We’ve featured Jon Dunleavy’s work on 4mations before. He’s currently busy working on “Crash Bang Wallow”, a 4mations Digital Shorts production with an 80s twist. In this interview, he talks to us about aliens, action, and punctuation. Punctuation?!?!?
Tell us about “Crash Bang Wallow”. What inspired the idea?
I’ve had the idea of for a story featuring an ex-stuntman fro some time now. Originally it was simply a series of sketches depicting him trying to work different jobs and failing miserably because of his stuntman instincts. This is best shown in a scene that has made it to the short film where our star, Larry, drives a cab in a spectacular stuntman style, up on two wheels to dodge traffic, thinking he’s doing a good job but all the while his passenger is scared for their life.
This original snippet of a story has since been expanded into the mini-epic we are attempting to create, telling the life story of the once ‘greatest-stuntman-in-the-world’ who has fallen from grace with the dawn of computer effects and actors doing their own stunts and the demise of the 80’s muscle bound action stars.
Larry is tossed aside by the film industry and left to fend for himself and after a series of failed attempts for new jobs, Larry finds himself attempting suicide.
We have taken a few liberties with that premise as there are of course still stuntmen and whilst the 80’s action heroes are no longer the force they once were, they are still going relatively strong.
What’s your favourite 80’s action movie?
That’s a tough one. I would have to say Aliens. It had such great effects for the time, with a perfect combination of action, scares and such an atmospheric planet (no crappy pun intended). I was never a big Rambo or Terminator fan at the time.
It’s been great going back over the movies from our childhood. There are so many great stunts and iconic moments we have found that we are having to be very strict on what we use in the scenes we recreate for Larry to perform a stunt in.
Poetry narration and action movies - it’s an unusual mix! What brought this on?
I have used poetry before in a short film and really enjoyed it’s ability to help tell a vast story in a short space of time. As we are telling a life story we can pass over years in the timeline, and even in and out of past and present with the poetry leading the way.
The poem is the voice of Larry as he laments his rise and fall as he jumps from a skyscraper. It’s somewhere between a suicide note and his life flashing before his eyes, all told in comical rhyming couplets.
How does working on a short film compare to working on commercials?
The short answer is I get to sleep a lot more when working on commercials. I enjoy both and they are mutually beneficial. I learn so much from working with the team at Tandem Films and it has changed the way I work and the style of my films. For me it is important I work on shorts, to be able to experiment and try to tell a story whilst having a real deadline and client is the perfect combination.
There are some fast paced high octane sequences in your film. Are these a challenge?
I have worked in both CG and a more flat Flash style before, but with this film we have decided to try and combine the two for some action sequences. It has been refreshing to go back to CG, to have that freedom of movement. Trying to combine the CG with the flatter style of the characters is still an ongoing process but it’s good to have a challenge.
Here is some test footage from the production:
The one nagging challenge that keeps me awake at night is how the hell to punctuate the title, “Crash, Bang, Wallow” , “Crash! Bang! Wallow?” or no punctuation at all. The petty concerns of a short film maker.
You can follow the production on Jon Dunleavy’s blog, sponsored by the Norwich University College of the Arts.
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