IRON FOREST directed By Robert Stevenson
Shane: Tell us about your film?
Robert: It is a 3 1/2 minute experimental film that explores color, reflection, movement, light and shadow throughout the City of Seattle. I used a combination of standard definition video and high-resolution timed stills to create the imagery used in the film. There was no intended “message” in the film. However, during the editing/assembly process I started to see some parallels between urban architectural structures and natural earth/human biological structures.
I am a musician and composer as well. I created the music score in my recording/media production studio in Seattle, Washington
S: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
R: There was a call for “city symphony” type videos, in DVD format, from the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle. As a musician, I saw this as an opportunity to create a musical base and build moving visuals on top of the sounds. I saw it as a learning process.
I also liked an 80’s film called Koyaanisqatsi. That film used time-lapse sequences in a very effective way. I wanted to apply some of these concepts to a short Seattle city symphony. However, the filmmaker’s way of doing that type of work was extremely costly. (For this short film I needed to “consume the minimum/produce the maximum”) I ended up exploring a number of differing technical paths. I finally settled on using my digital SLR still camera with an intervalometer and used Adobe After Effects to perform zooms, rotations and pans across the hi-resolution time-lapse image sets.
The experimentation process took awhile and I couldn’t entirely complete the film for the NorthWest Film Forum but I did have it completed in December 2007 (in plenty of time for the SIFF festival deadline).
S: How long did the film take? (From conception to final edit)
R: I worked on it part-time; spread out over a period of about six-months. I had other irons in the fire at the time.
S: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?
R: In post 9-11 America, some people were understandably concerned about someone taking pictures of tall buildings. However, it opened up a number of interesting conversations with passers by. One of the more surprising conversations was with a Seattle policeman who was supportive and wished me well with the project after I explained the nature of it.
S: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?
R: I have been considering moving from experimental film to narrative or documentary film work. That’s a very collaborative process. So, I hope to meet people of similar interests at the various social functions at this festival.
S: What films or filmmakers inspire you?
R: The first film that made a significant impression on me was Wim Wenders’ “Wings of Desire”. I was a struggling musician living in L.A. at the time and trying to get through the usual closed doors. The film lifted me up at a time when I needed it most.
Here are some others:
Errol Morris
Andrei Tarkovsky (from Ivan’s Childhood to Solaris)
Stanley Kubrick (With some important restrictions and reservations)
Fritz Lang (Metropolis)
Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc)
Jordan Belson
Werner Herzog
Godfrey Reggio
Ridley Scott (Blade Runner)
Pink Floyd – Live at Pompeii (The original version. Not the new Director’s cut)
S: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?
R: I’ve always had a passion for still photography and it seems natural to progress to the moving image now. Also, I’m always searching for “open doors”. Perhaps there are some doors I can open as a filmmaker.
S: What is next for you?
R: I’m wrapping up a music project right now. However, I think I may be permanently done with music-only creations after that. I’m exploring creating a feature length experimental film that traverses West Coast locations from Vancouver, BC down to Costa Rica. This time I would shoot at digital resolutions more appropriate to theatrical screening and transfer to 35MM film. Surround sound would be an important part of the film. I would also like to explore some visual outer boundaries.
S: What is next for the film?
R: The film “Iron Forest” was built at a resolution most appropriate to DVD and web distribution I think. I’m exploring these distribution channels right now.
S: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?
R: I can only speak to my current personal experience. That is, for digital shooting, assume that your piece may get a theatrical screening and shoot/build it at the highest resolution possible.