1 post tagged “the thomas crown affair”

When we set out to make a biopic on Pablo Ferro, it felt like an interesting idea to combine an animated storyline with documentary footage. And while we're at it, why not throw in a dozen celebrity interviews, add a touch of motion graphic vignettes to keep things interesting and bring it to a slow stew?

My producing partner, Jeremy Goldscheider, nodded with interest. Then he asked the hard question: "Cool, but wouldn't it be a bit of a hodgepodge?""

Being from Brazil, I wasn't overly familiar with the term --  but it didn't sound that tasty. "A hodgepodge, a mishmash, this and that but nothing at all... ", Jeremy kindly clarified. My knee-jerk reaction was to get philosophical: " Well, it depends on how it's done..."

But I did take on the debate, knowing he had a good point.
 
Pablo, with his pioneering quick-cut editing in 1950's TV commercials and the creation of the first multiple frame sequence in cinema with the 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair, could well be considered a montage artist. He's been regarded as an artist who makes poetry out of the cacophony of everyday images, and though the hodgepodge alert seemed relevant, I started thinking of the film as a mosaic of different influences: part animation, part documentary, part motion-graphics, part interviews.

The people we pitched it to were generally interested, yet wanted to see a "proof of concept". The reactions went something like this: "So, you have a colorful take on the Sixties with sex and drugs, you have amazing pop art, a great soundtrack and a famous unknown main character wrapped in a red scarf, but what is the story about? And who is this guy anyway?"