Nov 14, 2024

Oscar short film candidates for 2025: - Brown Dog directors Nadia Holgren and Jamie James Medina

Cartoon Brew is putting the spotlight on an animated short film nominated for an Academy Award in 2025.

Today's film will be the American director Nadia Holgren (becoming an Emmy-nominated documentary) and the British director and photographer Jamie James Medina This short film won the Animated Short Award at the Indianapolis Indy Short International Film Festival and won the Academy Award qualification. It was.

At night, security guards put their clocks on a solitary security booth in the empty parking lot of a luxury apartment building. Based on Willis Earl Beale's "Brown Dog Chronicle", Brown Dog is a 2014 la of beer text by the late Michael K. Williams that we can follow a security guard who spends his shift making up an endless security log to stay awake, "No one," and "No one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, As he did in this atmospheric animation

Cartoon Brew:w.E.Can you elaborate on the adaptation process from Beal's original text and recordings made by Michael K.

Jamie-James Medina: The Brown Dog is a writer and musician.E.It first appeared as a series of security logs written by Beal. The story of the letter documents Beer's time as a security guard in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, during the winter of 2011. Beer distributed his stories by leaving xeroxed copies in local libraries, independent cinemas and bookstores. This is how I first encountered a brown dog. It's a boring job, but Beale wrote so beautifully about his graveyard shift - those unforgettable hours between night and day - that I couldn't put the text down. In 2014, he recorded "Brown Dog" as a radio drama, adapted the text, and cast Mr. Williams as a lonely nightwatchman. He was a great collaborator, very kind and dedicated to understanding this character. These recordings will eventually become the basis of our films. Mr. Williams died in 2021/9, but his voice kept calling me back.

Nadia Holgren: In this story, we want people to stop and think about people working on the edge of the American dream. People asked us if this was a "pandemic movie," and perhaps it was. During the pandemic, society relied on "essential workers" to get through some of our darkest moments, many of whom were of color. All of a sudden health care workers, security guards and delivery drivers were given the value they celebrated as human beings. Well, of course, they are human beings and have an inner life. And no one is different. As a black filmmaker, these are the stories I want to tell - complex human stories.

What was forced to connect with you and direct a film about this story or concept-

Holgren: My background is documentary filmmaking.My work is connected with the natural world and how do we fit into it as people. The fictional story of the Brown dog makes no difference, exploring themes of belonging, loneliness, and despair of living on an increasingly hostile American edge. Our anime characters are asking to feel something real - a point that made Mr. Williams even more visionary in his passing. Doing it with animation was the challenge and joy of this project.

What did you learn through the experience of making this film, production wise, filmmaking wise, creative, or on the subject-

Medina: I learned that good ideas are waiting for you. I've been thinking about this character for over a decade. But in the meantime, the world has changed, and the network of collaborators has changed. It took years to really understand who this character is and how to bring them to life on screen. I want the brown dog to serve as a celebration of Mr. Not only as a reminder of the deep truth that Williams and all the characters he brought to life, but also of the importance of human connection.

Can you explain how you developed a visual approach to cinema - why did you settle for this style/technique-

Medina: It all started with talking through the script with our designer and animator, Fons Sidon: Chicago, winter, night, God's lonely man. But the way we used voice-overs and no one was looking for a brown dog reminded us of the classic Noir movie - a world drenched in shadows.

During the night, we must see no one become a stranger, a bleaker, his thoughts become more unreliable. Saturated yellow and dead night blacks were chosen to reflect the character's feelings of isolation and despair. It's Noir

Hallgren: I was interested in how the brown dog shows the American grind in a very real way: the 24-hour glow of the McDonald's arch that illuminates anyone's booth, signs of foreclosure that mark the surrounding neighborhood, advertising signs that feel completely at odds with the community. These mundane details of the physical world are added to make no one's world believable.