SYNOPSIS I Driving along the motorway, Will loses his sense of scale. As his crippling drug addiction deepens, he struggles to unpick the sequence of events that led to his predicament, before he’s lost forever.
About Scale : interview for Cannes Critics' Week
- Could you please talk about the genesis of the movie and the reason why you dedided to tell us this story ?
Back in 2016, after making a number of self-authored, independent shorts, I was at a point in my career where I wanted to make something on a different scale (no pun intended) in terms of production and ambition. I met my now producer and collaborator Helene at Clermont Ferrand Film Festival and she was keen to know if I had any ideas. I mentioned this strange story I’d read about a man who thinks his veins become the motorway system of the UK, and so it began.
I’d first read Will Self’s novella Scale back in the late 90s when I was an impressionable teenager and it had stayed with me. since It was only after I’d developed this particular style of rotoscoped animation it occurred to me that this story was the perfect fit for the technique.
- Why making a film about addiction today ? What was important for you to tell ?
I was particularly interested in exploring the often misunderstood link between addiction and the creative process.
Although the film’s themes are multifaceted (loss, family, the creative process) addiction looms large and for me, it was important to portray it not only authentically but also in a way rarely seen in film. I wanted to approach it from a surreal, hallucinatory angle rather than the social realist one we often see in British Cinema, something more in line with literary figures such as Hunter S Thompson, William Burroughs and Self himself, whilst retaining the very real and damaging effects addiction can have on the family unit and individual.
- When did you start making this movie ? Can you tell us more about the process of the film making ?
Gosh the evolution of this project has been so long it’s hard to know where to begin!
When Helene and I started to develop the idea, both visually and narratively, we wanted to fund this properly so we could see if my style of animation would work on a larger scale.
We started with the French film entities such as Arte and CNC, and we were lucky enough to secure funding. By some twist of fate the BFI announced their first animation funding scheme in years and we had this prepackaged project ready to go. Once they were on board, we secured additional funds from Belgium and the Czech republic and knew we had a full scale production on our hands!
After casting the brilliant Sam Spruell as the lead, we shot the film in Dec 2020 in London, at the height of the pandemic, which was nerve wracking to say the least. There was always a danger of production halting, which we could scarcely afford.
Once we finished the shoot, it was edited into a live action version which formed the basis for our animatic and made sure the animation style was consistent throughout.
It took a team of 9 brilliant animators 12 weeks to painstakingly draw over every frame. The animation was then coloured and shaded in the Czech republic whilst a small team of French artists created the beautiful digitally painted still backgrounds.
Then our brilliant team in Brussels composited it together and created the 3D backgrounds. Finally we worked on the sound and music back in the UK before a final grade in Belgium. And just like that, it was finished(!)
- The film is quite dizzying, there are frequent changes of perspective, we have also the impression that there are almost several people in the head of the character, as in this sequence where we pass from the pharmacy to the drugstore... there are several levels of narratives. Why did you make these narrative and aesthetic choices?
The novella plays on the word ‘scale’; scales of a lizard, bathroom scales, limescale, and we wanted to recreate this visually. The film plays with literal scale and perspective to represent our protagonist losing his grip on reality. Some key images were formed very early on such as his children cradling him, and of course the veins turning into motorways, others were more spontaneous and came after the shoot. These exaggerated moments seemed to create a disconnect between himself and his surroundings and of course there’s a cruel irony living next to a model village. The non-linear narrative helps to keep the audience disorientated, we wanted the viewer to really experience Will’s predicament.
- How do you fit this film into your filmography ?
My films tend to explore their character's internal workings, the animation is a way of saying something which cannot be done with dialogue or live action visuals. Scale fits perfectly into this mould. It also has a particularly “British” sensibility and dark humour. It’s always important for me to find a personal in-point, and as this is about a man who is obsessed with finishing an obscure book whilst his family life is disintegrating , it’s something I can easily relate to! Plus the two girls in the film are my own daughters so it really is a case of art imitating life!
Core team
Line producer Antoine Liétout
Cinematographer Vanessa Whyte
Editor Robbie Morrison
Sound designer Dominic Fitzgerald
3D Artist Edd Stockton
Animation supervisor Aurore Grillot
Lead animator Natasza Cetner
Lead background designer Nadia Micault
Head of shadow & colour animation Radovan Surý
Lead compositor Rémi Vandenitte
Biographies
Joseph Pierce
Director et writer
Joseph is a British filmmaker and animator, living in London. He studied animation at the National Film and Television School, and upon graduating was featured in Screen International’s “Stars of Tomorrow”. His short films have toured internationally, winning over 40 prizes including at Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, Hiroshima Animation Festival, Stuttgart Intl Animation Festival, LA Film Festival and Melbourne Intl Film Festival. He’s worked extensively in theatre and live events, including collaborations with the Met Opera NYC, Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. He’s currently developing his first feature with Melocoton Films, using the same rotoscoped animation technique present in his shorts.
