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MARK (M) Tell us a little about yourself - when did you become interested in film and filmmaking? And what made you particularly interested in animation?

SAPPHIRA (S) Hello everyone! Hi Mark! I’m Sapphira Chen, I come from China and I'm now studying abroad at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). I just finished my third year in CalArt’s Character Animation program, and I'm building my career path as a professional animator and story artist.

I’m a curious girl who really loves animals and roller coasters. The moment that triggered me into animation happened in 2019 when I attended the summer program in Ringling College of Art and Design and got a $5,000 scholarship reward with my performance – this really built up my confidence – and later I went to Disneyland for the first time in my life.

I bought the wrong ticket - I intended to go to the adventure park and ride all the roller coasters but instead bought the ticket for the theme parks. Therefore, I sat among a bunch of little kids and rode on the tiny trains with them into different themes, the seat belts were so tight! We saw pirates, princesses, dragons and elves. I started to love these kids - noticing how excited they got upon seeing the sculptures and models, how they laughed, how they pointed at something and hopped with excitement.

That night, I was among them again watching the fireworks from the Disney castle. I heard the song from The Lion King (1994), went “ahhhh” as the fireworks rose and filled the whole sky. It was so beautiful. I turned and looked at the children – their happiness was so pure. At that moment, I wanted to keep this beauty in life forever and knew that I would find my passion in animation. This feeling is something worth guarding, and I can do it through animation.

M I love the way you transform an everyday activity (i.e walking the dog) into an immersive and surreal experience. Please tell us a little about the film’s themes of adventure, nature, escapism and fantasy.

S The scene of taking a walk at late night comes from my own life. The late night has its own charm. When most of the city is asleep, the quietness of the physical world is pushed further with a mental relief and a certain ‘freedom’ - our mind and body can enter an intimate realm while the surroundings correspond with ourselves and ourselves alone. It’s just the same place that we pass by every day during daytime, but it’s so different.

S Knowing that other people are asleep, this walk and feeling of sneaking out into the night contains a bit of excitement. The quietness of the night is ours, it’s made for us and just us. So from that sense, we can release our mind and let it out into the entire space, let it run free into the things we like, which in my case is all the good memories and the things I like. I want to share both the relief I’m feeling from midnight walks as well as the sense of wonder it releases. My friends and family are so stressed about many things in life and work, especially during this epidemic. I just wanted to put my good memories on screen and share what brings me happiness with them, and hopefully I can bring them happiness too.

On Colour Design

M I thought it was interesting to see different shades of blue on screen - blue is a versatile colour that can symbolise imagination, relaxation and open spaces. Please tell us about your approach to colour design - how does blue connect with the mood and themes of the film?

S I started to build my colour script along with my character design in the beginning stages of the film. I did this right after finishing my storyboards since my film had a very simple plot but rather complicated mood and mind change. I was planning to let the colour carry the tone of my film and yes, blue was used in many ways. I have blue as the main colour in the beginning to indicate that it’s late night, and the electric blue is used to create a sense of tension and focused working environment. As the film progresses, the blue starts to become more natural as sky blue, ocean blue, and a calm night-sky blue appear on screen. Blue is also a personal choice – my name Sapphira came from colour blue (lol).

S Besides blue, my colour logic throughout the film is having black and white for the city sequence because the busy, chaotic, fast-paced city is where the stress comes from. It’s therefore mostly colourless except for the part where I added a deep red to enhance the disturbing feeling, and the red for a big ‘100’ in the background of the factory scene. Then I put a series of drastically changing colours for the imagination (surreal) part to depict the strangeness and excitement of a dream. My favourite combination is the gigantic white giraffe against a pure red background – this is when the dream reaches its climax. I was thrilled when I cooked up the white giraffe in my character design – it’s the combination of elegant and might, I loved it so much. After this image, the colours return to more natural tones.

‘My friends and family are so stressed about many things...I wanted to put my good memories on screen and share what brings me happiness with them, and hopefully I can bring them happiness too’

— Sapphira Chen

On Inspiration

M What are some of the films and who are some of the filmmakers that inspire you, and why?

S My most recent inspiration, and the source of inspiration for the black and white city scene, is Eve’s music video for her song ‘Yoku’ (2022). It gave me the idea of having the world in black and white before the positive emotions come in and add color to the world of the film.

I was also really inspired by The Legend of Luo Xiaohei (2011-) which is a short animation series. It has the most simple-shaped character designs and very smooth movement, with a simple but appealing colour script. It helped me overcome the fear of animating and colouring crazy camera movements. The simplicity of the animation just clears my mind so much, and made the answers (to my doubts and questions) for the film simple. Check it out when you have time! The animations are certainly worth studying!

On The Future

M I know your goals might change and grow over time, but what are your current goals in filmmaking?

S As my third-year film served as the answer and message to those two years of hard times during the epidemic, I’m going to have my forth-year film answer my life philosophy. So journeying away from this film, my next film will be a lot more philosophical. But I hope its idea remains clear and simple. Spoiler alert – it’s going to be about roller coasters.

I’m learning a lot as I experience this world and I’m affected by everyone and everything around me. It is time to analyze my own mind and write an answer for both me and those who care – the answer to my life that I have after living 20-ish years on this beautiful planet Earth. I wish that every film I make would be an ecdysis of myself, and by finishing them, I’ll be slowly ‘evolving’. I’ve done three films for now – plus one still in progress – and each of them carries something different for me. We artists won’t stay in one place forever. Let’s evolve together!

Mark’s Final Thoughts

• I love the fact that Sapphira's taste and style is very much inspired by specific dreams, feelings, impressions and memories. It's really evident in Midnight Garden and it's refreshing to see young filmmakers create art with a pure sense of freedom, joy and intuition.

• The film’s colour palette is really striking - I like the way she conveys the division between urban and natural environments through contrasting colours. She also effectively uses the versatility of blue to capture and transition between calming and energetic feelings on screen.

• Sapphira recently announced that she will be an intern at Pixar this summer! Fantastic news! I wish her the best and look forward to following her work.

  Tags Animation Bourgeon Colour Landscape
  

Want to Learn More? Click here for insight into Sapphira’s process of creating seamless fluidity on screen as well as her newfound appreciation for the value of colour in creating new musical compositions.

The founder of Hommage, Mark Shaba published this interview on 28.06.2022. Mark is a filmmaker from Victoria, Australia. He respectfully acknowledges the past and present traditional owners of the land on which he creates, promotes and screens art, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation who are the custodians.