Haleiya
Courtesy of the YoungCuts Film Festival
www.YoungCuts.com
What's It Called? Haleiya
Who Made It? Written and Directed by A J Korkidakis
Where Is It From? Canada (Quebec)
How Old Is the Director? 23 (22 at time of production)
Who Is the Director? AJ Korkidakis is undoubtedly a product of the digital age - so much so that he rejects the title filmmaker in favour of the more contemporary "digital media artist". Though not the catchiest title, it's the only one that does justice to the variety of media he finds himself working in: AJ works professionally in film, video, motion graphics, animation, photography and design.
Ever since graduating from Concordia University with a degree in Communications in 2010, he has jumped head first into the Montreal media scene, refusing to pass up any opportunity to collaborate with others and learn new things. His clients have ranged from organizations like the Canadian government, the Montreal Police, various museums and university organizations all the way to local musicians like Kid Koala, the Sevens Project and Lunice. He also has had a successful run at web commercial contests, having won honours from companies like Kraft, Doritos, TMZ and others.
AJ's short films and music videos have screened internationally at festivals and have been broadcast on television, and his work has received two awards from the YoungCuts film festival. He is also a founding member of the CEASE Art Collective in Montreal, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting local arts.
What Is It? Animated Music Video Using Photo Collage
Who Did the Music? Sevens Project (featuring Patrick Watson)
How Long Is It? 3:33
What Is It About? Where do memories go when we don't want them anymore? The journey of an abandoned moment from the past, searching for a new home, told through a series of photographs and stop motion animation.
When Did YoungCuts Play It? 2011
Why Did YoungCuts Play It? The amount of work necessary to create this film is staggering. At 24 frames per second, and with each character in the film requiring sequential photographs, this film probably required more than 6,000 photos which all had to be kept in the exact order. It doesn't hurt that the sweet, simple existential story that it tells perfectly fits the mournful song that it was written for.
What Awards Did It Win? Top 100 Short Films YoungCuts Film Festival, Winner of the Virgin Radio 96 Award for Best Music Video
Filmmaker Statement This was a profoundly personal project - though incredibly time consuming, the scale of the film meant it could be created nearly entirely on my own (with help from my very patient girlfriend.) This allowed the entire process to be very contemplative, an experience that was of course aided by the beautiful music I had as inspiration. The project was a nice break from the standard big crew video set - and this music video also embodies the apex of my love/hate relationship with stop motion animation.
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You can watch more videos HERE!
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If you are a young filmmaker and would like to submit your short film to the 2012 YoungCuts Film Festival, HERE'S HOW! We just announced a great Animation Prize which includes a free spot in a one day Animation Masterclass given by Disney animator Andreas Deja (designer of Scar from The Lion King amongst many other things.)
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