{"id":244307,"date":"2011-05-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/strange-matter-in-bankers-hill\/"},"modified":"2011-05-31T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T07:00:00","slug":"strange-matter-in-bankers-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/strange-matter-in-bankers-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Strange Matter\u2019 in Banker\u2019s Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u2018Strange<\/a>
Cyborg (on left) and Knees (on right), two of the characters in the live actions sequences. (Production still by Becky Fugal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SDSU alum creates unique science fiction film<\/p>\n

By Elena Buckley |<\/strong> SDUN Editorial Assistant<\/p>\n

Banker\u2019s Hill resident JT Bruce has written and directed a short film that is sublimely unreal and makes you think seriously about what would happen if the world around us literally crumbled.<\/p>\n

A recent graduate of San Diego State University (SDSU), Bruce has lived in San Diego for the last six years and has been making movies for most of his life. \u201cStrange Matter,\u201d his latest, is a 21-minute film that began as his senior thesis project and grew over the last two years into a full-fledged movie now ready for public viewing. It will be shown during several film festivals around California this summer.<\/p>\n

The film follows its nameless main character as he is tossed from various universe to universe, trying just as hard as the viewer to understand if the end of the world is near and what that may mean. Bruce uses live action, computer animation, stop motion, claymation and superimposition of different styles to convey his theme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea is that there\u2019s a whole multiverse of universes,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cThe different styles reflect the different universes that make up this world\u2026.Those different styles give you more of an idea that they\u2019re separate, distinct worlds that the characters are moving through.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the film\u2019s producer, Erica Kram, also an SDSU alum, the university rarely uses such variety of technique.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty incredible that he uses so many different mediums of art,\u201d Kram said, referring to the film\u2019s heavy green screen use, unique style combinations and fact that Bruce built a tank from the ground up. \u201cYou hardly ever see this combination of filmmaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce shot using Super 16 film, keeping the quality slightly grainy so as to create a hand-crafted effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big inspiration for this was \u201980s science-fiction movies that were all pre-CGI,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cSo they\u2019re all sets and miniatures that had a more hand-crafted feel to them, which I like.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to writing and directing, Bruce also oversaw all of the film\u2019s animation and music. The animation is a vividly mobile backdrop to the main character\u2019s action, creating a complexity of eye-catching images, while the soundtrack\u2019s soft, ethereal melodies ease the struggle to find one\u2019s visual footing.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no deeper meaning to the resulting lack of focus, Bruce said. The film\u2019s meaning is open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost trying to be psychological, but it\u2019s pretty tongue in cheek at the same time,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cIt tosses around a lot of big ideas but they\u2019re not really the focus. There\u2019s a lot there to think about. It could be potentially really thought-provoking, but it doesn\u2019t have to be. It could just be a crazy animated movie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the film\u2019s weird and quirky bent, Bruce will carefully choose which festivals to submit \u201cStrange Matter\u201d to. Most won\u2019t take place until late August or early September, but some are coming up in the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

Four different festivals have niche categories that \u201cStrange Matter\u201d qualifies for, Kram said: The Accolade Competition, here in San Diego, is a unique awards festival that has been around since 2003, recognizing filmmakers, television producers, videographers and new media creators from all over the world; the Midnight Black Festival of Darkness in Los Angeles with special sci-fi, horror, supernatural and thriller categories; the Bodega Bay International Short Film Festival in the Bay area; and the Fernleif \u201cBack in the Box\u201d festival in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit: strangemattermovie.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SDSU alum creates unique science fiction film By Elena Buckley | SDUN Editorial Assistant Banker\u2019s Hill resident JT Bruce has written and directed a short film that is sublimely unreal and makes you think seriously about what would happen if the world around us literally crumbled. A recent graduate of San Diego State University (SDSU), […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":244308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Strange Matter\u2019 in Banker\u2019s Hill","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}