I decided to reach out to a few people who work in the industry for this post. I wanted to research directing, stop motion, and directing and producing your own work, as these are areas that I may be interested in trying to get into once my MA is complete.
I contacted Oskar Lehemaa, director of The Old Man Movie: Lactopalypse! (2019) after meeting him at CSM while we were working on our LIAF stop motion project.
What was the first stop motion thing you did?
I should say upfront that my background is in live action film directing, so I’m actually pretty useless as an animator. My first true foray into animation was writing and directing “The Old Man Movie” with my friend Mikk Mägi, who is an animator. He invited me to come on board the project back in 2017. Although “The Old Man Movie” was a relatively small production, it was a huge undertaking for me, considering it was my first true animation. I had to learn the principles of stop motion on the fly, and to some extent I’m still learning about animation with every new project.
I did some very crude animation experiments when I was about 12 years old, like animating a crumpled piece of paper, that sort of thing. I didn’t have the patience and persistence for it. But seeing how hard the process was definitely gave me a reverence for this art form very early on.
Why did you use stop motion to tell your story in the old man movie?
The titular character in “The Old Man Movie” was created by Mikk Mägi and Peeter Ritso years ago, when they made a short stop motion animation about a weird old guy. So the stop motion technique was always a given with this project, as it was integral to the character’s presentation. But the original Old Man short films were very small and contained stories. When it came to making a LIAFfeature length film, we decided to use the form to our advantage – we could create a huge absurd adventure with larger-than-life characters, action and monsters, without having a big live-action budget. In that sense stop motion was the only way for us to tell this crazy story.
Did you find it trickier to get funding for an animation aimed at adults?
The Old Man character had become very popular in Estonia based on the short animations Mikk and Peeter had made. So when Mikk was approached to make a full length film based on the IP, the offer came with some financing already in place. We also got funding from the Estonian government, but I think the deciding factor there was the quality of the project, rather than the IP or even the slightly more adult nature of the script. Estonia has a strong animation scene and a lot of the films funded here are sophisticated art pieces aimed at a festival audience. So “adult” animation isn’t rare at all. But of course it does get trickier once you’re aiming for feature length, since then the budgets start growing and a wider audience is expected.
I found it challenging communicating my ideas to a small team on a one minute short film. As a director on a much larger project have you got any tips on how to communicate your ideas effectively?
That is a tricky part of the job. On Old Man we learned as we went along and I still haven’t figured it out! But right now, I’d say: be precise in what you want, but leave room for your collaborators to insert their own voice into the work. For me visualization helps a lot – I doodle my ideas, find references, make mock-ups, act out movements, etc. Try to be open to the other artists’ ideas, while at the same time never losing track of the big picture, because as a director, you’re the one steering the ship.
Have you any tips for graduates trying to get their first jobs in stop motion?
I can only speak from the perspective of an animation director who has no experience as an animator… But I think internships are very valuable. On my films I worked with great up-and-coming artists who were at the time interning as animators. Also I think a solid portfolio goes a long way. After graduation you probably already have a few works under your belt, so share them on social media, so people can have a better chance finding you. But most importantly, keep making movies. You can create clever contained stop motion shorts on your table top, so there’s no excuse not to do it. That way you grow your skills and your showreel – and both those things get you closer to that job you’re looking for.