The animated sequences in the film are surprisingly effective in evoking a sense of grief and loss, and the score is a major component of that. I knew the film incorporated animation and shadow puppets, but I wasn’t prepared for the impact those sequences would have on me. Can you tell us a bit about the creation and scoring of these sequences?
The reason why I did the shadow puppetry parts was mainly to add a little poetry to the film’s mystery. Life sometimes feels so poor and miserable, but if you can see that there is still some poetry in life, there is some beauty and hope, some piece of magic, then it’s not in vain. It’s not totally dark. That’s why they are there – to act a little like a lullaby for the audience, to make them feel good. To sing a little song for them, to tell them a little tale, to make them feel good again after the horrific scenes.
Regarding the puppetry, I wanted to put the story in a context other than just a 21st century relationship drama with people driving around in cars. That’s very much a scene from our time. I wanted to make it feel a little more timeless. I wanted to give it a general perspective of what it is to be human, trying to survive, trying to deal with loss and grief and difficulties. I wanted to use a form of communication that had been created thousands of years before the cinema camera, to tell a story with just the basic elements of shadows and light. The most basic elements in all of image-based storytelling.
Most of the music in those scenes was created by a musician called Olle Cornéer, who used to be in a group called Dada Life. They were techno house, big arena music. They toured in the States quite a lot. I wanted music that had both an eerie and beautiful tone. I wanted the music to feel very analog, like it was being played by a few people with old, rusty instruments.
Picture Jason Voorhees with special forces training
The film seems to constantly walk a tightrope, balancing a dark sense of humor with some very real terror and a profound look at grief and loss. What was your approach in managing these different tones.
I think it was very hard. In my mind it was easy, and in the script it was easy. When we were shooting it, everything felt like it belonged together. But when we sat in the editing room and tried to combine those things, it was really hard. When you have so many different ways to tell the story, so many perspectives both visually and with sound, different themes that you have to glue together somehow, it was a tough process. Even though it’s a minimalistic piece in many ways, with few sets, in some ways that made it even harder.
How long was the film in production?
For a very long time, actually. We started to shoot it in 2011. I always had the idea to make a feature. For many reasons, there wasn’t a clear script for the whole film in the beginning. It grew as we were working with it. We shot part of it, then edited it. Then we came up with new ideas of where the story should go. I made another feature film in between, before this one was finished. It’s taken a long time since we started, but I think it adds to the dreamlike tone of the film. You may not feel it, but if you look closely you can see that the actors are actually aging throughout the film, growing older and younger between different scenes.
It must be exciting to see a project that you’ve lived with in your mind for so long make its way out into the world to be seen by audiences! I’ve seen mention of a couple of short films that you’d worked on—Dreams from the Woods and The Music Box. I’ve seen clips of Dreams from the Woods, and I know that there’s a website where readers can go to view that film, but i couldn’t find very much info about The Music Box. That latter film sounds like it’s pretty closely connected to Koko-di Koko-da. Is that part of what you had worked on earlier?
It was actually a way for me to finance the feature. The Music Box is more or less the prologue to the film. I had to release it like that to help finance the film.
Is The Music Box available somewhere that readers can watch it?
No, it doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve erased it from my hard drive. The feature is the main thing now.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. I’m excited for the Fantastic Fest audience to see your film!
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