Silo Cinema presents "Spellbound" with North Pole Deception

Silo Cinema presents Spellbound this week. As always the film will be complimented by the Silo Night Market where you’ll be able to grab dinner from an eclectic array of street food style stalls, browse a variety of pop-up clothing stores and craftmakers, get your haircut, and of course toast the end of the week at the Silo Park Bar. This December all profits from the sale of popcorn will be given to the Auckland City Mission. Make sure you take time to come and check out the Auckland City Mission Angel Tree next to Silo 7 as well. Stand under the branches, buy a pair of angel wings and become an angel somebody in need this Christmas.

Friday 07 December - 9 pm, preceded by "The North Pole Deception".

Check out the Silo Park Cinema site for more info.

Penny Black Movie

Thanks again to everyone involved in the making of The North Pole Deception. It was a dream project to make and I couldn't have made it by myself.

I'd now like to point you over to my debut feature film project Penny Black.

http://pennyblackmovie.com/

Like The North Pole Deception, the movie draws on serious themes of consumerism, capitalism and the environment, but it has a cartoonish approach with a comedy element. For example, we've created a superhero called Lapwing, and you can hear his theme music by clicking on this image:

PENNY BLACK MOVIE SYNOPSIS
Self-centered twenty-something Penny Black Astra McLaren travels down the North Island of New Zealand in an attempt to save her job and opulent lifestyle. Along the way she meets a guy name Guy (Anton Tennet); who makes her slow her down and question how the world works.

Movies in Parks!

Free screenings of "The North Pole Deception" this March as part of Show Me Shorts Film Festival.

This selection of seven of the best has been specially curated for the Movies in Parks series. These short films are varied in tone and temperament, but all are engaging and entertaining. The subjects range from an amusing road trip by a gang member with wanderlust to a 'serious' exposé highlighting the poor working conditions for elves in Santa's workshop at the North Pole. Don't miss 2011 Academy Award shortlisted 'The Six Dollar Fifty Man' or Show Me Shorts 2010 Best Film winner 'This is Her'.

Screening in the Aotea Square as part of the Auckland Arts Festival 2011.

Date: Fri 11 March & Mon 14 March 2011
Venue: Aotea Square
Cost: Free

More information available here: http://moviesinparks.co.nz/films/showmeshorts.asp

NPD on IMDB

The North Pole Deception is on the Internet Movie Database, so you can see who played the voice parts - and rate or review the film if you want to. You can also "like" the film through IMDB on facebook.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1609971/

I've recently sent the film off to a few film festivals further abroad. I'll update (rejections and all) when I start to hear back in 2011!

Duperie au pôle nord

French synopsis courtesy of Camille Maroslavac:

The North Pole Deception » est un portrait intimiste des tribulations quotidiennes des ouvriers et du gérant d’une usine, ainsi que celles d’un militant sans domicile vivant dans la rue.
C’est un aperçu glaçant de l’exploitation de la communauté elfique par l’occident, dans le lieu le plus froid de la planète.

People are talking...

The highlight was the "world premiere" of Joe Hitchcock's The North Pole Deception, a clever, stop-frame animation satire of workers' conditions at Santa's factory.

Hobbits don't have anything to complain about compared with the working conditions the elves have to put up with: the freezing cold, lack of toilet breaks and a tyrannical boss who appears to be the missing link between the workers and the big man himself.

The film had all the makings of parody gold, particularly the broad Kiwi accents that peppered the dialogue with street slang, and blasé yeahs, nahs and y'knows.

- Short films pack in originality and wit, Rebecca Barry, NZ Herald (9th Nov 2010)

Financially-beneficial or otherwise, there's no doubt that the range of films on offer in the 2010 offer a diverse selection of takes on the world. While some films have benefitted from funding, others have been achieved by the sheer amount of time and energy their creators have invested in them – Joe Hitchcock's claymation North Pole Deception (screening in the Imagination strand) being a case in point.

- Show Me Shorts: exhibits sexual preference for soft toys, Screen Hub (20 Oct 2010)

What films are you most looking forward to at this years line-up?
We have such a strong programme of films this year. The collection includes timely and clever gems like the claymation mockumentary ‘The North Pole Deception’, about the poor working conditions for elves in Santa’s workshop.

- Show Me Shorts Film Festival interview, Viewauckland.co.nz


This could be my first negative review, but it's too brief for me to tell:

The North Pole Deception is a claymation doco about the intolerable working conditions for elves under Santa’s yolk and owes more than a little to Aardman’s famous Creature Comforts series.

- At the movies with Dan Slevin, Capital Times (10 Nov 2010)

"A Local Highlight"!

