Easy as A, B, C? Not quite – for the past year and a half Swedish-born filmmaker Daniele Manoli has been slogging his way through all 26 letters of the Alphabet to create this mind-blowingly inventive collection of clips and blips. The result is a quirky, frequently amusing, occasionally disturbing series that showcases the Manoli’s range of styles, aesthetics and influences. We might just be in love – the idea is breathtakinlgy simple, and the combination of electric bright colours and eclecticism is just the thing to keep our deteriorating attention span at bay. We’ve included a selection of our favourites – but the whole collection is on Daniele’s Vimeo page.
Why did you decide to embark upon the Alphabet project?I’ve always had a lot of ideas and been inclined to experimentation, and whenever I had some free time on my hands I’d try out something new. As my library of experiments grew I had an idea to combine them all into a larger project. So the A-Z idea was born.
How long did it take you to complete the project?
I started on the project in early 2009. The first piece I did was for the letter E, where I cut out a bunch of random shapes from a large white paper and built a set on the bed in my tiny flat here in Hong Kong. I did the whole project in my spare time that means, late evenings, weekends etc. I finally accomplished it in September 2010. So it took me a year and a half.
I’m happy that you asked, the fact that you’re not sure if it was done by hand or computer means I achieved my goal. I did one stitch, photographed it and the rest of the stitches were made by hand in Adobe Photoshop, pixel by pixel, to get a real cross-stitching feeling. It took me a very long time to do nonetheless.
How did you go about deciding what word and what sort of style/story you would do for each letter?It was all a very organic process. I let it grow by itself instead of trying to force anything. Sometimes I’d think a piece through for a long time and do a lot of pre production. Some of them just happened in an instant of pure inspiration. I didn’t do the project alphabetically, instead I just did whatever I felt like doing, which is the opposite of working with clients and deadlines. I also went back and reworked some of the pieces several times, sometimes totally changing or abolishing them.
I see you’re based in Hong Kong – how did you end up living there?
I came to Hong Kong via a person I met in London. It was a love choice rather than a career choice. I’m happy I did though as I really love being here. I’m still (after 5 years) as excited as a first time tourist whenever I’m out and about. The best thing is that I’ve managed to work with clients in Europe and America while still being in Hong Kong.
How has living in Hong Kong influenced your work?
The main influence would be the working style and time I put into my work. Chinese people are famous for being extremely hard working and I’ve had to adapt to this style too. Other than that, I find the city itself incredibly inspiring, I’ve lived in Tokyo, New Delhi and Beijing too, but Hong Kong is the most eclectic of them all. I guess it’s just the total opposite from what I grew up with in my little Stockholm suburb.
When you’re not making films what do you get up to?
I try to travel as much as I can, and being here in Asia I’ve tried to get around here as much as possible. I’m off to Bali later this month and I’m hoping to go to Seoul soon too. During my A-Z project I haven’t taken any holiday so I really need a break and a restart.
How old are you?
I’m 31 but I’ve only been working in this industry for about 5 years. I started at the bottom and have been working myself up. I’ve had no design education and I had never worked with video before I moved here so I taught myself everything as I went along. After I graduated high school I wanted to travel and spent a lot of time going around Europe and Asia. I’ve tried out a lot of different things and I think this diversity comes across in my A-Z project too.
Where are you from originally? Was creativity/animation a big part of your childhood?
I’m from a series of mixed backgrounds. My parents were both hippies who met in London in the 70’s. They ended up in Sweden before I was born and I was brought up there in a creative household. My father was a musician and my mother was a painter. Both my parents were very encouraging and have always supported me. In my teens I did a lot of graffiti but when I turned 18 I toned it down because of the harsh punishments. After that I tried a bit of everything from sculpting, painting to screen-printing.
What inspires you?
Having worked until 11 pm, being half delirious on the bus home and almost having hallucinations. I used to commute for approximately 3 hours a day and on my way home being overworked and while listening to music I’d have a lot of random and crazy ideas. Those were the seeds for most of my shorts I think.
For more info, check out www.danielemanoli.com
