YELLOW STICKY NOTES Directed By Jeff Chiba Stearns
Shane: Tell us about your film?
Jeff: My film Yellow Sticky Notes was created after realizing that yellow sticky note “to do” lists were consuming my life. So I decided to visually self-reflect on my filmmaking journey by animating on the same sticky notes that caused me to ignore major world events for the last nine years. Animation meditation is blended with image, text, and an original musical score by Genevieve Vincent through the creation of a classically animated experimental film that was drawn straight ahead with only a black ink pen on over 2300 yellow sticky notes. When I started out making this film it really was just something I wanted to do for myself. I really had no idea if it would even work considering it was drawn with pen on nothing but 4x6 inch sticky notes and a $100 budget. I kept thinking, this could be the biggest disaster of my life or it might actually be pretty cool. I'm glad with the great reception and accolades the film has received since its release, that people of all ages are enjoying and relating to the film.
S: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
J: Yellow Sticky Notes was created out of a response to how busy my life had become after pursuing my career as a professional independent filmmaker. I used yellow sticky notes to organize my daily schedule of ‘to do’ lists. After realizing one day that my entire workstation was covered with these ‘to do’ lists I decided it was time to slow down and reflect on the world events I was ignoring because I was so focused on my own life. This self-reflection on world events was achieved by animating directly back on the sticky notes that made me ignore the world around me. The film is an honest and open look at the last 9 years of my life and filmmaking career. Animated reflections about major world events like 911, the South Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, global warming, the Virginia Tech shootings are juxtaposed with actual ‘to do’ lists of what I was doing when those events happened and how my life was impacted indirectly by these events without my even realizing.
S: Was this a school project?
J: No.
S: How did you find your cast?
J: In the creation of Yellow Sticky Notes, there was no cast. There is not even any voiceover – just image, text, and music. Only two people worked on this film, myself and Genevieve Vincent who scored the film. I found out about Genevieve through a producer I worked with on my last project. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia and Genevieve was a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. We had never met in person and communicated via email and phone. I sent her the animation and she scored the film with very little direction from me. It was a great match!
S: How long did the film take? (From conception to final edit)
J: This film took me 9 months to animate and edit the 2300 drawings. Although, this was one of the most liberating filmmaking experiences of my life. I had no budget, no deadline, no broadcaster breathing down my neck. I animated only when I felt inspired. Being created on sticky notes meant I could animate anywhere and while I was traveling with my last film on the festival circuit, I could animate on the plane or in the hotel room. It was amazing just to make a film for me and not have to worry about anything else. The straight ahead animation style I chose was really freeing. If I made a mistake with the black pen I had to throw out the sticky note and start again. I could just self reflect through the process of animation meditation - a stream of consciousness. As I animated, I had no idea of the sequencing the film would take. All I wanted is for the animation to flow from text to imagery. It's a high concept film where I had no idea when I would be finished because I really had no ending. One day I just decided I was done and I laid out all the piles of sticky notes and arranged them in an order that made sense to me. I can't wait to create another film using this method!
S: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?
J: Since I had over 2300 yellow sticky notes drawings, it took me over 16 hours to shoot them with a camera stand and digital SLR camera in a tiny storage room. It was really important for me to capture all the drawings in one sitting with out breaks so I could keep my flow and make sure the drawings were registered properly. I almost went insane.
S: Tell us about the films festival experience so far?
J: When I premiered the film at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, it was one of the most nerve-racking experiences I've ever had. I thought everyone would hate the film or not understand it. Although to my surprise, the audience really responded well to the film. I even ended up winning the first ever Animasian Award for Best Animated Film at the festival. It was a great honor especially considering the film had $100 budget and was competing against films with $150,000 budgets. Yellow Sticky Notes speaks to the busy and hectic lifestyle many North Americans live and urges people to slow down and observe the world around us.
From audience responses, many people have told me how much they relate to the film. I get quite a few emails a day from people who've seen the film at festival or online and comment how much it made them think critically about the world around them. One festival director told me that she felt that she had had a heart to heart with an old friend when after she watched yellow Sticky Notes. This is the reason why I make films! Yellow Sticky Notes had it’s US premiere as part of the official competition at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. The short program I was in Window Seat sold-out 4 of the 5 screenings and I had great response and reactions from audiences in New York. The film has also screened at the Newport Beach, Dawson City, and Los Angeles Asian Film Festivals to name a few. The film will be screening at the Maui Film Festival, Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival and the Asian American Int. Film Festival in New York this summer. The film recently won a Platinum Remi Award Winner for Best Classic Cel Animation and Best Animated Short Subject at the Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts. On top of that, New York Magazine, named Yellow Sticky Notes on of the Five Best Short Films Playing at the Tribeca Film Festival 2008.
