How ‘Border Hopper’ Used Mixed Media to Turn Immigration into a Video Game

In his newest hybrid movie, Border Hopper, Nico Casavecchia tackles the usually solemn topic of immigration with a distinctively chaotic, psychedelic lens.Co-written together with his spouse, Mercedes Arturo, and based mostly on their very own lived experiences, the movie reimagines the American immigration system not simply as a hurdle, however as a high-stakes online game the place the principles are continually altering.We sat down with the filmmaker to debate how he used blended media to bridge storytelling gaps, the challenges of taking pictures in his own residence to save lots of price range, and why he believes administrators ought to cease making decks and begin making movies.Let’s dive in. – YouTubewww.youtube.comNFS: Hello Nico! Your movie Border Hopper weaves animation alongside live-action in a manner that reshapes how we interpret the characters’ experiences. What storytelling hole did animation let you bridge that live-action alone couldn’t?Nico Casavecchia: I’m a self-taught filmmaker, so I’ve all the time used no matter instruments have been round me to inform tales. My first quick was shot on a grainy 480p webcam. Animation shortly turned a strategy to specific the subjectivity of my characters, and over time, my voice drifted towards blended media, creating hybrid initiatives for movie and commercials.Whereas writing Border Hopper, a Henry Rollins quote that had been sloshing in my head for years got here again to me: “America shouldn’t be a spot you reside in, it’s a online game you survive.” It made me consider my very own immigration experiences, not simply within the US but additionally in Europe, the place I lived for a decade once I was youthful. The thought of immigration as a online game turned a guideline for the writing and the visible growth. As filmmakers, we’re all the time in search of a visible metaphor that may condense an idea clearly, and having a personality expertise her immigration journey as a online game was good for animation. My pal Martín Allais and his studio BRUT helped me form the visible language. I needed to evoke the sugar-rush, psychedelic nature of row-puzzle video games like Sweet Crush and blend that with immigration places of work and the sensation of going via Kafkaesque paperwork mazes the place each impediment you conquer simply reveals a brand new one ready across the nook.NFS: The movie’s palette feels nearly like a personality in its personal proper. What emotional or narrative operate did you need the colour design to function the story unfolded?NC: As soon as we knew Sweet Crush can be the start line for the video-game design, your entire animation palette fell into place. From there, it turned about distinction. Laura’s actual life sits in muted, chilly hues, whereas the sport explodes with saturated shade. As her descent into insanity progresses, the video-game world begins to erupt into her actuality, and by the tip, each merge. This evolution can also be mirrored within the movie’s side ratio, which traps Laura in a 1:1 body as quickly as she discovers she’s anticipated to journey for the job.NFS: Touring the movie throughout festivals exposes you to all kinds of audiences. Was there a selected screening the place the gang’s response shocked you or made you see the movie in a brand new mild?NC: Folks actually reply to an immigration story advised from such an unorthodox angle. Audiences admire that we didn’t strategy the topic with solemnity however as an alternative pushed right into a breathless, psychedelic trip that mixes humor and horror. The movie turned a strategy to course of the actual occasions behind it. Every thing within the story occurred to me and my spouse, Mercedes Arturo, who wrote it with me. We needed to giggle on the absurdity of what we went via, and I feel individuals join with that take.NFS: As a result of the movie gestures towards lived expertise whereas embracing surreal parts, how did you determine which components of actuality to protect and which to distort?NC: I all the time strategy absurd or surreal conditions from a spot of realism. You both desire a sane character in a loopy world or an insane character in a secular world, however not each on the similar time. The identical applies to how I work with actors. It’s all the time extra partaking when a personality reacts in a grounded strategy to probably the most absurd state of affairs. I ask myself, what would I do if I abruptly discovered myself dropped right into a online game? That turned the start line for the tone shifts. We don’t spend time explaining why the world behaves this fashion, however we’re cautious to verify all the pieces feels genuine, and the stakes are clear.NFS: Was there a selected problem or impediment throughout the making of Border Hopper that ended up reshaping the movie for the higher?NC: Impartial filmmaking is all the time about working round an absence of sources. In Border Hopper, our price range was extraordinarily restricted for a really formidable venture, so we ended up taking pictures in our residence, which I positively don’t advocate to different filmmakers. It was fairly surreal to reenact the occasions in the very same place the place they initially occurred.NFS: Trying again now, what did this venture train you about your personal relationship to migration, reminiscence, or storytelling?NC: Positively, the lesson discovered is about execution. Border Hopper is a type of initiatives that solely is smart as soon as it exists, however may be very onerous to speak on the web page. It’s a standard difficulty for filmmakers who’re administrators first. You’ve a imaginative and prescient in your head that feels too difficult in script kind, but you already know it can work as soon as it’s visible. That’s the storytelling lesson for me: cease making decks, make movies as an alternative!