We were lucky to catch up with Mikael Trench recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mikael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
That would probably have to be my stop motion short film, To Love a Ladybug. It was my capstone senior short film made for my time at the Savannah College of Art and Design where I graduated from with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Animation. The film tells the story of a dying cockroach in the alleyways of Paris who reminisces of the time he fell in love with a ladybug and reflects on what that relationship means to him in his final moments.
I had the idea for some time before college and chose to pitch it as one of many ideas for my senior film after a close friend of mine encouraged me to do so. To say it was a challenge to get it made would be an understatement. To begin with, my school was not the best equipped for stop motion productions, with only two rooms with some sparse stop motion supplies and only one occasional elective course that taught some rudimentary fabrication skills. And entering into production for the film was even harder, as our only stop motion professor retired before my senior year and the head of the animation department chose to take out one of the stop motion rooms, considering it a waste of space. Unsurprisingly, there were also very few students who had any serious interest in the medium, meaning that I’d be relying a lot on getting outside help from alum, training many newcomers on the process, and doing a lot of it on my own.
The film itself also had a number of issues. The story needed to be reworked numerous times, the puppet designs required heavy alterations, the set building got delayed, the animation process faced many issues and took long, sleepless nights to get done, collaborators dropped out at various points, and the entire post production process had to be done during the COVID-19 pandemic. And to top all of that off, I was making the film while working a part time job, continuing my time-consuming position as the Arts and Entertainment editor for my school’s online and print publications, running my school’s Stop Motion Club as its President (where I was also planning out a field trip), and taking other full-time classes. There were plenty of students in my senior production classes who dropped their films halfway through with not even half of the stresses I was taking on. And at times, I was very seriously considering doing the same.
But nevertheless, I kept the project alive and not only did we finish it much of it ahead of time, but the film killed it in festivals, getting shown in nearly 20 film festivals all over the world in under two years and winning numerous awards in the process. And while I’m certainly proud of its success, what makes the project so meaningful to me at the end of the day is that we actually got it done and were able to prove something in doing so. Many of my professors were very open about doubting the project and the feasibility of doing stop motion in general, given the few resources we had on campus, the lack of knowledge from staff or students, and the tumultuous time I was having on the production, with one of my professors even calling most of the stop motion films our school made “garbage.” And that doubt almost drove me to finish it more. We needed to prove that this film could get made, even under these circumstances. And even though there are things I would of course love to go back and fix, I’m still largely proud of the final product and have learned so much more than any class could have ever taught me.
To student filmmakers out there, heck, even out-of-school filmmakers, if you have any inkling that you want to make a film, YOU CAN MAKE IT. Don’t wait for permission, don’t wait for everything to be lined up perfectly, the only thing standing in between you and your vision is how much you want it because no one will have the same level of drive as you do. So you have to be willing to do whatever’s necessary, to sacrifice whatever’s unnecessary, and step up to just get it done. Because the lessons you learn from your project, good or bad, will always feel better than the regret of never making it happen.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Mikael Trench and I am a stop motion filmmaker and creator of the stop motion/mixed media production company, TriClops Films. At TriClops, we are aiming to reshape the animation landscape through distinct, director-oriented work and an emphasis on normalizing creative diverse voices within the industry. We create original short films, client projects, music videos, and more, with a resourceful attitude that allows us to work under tighter deadlines while still delivering quality work that adheres to the client’s vision and capture their vision.
I’ve been experimenting with stop motion and filmmaking for over a decade now and began TriClops in February of 2022, as it’s been a long time dream of mine to start up an animation studio, but it was also a response to being largely dissatisfied with the direction that the animation industry has been going for some time. Not only is much of the mainstream work being created failing to impress or leave an impact on me and many of my peers, but the industry itself is still chock full of discrimination, bias, prejudice, and a slow moving attitude when it comes to proper representation or compelling storytelling. With TriClops, I hope to break down these barriers by giving creators as full creative control as possible and allowing their voices to drive their projects as opposed to making it all about the studio.
