Ken Walton chats to the creators of  Award Winning Short Film Josefine, - video Dailymotion

The Scotsman

Award Winning Short Film Josefine, a specially-commissioned opera is screened for Scotsman readers at The Scotsman Picture House  Scottish Opera’s award-winning animated short film Josefine is a 14-minute film, Scottish Opera’s first venture into animation, brings Franz Kafka’s last short story, Josefine the Singer, to life through a blend of operatic performance and contemporary animation.  Set in a striking desert landscape, the story follows a mysterious creature whose ethereal voice captures an audience of sprites, exploring themes of artistry, crisis and hope.

Transcript

00:00I'm Ken Malton, classical music critic of the Scotsman. I'm here at the Scotsman

00:04Picturehouse for the screening of Josephine, which is Scottish Opera's

00:08first venture into opera in animation. The film is based on Kafka's last

00:13published short story, Josephine the Singer or the Mouse Folk, which centres

00:17on a curiously fragile, undefined little creature living among the so-called

00:22mouse people, who are every bit as enigmatic and undefined. Josephine's

00:27distinguishing feature is her captivating voice, which enchants and

00:31unites those around her, but equally invites questions, voiced by the narrator,

00:35about her motives, her role, her importance, just who and what she

00:39represents. Josephine is the result of a widespread creative

00:43collaboration, a screenplay written jointly by Scottish Opera's former

00:46composer-in-residence Sam Bordoli and in-house filmmaker Antonia Bain,

00:51Sam also as composer, Antonia as director. Music direction by the

00:56conductor and Scottish Opera chorus director Susanna Wapshott, together with

01:00animation by Sophie Bird and Gemma Dixon of Maestro Broadcasting. Not to mention

01:05the spine-tingling voice of Josephine, former Scottish Opera emerging artist

01:08Zoe Drummond, with Scottish Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Currently touring

01:14the International Film Festival circuit, Josephine has already won several

01:18key awards, including Best Short Film at the 2024 Messina Opera Film Festival in

01:24Sicily. I'm delighted to say that we have Sam, Antonia and Susanna here today

01:29with us to answer questions and to provide insight into this terribly

01:33exciting project. So when I first read the short story that Sam had

01:40sent me, no! The story of Josephine, the singer, the actual Franz Kafka,

01:47it's pretty much an essay to begin with, but once you break it down it was really

01:52fascinating, really interesting, and obviously with Kafka it goes round and

01:57round in circles, and I think the big question that came out of it

02:02was what Kafka himself thought about his own work and his own place in the world

02:08and whether he actually mattered as an artist. Obviously I think differently, I

02:14think art does matter and I think artists do matter very much so in the

02:17world. So yeah, but I think once Sam and I discussed that and took that apart,

02:24it really became such a great space to do lots of different things with and to

02:29create something visually and we had lots of discussions about

02:32whether it was going to be a young girl and her tribe or whether it could be

02:37soldiers and a time of war and all that kind of stuff, so I'm really

02:41really glad we came up with this lovely scenario where we've got

02:47this kind of desert space where we can create a kind of slightly more family

02:52orientated film. I think it's working to time but also sort of trying to create

02:58time because we did it in two stages, so I wrote the arias first, so had

03:06control over that part, but then after that had been done I was then working to

03:11picture for the more sort of soundtracky moments, so I had to sort of

03:18give away some control after having it, which was quite a strange experience as

03:23a composer. The structure and the emotional and visual aspects are there

03:29and it's my job to tell that story through music, whether that's enhancing

03:34it or undermining it, whatever needs to be done, so stylistically yes, it was broad

03:42in that sense and it's the most thrilling part when you're actually

03:46there in the session hearing the orchestra and the Orchestra of Scottish

03:50Opera are just brilliant, but it's certainly the most fun bit for me. I mean

03:55I sort of know what I'll be doing when I'm sketching everything out and you

04:01sort of do it all in shorthand and make the piano score, but nothing compares to

04:06the moment when it all just happens and it's an extraordinary sound. Zoe was

04:12our emerging artist soprano, so she fitted the bill already and I believe it

04:17was written for her with her range and type of voice in mind, so that's why it

04:23seems to fit like a glove. Zoe was amazingly versatile to work with,

04:28she's very enthusiastic, she really took on all the colours and the imagery. I mean

04:33we both started with very little score, it was a very topsy-turvy way of

04:38putting something together. We essentially had the words first

04:43and then the vocal line and not much accompaniment, so even the colours I had

04:49to imagine through talking to Sam and through finding out about the

04:54literature through Antonia and just really working with the notes and the

05:00phrases and the patterns and the harmonies, which were very scant, but we

05:05just began to build a picture and then Zoe brought in her own personality.

05:24Look, look, see and see what they do.

05:31Rise, rise, rise they go, and then sway me, dig me, and turn me.

05:36See how, see how, see how they squirm.

Ken Walton chats to the creators of Award Winning Short Film Josefine,

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