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Your new movie Silicon
Docks - in a few words, what is it about?
A
group of American tech moguls drunk on a rainy afternoon in Dublin.
What
inspired you to pickdilicon exactly this set of tech-moguls as protagonists for
your movie? When writing the screenplay, I tried to select quintessential tech rockstars.
There were certainly ones I had to leave out, like Travis Kalanick who was
behind Uber, and also people I kind of insisted on dragging in, such as
Elon Musk - who is more focused on building physical stuff, not virtual
stuff but whom I felt just had to be included. Of course, this whole
recent Twitter company takeover drama probably vindicates my decision to
include him, and he was the co-founder of PayPal once upon a time! I was
basically looking for the right chemistry, contrast and irony in the group
as a whole. In cases where some important tech giant wouldn't ultimately
fit inside our toybox, I would endeavour to shore this up by at least
having the featured ones refer to them in conversation - hopefully create
the sense of a greater pool of people beyond the immediate group. Other sources of inspiration when writing
Silicon Docks?
Well, in Beckett there's a lot of standing around and waiting for shit to
happen. It occurred to me the internet can be very like that too - it
often feels like you are staring into a void. Then Covid came along and
the streets were literally abandoned. So I think all of that played into
it. I felt these particular characters must be at a loose end, seem
detached or be unplugged in a very modern sense. Drinking in the park! I
felt that was appropriate - like the internet had kind of spat them out
and their socks were a bit wet.
Do talk about Silicon
Docks's brand of humour? I hope it’s dry and ultimately a proper satire, rather than merely a
collection of gags. It's not meant to create belly laughs, but hopefully
makes people grin or even reflect a little. Why did you decide to
try your hand on animation with Silicon
Docks, and what are the specific challenges making an animated
movie from a director's point of view - also in comparison to live action
of course?
Well, I did sort of dip my toe into animation about ten years ago when I made a
crazy little animated horror movie called The Green Marker Scare. It was
quite rudimentary, just green lines. However, during that process I became
acquainted with this terrific 2D animation software called Moho. Recently,
I was trying to figure out how to make Silicon
Docks and had noticed that
Kasia was very good with faces - she’s primarily an oil painter, and the
faces and demeanours she paints are incredible. She really captures the
spirit of a person, you know? It occurred to me that I could take my basic
operational knowledge of Moho on the one hand and Kasia’s talent for
painting characters on the other, and just sort of fuse them together. I
felt animation would be ideal for Silicon
Docks because what we are
really dealing with here is the way the world has become so virtual, so
animated - how humans have actually become slightly less real because of
the internet. Above all, I wanted to subject these characters to the kind
of dorkish distortions that are commonplace online nowadays. So animation
felt like the perfect medium.
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What can you tell us about Silicon
Docks' animator Kasia Wisniewska, and what was your collaboration
like? Kasia and I were already married, already parents for many years. Then a global
pandemic struck and like many other people around the world, we got stuck
indoors. So we decided to try and work together on this one special
occasion, and it just went incredibly well! She is a consummate artist, so
it was pure joy for me. The $64-question of course, where can Silicon
Docks be seen? Silicon
Docks was custom-made for YouTube, and actually some of the characters in
the movie gradually realise they are inside a YouTube video! It’s in 4K
and people can watch it anywhere that YouTube is available - https://youtu.be/cG8gwP3kQfE Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of Silicon
Docks? We're delighted the movie is being so highly praised by critics. There was one
frustrated animator blogger who said he didn’t find one thing funny in
the entire film, which seemed very sad to me - but literally everyone else
seems to have loved the movie. I know the real life events it refers to
will be unknown to some viewers, but feel that’s kind of okay - this is
early internet history we are dealing with after all, and over time that
history will become more distilled. I think the movie plays and people get
the basic story. We’re receiving great messages from viewers every day
and a lot of them are going totally wild. Everybody loves when Jeff and
Elon take a leak in the street...
Any future projects you'd like to share?
I
always have stuff percolating, but find it impossible to discuss! What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I got into filmmaking at a very early age, making dozens of short films as a
teenager and then went to film school in London in the early nineties. I
love watching movies and making movies. To me, it’s a language and there
are some things one can only express in this particular language. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Silicon
Docks? Silicon
Docks is my tenth feature, and some of the movies I made in the past were
released theatrically or upon disc or projected on crumpled bedsheets
hanging on walls - but nowadays thankfully people can watch all of them at
http://www.grahamjones.ie/
How would you describe yourself as a director?
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I would actually describe myself as a writer-director, which is different
than just being a director. I conceive of the idea, do any research
necessary and then write away - all before doing a single practical thing
to make the movie happen. Actually that’s not true, because all of that
early activity is part of directing, to my way of thinking. You’re
exploring, making choices, sculpting basically. I wouldn’t rule out the
idea of directing a movie I haven’t written, but have no tradition of
doing so, and there are certainly many writer-directors who are slightly
apprehensive in that regard. As writer-director, you are truly the author
of the movie and it means a lot of the questions people have for you can
be answered by them just referring to the screenplay. It frees you to
focus on directing itself - i.e. giving instruction to creative people
like designers and musicians and actors. If the script is already solid,
you can build on that, you can learn to fly. As a director, I try to
become like an audience member - it's the best way to see and feel. That
wasn't easy back in the nineties but it happens more naturally now. It’s
like I live in both moments, if that makes sense.
Filmmakers who inspire you, and your
favourite movies? When
Robert Altman was good, he was very good - I’m thinking of The Long
Goodbye or The Player. Some of Elaine May’s movies, like The Heartbreak
Kid, are priceless. Mike Nichols was often brilliant as well. I really
like George Roy Hill. Nora Ephron was definitely a very good screenwriter,
and was becoming a very good director when she died. I appreciate some of
Dario Argento and Roman Polanski's work. But David Lynch is who I always
return to, particularly Mullholland Drive. I feel closer to him than
anyone else, in terms of filmmaking. ... and of course, films you really
deplore?
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The Cabin in the Woods or
Little Miss Sunshine are examples of the kinds of
movie I can’t really get into - but they are just examples and I know
there are many such movies made every single year. I don’t mean any
disrespect - I know people who love those movies, but I just can’t feel
anything watching them. To me, it’s flavour-based filmmaking. The
audience is familiar with a certain flavour and the film industry serves
it up. What do you feel like tonight? Tex-Mex? Look, here’s a place!
It’s a long, long way from what makes a movie interesting to me. I just
don’t feel there's any resonance whatsoever - it’s mostly style or
flavour or comfort! I’m not a snob, I love great popcorn movies or
romantic comedies that actually work, but there are such a limited number!
Actually, that's a good way to explain it - romantic comedies. They almost
always disappoint us, yet our desire for them only grows. A lack of
resonance... Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
https://twitter.com/nuascannan Thanks for the
interview!
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