CONSUME was the winner of BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY at the April 2021 SCI-FI/FANTASY Film Festival.
1. What motivated you to make this film?
Always love science fiction and especially dystopias. Mainly I wanted to tell a story that could be understood anywhere in the world, I was interested in working on the concept of consumption and alienation from an ironic point of view.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?
The short film did not have any financial support, we did it with a group of technicians who were interested in the project by putting all our work without charging, that caused the times to stretch. First we worked on the script for about six months, finding gaps between our jobs to be able to write. In itself, the Pre-production took us about a year, we gradually put together all the elements that are seen in the scenography. The costumes were also designed specifically for the short. The filming was done in 5 days distributed in a month, the first of chromas in which we recorded material that we later projected on the stage monitors, three days in the main location and a last in the last section (the juicer). We recorded in the same location from scratch, that’s why we distribute the shooting days to be able to work the art with time.
Finally, post-production, animations, color correction, folley (all sound was re-recorded in post) and music took another nine months of work.
3. How would you describe your short film in two words!?
Argentinian cyberpunk
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Having such a tight budget forced us to work with great precision in all stages of the realization, we had no margin to fail, any mistake could make the project fall. I think we managed to move like a boxer in the ring who dodges blows and manages to hit at the right moment.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was very exciting. The short had an online preview on May 4 of last year and because of the isolation that the covid forces us to remain, we were not able to do a team function with the public to see people’s reactions. This was the first time that many of the team saw real reactions. We are all very grateful for the video you sent us. it really was a beautiful gesture.
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video:
6. How did you come up with the idea for this short film?
The short is co-written with Emiliano, a great friend and collaborator with whom we usually get together to think about possible projects. In this case, at first we thought to write something closer to Blade Runner, a cyberpunk police noir, which took place in a dystopian buenos aires framed within the universe of El Eternauta, a fundamental work of the Argentine comic strip. That was changing, with the rewrites. Already in a second or third version we try to adjust it to the production possibilities and we begin to develop the idea that we finally managed to capture in the short film.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Difficult to answer
The movies I watched the most times:
Who framed Roger Rabbit?
The Godfather
Matrix
Brazil
Stalker
The Shinning
8. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway, what are you feelings of the submission platform from a filmmaker’s perspective?
I tried several platforms and although it has some things to improve, it is the one I use the most because it seems to me to be the clearest and most honest.
9. What is your favorite meal?
meat roasted to the fathoms
10. What is next for you? A new film?
I am working on a script for a feature film.
It is a detective story that at one point turns to cosmic terror.
It is inspired by a short story by a great Argentine writer.
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 