Jul 4, 2020

Exclusive Short Film Premiere: "Oh Say Can You See-" by Norm Sussman.

Norm Sussman was about to make a graduation film, Oh Say Can You See, last year, when America felt very fucked up. We are honored to premiere it on 7/4 today, when the country feels very, very fucked.

The excesses of American society in a flurry of short skewered scatology skits for 2 minutes. Skinheads brandish guns while cops arrest a black man in a fleshy room, which turned out to be the rectum of a bobblehead humanoid with a Trump-orange complexion. We watch him hump piggy Bank on a cacophony strain of out-of-tune stars and stripes. Ku Klux Klan will appear. It's all wonderfully awkward:

Sussman reached his bleak assessment of America from afar. Growing up in Israel and Toronto, Canada, where he currently lives, he actually made this film in Estonia. He received a master's degree in animation from the Estonian Academy of Arts, where he studied under the famous film-making duo Priit and Olga Paln. Their poignant satirical humor and feelings for absurdity are reflected in his Oh Say Can You See -

Below, Sussman tells us about how he made the film, how Trump looks to Estonians, and what he is doing to help America's problems...

Cartoon Brewing: What prompted the idea of this film - there were certain events-

Norm Sussman: At the time, I was finishing the dream cream of the previous film. Every day, my partner Ali Kellner (an animator and film director) posted political podcasts and listened to them while we worked.

There were no 1 specific events that prompted it. Trump has already served as president for several years, and I still feel like I didn't hit all the marks I wanted because there was overall frustration and distrust in the Trump administration and his voice on the alt-right, and there's already a lot of material to pull out to multi-comment.

Satire combines absurdity with clear social commentary. Is it hard to balance that - in this film, did you test a lot of skits and gags with others before going into production?-

It's absolutely hard to balance. Especially coming from an Israeli and Canadian perspective, I knew that I had been pretty removed from my experience of living in America. I've also never actually made anything that could be as political and controversial as this. As Canadians, we see America through a lens that's hard to understand the many injustices that happen there. There are differences in the systems we live in and it's very easy to judge.

So, yes, I tested my ideas with friends in Canada and the United States to see what they thought about it. Most of the time, the problems I drew are so serious that I needed to reassure myself that everything was clear to prevent misunderstandings.

In general, what was your process - did you get on everything - how long did it take to make a movie-

I made a non-fiction film I had a lot of small doodles of American images in my sketchbook, and I fleshed it out more on the computer. But I didn't have a proper storyboard from the bat. I essentially had a whole bunch of ideas because it was through the process of removal that I made the story work and mash them together

I also incorporated old story ideas into this movie, his ass restaurant-say oh in the context of what you can see. The idea that seemed to work well with the animation - once all the images came together, it didn't take more than a few months to animate, because there was almost no background, and I used a lot of loops in the animation process.

How was America perceived around you in Estonia - did you have a lot of discussion about the people there and their politics-

I took the Estonian 101 class as an elective. The teacher was a big fan of Trump, but when she raised him, most people rolled their eyes. The students were mostly from other parts of Europe, but my roommate was American. During my stay in Estonia, Trump appeared to be generally liked, but I didn't talk to enough people to make the right decision.

My close group of friends in Estonia were all on the same page regarding Trump. We've had a conversation about what Trump is bad for America, but when you live just north of the border, you feel that American issues are more relevant and important.

Why did you choose to study under Priit and Olga Pärn - what guidance did they give you-

I chose to study under Priit and Olga Pärn. I also watched "Carrot Night" (2016) held at the 40th anniversary of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (1998), and was overwhelmed by it and forced to apply. Moving from Toronto to Tallinn for 2 years was a pretty big move, but it was worth it.

Priit and Olga brainstormed the ending solution, helping to eliminate a few shots that didn't work out.

You decided to offer movie previews to people who donated to the charity of your choice.

I had never tried it before, but it felt like the right thing to do because I felt the film was somewhat related to recent events and Black Lives Matter protests, and I wanted to try and help in some way, but it didn't seem to be enough to make a donation on my own. I saw that other artists on Instagram were able to raise money and donate through their art that influenced the movement. The film raised almost CADま1000, which I'm pretty happy with.

I think it has the potential to work on a larger scale. I know that the Toronto Animation Image Association has their annual showcase online, and they donate to Black Lives Matter as an admission fee, which is also happening in the music industry: The band Jerry Paper, along with many others, has raised money to help fellow Americans with their government stimulus checks. So I think this kind of artistic approach is a great way to get people to donate.