Cult classics 2012: Interviews

A few popular and personal favourites from the year’s crop of interviews with people in the film, TV and gaming worlds who graced our city and our site.

 

Papo & Yo: The Sounds of South America

Erik Leijon’s gaming column The Pixel Fix covered a lot of ground this year, giving props to designers near and far. In his extensive coverage of local game Papo & Yo, this interview with sound designer and composer Brian D’Oliveira was a highlight.

“Everything you hear is all live, no virtual instruments,” says D’Oliveira, who runs his own music and audio post-production house called La Hacienda Creative and did all of the music and audio for the game. That meant scouring the world for the right sounds, from finding a 150-year-old Indian sarangi in Chicago, to having authentic clay shingles shipped from Texas, to even making homemade Brazilian hunting whistles. In all, he says, he bought over 30 instruments just for the game.

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Futurist Film Funding: J. Joly’s CineCoup

I’m still not sure if J. Joly is a visionary or a digital-age snake oil salesman, but he’s trying to shake up Canadian film financing, and that can’t be a bad thing.

Joly speaks in a motor-mouthed barrage of business and tech lingo. To quote but one example, he says his initial idea came when “I realized if I could create a robust back end, like a turnkey back end with the cloud and gamification, what we call trans-media bits, social voting — all these components to create really cool companion experiences, what are now being called second screen.” This is not your father’s film funding scheme, or even your older brother’s. The future is now.

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The First Winter

When Ryan McKenna’s dark, minimal comedic drama screened at FNC, we spoke to the Montreal/Winnipeg filmmaker about the film and the inspiration it took from his hometown. As a bonus, we threw in the Winnipeg Brutalist Manifesto by McKenna and editor/filmmaker Matthew Rankin.

“It’s interesting being in a city that’s totally empty. It’s a very abstract feeling walking around Winnipeg — there’s no one around. It’s a big city, but you’re all alone, and it’s really surreal. You don’t get that here in Montreal. There’s people on the street, having a good time.”

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