Up

"Up" started out as a song. I wrote it after spending 3 months in LA, meeting a bunch of people in the entertainment industry and witnessing their insatiable desire to become more, obtain more, produce more, and be loved more. I also observed how this need for 'more' affected these characters' partners. They all claimed they were happy, but underneath this facade, I saw sadness, low-esteem, ego and fear of falling from their high-up position.

On my drive back from LA to Toronto, I envisioned a colorful animation that would accompany the song, and I decided to express this as a claymation, even though I had no prior experience with the medium and process. I invited two friends to help me out, though they too had never created a film, let alone a claymation. We were on a tight budget and shot the whole project out of my mother's basement over several months. We had a finite amount of clay to create the characters and set, and so as each scene was completed, the clay was continuously recycled to create the next group of characters and props. Because of this, nearly the entire film was shot in chronological order, and what's beautiful is that by the end of the shoot, the only objects that remained intact were the main female character and a heart - exemplifying the fact that all successes and possessions are fleeting, impermanent, and irrelevant in comparison to authenticity, love and the experiences that life has to offer.

I sought to portray a codependent relationship between a couple who loved each other, and have one partner become consumed by growth and greed. I wanted the boy (the consumer) to be kind but oblivious to his insecurities and overconsumption. A blind monster with a kind heart. Often we excuse people we love for their misbehavior because we empathize and feel we know their true essence. But even killers have mothers or friends or partners who love them and who see the best in them. And we take it upon ourselves to clean up after their mess, hoping that they will change, hoping that they will soon return to their true selves. But sometimes, letting them go, or perhaps taking drastic measures to rehabilitate them, is the only way to truly love and care for them and ourselves. This is the meaning behind the dirt in the film.

We glorify people (especially men) when they are busy, hardworking, cut-throat, dictator-like bosses. There have been many discussions as to whether someone’s art and creation should be separated from their personality or being. If a man rapes a woman, can we still consume his art? What if it’s as noteworthy as Picasso? This is why I wanted the imagery of the monster melting to be beautiful. Because often there is beauty that can still be found in the construction or deconstruction of these monstrous personalities. There’s beauty and impact in everything but that doesn’t mean it should continue existing in the world with no consequences.

I hope children, teens and adults alike will relate to this film. See themselves and others in it and explore their own relationships with their loved ones, and with their own consumption patterns that stem from insecurity. I hope this video rings true in the hearts of those who watch it, in a world where more is more and less is not good enough, new is better and what becomes old is an increasingly shorter window. I hope that people will laugh and cry and leave changed. Because what is art if it doesn’t make us feel and ask important questions?