Some Analog Lines is short cinematic essay about the differences
between digital and analog influence over film and art, and how
audiences perceive these two modes of technique. It is also about
clay, sibling rivalry, fingerprints, a paper mask and a wooden shelf.
The film was developed organically, without a script, over a period
of about a month. I had an abstract idea in my head of what I wanted
this movie to be about-something about tactility in art, and
whether or not that mattered in cinema-and that was all I needed to
go out and started shooting things. I shot a lot of footage. At one
point, I filled up almost an entire tape with nothing but images of
letters I'd received over the years. At this point, the film wasn't
about animation, or about my brother and I. It was just a collection
of things that seemed like they would fit together, things that had
something to do with this mostly formless notion in my mind.
But at a certain point, everything suddenly crystallized of its own
accord; the ideas reached some point of culmination, and I jotted
down a narration and recorded it and started piecing all these pieces
together on top of it. From that point on, I knew what I needed and
what would work, and I was able to finish the film pretty quickly.
The special effects sequences were fairly last-minute, with the image
of the shelf turning into a strip of film being a particularly
spontaneous addition. I was just looking at the assembly edit and was
trying to fill a little bit of extra space over the narration, and
suddenly the idea just emerged, fully formed, and it worked
perfectly. Which goes for the whole film, too, now that I think about
it.
Author bio:
David Lowery is a writer and filmmaker from Texas. His short films have been showcased in film festivals around the world, and he is currently in post-production on a feature film entitled ST. NICK.
