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On Puppeteering

MARK (M) I'm very interested in learning more about the puppeteering in the film! How long did it take for Sita and yourself to design and create the wings?

ALASDAIR (A) The wings took about one month to prepare and are essentially two very large branches with lots of spindly twigs branching off the main body. The trickiest bit was working out the branches membrane/skin. For this, I cut one roll of sheet plastic to the size of the gap between the branches, and then glued the branches together with the plastic. I also dribbled the long drips from the glue gun in lines over the plastic to give the feeling that the membrane had veins running through it like a fly’s wings.

A None of my work would have mattered if it wasn’t for Sita’s amazing puppetry skills. Sita is a bit of a polymath and performed a myriad of roles (the song ‘Sweet Stuff’ just before the finale is written, orchestrated and recorded by her). She also makes a number of art/theatre shows revolving around nature. During rehearsals with Simon (the actor who plays the Tooth Fairy), Sita discovered insect wings work independently of one another. So unlike birds in flight which can look very majestic and uniform, the Tooth Fairy’s wings do not always move in symmetry. One wing can therefore shiver while the other gently moves - this type of detail and insight is something only Sita could have brought to the project.

M And tell us about the process of blocking and planning scenes with your DoP, actor and Sita to ensure the puppeteering looked natural and realistic on screen in terms of framing and performance.

A The success of filming the transformation was also due to our last-minute cameraman for this sequence, Ross Livingstone. We filmed the majority of the short across a single weekend with myself directing, setting up shots and operating the camera. The plan for the Sunday shoot was to film the finale in the underpass at night. But due to a few scheduling interruptions and mishaps, we were way behind schedule on Sunday and I was exhausted. That’s when Iida Aino, our sound engineer suggested that her boyfriend, Ross, could help and take over camera duties in the evening. When cast and crew reunited at night, Ross and I had a quick chat and just went for it - everyone brought their best and Ross’ eye for detail and ability to roll with the punches made the sequence work.

As for filming the wings, the transformation was shot in stages. We knew the transformation needed to be its own story so to speak, where the wings are kept within the body and then grow and free themselves. In the edit, we found that the shots worked best when the edges of the wings, or one of the wings, were either obscured or out of frame. These were the shots where the practical effects felt strongest and gave the feeling that the wings are incredibly large and all enveloping.

On Fundraising

M Please tell us a little about your experience of running a successful fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. What strategies did you implement to help achieve your fundraising target? And would you be open to using Kickstarter again for your future projects?

A The Kickstarter was invaluable in allowing us to finish Tooth. Half-way through post-production, I moved from Glasgow to London so I went from a place with high tips and low rent to the exact opposite. After six months of doing a lot by myself, I finally hit a wall and turned to Kickstarter. I think our campaign was partly successful because we weren’t asking for a lot of money. I think having a really solid pitch video is important so I think it should be polished as much as possible. It doesn’t have to be high-budget and flashy, but it does have to effectively communicate your enthusiasm, sincerity and make people excited to see your project come to life.

Absolutely! Although I think I would worry that I used up all of my friend’s sympathies on the first campaign. And Kickstarter can be a bit of a risk if you’re looking for a large amount - you have to achieve the total goal otherwise you don’t see a penny.

On Process & Discovery

M In making and finishing the film, what did you discover and learn that you might adopt or further explore in future projects?  

A Where to begin?! Being my first short film, I learned everything from scratch like understanding how to operate the DSLR camera and edit on Adobe Premiere Pro. The whole experience has been like a mini film school.

So I’m excited to implement my new knowledge in the next project. It will certainly make the process faster as I was overly cautious about doing certain aspects myself on Tooth. Crucially, I know my limitations now and where it would be better for someone else to do role X rather than me juggling so many responsibilities at once.

Mark’s Final Thoughts

• It was interesting to learn more about Sita’s approach to puppeteering - making the wings move independently of one another complements both reality and the volatile nature of the Tooth Fairy.

  Tags Bourgeon  Experimental Live-action

The founder of Hommage, Mark Shaba published this interview on 17.12.2021. Mark is a grassroots 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.