S: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far? What was your favorite question? How was the dialogue afterwards?
J: I love every Q&A where the audience is really stimulated after watching the films. I also like Q&A’s where more than half the audience doesn’t get up and leave! I think my favorite Q&A so far was at my world premiere at the Toronto Reel Asian since it was the first time I had ever fielded questions about the film and I was the only short filmmaker to show up. My favorite questions are always the ones about how crazy I am to attempt creating animation the way I do – by hand the old school way. Animation is the most misunderstood art form in the world and any chance I have to enlighten people on the process of how animation works makes me happy. Most people have a hard time absorbing the fact it takes so many drawings to make a second of animation.
I’ve been lucky that I’ve had great support from other filmmakers, instructors, mentors, friends, festival directors, family members, and girlfriends. Any girlfriend who can tolerate an animator boyfriend is rare!
S: What films or filmmakers inspire you?
J: Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak inspired me to draw when I was a kid. I love the art form of illustrated children’s books. As far as animators who inspire me, Chuck Jones, Hayao Miyazaki, Brad Bird, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Independent animators who’ve inspired me are Bill Plympton, Sheldon Cohen, Peter Chung, Yuriy Norshteyn, Ryan Larkin, and Norman McLaren. Feature animated films that have inspired me in the last few years have been The Iron Giant, Lilo and Stitch, and Spirited Away. Basically any animated short or feature film with a great story and style inspires me to create.
S: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?
J: I love the medium of independent animation and was first introduced to the craft through the Spike and Mike Animation Festivals and Liquid Television on MTV. I always drew as a kid and knew that one day I wanted to be an animator. I was 8 years old when I was watching the Academy Awards for the first time. I remember seeing the category for short animation and thought that was the greatest thing I had ever saw. Someone could win an Oscar for creating their own animated films. I immediately ran upstairs to my room and started drawing characters I could someday use to make my own Academy Award winning short independent animation. I still aspire to that dream of one day winning an Oscar and I hope to make it a reality somewhere in my animation filmmaking journey.
S: What is next for you?
J: My last animated film before Yellow Sticky Notes looked at my life growing up in Canada being of mixed-Japanese decent. It was called “What Are You Anyways?” and explored particular periods in my life where I battled with finding an identity being a half minority. For my next film, I'm going back to the topic of multiracial identity and interracial marriage in a documentary where I explore the explosive 95% interracial marriage rate amongst Japanese Canadians and look at how issues of multiracial identity have shifted over the years. The film is entitled One Big Hapa Family is combining live action with animation. After attending the reunion, I decided to embark on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in my extended Japanese-Canadian family married interracially after my grandparents’ generation and what the future holds for all the mixed-race kids. Through my investigation, animation and narration are used to transition from narrative stories, interviews, and archival photos and film while exploring a unique outlook on Canadian multiculturalism from the perspective of four generations spanning Japanese-Canadian children of mixed decent, interracial couples, and opinions from Japanese elders who lived through WWII. I'm hoping the film will be released in early 2009. Live action is definitely a lot different than animation but it's a new medium and I love the challenge. Check out more at my production blog http://citizen.nfb.ca/blogs/category/one-big-hapa-family
S: What is next for the film?
J: After Tribeca, Yellow Sticky Notes is currently getting a lot of requests and interest from distributors. I’m being a bit picky right now because I want the film to have a good festival run before I start exploiting it on the web and for broadcast. Although with that being said, I am in talks with a few distributors about distributing the film on various platforms. I have submitted to over 60 international film festivals so far and I’m getting a good acceptance ratio. Although, the film doesn’t do so well overseas because the text is in English and it’s very hard to subtitle the film since there’s so many ‘to do’ lists to read. Although, I want this film to be seen by a wide audience and right now people can check it out at the Pangea Day website - http://www.pangeaday.org/pangeadayFilms.php
I decided to include Yellow Sticky Notes as part of Pangea Day because it is an amazing global event bringing the world together through film.
S: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?
J: I think integrity still exists in this business and money isn’t what it’s all about! I like to subscribe myself to things I believe in because that is how I approach making films.
Create something you believe in and if you’re creating a short film as a calling card or just to break into the industry, you’re going to get lost in the crowd. Remember thousands of shorts are created around the world every month.
Create shorts that are intelligent, that entertain, but also inspire and make people think. If you’re not really excited about making the film or you lose passion for the project, chances are it’s not going to turn out well. Ditch it. Pre-production is key – always start with a strong story. Eye candy is nice but it can’t support a crappy story. Enjoy the process and if you’re happy with the end product, make sure the world sees it – don’t shelf it after showing your family and friends. That wastes your time and everyone else who helped you out. Be proud of your work and send it off to the big festivals first because if you get into one of them, the other festivals will come looking for you!