Gaze into the future: Alexander Bierling and Owen Buckley

The HKU (the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten or Utrecht School of the Arts) was where Alexander Bierling (1996) and Owen Buckley (1998) met. “We hit it off immediately, we had the same interests and sense of humour. We like to stir things up and make people laugh,” says Alexander. When they met they had both already made videos. Owen: “I started making videos for YouTube when I was 12 or 13, just messing around with friends”. Things started around the same time for Alexander too. “I just didn’t publish mine to YouTube. I started really enjoying editing when I turned 18. At first, I made anime music videos, but this ultimately evolved into wanting to create something authentic.”

Those authentic things have become 3D animations. “My first ‘wow!’ moment, was when I started 3D animating and was tasked with creating a rocket during the first lesson. I discovered the programme allowed you to create flame effects. I loved them so much, I put so may in that the computer crashed when I pressed ‘play’. That made me want to find out how I could achieve the effect. In turn, this created an enormous drive to work things out and think of stories that could be told using these techniques. Ultimately, I discovered the stories are of paramount importance to me.”

For the time being, the duo from Utrecht can’t live on producing their own films. Alexander works as a freelancer and Owen works for a design studio. They need to be patient if they one day wish to live off making films, explains Alexander. “A problem I experience with the Nederlands Filmfonds [the Netherlands Film Fund] is that you sometimes after submitting your pitch you have to wait three or four months for a response. Everything is uncertain during that time, while all you want to do is work on your idea. And then there is the money you need to live on. When it comes to animations, you have to complete pre-production before submitting your pitch. You then apply for a pre-production budget to re-do the pre-production.” This doesn’t mean it isn’t a valuable process. Alexander: “In my opinion, the Nederlands Filmfonds provides substantively strong feedback. It really motivates me when they indicate an idea is good in principle”. As far as Owen is concerned, crowdfunding is an alternative that cannot replace the Filmfonds. “It’s a different kind of funding without the Filmfonds’ critical role. There have also been a number of scandals surrounding Kickstarter with funded projects never being made. Though these were primarily (tabletop) games, it has however led to distrust among the general public. I always try to see what might be a commercial success, Alexander has a less of an eye for that sort of thing.” Alexander: “Sometimes, what the Filmfonds wants entails an odd balance. On the one hand they really want to hear makers’ voices, yet, on the other, they want the film to focus on a particular target audience so they have assurances people will actually want to watch the end product. That’s a fine line to walk.”

Alexander and Owen cooperate, but each has his own discipline, explains Owen. “Alexander gained technical experience in the past, but has basically always been the scriptwriter. He also took a number of writing courses. In the meantime, I was always working technically. I love to depict things. I work more conceptually, do more manual work.” “This makes our collaboration really pleasant,” adds Alexander. “Sometimes I write something that, in my mind, is super cool. Then Owen asks: “How on earth is someone ever going to draw this? How are we going to turn this into 3D? Ultimately, we arrive at a feasible concept together”. For instance, smart working meant they managed to make a film with dialogue in a short period of time. “Animations often don’t contain real dialogue as facial expressions are time-consuming. We therefore opted to use a skeleton with a flapping jaw and a knight behind a mask. Filmmakers commonly use voice-over as a solution, but to me, it is more interesting if the character actually speaks and can handle Shakespearean dialogue,” states Alexander.

Their inspirations are hard to capture in a single sentence. From early YouTube animations to Shakespeare and from manga and the documentary Wognum to Gretta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. The duo’s work isn’t limited to a single genre. For example, they are currently working on a graphic novel with Owen as its art director and illustrator, and Alexander as its author. Owen: “We have noticed that there isn’t exactly a great deal of interest in storyboards among producers, but every year there are some ten comics that are turned into Netflix shows. We think it might be easier to get a foot in the door this way than by starting with a film”. Alexander: “I am also still working on a book and we have submitted some pitches to the Filmfonds that we haven’t had a response to yet. Those are just scripts. Hopefully, one of these will be accepted so we can enjoy making a film again. It’s so much fun. Owen is one of my best friends who can teach me a lot about the technical aspects”.

Their film Questbound: Forbidden Ventures of the Undead Soul wasn’t so much an individual idea as the result of various concepts and ideas. The current film was the culmination of several rounds of feedback. “Next time, we have to write in a more targeted manner,” explains Alexander. “You shouldn’t try and stuff all your ideas into a single film.” This has resulted in an animation in which the two leads prove to unexpectedly have warm feelings for one another. “We think male insecurity is very funny,” says Owen. Alexander adds. “Our target audience was us, which made it seem very easy. We both think the other is very funny. However, our lecturers didn’t share that feeling. Ultimately, you have to justify yourself to them. The end result is a true mix of various scripts. In total, I typed some 40,000 words for all the versions”. In the end, the film achieved the intended results. Amid more serious films, Questbound made festival audiences laugh out loud. The film also meant they met a producer, which is good news as far as Alexander is concerned. “Personally I really appreciate having someone around who has all the professional contacts, who you can share ideas with. It’s a kind of quality check. Our producer has experience working with the Filmfonds and had their productions selected.”

Animation’s independence and working methods are what make it so appealing to the duo. No huge crews to transfer ideas to, no shortage of footage and much less responsibility for a lot fewer people. However, no genre is stigma-free. How do they view that? Alexander: “Many people view animation as a childish medium. I think that a shift is coming with adults becoming more interested in adult animation films. Questbound managed to entertain adult audiences. A recent show, Arcane, from Fortiche Studios, also touched an adult audience with a 3D animation series”. Does this acceptance also mean animation has a non-fiction role to play? Owen: “Actually, I’ve never given it any thought. Completely animating a non-fiction film would be cool in my eyes”. Alexander: “I recently watched a HKU graduation film in which some of the intense and emotional scenes were depicted using animations, which was a great way of telling the story”.

Thinking about how the general public could play a bigger role in the distribution of subsidies, Alexander comes up with a points-based system. “I get the impression societal relevance plays a major role in the allocation of subsidies. Why not give people points in various categories so that, if your film isn’t socially relevant, but does score well in other categories you could still get a subsidy?” Owen: “Or perhaps there should be a website where the general public can vote”. Whatever the case may be, the most important thing is to stay true to themselves. Owen: “When I look back at my career in 20-years’ time, I hope we have retained our authenticity. That we can still be proud of everything we have made”.