I somehow ended up being nominated in the "Best Director" category with the big kids who make NZFC funded short films! Congratulations to Mark Albiston for taking the award with his hilarious short film ‘The Six Dollar Fifty Man’. The same film also won "Best International Short" at Sundance, and "Jury Prize" at Cannes, so it's really an honour to be nominated in the same category!

You can read the full list of Show Me Shorts awards here.


THIS may be my first ever film review:

"The North Pole Deception sees the workshop conditions of the elves at the North Pole blown apart. Filmed in a doco and interview style, the crude plasticine animation may lack aesthetically but a clever script certainly brings the cruelty into the yuletide season. And the final shot and use of candy canes is perhaps one of the cleverest I've seen in a while."- by Darren Bevan

You can read more of his Show Me Shorts reviews at tvnz.co.nz.

The film has also been recomended as one to watch out for on National Radio (mp3 interview), Kiwi FM (my interview - not recorded sorry), WIFT, in "Gina Dellabarca talks Show Me Shorts" and numerous other media.


All this fuss has made me realise I should send the film to some festivals further abroad!

NPD Cinema Sessions

WORLD PREMIERE - Fantastic Planet Film Festival

SYDNEY - Dendy Cinemas Newtown
Nov 4th @ 7pm

Shorts Program #4: AMAZING ANIMATIONS

One Small Step (Dir: Damien Slevin/4 min/AUS)
The North Pole Deception (Dir: Joe Hitchcock/10 min/NZ)
The Cats of Mars Meet the Toy Car (Dir: Jacob Stålhammar/8 min/ Sweden)
The Adjustable Cosmos (Dir: Adam Duncan/21 min/AUS)
The Astronomers Sun (Dir: Simon Cartwright & Jessica Cope/6 min/UK )
Lifeline (Dir: Andres Salaff/6 min/USA)
Tales from the Afternow: Little Rocks (Dir: David T. Krupicz/12 min/CAN)
A Complex Villainelle (Dir: Howard Cook/8 min/USA )
SuperBattle: Episode 1 (Dir: Ethan Marak/7 mins/USA)
Yamasong (Dir: Sam K. Hale/9 min/USA)
The Painter of Skies (Dir: Jorge Morais Valle/20 min/ESP)

Tickets from Dendy Newton

SHOW ME SHORTS New Zealand 2010

IMAGINATION Session:

Bird Brain (Dir. Patrick McGabe, 9 min, AUS)
Bridge (Dir. Jochen Fitzherbert, 11 min, NZ)
Tundra (Dir. Claire Phillips, 13 min, AUS)
Sacrifice (Dir. Robert Jukic, 9 min, AUS)
Base Jump (Dir. Steve McGillen, 9 min, NZ)
Locked In (Dir. Nick Fernandez, 17 min, AUS)
The North Pole Deception (Dir. Joe Hitchcock, 10min, NZ)

AUCKLAND - Academy Cinema
November Fri 5th 8:15, Mon 8th 4:30, Wed 10th 4:30, Sun 14th 4:30

DEVONPORT - The Victoria Picture Palace and Theatre
November 5th, 8:15, Sat 6th 12:30, Wed 10th 8:15, Fri 12th 12:30

WAIHEKE ISLAND - Community Centre
November Sat 6th @ 5:00pm

TAURANGA - Bay City Cinemas
November 18th @ 6:30, 22nd @ 1:30pm, 25th @ 1:30pm, 26th @ 1:30pm, 27th @ 1:30pm

WELLINGTON - Paramount
November Sat 13th @ 6:30pm, Mon 15th @ 1:30, Thurs 18th @ 1:30, Sun 21st @ 6:30

CHRISTCHURCH - Rialto Cinema
November 11th @ 8:30pm

DUNDEDIN - Rialto Cinema
November 17th @ 8:30pm

WHITIANGA - The Monkey House (2011)
January 6th @ 7:30pm, Fri 14th 7:30pm

Fantastic Planet! - Australia

WORLD PREMIERE!

Thursday, November 4, 7:00pm
Dendy Cinema Newtown, SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA

Prepare for a visual and cerebral feast with this selection of the best animated sci-fi and fantasy short films from Australia and the world. The secret behind the moon landing, robotic teddy bears, 15th century space explorers, post-apocalyptic landscapes, inter-dimensional travels, exploited elves, Martians cats, and more await! The perfect program for lovers of animation, sci-fi, and fantasy all.

Screening as part of the FANTASTIC PLANET FILM FESTIVAL,
You can BUY TICKETS here!

Fantastic Planet Film Festival is dedicated to seeking out and encouraging bold new speculative films that explore imagined worlds, universes, and realities; celluloid glimpses of alternative futures, presents, and pasts.

