When Kanye West comes a-calling, it’s a brave soul who puts him on hold to go travelling. Today’s director, Tom Geraedts did just that because he didn’t want to let down an old friend. But we’ve got a feeling that with his cosmic aesthetics and intelligent insights about film, perception and consciousness, the big leagues are sure to get back in touch. Laura Swinton finds out more.
We love that your work plays with ideas of perception and consciousness – something that was particularly effective in your short film Eros (which won International Short Film Festival Donetsk in Ukraine and has been selected for the onedotzero Wow+Flutter programme). What is it about these ideas that appeals to you and why do you think film is an effective way to explore them?
Everyone perceives the world in a different way. Things you see or hear are constantly being compared to things you’ve seen and heard before, things you have grown up with, things that you have learnt in your life. Some say their perception of the world is higher developed then others. Others choose not to perceive certain aspects of human life. This seems obvious but if I really think about it, it seems that everyone lives in their own conditioned reality created by themselves (including small comfort zones and mental borders!). Humans seem so incredible capable to take things for granted.
Film is such an extraordinary way to explore these different views on the world. So many ways to experience someone else’s reality! And that is the important thing, to be able to experience someone else’s life, thoughts, feelings etc.
Personally I’m always trying to broaden my consciousness. By experiencing as many things as possible! stepping out of your comfort zone, doing silly things that frighten you at first. Sometimes I find myself talking to someone I shouldn’t talk to, or doing things I shouldn’t do. On those moments I always remind myself of this idea.
Talking of Eros, where did the idea for that story come from? And how much research did you have to do to conceptualise the world as a blind person might experience/perceive it?
Well actually the story came to me when I was sitting in the train back home in the Netherlands. There was a really beautiful girl sitting in front of me and I felt really attracted to her. I closed my eyes and ‘BAM’ I thought: does a blind person have the same desire, the seem feeling of attraction to someone? I only saw the girl, didn’t smell her, didn’t touch her, didn’t even talk to her! The warm gut feeling that I get when I look at her, does a blind man feel it too? So I wrote in my notebook: ‘how does blind dude sees hot chick’. First meant as a visual for my VJ sets, but later executed as a short film.
From the beginning I had a really strong sense of how it should look like. Most people have 5 senses. Blind people have only 4 , so how would their perception change with this loss? I tried to visualize the perception of smell, sound, taste and feeling. Connected all the nerves coming from these senses to the brain’s vision center you could say.
Before I started I read books and experiences about the subject. I tried to approach two blind people, one was blind all his life and the other one was a graphic designer slightly going blind. They weren’t very interested in the project.. maybe because they couldn’t see the end result anyway..
In 2008 you did an internship at motion design and effects firm UPVH – what did you get up to and what did you learn?Haha I did a lot of things that I talked about earlier when I was talking about comfort zones. The internship was great, when I arrived at UVPH they were just finishing up the video for Bjork’s ‘Wanderlust’. So I got to experience all the release parties and such, good fun! I learnt very unexpected things during that time in New York. Not so much technical skills but I got a lot of industry work experience and talked a lot with the freelance and staff members there to decide what I wanted to be when I grow up.
I lived in Spanish Harlem, an apartment full of travelers so everyday I came home I could expect some new person from the other side of the world sitting at my kitchen table! I made some great and deep connections with people, a time I will never forget. Sometimes I feel NYC-homesick.
A little bird tells us you turned Kanye West down to go travelling with a friend…. what happened?
I was relieved I could finish ‘Eros’ just in time for my graduation and school expo, so between the summer-escapades that followed I just uploaded the video on Vimeo and send the link to 2 or 3 blogs like Fubiz and Cpluv. The next morning I woke up at 4 a.m. with a phone call from L.A. that Kanye was interested in a meet and greet (and talk about awesome projects) with me! I really just wanted to fly to America to meet him, but I was just about to leave Holland for a month to travel around Europe with my dear friend Pim. And I did. Naive as I was I thought he would get back to me a month and a half later, but I guess that isn’t the case with superstars. They want it here and now!
Outside of filmmaking, what excites you?
New York opened my eyes and introduced me to so many countries and cultures that I simply can’t ignore the urge to travel. Sleeping on people’s couches around the world and meeting locals is what I really enjoy. I’m also really good at enjoying Argentinian Tango music.
As well as film and motion design, you also create still images/illustrations. What appeals to you about pursuing these different media?
There are a lot of motion designers out there who started out as illustrators or graphic designers. I think these passions go hand in hand. Film is one step even further to me, and I think to be able to know about all these fields is really valuable to do good meaningful work.
Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
I am from a generation that is able to express itself and to get exposure like never before. This fact excites me a lot, and I hope that in ten years time I’ll be harvesting the fruit that came from this! The next couple of years I am going to focus more on live-action film, I hope that a lot of exciting projects will come my way!
To find out more, check out his website www.tomgeraedts.com.
