Synopsis
A world-renowned, professional fly killer, named Carl, is on the cusp of finalising his latest and most powerful invention; a machine that, with a single pulse, will annihilate every single fly on this world. Whilst testing its efficacy within the limited range of his workshop, a single fly miraculously survives the death pulse. Adamant that his machine not be undermined, a chase ensues between the fly and its would-be killer. Before Carl has a chance to squash it, the fly crawls into a small hole in the wall, out of reach. Putting his eye up to the hole, Carl sees before him an impossible fly utopia; bathed in golden light and hope. Jolting backwards, his sense of what fly-kind can achieve now skewed, the fly re-emerges and lands on the blueprints of Carl’s death-machine. As he looks on, the fly redesigns his machine, transforming it into something far more intriguing; a machine that turns flies into humans…
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Why?
It all started when I was sat in the garden, trying to write some sort of story that could be passed off as having 'meaning' to it when, suddenly, a fly landed on my arm. Now normally I would simply swat it away and get back to the daily slog that we all like to call life, but this time I didn't. I don't know why - laziness most likely - but I simply let it crawl around on my arm contently. This got me thinking - what would happen if we just left flies alone? If we put down our fly swats and cans of insecticide just for one moment - during the ceasefire, would the flies of the world finally have the chance to do something great? Probably not, was the conclusion that I arrived at pretty swiftly. Still, it still seemed an interesting idea to pursue in the world of fiction - and so FLIT was born.
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How are we going to do it?
Despite the teaser being an exemplary work of high-calibre 2D animation - the real film is a live action piece and will be made using all three dimensions. The adoption of the third dimension raises all sorts of challenges - but fear not, we are already well underway towards overcoming them - but we need your help to give us the final push!
The building of Carl's lab and his fly machine are coming along well - but don't just take our word for it - examine for yourself with photo evidence included below for your viewing pleasure.
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You might also be sat there thinking something along the lines of "How are they going to film a fly doing all of those things?".
- Good question.
After weeks of holding auditions and months of training, we decided that flies aren't suited for the noble profession of acting. Instead we'll be making use of stop motion techniques to bring the fly to life - the model has already been built, now we need to get down to the tricky task of animating it.
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The Crew:
Jack Allen: Director
Jack is a final year Film & TV student at The University of Edinburgh. Briefly forgetting about his current new found interest in flies, he has produced some other questionable work in the past. One such piece is a short film called Hotel Deluxe, in which he plays all of the characters and explores how a teacup can cause a film to end. Jack very much looks forward to bringing FLIT into reality.
Margarita Papathanasiou: Co-producer
Margarita Papathanasiou is a Film and TV Edinburgh College of Art third year. She decided to co-produce Jack's film as she was attracted by the absurd and comic elements of FLIT. She is going to make sure that throughout shooting, everything will run smoothly and that FLIT will get the best distribution it can possibly get.
Elias Nader: Director of Photography
Elías Nader taught himself the basics of film making when he was eight years old, has been honing his camera and editing skills ever since, and is now a second-year film student at the University of Edinburgh. He is working on this film because, beyond believing in the story, he is interested in the technical challenges of showing a person and a fly face to face on screen.
Ina Morken: Production designer
Ina Morken is a Norwegian second year film student who grew up in Taiwan.She jumped to be Jack's production designer as she loved the idea of FLIT because of its absurd story and Jack's natural talent for comedy. Creating the kind of magical world this narrative needed seemed like a huge and almost impossible challenge, so she was ready to fight to get her hands on it and join in on the adventure.
Julian Vogel: 1st AD
Julian Vogel is a filmmaker and 1AD from Stockholm, Sweden. He has experience in the role from upcoming feature film The Great Director by Chris Waitt as well as several short film projects. In addition to having a lifelong passion for fly-killing, Julian was the 1AD for Jack on his last project Hotel Deluxe and was very keen on repeating the role for FLIT when asked.
