A Chat with Carlos Lascano
CL: Well, looks like we start with the most difficult question… to describe oneself…
Let´s see… I´m an illustrator, director and producer… and for the last years I´ve focused my activity mainly in animation.
I´ve done comics, worked in advertisement as director and producer, written and directed feature films, traveled a lot, and tried to enrich both personally and artistically from those trips. An artist´s work is not only a result of his imagination, but also of his experiences.
CL: I believe that to be conscious of that is the most important thing. However, I have a list full of another cliches:
- Confidence in what you do. Believe in it, even if it is not good enough yet.
- Perseverance. This path is not easy and everything takes much more time than expected.
- Create your own style. Choose an aesthetic style, research about it, develop it and try to create your personal hallmark. Boost that feature of yours that is different from the rest. There is a tendency to standardize, to copy somebody else´s work. I think it is great to have influences, but the sooner you create your own style and grow apart of the mass, the better.
- Don´t just sit and wait to be called. DO things, with whatever means and resources are at your reach. Doing things is the best way to learn and keep yourself on the right track.
CL: When it comes to art, every kind of artistic expression needs certain elements from the others. I believe all the things I do complement and support each other, and I always try to use bits of each one in every project I face. Right now I´m focused on animation, which involves drawing, painting and story telling. Of course a project also needs directing and, in order to be carried out, needs producing as well.
Now please, remove that gun from my head… or I´ll sue you.
CL: Yes, I think it became quite natural. I need to be in constant contact with my team to have everything flowing easily. When you know the people you work with, you know you are on the same track, and there is a common background of shared experiences. You get to know their skills and their flaws, as they get to know yours, so the mutual code that comes out of that is perfect for facing projects together.
However, a few months ago I opened a global Creative Call , trying to get in contact with creative people from around the world. The feedback was amazing, much greater than the one I expected, and I did in fact, get in touch with people from different countries with whom I am facing the possibility of working together in my coming projects.
I have my stable staff, the people I work with daily, and a secondary group that changes constantly, and that I gather in accordance to the current project´s demands.
Regarding the amount of workers per project… so far I´ve done fine working with another 3 or 4 persons.
YB: From what I’ve seen of it, I think your work is tremendous and inspiring. I’ve often been called a brilliant writer (by myself) — what would it take for me to work with you? Or do you prefer to create everything yourself, including the script?
CL: My motivation to do what I do has always been the possibility of narrating a story. My first natural form of expression was drawing, then creating my own comics and later came filmmaking.
CL: I usually work on several projects at the same time, at least during the first stages of their development. Once a project meets all the requirements to be actually made, it becomes necessary to devote to it exclusively.
YB: You have a very multi-faceted approach to filmmaking — who would you say are your influences? I’m going to go ahead and name Michel Gondry and Tim Burton, even if they aren’t.
Many..!
In filmmaking:
Aesthetically, I admire Michel Gondry for his powerful imagination, and Tim Burton for the moods and aesthetic lines he has recycled and developed.
In illustration/painting:
The artists that had left their mark on me the most have always been Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Edgar Degas, William Bouguereau… and in comic and illustration: Dave Mckean, Bill Sienkiewickz, Miguelanxo Prado, Norman Rockwell…
YB: What do you think is the future of the film genre? What’s the next step? How will it evolve?
I believe that animation, for example, is dividing into two separate ways: one that intends to become more and more realistic (which I´m not personally interested in nor attracted to), and another one that tries to take it away from the type-cast that states that animation is only a children-targeted thing, that persists in feature films up to the present days. I think that Pixar managed to include in the first ten minutes of its film “Up” an adult narrative, with certain kinds of emotion that until these days were still not commercially “allowed” on the genre. I hope it was only the starting point, and soon we get to see more animated feature films targeted for adults.
Technology is advancing at an incredible pace, and new horizons appear each day if you have the will to keep up with it.
From a narrative point of view, the audience´s expectations had changed a lot since the appearing of the internet, since now the information is provided in a non-linear way, and updated constantly. The audience will become more and more reluctant to be just a passive spectator, and I believe that the classic ways of filmmaking will have to change in order to adapt to a new kind of consumer.
Well, looks like we start with the most difficult question… to describe oneself…
Let´s see… I´m an illustrator, director and producer… and for the last years I´ve focused my activity mainly in animation.
I´m fond of drawing and experimenting with mixed pictorial techniques. I´m always trying to combine the manual resources with the possibilities that current technology offers, to mix different animation styles, to develop new aesthetics, to create moods and small realities, and once I´m within them, to create characters and to tell stories. What I like the most is to narrate using the power that metaphors have in creating dramatic irony.
I´ve done comics, worked in advertisement as director and producer, written and directed feature films, traveled a lot, and tried to enrich both personally and artistically from those trips. An artist´s work is not only a result of his imagination, but also of his experiences.
What’s your advice for new filmmakers? No cliches allowed — they know they have to work hard.
I believe that to be conscious of that is the most important thing. However, I have a list full of another cliches:
- Confidence in what you do. Believe in it, even if it is not good enough yet.
- Perseverance. This path is not easy and everything takes much more time than expected.
- Create your own style. Choose an aesthetic style, research about it, develop it and try to create your personal hallmark. Boost that feature of yours that is different from the rest. There is a tendency to standardize, to copy somebody else´s work. I think it is great to have influences, but the sooner you create your own style and grow apart of the mass, the better.
- Surround yourself with creative people from whom to get feedback.
- Don´t just sit and wait to be called. DO things, with whatever means and resources are at your reach. Doing things is the best way to learn and keep yourself on the right track.