Photo : © Gabrielle Denisse | 61e Semaine de la Critique
Will Self
Author of Scale novel
Will Self is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and five collections of non-fiction writing.
His 2002 novel Dorian, an Imitation was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and his 2012 novel Umbrella was shortlisted. His fiction is known for being satirical, grotesque and fantastical, and is predominantly set within his home city of London. His writing often explores mental illness, drug abuse and psychiatry.
Self has given his reason for writing as follows: "I don't write fiction for people to identify with and I don't write a picture of the world they can recognise. I write to astonish people. What excites me is to disturb the reader's fundamental assumptions. I want to make them feel that certain categories within which they are used to perceiving the world are unstable.
Self admires the work of J. G. Ballard, William Burroughs, Alasdair Gray and Martin Amis. He has cited influences such as Jonathan Swift, Franz Kafka, Lewis Carroll and Joseph Heller as formative influences on his writing style.
Among Self's admirers was the American critic Harold Bloom. Journalist Stuart Maconie has described him as "that rarity in modern cultural life, a genuine intellectual with a bracing command of words and ideas who is also droll, likeable and culturally savvy."
Nicolas Pleskof
Co-writer
Nicolas Pleskof worked for several years as a production assistant for film and television, then as an assistant director and casting.
After the Atelier Scénario at La Fémis, he wrote and directed two short films produced by Kazak Productions, Zoo in 2012 and Simiocratie in 2014, and co-wrote several series and animated films, such as Genius Loci (nominated for the Oscar) and Make It Soul (nominated for the César).
In 2022, Murder Party (2022), co-written with Elsa Marpeau, was released, his first feature film as a director, with Alice Pol, Eddy Mitchell, Miou-Miou, Pablo Pauly, Gustave Kervern, Sarah Stern, Pascale Arbillot and Zabou Breitman.
Lung Dart
Composer
Lung Dart is a collaborative music and sound project by Tim Clay and James Rapson. Their work spans live instrumentation, sample-based productions, experimental music and pop.
Alongside their own releases they have scored artworks and films, including scoring forthcoming short ‘Scale’ by Joseph Pierce, funded by BFI, CNC and Arte, to premiere at Cannes 2022 as part of International Critics week. They also composed for, audio edited and performed on the artwork ‘O' Magic Power of Bleakness’ by Turner Prize winner Mark Leckey, shown as part of the exhibition of the same name at Tate Britain, London in 2019/20.
Other scoring work has been shown at Tate Modern, Barbican Centre, Focal Point Gallery, Sothend, BFI London Film Festival, Somerset House, Berlin Film Festival and others.
Rare live performances have occurred at venues including Tate Britain, Tate Modern, LSO St Lukes, De La Warr Pavilion, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and Sage Gateshead.
They have hosted an NTS Radio since 2018 which airs every fourth Monday at 10pm.
Hélène Mitjavile
Producer / Company : Melocoton Films
As a cofounder of Melocoton Films, HÉLÈNE MITJAVILE has produced over 15 short fictions among which 8 international coproductions.
She is now working on French and international shorts as well as feature coproductions, while also investing her time as an expert in various commissions and workshops (Groupe Ouest, la Fémis) and in political initiatives such as the Independent Producer’s Union where she has been an elected member of the Bureau for three years.
She is also a member of the César Academy. Her last short film production Tender Age by Julien Gaspar-Oliveri was nominated for the César of best short film and her first animation production, Scale, by Joseph Pierce, a coproduction between France, the UK (Bridge Way), Belgium (Ozù Productions) and Czech Republic (Endorfilm), will premiere at Cannes' Critics Week and compete for the Annecy cristal.
Chris Hees
UK Coproducer / Bridge Way Films
Founder of Bridge Way Films, Chris is a BAFTA winning, Oscar nominated producer and alumni of the prestigious National Film and Television School, ACE Producers, Berlinale Talents, Creative England’s Market Trader, Screen Yorkshire’s Flex and Cannes Producer Network.
In 2017 he was one of 22 most promising producers to secure slate financing through the BFI Vision Award 3 and has since built a slate of live-action and animation projects with Bridge Way Films. He is also the Managing Director of The Kurious, a post facility and production space in the heart of Sheffield.
In 2018 he co-produced Nathalie Biancheri’s debut feature, “Nocturnal”, and his animated feature, “Absolute Denial” (Directed by Ryan Braund), was selected for competition at Annecy 2021 and picked up by SC Films for sales. His BFI backed European co-production, “Scale” will have its world premiere at Semaine De La Critique at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. His next feature, “Hitchhikers” is backed by Bankside Films, and aims to shoot in late summer 2022.
Jiří Konečný
Czech Coproducer / Endorfilm
Jiří Konečný (1973) is Prague based film producer and owner of ENDORFILM, a company focused on producing films for cinema.
