"Ghost Dogs" Staff Pick"Ghost Dogs" Staff Pick "Ghost Dogs" by Joe Cappa |

The film starts simply enough with a cute rescue dog locked in the laundry room, looking forward to meeting its new owners. When the new owners show up the scene begins to become odd. The robot vacuum begins moving around the halls while the dogs of the former owners, now transformed ghosts of ananthropomorphic appearance, wander the hallways. Cappa is cleverly utilizing humor in dismantling the horror stereotypes of humans: If pets observe them ghosts, they aren't terrifying however they are fascinating, especially when they are viewed by the vacuum cleaner, it becomes their main antagonist.. This variety of atmospheres and shades can be beautifully captured with an intriguing, sharply sketched and vibrant color style that is reminiscent of MTV's Liquid Television and early RAW comic collection.

It's been a long trip. Cappa discovered he was not being employed by others and decided to create the project himself and that's why it took him six months to create his first animated film. A couple of years later the filmmaker was struggling with his post-school education and errors, and a devastating arm injury The gamble was rewarded. "Ghost Dogs" was screened at the Sundance Film Festival 2021, and then went on to screen in a variety of festivals both local and international.

Prior to the Premiere of the Staff Pick we called Joe to talk about his personality, inspiration, challenges and lots more.

The inspiration for the song:

     "I have drawn these dogs , who are playing on their hands and knees for a long period of time. They appeared strange and even made my colleagues smile. At that point, I made the choice to buy the Wacom tablet which would allow my drawing to be directly onto the computer. The first thing I considered to animate was a dog or person rolling across the flooring. It was a good result which allowed me make a short video from the footage.

     In the beginning I would make music videos for group of friends, but I'd never really had an idea to myself. I think I was trying to prove myself to myself that I was capable to create something that could be broadcast in the MTV channel Liquid Television back in the 1990's. I was trying to create something that would be inspiring to me back when I was as a child and first came across the camera that my father had. This is probably the main source of the inspiration behind this story. The story was set like a horror flick that has a dog in the family barking at something which isn't visible by the rest of the family. It was intriguing to explore in the event that dogs were able to discern ghosts of family members . "

The appearance of the dog

     "I am a huge fan of films and other forms of works of art that blur the boundaries between comedy and terror. Much of what I do fits into this exact category. It's a great emotion to be able to express in people who don't know what they should do when they're afraid or having fun. It's my opinion that the canines are the ones that trigger that feeling. There's also something mysterious regarding the dog's legs as well as arms. Are they exclusively for dogs or do they mostly belonged to human beings? What is the best way to define something like what it does? ? "

     The style of visuals:    

     "That refers to Liquid Television. My producer JW Hallford as well as myself were adamant regarding the feel of the movie as obsolete. As a short film, it was renovated. Also, we added a tiny film shake, but I didn't intend to make hair or dust. The animation style illustrates this style. Also, it is crucial to acknowledge the background designer Patrick Carroll, who I consider to have captured the look and mood so well. . "

 From an angle, and impacts:

     "I think the thing that made me laugh while I wrote "Ghost Dogs" was that I was able to experiment with the terror genres through the eyes of the animal. The funniest part of the piece comes from the fact that the animal doesn't appear to be afraid of things that they should be afraid of and isn't scared of things that should not be. This is why I decided to draw an allusion to 'The Shining', obviously. 'Poltergeist' was also massively influential in terms of tone. It even has an allegorical reference in Michael Mann's "The Keep". However, I believe the character's spirit ghost dog (no no pun intended) is heavily adapted from "Gremlins." Are they snarky? Are they dangerous? Are they high risk? ? "

     HTML1 Thinking of the character robot vacuum:    

     "The original version of the film that I wrote consisted of three dogs who had been left stranded in their homes. It was really just a storyboard for each of the scenes I created while writing it, as well as making up intriguing jokes and so on. My brother had an idea to have an disagreement with Roomba. The story was revised by me, using just one dog's main character. The robotic vacuum was thought to be a fun character as well as a huge plot device that would provide lots of misdirection and entertainment . "

On challenges faced:

     "I call this my first animated movie and therefore it was an experience of learning from the very beginning. The entire process was an error following the mistake of a previous mistakes. The plan I had to finish the project in six months resulted in two years. The biggest challenge for me is animating these psychedelic scenes. The animation speed increases from 12fps to 24fps. This was a very time-consuming component. After drawing the same sketch frequently and repeatedly, I blew out my arm! My shoulders became frozen and I couldn't draw my hand any further beyond the belly button my body for a good two months. It caused me to experience a large amount of discomfort. So, I had to endure a six-month absence to allow my arm to recuperate. This was a very painful back experience. . "

     What's your favorite point of advice for new film makers?    

     "If you're contemplating creating an own item (like but not making any other product) it's hard to get this motivation without the massive chance of being broke. I've been a victim of fear for all of my life. In the end I could not see any way to continue going about my business of to help other people. I had no endgame. Like how I was not able to think of plans for the development of my own junk.

     When it comes to the timing of your decision all you can choose is to go with the flow. You must be confident in your decision. The sacrifices you make are yours and you take the risk of following your passions. It was just a matter of trying to discover something that was satisfying to me, and appears to pay dividends. This is a very yogi idea to impart, but I'm just not able to provide career guidance this way, however it's working now for me and is something I wish I'd done prior to now. ! "

     What's next? Are you working on any new projects? on the horizon?

"Yeah! I've been creating minute-long short films you can find on my Instagram @joecappa ."

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