We first saw animator Dirk Vershure’s Beasts on the big screen at Annecy (the screening he mentions near the end of this interview) and words can’t describe how much fun the audience had with this short. Dirk has a new short in the works called Boat and Fish that will probably see the light of day in 2009. As you’ll read below we don’t have a website to direct you to for more info but when he’s got one up we’ll update. Taylor caught up with Dirk recently regarding all things Beasts and had this to share.
Dirk Verschure
Beasts
What burning idea compelled you to make Beasts?
There wasn’t really a fixed idea when I started to make Beasts. I just wanted to make a film fast. Without thinking too much about it.
Later on, when it was finished, I found out that it was actually about stuff I was worried about at the time. The title “Beasts” for example is not necessarily referring to all the animals in the picture. It could be me, or us as humans. My idea about it counts as much as anyone’s idea about it.
What were your duties on the short – animation, character modeling, direction, art direction, editing, sound?
Everything – animation, character design, direction, editing and distribution. I did the sound together with Mark Kuijpers, normally a composer. We enjoyed working on the sound a lot.
Talk about the artists you admire that have made you who you are.
For Beasts it was mostly animator Yoji Kuri. But I also like Phil Mulloy, Chris Hinton and Paul Driessen (and many more). I mostly like animation that’s seemingly simple. But lots of people told me after seeing Beasts I like Robert Crumb too, and they are right. But I try to get inspiration from anywhere for animation. Currently I listen to Steve Reich and Terry Riley because I try to work with minimal music right now.
But I also like the Dead Kennedys, and Billy Bragg. I guess I like raw, simple and honest stuff which has poetry somewhere deep within it. (Actually, that’s not really true – I bought the album Close to Paradise by Patrick Watson lately and it’s very dreamy, but I love it!)
What art do you have hanging in your workspace or sitting on the shelf in books that you go to for inspiration?
I recently started painting, so I have some of my own painting hanging on the wall. And sketches near my animation desk so I remind myself what I have to do. As for books, of course The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams. Since I like reading (not always, but I have my periods) I get inspiration from all kinds of stuff. What everybody should read is 1984 by George Orwell for example. Currently I’m reading the Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, and I can’t wait to start on Dawkins’ The God Delusion.
Were you worried about something specific at the time you made the short? Or was it just vague unease about the future of our species? I can see from your book list that we’re probably reading a lot of the same science titles, and I must say there’s nothing like Collapse or African Exodus or Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors to generate vague unease about the future of our species.
Thanks for the book titles, I will check them out! I was worried about a couple of things, yes. The first part with the birds for example is about revenge. The first bird is shot in half, there is an egg coming out, and inside the egg there is another half bird that comes alive and kills humanity (or at least the hunter). All wounds inflicted on one generation are taken to the next, therefore war and hate stays here for a long time. But every chapter is about a single aspect I’m worried about. The sheep are about global overpopulation. The penguins are about epidemic (it was SARS at the time I started working on the penguins, and later it became Bird flu) and finally the pig is about repression. But this is just my point of view. Everybody can think something else about it.
How long did the production take from start to finish?
Very short, just about one and a half months.
Did you create Beasts with only digital tools, or did you start with pencil or ink?
Only digital tools, but there are a couple of sketches to be found in some sketchbooks I was keeping at the time. These are mostly very fast story sketches. But there are very few of them.
Were you test-driving any new skills or technology on Beasts? Or working with anyone for the first time?
Not really, but it was the first time I made an animation with a coherent story (or a couple of them). The timing for the penguins was maybe a new skill. I found it very difficult to time 30 penguins at the same time.
What was the biggest technical challenge?
Getting the DVDs finished on time. And the sound of the machine that chops the pig. The sound had to be done in one weekend and I knew what I wanted there, but not how to make it. Eventually it seemed that my or Mark’s voice (I don’t remember who did it) worked fine!
Talk about your scholastic background and your professional background. What led you to animation?
I decided I wanted to become a comic artist. Later, when I found out storyboards existed, I wanted to draw those. When I made my first little puppet head movie I was addicted to animation. I studied at the art school and graduated with Beasts.
After that, I worked mostly for television in the Netherlands, and for a short while in Switzerland.
What TV shows did you work on? And are there other personal shorts in your filmography?
Well, no really well-known TV shows I’m afraid, I worked on W.O.W. in Switzerland, which was a satirical animation show mostly about the very right-wing government of Switzerland (they made a drawn nude-calendar with every member of their government, for example). As for the rest they are all Dutch productions, mostly commercials and one animated scene in a live action feature film (called Sextet). I made animations for a Dutch vegetarian cooking show.
What’s your latest opus?
I’m currently working on a new project.
Do you have a personal web site?
No, but I should have one.
Talk about where you’re based, and what the animation community is like.
I’m based in the Netherlands and I live in Tilburg, probably one of the ugliest towns in the Netherlands. But it’s fun. I’m working in the Netherlands Institute of Animation Film (www.niaf.nl) where I and others have the change to work on new stuff.
The animation community is small, but very alive. There are lots of small film festivals around and a lot of young talented animators.
Have you been in the audience for many public screenings of Beasts? Describe the range of reactions.
Not many, but a couple. In Annecy it was the best. People where applauding and cheering. I was also at some screening in Amsterdam once, and it was completely silent. The only thing I heard was a girl sighing behind me, like she was going to say: I’m way too well educated for this bullshit!
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