This month we chatted with Tongal royalty, Jimmy Ahlander. Jimmy is no stranger to working with different mediums and loves the challenge of doing both animation and live action. He is also used to being adaptable, as he grew up in Sweden but now lives in Los Angeles. To top it off, Jimmy's work with Pixeltown Arts recently won Tongal’s first project with P&G Europe! Read on to discover some of Jimmy's favorite Tongal work, thoughts on the creative process and Jimmy’s candy obsession.
Romi J: What is your filmmaking background? Did you go to film school? Are you self-taught?
Jimmy Ahlander: I went to a High School of the Arts and then I studied film in college and earned a bachelor’s degree in Film and Narrative Technique. After I graduated I stayed at the university for six months working as an After Effects teacher before moving to LA.
RJ: Impressive! So how did you first get involved with Tongal?
JA: A friend of mine sent me a link to the Brisk Project. I pitched on it but didn't win. Instead I made a video for Cloudspokes and won!
RJ: Congratulations! What do you look for in a Tongal project and what specifically attracts you to one when there are so many on the site?
JA: We seek out projects that we can do justice to. We don't pitch on projects that we feel are not our thing.
RJ: Totally makes sense! What would be your ideal project on Tongal?
JA: See's Candies would be the sponsor, and the award would be free candy for a lifetime. Or maybe just a year would be enough…
RJ: That sounds yummy…I could imagine a great stop motion spot for See’s. How do you determine what style of animation to use on a particular project?
JA: We usually go through references to get an idea about what could work for each specific project. If the Sponsor has a certain look or tone we take that into consideration so we stay on brand. Often times we see something we like and save it as a future reference.
RJ: You're great at both animation and live action, and lately you seem to be combining the two. How are the two mediums different? Which one do you prefer?
JA: Thank you! Combining art forms has always been fascinating to me. I think both mediums have their charm. When animating you can sculpt your project as you are creating it, so if something is not working you can easily try other solutions. When we shoot live it's more stressful; you have to nail it the first time since it’s not fun to go back and reshoot. Of course, the good thing about shooting is that you get to work with more people and the post production length is usually shorter.
RJ: A great example of that mixed media style is your winning Video in the Redbox Instant by Verizon Video Project. How did you achieve all of those special effects?
JA: The video is a mix of 3D and 2D elements. The 3D elements such as the robot and space ship were created from scratch. We used a real police car for the chase scene, and then duplicated it. In the park scene we had a portable green screen so that we could add the T-Rex and spaceship. The pre-production and planning process were very time consuming so we actually only had 10 days in post. It was a team of 4 people working on the effects.
RJ: Great work! You recently won 1st place (and $22K!) in our first project for P&G Europe (Oral-B Pro-Expert Premium Gum Protection Video Project). How was this different from creating a spot for an American audience?
JA: I can’t say there is that much of a difference. We focused on getting a European look for the actors and the environment. We also got a British VO artist. This project had a short turnaround so to get a pregnant European looking actress with a great smile in such a short time was pretty tricky. We ended up using a latex belly prosthetic for the wides and for the close ups we used a 7 month pregnant body double.
RJ: Impressive! What’s your favorite project you’ve done on Tongal, and why?
JA: It's hard to just select one, but one of them is definitely Shutterstock.I love the mix of elements and the whimsical aspect of the project. Those are the videos I love to make the most, where you have a lot of creative freedom.
RJ: Speaking of creative freedom, where do you get your inspiration from?
JA: I can’t really pinpoint a specific source of inspiration, I catch things from a mix of different media sources everyday. I like to read odd short stories, watch movies and go to art galleries. I collect ideas from here and there. I have a short-term memory so whenever I come up with an idea I instantly write it down and save it for later.
RJ: That’s cool! What’s your creative process like?
JA: The creative process is different from one project to another. Sometimes I like to just sit down and sketch on a blank piece of paper or go out for a run to trigger the creativity. When coming up with ideas for a commercial there’s usually more research involved. We do brainstorming and seek out references to get a general idea, then usually sit down and sketch up a storyboard. Sometimes you experience a creative drought and it can take forever to come up with a good idea. I've found that forcing yourself to come up with ideas can actually halt your creative process. If that happens it’s best to take a break and not think about it for a while, then all of a sudden you just wake up and scream "Eureka!"
RJ: I’m glad your “Eureka!” technique works well for you. Do you have any advice for other Tongalers? Either about Tongal or filmmaking in general?
JA: A good thing to ask yourself after each finished project is "how could we have done this better if we were to do it all over again?"
RJ: Great advice. What’s next for you, on Tongal or otherwise?
JA: We are working on a couple of music videos and a spot for John Frieda right now.
RJ: Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom with us. Team Tongal is so glad we got to know more about Pixeltown Arts’ creative process and work…we can’t wait to see your next Tongal Project!
