Milos Radosavljevic. Animator, illustrator and graphic designer,
as well as songwriter and lead vocalist of Slovene alternative act Shyam.
In the summer of 2005, Milos directed an extraordinary animated video for
Runalong (acoustic), the new single from the Vain
- A Tribute To A Ghost album. Determined to dig out some exclusive
tidbits about the making of this compelling artistic enterprise, we assaulted
the man with seven prying questions.
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SILENCE-ZONE: First of all, let us congratulate you on a truly
remarkable achievement. The video was conceived and realized on your initiative.
Why were you drawn so much to this particular song?
MILOS RADOSAVLJEVIC: First of all, let me thank Silence on a truly
great and inspiring piece of music. It simply provokes one (especially a lazy
bag like me) to go and do something useful. Why this song? It has something
that is hard to explain with words, so I tried to explain it with picture.
But that's a purely personal interpretation, of course. Also, it has this
special, rare soundtrack feeling.
S-Z: Are musical experiences a valuable asset when working on a video? Let
me put it this way: would the videos you directed look different if you weren't
a musician yourself?
M. R.: I guess it's hard for me to separate animation
and music. Those are two of my worlds that go together well, hand in hand.
Regarding the second question, I would say yes, but I must also admit that
there were more than just these two worlds involved in making this movie.
On the other side, all of my animation work was always connected to the music.
S-Z: The video upgrades the lyrics by use of metaphors and symbolics and generates
new, eleborate possibilities of interpretation. On the other hand, it has
an impulsive feel, a spur of the moment kind of quality. I'm interested in
the proportional relation between thought and instinct. How much brains, how
much heart?
M. R.: I'd say that brain was involved in technique and heart in
the visualization and story. I intentionally used long scenes with a lot of
slow motion but the images and composition were decisively left to intuition.
Most of the technical part was actually done some time ago as a part of my
experimental efforts, but when I started to form and animate the story it
was mix of pure emotion, meditation and a lot of joy. I must not forget to
mention the great help from my friend and cofounder of The Audiovisual
Confection, Tomi Horvat, while editing some key sequences of
the movie.
S-Z: What kind of animation techniques were applied? Did you animate over
filmed material?
M. R.: No. I used some kind of rotoscopy in my first animated movie,
but later I realized that computer generated animation provides more opportunities
to experiment with different styles. This movie was entirely done in 3D environment,
then I did some post fx to get the final result. I'm satisfied with the result,
because it opens some new perspectives for my research and future work which
may also include some interactive realtime applications.
S-Z: How long did it take – from idea to master – to complete the video?
M. R.: Some two months of leisure work.
S-Z: Who got you hooked on animation?
M. R.: Director and producer Franci Slak liked my graphic
style so he invited me to do a short animated movie based on his story. I
used to draw comics before that, but was never really satisfied. It's getting
better now.
S-Z: One final question: which artists would you like to work with / for?
M. R.: This is a hard one to answer. I certainly like the works of
Daniel Zezelj, and would like to do some animations/videos with him,
since Frank Miller is already "taken" :). I'd also like
to get some knowledge from legends, such as Mirko Ilic, Saul Bass, Marc
Caro, Pascal Blanche or the guys from Shynola... There is actually
a bunch of artists that I'd like to hang out with. And I must also mention
all of my creative friends who always inspire and teach me, together with
all my beloved ones.
S-Z: Thanks a lot, Milos. It's been a real pleasure talking to you.
Watch the video
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