything (just my grade 12, haha!)

Where are you located?
Vancouver Island

Tell us about this movie you made, titled “The Juiced Carrots”. What was the idea behind it originally?
The Juiced Carrots is the third film in a trilogy I made called ‘The Kitchen Trilogy’. Originally I had an idea for making a film about an apple getting baked, so I made ‘The Baked Apple’ which was the first film. Then after that, Halloween was approaching and I wanted to make a pumpkin film so I figured I’d do it in the same fashion as ‘The Baked Apple’ and make a trilogy series. But I needed a third film for a trilogy so I scratched my head trying to think of what vegetable I should use and then it hit me – CARROTS, of course!! I had made a carrot film years earlier and I always wanted to make another so this was the perfect opportunity!

Would you explain a bit about the process of creating the movie? What were the challenges and how you went around it?
All three films in ‘The Kitchen Trilogy’ were shot in exactly the same fashion. They are experimental films that I designed in a way so that I could do on-the-fly filmmaking yet still retain a solid structure throughout the film. I wanted to be able to immerse myself into the environment I was filming in so that I could come up with ideas for shots while I was filming so before filming I created a loose outline for the film and then filled in all the blanks as I went along. I enjoyed this process greatly and had a load of fun making this film – more so than most films.

The only things I knew before filming was that I’d be juicing carrots, that it would contain the same audio/visual style as the first two films, and that the film would end in irony wherein all the efforts of the character would have been for nothing (all three films contain this theme). I also knew that in some way the film had to reveal a vampire-like theme wherein carrot juice is the life-blood and that the killing of the carrots equaled the survival of the character.

With those things in mind, first came the filming of the carrot preparation. As I filmed this sequence a bunch of ideas came to me for other shots that would be great for the film – that was when I came up with the carrot conveyor belt idea. When I got up to the juicing of the carrots I still had no solid idea how I would visually represent the bloody slaughter of the carrots. However, I did know I wanted to film a POV shot of the measuring cup as the juice poured into it. To film that shot I had to position the juicer directly above a sheet of glass so that the juice would hit the glass with the camera directly under the glass filming it. I started juicing cup after cup of carrot juice and then filmed many shots of it pouring, dripping and splashing all over the floor. It was one heck of a mess to clean up but the results were great. Then came the idea for the carrot pulp cockroaches scattering about as they rush to escape the slaughter.

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The Juiced Carrots from Carrotkid on Vimeo.

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The process of filming this film was somewhat basic – film some shots stop-motion, film some shots pixilation, and film the rest live-action – just make sure to film as many shots as I can, from as many different angles as possible and then put it all together in post. That’s where a film like this is really made – in post. Once I had all the shots filmed I then slowly worked to mold the footage into something that is fun, fast paced, and experimental.

Describe how you feel at the starting of a new project?
I always feel somewhat different each time I start a new film. I’d say that ‘excitement’ is pretty much the only feeling that is present at the beginning of every film. Variables such as filming style, content, procedure, and atmosphere, all play a role in determining what other feeling will emerge.

How do you see yourself 5 years from now?
Oh, that’s a tough one. Hopefully with a feature under my belt!

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Letter/Box from Carrotkid on Vimeo.

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Could you share any insight for people just entering the field?
I would say “just go for it”, but remember to keep it real – real to your emotional intuition when expressing each element of the film. Style, mood, atmosphere, story, plot, character, sounds, all need to reflect a specific form of emotion that only you can determine. Also, films are like trees – every tip of every branch all originate back to the same root (as does everything in the universe). That root is the ‘spark’ that sets the whole film in motion – anything you put in your film that does not originate back to that root is nothing more than a broken branch. The root can be anything at all: a thought, idea, situation, character, event, a word, object, expression – anything. And whether the root is transparent to the audience or not is irrelevant, just so long as it’s there.

Who is the person you look up to in this industry? Why so?
I’d say that the person I look up to the most would be Jan Svankmajer – and I can tell you that he has a definite influence on some of the elements that go into my films. I like his attitude and approach towards filmmaking – very open and free with his ideas, not afraid to experiment and show what needs to be shown, great sense of humor, and his films always contain the perfect blend of mainstream/experimental. I have learned so much from watching his films.

How do you overcome a creative block?
I’ll have to get back to you on that when I have one.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when beginning this passion?
If, by that, you mean what’s the one thing I wish I understood when first starting out with filmmaking, I can say that without a doubt it would be ‘open-mindedness’. Most of us have pre-conceived ideas of what a film is supposed to be. Myself, I used to be a lot more closed-minded when first starting out than I am now. It wasn’t until I fully realized that there truly is no limit to what you can do with film that I began to discover my fully potential. And I can’t wait to see where it takes me in the future! Yes, I would say that ‘open-mindedness’ is one of the most important qualities a filmmaker can possess.

If you have online portfolio (website/awards/credits/client’s showcase), what is the URL?
www.orangecorefilms.com
Flickr

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Android 207 from Carrotkid on Vimeo.

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Table Kid Kirby – Part 1 from Carrotkid on Vimeo.

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L19: Disposed from Carrotkid on Vimeo.

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Inanimate Objects from Carrotkid on Vimeo.

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Orange Core Films is now available in DVD. A collection of short films by Paul Whittington. These films contain a variety of techniques including stop-motion animation, live-action, and experimental. For purchasing info, please visit Orange Core DVD Store, click here.

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