So far, things have been moving slow and steady, as I am also working in the animation industry and gaining experience along the way, but we have been able to create some really fun projects. Our first official stop motion short film, To Love a Ladybug, was released this year after a successful nearly 20 festival run in less than two years. Last year, I got to direct and create my first music video for the lo-fi R&B artist, hmptnBAE, entitled Galactus. I am super proud of this project not only because it was our first full on client project, but the story it tells about breaking away from toxicity, told as a classic sci-fi horror akin to films such as “Alien” or “Interstellar,” made for an meaningful story that kept me inspired.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
There are way too many barriers keeping legitimately talented creatives from pursuing their ambitions and reaching their potential. The bulk of the art and entertainment industry, much like the rest of our country, is built upon a place of privilege, where those on top constantly demand that you are consistently updating your portfolio and upping your work each time. I certainly believe that showcasing your improvement is a great thing and if you can to definitely do so, but this requires enormous amounts of creative time and energy that is not equally granted in the world we live in. For most people of color, women, LGBT identifying individuals, disabled people, or any other minority, the world has been skewed so that it is harder for us to exist, so simply trying to make a living eats up a lot the free time granted to less-burdened individuals. To ask someone who works 40+ hours a week in retail or a restaurant to then go out and have the creative energy to create industry-quality work is beyond unrealistic and a toxic mindset to have people in.
Not only does this encourage bad habits such as sleep deprivation and overusing social media to share work, but it also often asks these individuals to shell out great amounts of money to purchase expensive software, equipment, or materials in order to “keep up” with the industry, eating up the resources they may need to pay rent or buy food for that week. And don’t even get me started on the ridiculously high prices and culture of art schools and universities that barely offer anything in return for the blood, sweat, and tears that underprivileged individuals must pour in to find any level of success while often, once again, working part-time jobs and taking on other responsibilities.
To put it lightly, while it isn’t impossible, there’s clearly a huge barrier of entry when it comes to underrepresented groups breaking into their desired creative fields that privileged individuals largely don’t have to face. If we’re going to change this, we must work on breaking down these barriers by making schools, mentorship programs, and other educational opportunities low or no cost the same way most public colleges are becoming. Similarly, recruiters and other hiring artists need to prioritize the drive, responsibility, and willingness to learn and improve of new hires rather than how much work or experience they have, as well as offer the same livable wages to minority groups that you would to white employees.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I feel that explaining my obsession with stop motion animation always feels like a job in and of itself at times! Nowadays, especially, with the world we live in where 3D animation or CGI is king in the entertainment industry, most seem confused as to why I want to pursue this “dying” art form. Well first and foremost–it’s not dying. Every time it seems like someone says that, there are another 10 or 20 projects that get born. Stop motion projects are continuing to get made and shown in theaters, streaming platforms, social media, television, and so on. Heck, one of Adult Swim’s longest running shows is Robot Chicken, which is full-on stop motion animated!
I feel like with the insane levels studios are going to have CGI that looks more and more realistic, audiences are getting more taken out of the stories being told. The new Thor movie that just came out is largely being complained about because of its awful green screen and CGI effects. But quite honestly, it’s hard to make stop motion that looks bad, because the artifice is imbued into its appeal, no matter how old or new. You watch a stop motion film from even the earlier days of the medium like the original “King Kong,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” or “Clash of the Titans” and you know for a fact that those elements are not real, but you are willing to believe in their reality for that moment. And it’s not only because the great artists behind them are putting their hearts in souls in animating and bringing these characters to life, but because you, as an audience member whether you realize it or not, are so much more drawn into the creative process.
No matter how these characters come out, at the end of the day, everything you see on screen is a real tangible object that exists in the real world. You are invited into a world where a hunk of foam and rabbit fur, a ball of clay, or a bunch of toys can become some of the most beloved characters and stories ever told. The effort put into the craft is anything but simple and it’s not for everyone to go out and do, but those who do it will tell you there’s nothing like it. You develop a relationship with your puppet that is hard to do with a drawing or a 3D model. It allows you a certain level of control and concentration that puts you in a trance almost, where nothing else exists except for you and that character.
Stop motion is pure magic. And in the world we live in, I don’t see anything wrong with wanting to hold onto some of that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.triclopsfilms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triclops_animations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/triclopsanimation/?ref=pages_you_manage
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikael-trench-b480569a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TriClopsAnimations/