| Strange Frame: Love & Sax | |
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Film poster |
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| Directed by | GB Hajim |
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| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Strange Frame is a film by musician Shelley Doty and filmmaker GB Hajim. It began in 1999 when they decided to collaborate on a project using their individual talents and their passion for science fiction especially that of John Varley and Shinichiro Watanabe.
They agreed that some of the protagonists had to be gay, bisexual, transsexual and omnisexual. All had to be of color because they believed that not too long from now everyone would be of color. They also were clear that the issue of race and sex would be non-issues in the setting of the 29th century.
They began with creating a backstory and television series done in GB's unique cutout animation style.
With the backstory and pilot episode in hand, they impressed some Hollywood insiders on their pavement pounding through tinseltown, but no pre-sales agreement was secured.
In 2001, MTV made an offer, but wanted to own all copyrights to the project including ancillary rights.
The following year Shelley and GB sketched out the arc for a tetralogy and wrote the screenplay that would become the first installment: strange frame: Love & Sax.
In the Fall of 2004, preproduction began. GB had an offer to produce the film overseas, but was committed to enriching life in his local community. GB lives in East Hawaii, which is one of the most economically depressed parts of the state. He went to the local high schools and colleges to find talented youth to train for this project. From a pool of applicants, he trained 14 artists ages ranging from 13 to 23 in computer art and animation. They recorded the initial dialog at Palm Records on the island just a month before the sound engineer and owner, Charles Brotman, won a Grammy Award.
Part of the decision to go with cutout style instead of CG was one of creating a sustainable industry in East Hawaii. CG is being done all over the globe. Most productions do their animation work in Asia. By working in a medium that is fringe and hard to reproduce, "strange frame" has led to a production pipeline that cannot be found anywhere else.
In 2005, pre-production was completed and the animation of the feature began. Each semester, high school students join the team through the Hui'ana Mentorship Program sponsored by the Hawaii State Department of Education. Over 40 interns have trained at the small shack that holds the production facility. GB continues to reach out to the different schools around the state to find talent that would otherwise leave for the mainland or, worse, not find a home for their abilities.
In 2008, Academy Award winning mixer Gary RIzzo of Skywalker Sound joined the team vowing to create the best surround sound experience ever.