His films were screened at numerous international festivals including Berlinale, Cannes and Venice and received more than 100 awards including Golden Bear, Silver Bear and Crystal Bear at Berlinale, Orizzonti Award For Best Screenplay in Venice, and Crystal Globe, Special Jury Award and Best Director Award at Karlovy Vary. Nine of his films were national candidates for Oscar. He graduated from University of Economics in Prague and from FAMU in Prague.
He is a graduate from EAVE in 2007 and Producer on the Move at Cannes in 2008. He is a member of European Film Academy (EFA), Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) and Slovak Film and Television Academy (SFTA). He is a member of Managing Board of Czech Audiovisual Producers’ Association (APA) and member of Presidium of Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA). He is a teacher at FAMU in Prague.
Christophe Beaujean & Jérémie Mazurek
Belgian Coproducer / OZÙ Productions
OZÙ Productions is a audiovisual production company specialized in animation, born in Brussels in January 2020.
OZÙ brings together Jérémie Mazurek, animation filmmaker and co-founder of the animation studio L'Enclume, and Christophe Beaujean, scriptwriter.
We met at the Anima Festival, then we worked together at the Résidence de l'Enclume, where young authors benefit from two months of professional support to develop their animation film project in preproduction. We launched the Belgian Animation Rendez-vous, a meeting point for graphic authors and scriptwriters within the framework of Anima, in collaboration with Folioscope, SACD, ASA and the Scenaristengilde.
Driven by a common desire to accompany authors until the realization of their artistic project, we now want to offer them a production framework that meets their expectations. Our credo is to produce fiction for adults, combining the singularity of an author's vision with the universality of the subject. To move or disturb, to make people laugh and think.
Financers
With the support of Arte, CNC (Audiovisual Innovation Support Fund, Financial Contribution for Production, Visual and Sound Creation Support), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, Grand Est Region/Strasbourg Eurométropole, Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region/MAGELIS with the support of Charente County Council, Procirep-Angoa, BFI (United Kingdom), Czech Film Fund (Czech Republic) & FWB (Belgium)
Links
Press Review
"Scale" : une prouesse artistique made in Angoulême (French press)
Cartoon Brew : Know Your Indie Filmmaker: Joseph Pierce
Cartoon Brew : 9 Animated Shorts That Are Oscar Hopefuls For 2023
Festivals
Critic's Week – Cannes Film Festival (France) – Special screening
Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France) – Official Competition
Curtas Vila Do Conde (Portugal) – Official Competition
Guanajuato International Film (Mexico) – International competition
Cerdanya Film Festival (France) – Official Competition
HollyShorts Film Festival (USA) – Official Competition
Animist Tallinn (Estonia) – Official Competition
Casa da Animação (Portugal) – Non-competitive
Etrange Festival (France) – Official Competition
Le Festival Silhouette (France) – Official Competition
Seoul Yeongdeungpo International Extreme-short Image & Film Festival (South Korea) – Official Competition
Paysages de Cinéastes (France) – Official Competition
Batumi International Art House Film Festival (BIAFF) (Georgia) – Official Competition
Festival du film Européen du film fantastique de Strasbourg (France) – Official Competition
TIFF Tirana Film Festival (Albania) – Official Competition
Weird Animation Market and WFest (Spain) – Official Competition
Sitges Film Festival (Spain) – Official Competition
Curt’Arruda (Portugal) – Official Competition
Kaohsiung Film Festival (Taiwan) – Official Competition
Bucheon International Animation Festival (South Korea) – Official Competition
Raidance Film Festival (UK) – Official Competition
Festival du cinéma international en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (France) - Official Competition
World of Film International Festival Glasgow (UK) - Official Competition
Alcine 51 (Spain) Official Competition
Hawai‘i International Film Festival (USA) - Official Competition
Cinanima International Animated Film Festival (Portugal) - Official Competition
Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival (Italy) - Official Competition
Manchester Animation Festival (UK) - Out Of Competition
Rencontres Cinessonne (France) - Non-competitive
Filmfest Düsseldorf 2022 (Germany) - Official Competition
Soho London Independent Film Festival (UK) - Official Competition
Giraf 18 (Canada) - Official Competition
Chiliwack Film Festival (Canada) - Official Competition
London International Animation Festival (UK) - Official Competition
Animateka (Slovenia) - Official Competition
Festival Tous Courts Aix-en-Provence (France) - Official Competition
Leuven International Short Film Festival (Belgium) - European Competition
Festival Séquence Court-Métrage (France) - Official Competition
Les Arcs Film Festival (France) - Official Competition
Usak Short Film Festival (Turkey) - Official Competition
Awards
Best Animation, Curtas Vila Do Conde IFF (Portugal)
Best Animation, HollyShorts Film Festival (USA)
Special Jury Prize, Le Festival Silouhette (France)
Best Animation, Paragon Film Festival (USA)
Jury Prize, Bucheon International Animation Festival (South Korea)