MegaComputeur Put the Crazy in Crazy Golf

How long have you been directing for and why did you decide animation was for you?

We’ve been directing together for almost a year. Obviously working in animation is the best way to achieve wealth and fame, but it also allows us to tell stories without any real-life limitations. We can play with proportions, colours and styles. And cartoonising characters allows us to delve further into our preferred genre – absurd comedy.

Did you know instantly that you wanted to direct together?

Some of us met four years ago during our first year at Supinfocom Arles [computer graphics school now called MoPA] and others joined two years later. We got on well and were interested in each other’s work, so it felt natural to exchange ideas. We share a vision about the sorts of projects we want to do, even if we do sometimes fight over it.

What inspired your film Play Off?

It came from our desire to do a short about sport. We wanted to play around with the tension in a character that takes sport too seriously. He soon evolved into a purist on a mini-golf course. We wanted to contrast the calm setting with the guy’s crazily ambitious and obsessive desire to win.

What appeals to you about the comedy genre?

Comedy allows you to connect with people. And of course, people laughing at your film is very rewarding. It never happens when we tell jokes in real life.

Tell us about how you put the film together.

First we developed the story and the animatics, drawing out the characters and defining their personalities. It then took four weeks to turn these plans into a 3D short, fuelled by strong coffee and our superhero metabolisms. The six of us worked on the pre-production and modelling stages, before splitting into two different groups to tackle the animation and image parts.

In Play Off and other films you tell the stories without dialogue. Why?

This was one of the first exercises we had at film school and is a really interesting format to work in. It’s challenging telling a story with no words, but we focus on developing the character’s animation instead – it’s much more universal.

“It’s challenging telling a story with no words but we focus on developing the character’s animation instead. It’s more universal.”

What were the biggest challenges in bringing Play Off to life?

Time. We only had four weeks to complete the spot and we didn’t want to cut back on quality. The tight deadline forced us to focus more on the characters, which actually helped to strengthen the storyline.

What have you learnt as a directing collective?

We’ve got better at managing our time and efficiency. We completed Play Off while we were interning at Passion Pictures and we really benefitted from the studio’s feedback.

You’ve just signed to Passion. What can we expect to see next from you?

We’re returning to school at the moment as we still have one more year to go. But we’ll keep in touch with Passion and we’ve got some exciting projects up our sleeves… we will be on your screens sooner than you think!