Artist Statement
My film titled “No wrong turns” conveys through visual metaphors, that are vacant of human depiction, the very human experience of avoiding and confronting decisions. The film uses automobiles as the vehicle of this message. Stop Motion appealed to me for this project because it is so strongly rooted in photography while allowing for more narrative depth than a single image is capable of. I wanted to tell a story simply because I wanted to do something creative for my thesis, I also desired to revisit filmmaking with more photography skills than I had when I made short films in my Childhood.
The visuals in my film are heavily influenced by early VFX practitioners such as Ray Harryhausen as well as Phill Tippett. Rod Sterlings's Twilight Zone has this ability to convey very simple but arguably beautiful allegories for life through eccentric, fantastical, eerie, sci-fi stories. This was a huge inspiration for me in using an eerie and uncanny manner of tone to convey my story. I’m a big fan of surreal stories and wanted to try my hand at making one.
I wanted a simple underlying message with deeper implications. And I devised this story to let me create the visuals I wanted to make while achieving an underlying message I resonate with. We’ve all avoided a decision or two before, this story is intended to portray that avoiding a situation often leads us back to being asked to confront that same decision. Whether that decision is a road choice, a job, a person, or anything in between. I hope viewers can resonate with this depiction of decisiveness in one way or another. Whether that be remembering something you once avoided or are currently avoiding. But I am absolutely okay with individuals walking away having just enjoyed the visuals and not even considering the underlying meaning.
No Wrong Turns is a combination of mediums I’ve worked with in the past; photo, video, and sound, but I’ve never unified into a cohesive project together. It was meant to teach me new skills while exploring stop motion as a craft and storytelling device. And in the making of this film and the subsequent trial by fire I experienced, that is exactly what I believe it accomplished.