You do just about everything — direct, produce, animate, paint… you can even be your own lawyer. If someone had a gun to your head and made you pick one, what would it be?
When it comes to art, every kind of artistic expression needs certain elements from the others. I believe all the things I do complement and support each other, and I always try to use bits of each one in every project I face. Right now I´m focused on animation, which involves drawing, painting and story telling. Of course a project also needs directing and, in order to be carried out, needs producing as well.
About being also a lawyer… well, I followed a family tradition and completed Law School but I never practiced. However, having a college background has provided me with a broader vision of the world, which is always useful when creating characters and situations… and of course, being a lawyer is good to watch your own back.
Now please, remove that gun from my head… or I´ll sue you!!
Do you tend to work with the same crew? How many people does it take to make one of your short films?
Yes, I think it became quite natural. I need to be in constant contact with my team to have everything flowing easily. When you know the people you work with, you know you are on the same track, and there is a common background of shared experiences. You get to know their skills and their flaws, as they get to know yours, so the mutual code that comes out of that is perfect for facing projects together.
However, a few months ago I opened a global Creative Call , trying to get in contact with creative people from around the world. The feedback was amazing, much greater than the one I expected, and I did in fact, get in touch with people from different countries with whom I am facing the possibility of working together in my coming projects.
Distance is sometimes an issue, since a tiny thing that can be solved in a minute when face to face, can become a snowball of misunderstanding that can take a few days to solve. However, getting points of view from people with a culture completely different from one´s is very enriching and can contribute to the project with precious details.
I have my stable staff, the people I work with daily, and a secondary group that changes constantly, and that I gather in accordance to the current project´s demands.
Regarding the amount of workers per project… so far I´ve done fine working with another 3 or 4 persons.
From what I’ve seen of it, I think your work is tremendous and inspiring. I’ve often been called a brilliant writer (by myself) — what would it take for me to work with you? Or do you prefer to create everything yourself, including the script?
My motivation to do what I do has always been the possibility of narrating a story. My first natural form of expression was drawing, then creating my own comics and later came filmmaking. Telling a story in an audiovisual way forced me to specialize in different technical matters such as photography and editing, which are both complements to filmmaking. And by making an incursion into animation, it became more and more necessary to develop very specific technical skills. However, after years of “contaminating” myself with technical knowledges, I realize that that initial motivation is still alive… I want to narrate stories, transmit sensations and emotions. This has led me to write the majority of the things I´ve done, but I think that sometimes the best projects are the result of being open to somebody else´s point of view. I like good stories, but I need to make them mine in order to narrate them: make the (sometimes delicate) line between writer and director disappear, so I can express the story from my personal point of view.
That sounds great! By the way, what do you think of my story, the one I´ve sent you, about the guy wearing sunglasses?
The guy wearing sunglasses? Oh, you mean MY story??
Err…well, I don´t… ehhh….
Shut up…or I´ll sue you!!
What are you working on currently?
I usually work on several projects at the same time, at least during the first stages of their development. Once a project meets all the requirements to be actually made, it becomes necessary to devote to it exclusively.
After a year very loaded with commercial projects, I have finally decided to spend the coming months focusing almost exclusively on two personal projects: one has to do with my vocation as an illustrator, with a story I wrote several years ago and that I had recently given a new turn. It is a bit of a dark, gothic story where the character´s difficulty to distinguish reality from fantasy takes him down a road that becomes more and more complex with every choice he makes.
The second one is an animation short film, in which I´ll use a much more developed technique than the one I used in my previous works. Once more, I turn to the line between fantasy and reality that I am so fond of. It is a very short story seen through the eyes of a little girl, and shows how the uncorrupted vision of children can help enjoy a reality we grown-ups can´t. This is a merely artistic and personal project in which I intend to invite the audience to become part of the production, so the relationship between audience and creator can be strengthen and simplified.
You have a very multi-faceted approach to filmmaking — who would you say are your influences? I’m going to go ahead and name Michel Gondry and Tim Burton, even if they aren’t.
Many..!
In filmmaking:
Federico Fellini, Ettore Scola, Giuseppe Tornatore, Dino Risi, Martin Scorsesse, Christoffer Boe, Ridley Scott, Alan Parker, Jaco Van Dormael, and many more that I can´t recall now, or that I maybe don´t have as influence for their whole gallery of films, but I do for a particular one.
Aesthetically, I admire Michel Gondry for his powerful imagination, and Tim Burton for the moods and aesthetic lines he has recycled and developed.
In illustration/painting:
I admire Art Nouveau, impressionism, and certain baroque works of art.
The artists that had left their mark on me the most have always been Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Edgar Degas, William Bouguereau… and in comic and illustration: Dave Mckean, Bill Sienkiewickz, Miguelanxo Prado, Norman Rockwell…
What do you think is the future of the film genre? What’s the next step? How will it evolve?
I believe that animation, for example, is dividing into two separate ways: one that intends to become more and more realistic (which I´m not personally interested in nor attracted to), and another one that tries to take it away from the type-cast that states that animation is only a children-targeted thing, that persists in feature films up to the present days. I think that Pixar managed to include in the first ten minutes of its film “Up” an adult narrative, with certain kinds of emotion that until these days were still not commercially “allowed” on the genre. I hope it was only the starting point, and soon we get to see more animated feature films targeted for adults.
Technology is advancing at an incredible pace, and new horizons appear each day if you have the will to keep up with it.
From a narrative point of view, the audience´s expectations had changed a lot since the appearing of the internet, since now the information is provided in a non-linear way, and updated constantly. The audience will become more and more reluctant to be just a passive spectator, and I believe that the classic ways of filmmaking will have to change in order to adapt to a new kind of consumer.
