Denmark (film)

Denmark

Denmark theatrical poster
Directed by Daniel Fickle
Produced by Courtney Eck
Mark Smith
Adam Shearer
Screenplay by Daniel Fickle
Mark Smith
Courtney Eck
Starring Pily
Music by Gideon Freudmann
Portland Cello Project
Cinematography Daniel Fickle
Mark Smith
Veronica Wood
Edited by Jesse Salsberry
Production
company
Two Penguins Productions
Release dates
  • May 15, 2010
Running time
 6 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Theatrical Trailer
Interview with director Daniel Fickle

Denmark is a 2010 short film co-written and directed by Daniel Fickle and scored by Gideon Freudmann of The Portland Cello Project.[1] Utilizing puppetry and hand-built sets the film tells a story about Pily, a crustacean of mixed origin, who builds a rocket ship to escape his underwater home when it becomes threatened by pollution.

Denmark premiered at the Aladdin Theatre on May 15, 2010 in Portland, Oregon. The film achieved critical success thereafter largely through established film festivals and numerous features on websites.[2]

Plot

Pily lives a pastoral life at the bottom of Oregon's Willamette River. He tends to his underwater crops in solitude and proves to be resourceful. His home is built from flotsam and sunken debris.

Seemingly content in the world he has built for himself, Pily is actually addled by a premonition, a pre-knowledge that an invasive element is going to displace him. To prepare for the worst Pily devises an escape plan. He builds a rocketship.

When Pily's anxiety gives way to the reality of an oil spill his rocketship is ready except for one part that's essential to achieve liftoff. Pily goes ashore where he finds the missing part and returns to initiate his escape. Once airborne Pily is confronted with another challenge and reaches for a solution that doesn't exist.

Back story

"Denmark" is the title of the first track from The Portland Cello Project's album, A Thousand Words. The song was written by cellist Gideon Freudmann to honor the loss of a loved one who lost a battle to cancer; the song is a love letter and an inspired response against the indiscriminate nature of fate.

When director Daniel Fickle was approached by The Portland Cello Project to create a music video for Denmark he chose to treat the song as a score for a screenplay that was yet to be written. As a result the film evolved from a music video into a narrative short.[3]

The film uses a stark form of humor to resonate the interplay of alienation, turmoil, and other emotions that are associated with reconciling loss. Recognizing that laughter has long been a way to cope with life's irreducible realities, the creators of Denmark, the film, use humor as a narrative device to mollify anguish and convey empathy.

Production design

The physical reality of Denmark is based on illustrations by Jordan Hull. Set construction and production design was overseen by Mark Smith, Josh Brokenbourgh, Rory Brown, Daniel Fickle and Andrew Brown. The design team was initially tasked with building an underwater set; however, Pily's body being less dense than water and subject to the force of buoyancy they decided to create an underwater environment by shooting the film through a 50 gallon aquarium. The set included a stage where upstage, center stage and downstage could be removed to accommodate the needs of the puppeteers. Pily's home was wood framed, sculpted by mesh wire and covered with a mixture of mud, sand and straw. The home was segmented like the stage to meet the requirements of the director's shot list and Pily's movements. The interior of Pily's home consists of items collected from various thrift stores in Portland, Oregon. Pily's crops were made from wax and his rocketship was crafted out of foam board.

Pily

Jason Miranda and Bill Holznagel built the puppet based on Fickle's design and were the hands behind Pily's performance in Denmark. The puppeteers/entertainers used traditional means to manipulate Pily's movements; Marionette bars, strings and wires. They also employed glove puppet techniques to express emotions from Pily's eyes.

Official selections

Awards

References

  1. ↑
    • 2011 Royal Reel Winners. , Canada International Film festival 2011. Retrieved on June 18, 2011.
  2. ↑
    • Blake Whitman. , Vimeo Staff Picks, April, 2010. Retrieved on June 15, 2011. Blake Whitman , Vimeo HD Channel, April, 2011. Retrieved on June 15, 2011. Matt Lambert. , Motionographer August 25, 2010. Retrieved on June 15, 2011.
  3. ↑
    • , IMDb, 2010. Retrieved on June 18, 2011.
  4. ↑
    • , SXSW, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Cinequest Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Palm Beach Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011., Ashland Independent Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Byron Bay Film Festival, Australia, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Sene, 2010. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Zero Film Festival NYC/LA/Miami, 2010. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Ferndale Film Festival, 2010. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Ann Arbor Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011. , Olympia Film Festival, 2010. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , International Film Festival of Canada, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Atlanta Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Bahamas International Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2011. , Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2011. , Vancouver DSLR Film Festival, 2010. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , California Independent Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , SIFF/Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Santa Catalina Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on 2011. , Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Victoria Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. . Desert Dust Cinema Short Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on December 5, 2011. , Athens Video/Art Festival, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011. , Alpha-ville Film Festival, London, 2010. Retrieved on June 20, 2011. , Park City Music Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on June 24, 2011. , Albuquerque Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on August 20, 2011. , Fantadia International Multivision Festival, 2011. Retrieved on September 2, 2011 , California International Shorts Festival, Fall 2011. Retrieved on September 3, 2011. "", "New Orleans Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011. "", Crested Butte Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Milwaukee Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Sapporo International Short Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Imagine Science Film festival, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Malibu Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Radar Hamburg International Independent Film Festival. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival. Retrieved September 27, 2011. "", Henson International Festival BAM Puppets on Film. Retrieved September 27, 2011."", Imagine Science Film Festival Dublin, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  5. ↑
    • , International Film Festival of Canada, 2011. Retrieved on August 21, 2011, Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood, 2010. Retrieved on August 21, 2011, , Park City Film Music Festival, 2011. Retrieved on August 21, 2011. , Radar Hamburg International Independent Film Festival, 2011. Retrieved on December 5, 2011.

External links