Moscow, Nizhniy Susalniy lane, 5/18
shortshotfest@gmail.com
shortshotfest@gmail.com
Interview
Aline Romero
Director
Aline Romero
Director (Spain/Mexico)
line Romero, was born in Mexico City. Studied Visual Arts at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In 2009 she received a scholarship to study video art and sculpture at the University of California (UCSD). In the following years, she experimented with stop motion animation and sculpture. In 2014 she moved to Chicago where she founded a design agency. In 2017 she moved to Barcelona to study a Master in Stop Motion Animation at the Escola de Cinema de Barcelona, where she directed the short film Psychophonic, premiered in 2019 at the SITGES Film Festival (SGAE New Authorship category).
— Tell us a little about your experience? Was it only a film connected or you did/do something else?
— Directing this short film was great training. I learned a lot about the technique part, which is obvious. But for me, the hardest part, even more than animating, was keeping the team together and optimistic. I learned a lot about being a leader by knowing not only each one skill but the timing of each team member. When to push, or how much I can ask of them. How to get the best out of the team, in the short and long term.
— What inspired you to make your short film? How did you come up with that idea?
— The script was written between the six who were studying the same master. We are all very different. It took us a long time to agree on something. But finally, Hitchcock was that meeting point. That mixed with the idea that we all wanted to do comedy and that we like slapstick. And no one remembers, but I managed to convince everyone to have a cat in the story.
—Tell us how it was to produce your film?
— It was the graduate project of the Master in Stop Motion Animation of the Barcelona Film School (ECIB / 9Zeros). We had a short budget and specific deadlines that helped us to finish the project. We only had a year to do everything. From coming up with the idea until finishing the post-production. Which, can easily be done. But we were all newbies.
Funny moments on the set? Or scary?
— The funny/scary moment was when a team member hot glued the camera to the tripod, instead of using the quick release plate.
— Do you have a dream?
— To be able to finish the feature film that I am developing ¨Azul's Journey¨ and to be able to have a life while that happens.
— What is your favorite film(s)?
— I have many favorites, but to mention a few: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, What We Do In The Shadows, Parasite, La Tortue Rouge, A Single Man, Paprika, Dogtooth, I Lost My Body, Tangerines, Youth, Incendies, Tales from Earthsea, Border, Ma vie de courgette.
— Give advice for those who want to make a film, but don't know from where to start?
— Just start with an idea. It is easier to talk about the things you know, the ones important for you. Don't think much about it. Just go for it and do it. But make sure that if you start, finish it. Start with small goals, that way it would be less frustrating. And what works for me is to narrow down my options and ideas. For example, if you talk about water, talk about the dripping faucet from your bathroom. I found that having too many options (this could be ideas, techniques, materials, tools, etc. even money) available can be too overwhelming to find a starting point.
