We Made A Short Xmas Film That Is Not Really About The Spirit Of Xmas

A very short Xmas film that is not really about the spirit of Xmas.

Suisock

Suisock is a short film about the meaninglessness of a tragic event.

We made this film in 2019, planning to release it soon after during Xmas. After 20-something screenings in a few film theatres in Amsterdam it was set out to do festivals and more screenings and what not. However, as with many intended events, Covid messed up a lot of that. So here it is now, I hope you like it.

The final draft of the script

Even though it’s just under 2 minutes, I wrote some 7 or 8 versions of it. It started out with a father and a daughter and never went into the gallery, but I felt something was lacking. It needed a more meaning, another layer to make it more than a moving version of the illustration.

As I walked the streets of Amsterdam I passed a public photo exhibition where people were walking past the most amazing or unsettling images without blinking an eye. Eating their sandwich, looking at their phones. This somehow reminded me of a moment in art school, where one student asked for feedback on their poster design but was only critiqued for the quality of the printer. These two moments became this idea of the disinterest in the story behind the works of art we see and consuming tragedy as mere flat visuals.

As I didn’t want to be the old guy who scoffs a younger generation for being glued to their phones I set the second part in an art gallery, where people can show equal superficial interest.

I hope I make sense.

The first steps are not always that glamorous

This are Klaas, the art director and William, the producer. We’re trying to figure out if this ludicrous idea will work at all.

We were lucky to find a fantastic location

I wanted the set to reference the original illustration, which is an attic. But attics are not good for filmmaking, especially not when you need the lights to be outside, you have 10 meters of dolly track and a close to zero budget. So we were very lucky that we got this golden tip pretty much as our first option.

That’s Bas, the DP, by the way.

This is why you don’t want to shoot in a real attic

Because we needed the whole length of the artist studio to tell the story in our movement, we had to place all the grip outside. Here’s Mike, who pushed this monstrosity back and forth the whole day. In the rain. In October. He’s the man.

Shooting the photo of the socks to be painted on a canvas to be filmed

The painting in the film is done by Sasja Wagenaar, she’s a painter (obviously) and also the owner of the location.

This is my girlfriend, her feet being photographed as the example for the painting.

The photograph vs the painting

This decision took days and 50+ emails

I know that sounds ridiculous, but it truly was one of the hardest decision. Do I go with this flashy red and green? Or do I tone it down and make it more serious? Maybe even use white socks? Or do we use funny socks? with pizza slices?

The off screen magic

Those dangling feet are from Marybelle, who sat there all day, dropping feet on cue.

The voice of the mother is Judith, as you can see she takes the voice acting so serious she holds a paint brush. I dig that.

And then we did the same thing again

We had to match the camera movement in the artist studio to the movement in the gallery. Nearly impossible without motion control, but Pablo, who did the VFX rescued us. Once again.

Credits look way cooler on a poster

It doesn’t really make sense to have a poster for a 2 minute film, but it’s a nice way to show the credits in some context.

Here’s to all the wonderful people who made this possible. Thank you.

And to the Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst for their financial contribution.

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