-Can you introduce the project in a few words? Laurent Witz (producer – director
at ZEILT productions) :
"Mr Hublot" is a 7-minute animated
short film that we are currently developing within our company,
closely with Stéphane Halleux.
-How
far have you got in the project ? L.W : We
are now in preproduction. We are finalizing the script, making
some tests internally around the characters (animation, lighting,
rendering, etc.) We are also preparing the financing arrangement
for this film before diving into the production per se. .
Rought Denis Lambert
-Can you tell us a few
words about the script ? L.W
: Mister
Hublot lives in an old, dusty but well-set appartment with his
dog robot pet. He’s an old bachelor , packed with quirks
and obsessions. He runs away from noise pollution like, for example,
he draughtproofs his doors and windows with a combination of glass
wool and newspapers.
Mr Hublot is reserved and his different obsessions make him endearing.
His odd characteristics make the most ordinary situations quickly
become funny and interesting...
-We
can say that Stéphane Halleux’s world is not common?
Do you have special techniques to differentiate your film from
others in this genre?
L.W : I
think that the combination of different animation techniques would
be ideal for this type of environment.
We began our tests in this direction, and the results are very
convincing.
In a nutshell, we are most definitely going to combine CGI with
stop motion techniques.
What’s
the originality of this project?? L.W
: The originality of this
project resides in 3 points:
- From an artistic point of view, Stéphane Halleux’s
world is very rich and lets your imagination run wild.
- From a technical point of view, we are going to combine our
know-how with specific tools to create a world close to Stéphane’s.
- Finally, we are going to put in place a sponsoring system which
will enable the contributing internet users to regularly follow
the project evolution and production.
.
What
form does this sponsoring take? L.W
: It
is possible, for those who wish it, to sponsor images from the
film. Each internet user, fan of Stéphane Halleux’s
sculptures, graphic artist, animation enthousiast, can buy images
up to 9€ a piece.
In exchange, among other things and depending on the amount of
images sponsored, they will get a follow-up on the film production,
one of their sponsored images signed by Stéphane Halleux,
the opportunity to appear in the the credits, etc. more
As for ourselves, this quid pro quo will
enable us to complete the financing of the short film and to prepare
the release of the feature film.
.
Rought Denis Lambert
Stéphane
Halleux’s letter of intent
Except for vague impressions
and other tender neuroses a little more personal but too muddled
and confused to be set down in writing, I realize that I actually
don’t have much to reveal about my work.
No big theory, no subliminal message to pass on, no big secret
of fabrication, in short, all of this is otiose, useless, it’s
just all hot air!
But if we take the trouble to get light enough, we can sometimes
let ourselves get swept away, join him for a ride and find,
for a moment, the childhood naivety of a time when our dreams
weren’t so narrow.
That is the jump-start of Mr Hublot, in reference to Jacques
Tati’s mister Hublot.
He lives in an absurd world, where characters come together,
patched-up, stitched-up, with mechanical parts, driving enormous
vehicules, a world where the mechanics overgrowth and the determination
towards recycling reign supreme.
He is an old bachelor who leads a well-ordered life in his midtown
apartment packed with gadgetry (oversized coffee maker, outdated
tv set full of wires and gears).
He is always wearing his leather raincoat and carrying his inseperable
attaché case around.
Passionate about the plants mechanics, he also loves his robot-pet.
Our hero is a kind of antihero or even anti-antihero.
In fact, he leads a frighteningly ordinary life! (it’s
the eccentric context in which he evolves that makes his little
quirks funny to the viewers).
Stéphane.
.
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