Staff Pick Premiere: "Charlotte" by Zach Dorn |
In this episode of the Staff Pick Premiere, forgotten folk singer Lena Black discovers her fifty-year-old track "Charlotte" was remixed into a cult music video. In the aftermath of the song's release, director Zach Dorn explores how the impact of the original tune has on Lena and her daughter Diane and her eleven-year-old grandson, Eli.
In her letter to the pop star, Lena writes: "There is something far worse than forgetting in the first place, which is being not fully recognized." The theme of understanding is woven throughout the movie, and the recent success of the track reveals past hurts. Weaving a collage of isolated conversations like Lena's letters, Diane's phone call, and Eli's tape Dorn creates a moving portrait of a family who is beginning to get to know each other via the music.
In response to questions about his original concept for the film, Dorn said: "I loved the conceit of exploring these connections and not seeing all family unit interact. In presenting the narrative through distinct monologues, I wanted to make the viewers to feel as if the characters had created each their own version of the same song. The story is split by geographical, geographic, and emotional spaces, but hopefully, something in the midst of their issues can be combined into the same music."
The tune may be familiar to viewers who have felt their families drift apart , however "Charlotte" is unlike any other drama about families that has been shown on . Utilizing hand-crafted puppets as well with stop-motion animation Dorn draws us into their lives, memories, and thoughts, to create an incredibly emotionally charged experience.
In the lead up to the announcement, we spoke with Dorn to get to know more about his influences as well as his process and his design. Read the interview for more information about "Charlotte. "
The film's source of the film's inspiration is:
"In 2019 I created an animated TV show that focused on the largest sponge in the world and the TV program Gilmore Girls. One day, while buying tiny craft materials in the faux floral aisle of a Michael's craft retailer, Carly's version of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" was heard on the loudspeaker. The cover is incredibly upbeat and a wonderful bubbly pop tune, which is a bit odd since Joni Mitchell's original song is difficult and empathetic. The feeling was amazing since I loved this Carly Rae cover so much. Personally, I felt the pop song version while it may be more fake it still was full of the same emotion as Joni Mitchell's first. I was a bit embarrassed and conflicted by the idea. However, I kept thinking of Carly Rae Jepsen and Joni Mitchell's versions of "Both Sides Now" in conversation. Conversations grew into the storyline of "Charlotte ."
HTML1 When creating the script:
"I imagined the original rendition of "Charlotte" as radio-based plays that were a Joe Frank voyeuristic drama, set inside footage of miniature scenes without the use of puppets. I wrote the tale from the viewpoints of eight characters, who have were all in either a personal or professional connection which revolved around the subject that was "Charlotte." After spending time getting familiarize myself with these characters Diane and Eli were the ones I found most intriguing which is why I decided to keep them on the same page along with Lena and pop singer T.Y.M. Once I had discovered this, I spent long time trying to find a way to keep the stories interspersed."
The collaboration in music:
"When I was writing "Charlotte," I always had the image of musician Jenna Caravello in mind. While I was working on the song, I began sending Jenna's imaginary Rolling Stone interviews with Lena Black and a couple of false diary entries. Based on this information, Jenna wrote the folk tune.
Jenna's track was sent to Zhenya Golikova, whom I had met on the internet. In the year 2020, Zhenya took on my voice memo songs that I composed for a friend. They were silly and funny songs about cats and marshmallows as well as missing someone else in an entirely different place. The following year, Zhenya turned my music into amazing ballads. It's got that Magnetic Fields vibe, like that it was written at sea by horny marine monkeys.. I played Jenna's song to her and she returned with her own rendition of the track a few days more . "
In the talk-show segment:
"So many female folk musicians in the 60s and 70s were largely ignored. They were like Vashti Bunyan Karen Dalton, Linda Perrhacs, And The Roches were either ignored or assigned into categories such as "freak folk" and were not taken in the same way as their male counterparts. It's an interesting contradiction, when folk music was attributed to progressive ideals, yet they're entangled with an underlying misogyny.
The way I thought of these artists, I could imagine Lena at this point in her career. in order to stay relevant, she'd have to participate in the 70s Laurel Canyon lifestyle, party with the right kind of people as well as take the appropriate drugs , as well as live in a place created and governed by men. But I don't believe she'd have the courage to do the idea. Maybe because she had a mother, or maybe she understood It all. It's hard to decide. The reason was her sadness - which spanned the course of a lifetime, mourning for her career. What does she take to deal with the anger that has engulfed her? What will she do about her sorrow? Out for her daughter? When I was thinking about these questions, I decided to write Lena's interactions with Sam as the prologue for the relationship she has in her relationship with her daughter. "
On developing his unique visual style:
"In my early 20s I had a job as a puppeteer but I was never any good in the art. I'm missing an eighth portion that is in my brain. It has likely caused a lack of spatial awareness. Making or manipulating things with three dimensions was out of the question. In the end, I did come upon Toy Theater, a type of two-dimensional puppetry which was once very common in late 19th century England. I started building miniature dioramas using matt boards and acrylics, this like a pop-up book made of paper using live-projecting digital cameras within of them while I told tales about my pet or landlord who was dead.
I obsess over the details of everything, no matter the barcode of the bag of Doritos, or the form of the shape of the McDonald's Happy Meal box. Because of the absence of my brain, I'm unable to make straight lines, or draw things with enough realisticity - therefore I'm the type that is a mix-up of pieces breaking apart and being obsessed.
In order to create the puppets , I collaborated in collaboration with stop motion animators Oliver Levine and Lily Windsor to create a slightly gritty and textural look that matched the film's hand-painted universe. As I was directing the film in the midst that was under lockdown, we traveled across the country, Lily from Chicago, dropping small boxes of llamas as well with Oliver leaving head sculpts at my doorway in Burbank . "
On what's next:
"Currently I'm independently creating a short film about the CGI Livia Soprano of Season 3 in The Sopranos, as well as this genetic condition called BRCA2. I was born into an Italian American family filled with various eccentric traditions and characters However, in my early 20s, BRCA2 affected my family connections due to the early deaths of family members.
In the year 2020, I viewed The Sopranos for the first time. Every episode made me feel like that I was talking to my family once more. Now, I'm writing the film in which I recreate my home movies in stop-motion , and then examine Livia Soprano's posthumous performance with regard to my personal grieving experiences. . "
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