DRIFTER
a metaphorical journey of human wandering
shortfilm animated and directed by Joost Jansen
with the voice of Mike Ladd
“The narrator embodies the inner world of the character. There is a metaphorical and poetic train of thought with room for interpretation. It’s not a classic linear story. The voice-overs had to distinguish themselves from a regular narrative voice by using a specific flow and the right timbre to create a poetic narrative. Therefore, I looked for performers with whom I could develop the voiceover role together. Both voices belong to people who are used to reciting texts in a rhythmic framework. Both Jeroen Perceval and Mike Ladd have a background in music and theater.
Character Designs
Completely drawn by hand
“The visual effects are all shot analog. They have a human feel to them. The drawings are also all handmade, making the visual language more tangible. Digitally created animations always come across as a bit plastic to me whereas with DRIFTER I really wanted to convey the feeling of organic, analog tangibility. With a crew of five we shot fluids recorded in aquariums. Those images were mixed with the drawings. It was hard to find the right balance because it quickly becomes distracting when it’s obvious that something is from a different technique. I wanted to create one visual language. For the special visual character of the film, it had to be special that those two worlds, of animation and live-action, come together. It refers a little bit to older science fiction films. The whole movie has a retro feel to it, it was never my intention to make a new space movie. The visual effects are kind of linked to lava lamp effects, to something from the past. For five days we conducted experiments with oil-based liquids that dissolve in water creating certain visual effects. The liquid that really captivated me was a luminous, toxic liquid used for break lights and glow sticks. We used macro lenses for this; I was looking for spectacular images. I was concerned with the scaling that also plays a significant role in the story: the rain contrasted with the starburst. By working with macro lenses you can turn a drop into a universe.”
The Drifter Sound
Available on Vinyl at http://drifterthemovie.com
“I set up the film from the beginning in collaboration with the composers, with whom I had worked in the past. The relationship between the music and a certain genre of sci-fi films appealed to me but also that all the music was made analog. Those guys played and recorded everything live with synthesizers and vocoders. So again: handmade drawings, classically recorded special effects – and the music actually handmade as well. Almost nothing was computer generated for DRIFTER.
