IFC presents Rooftop Films Short Film Showcase

DOCK 5
(Paul Chaudet, Benjamin Devaux, & Simon Landrein | 05:00 | Animation, Short)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 3:02 PM

A glorious animated musical celebration of the dockworker, another disappearing occupation.

Dock 5 impresses us with its rhythm and the quality of its aesthetics. Superb graphic renderings place us in the dark, film-noir-like world of the dockworker at night, on the job. With the creation of musical rhythm through the manual actions of the workers, we catch a glimpse of industrial beauty. Danger and suspense arise in the visual environment of light and shadow, but a jazzy, flowing score as accompaniment soothes the viewer and take us along on the fast-paced ride. The workers and cranes dance in the rain as if it is some other jazzy universe entirely.

The directing team hails from France, and for Paul Chaudet and Simon Landrein, their first success is certainly gaining attention. The animation work of their third compatriot, Benjamin Devaux, can be found at his blog.

Dock 5 will screen on Saturday, July 19th, in Gowanus, Brooklyn at the Old American Can Factory as part of our series, "INDUSTRIANCE: The Livelong Day." The shorts program is devoted to showcasing the weirder side of the working world, and including not only these dancing dock hands, but desperate CEOs, out-of-control operating system salesmen, and radioactive chickens. This is not a show to be missed!

Check out what Animator/Director Benjamin Devaux had to say about the filmmaking process:

RF: Tell us about your film.

BD: This movie is tribute to the dockers and their universe. It's a mix between the work, architecture, and jazzy music. A kind of musical comedy with dockers, cranes, and a boat.

RF: What was your inspiration? How did you come up with the idea of joining dock workers and jazz, and was it hard to make it work?

BD: We wanted to do a movie with jazz music. It was the priority for us, and the universe of the waterfront was something really attractive. We saw the movie On the Waterfront, with Marlon Brando, that was "declic"--(a turn on) .
It wasn't that hard. Jazz music was the perfect music for this universe--black and white, very contrasted. Those long parallel and perpendicular lines in the architecture; every part of the harbor by night "is jazz". We wanted to keep this 1950 old time ambiance. Look at the generic to see what I mean. I don t think electro music would have been the good choice.

RF: Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, backstory, production methods, etc.)?

BD: We wrote the synopsis for about 3 months,we did environment research, we took photos, drew a lot. We also went on a Harbor (very, very impressive...), then we did the story board (that changed every week). After we did the 3D animatic (that also changed every week). Finaly we started the "production" from January to June. Fortunately we had no "big problems". We really enjoyed doing this short movie.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to? What is your current/next project?

BD: At the moment I am a 3D animator on a movie, And I working on a personal short movie. I' d like to continue doing short movies, because it's a quick way to express your ideas. I'd also like to become a director.

RF: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?

BD: It's a great pleasure for us to participate in a festival. Our goal is not to win a prize or anything else, but just to show to people this animated movie we did, to show them our passion, and the pleasure we had to make it.

Post comments to ask more questions about the film or about Benjamin!