This year the festival is boasting the Australasian premiere of MACHETE (Robert Rodriguez), and this other cool looking Santa Flick RARE EXPORTS:



More info at the Fantastic Planet Film Festival site.

Show Me Shorts! - NZ

Show Me Shorts is a travelling festival of the best 40 short films from Australia and New Zealand. The films are divided into six themed sessions, which will be announced along with the selected films in early October.

AUCKLAND 4TH – 11TH Nov at Academy Cinema, Victoria Picture Palace
WAIHEKE ISLAND – 5th – 14th Nov at Waiheke Island Cinema
MATAKANA – 12th – 17th Nov at Matakana Cinemas
WELLINGTON 11th – 21st Nov at Paramount Cinema
CHRISTCHURCH 11th – 21st Nov at Rialto Cinema
DUNEDIN 11th – 21st Nov at Rialto Cinema
TAURANGA 18th – 28th Nov at Bay City Cinemas
ARROWTOWN 21st – 24th Nov at Dorothy Browns
WHITIANGA 6TH -15TH Jan at the The Monkey House

Read an interview with the festival director Gina Dellabarca at the TVNZ Website.

Check back soon for session times, or go to http://www.showmeshorts.co.nz/

CINEMA RELEASE in November!

THE NORTH POLE DECEPTION has been selected for more than one film festival and will screen in lots of cinemas soon. The feedback on the film has been extremely positive!

I can't announce which festivals yet, so I will instead post my first OFFICIAL REJECTION message:

From BLUE PLANET FILM FESTIVAL (USD$25 entry fee)

"Good luck with your film. It doesn't fit into animal (elves aren't) welfare. And though it does take place at the north pole, which is melting rapidly, your film deals with... social issues, I guess you could say, not environmental. Mira Tweti , Executive Director Blue Planet Film Fest"

I think it's weird they disregard the film, when their goal says:

"We are seeking films on any subject related to:
Animal Welfare
Wild Life
Environmental issues
Ecology
Conservation
Sustainable Living/Unsustainable living
Globalization
Climate Change
Factory Farming/Agriculture issues
Water
Land/Soil/Air"

Official Selection Wreaths coming soon!

Countries of Production

The North Pole Deception is finished. This is where it was made...

2006
Hamilton & Auckland, New Zealand (pre-prod / storage)
Los Angeles, United States (voice recording)

2007
Te Aroha, New Zealand (voice recording / Set building / storage)
Auckland, New Zealand (Set Design/Storyboards/armature construction)

2008-2009
Auckland, New Zealand (Set Building / Animating)

2009
Auckland, New Zealand (Animating / VFX / Colour Grade)
Melbourne, Australia (Sound Design / mix)
Bali, Indonesia (Title Design)

and of course...
The North Pole (where the movie is set)

Talk about a slow process! Of course this would have all happened much quicker if I had money to pay my rent etc.

Santa is Real!

Merry xmas for some, not all.



More clips to follow next year!

Video technical specs:
This trailer was put together using the temp grade which has been compressed twice. Shot at 4k resolution with Nikon DSLR stills, exported at full HD.

98% complete

VERY almost finished.. check back before xmas for a trailer!

Finding Time

Big Thanks to Trade Aid for sponsoring us some fair trade coffee to get it done!

Post-Production on hold.

I'm currently preparing for the final week shooting Kaikahu Road (as Director of Photography). Filming 4th-8th July on RED HD.

To keep up to date on this production you can become a fan of Kaikahu Road on facebook


North Pole Deception After Effects Master Timeline:

Lots of layers required to grade one scene in the elve's house:

The Factory!

Not quite final comp. Machine behind the front one is actually supposed to be a different one.

Looking for a Genie

I decided I need a little bit of help finishing everything I'm working on at the moment, so I did a quick search on Trade Me for a Genie.. a real life, three wish granting Genie.

I had a few promising leads, so I asked questions on several auctions (scroll to bottom for questions)...

Genie Depressed Bottle
Ancient Lamp "I don't deal in fake rubbish"
Yasmin Genie #3
Genie Bottle
Lavender Oil in Genie Bottle
Blue Genie Bottle
Retro Genie Bottle
Alladin Large Genie Soft Toy Plushie

Back to finishing NPD online tomorrow..

Malcolm Xmas.

Original footage

Television grade (looks brighter on CRT):

Hand-held motion tracking

I filmed a door with a cross on it today with shaky hand held camera.



Now we need to motion track these videos frame by frame in after effects to make it steady, then copy the motion onto some of my steady elf interview shots, and kapow! The elf interviews have the illusion of looking hand held, and therefore, seem more "realistic".