I love the cyberpunk visual style of Sci-Fi Short “Breaker” by Philippe McKie. Great cinematography and art direction are the best references for the futuristic Neon Japan cyberpunk look.
In tomorrow’s Tokyo, the technologically-enhanced body of a young mercenary hacker is overrun by a sentient data weapon. Wanted, the parasitic A.I becomes her only ally as she is chased across the city by those seeking to salvage it. Directed by Philippe McKie.
Interviews with director Philippe can be found on OFFScreen.com
Offscreen: Could you talk about the process of making this film? Without getting into specific numbers, how did you raise the money? Where did you find your cast and crew? Was it difficult to get permission to shoot exteriors, or did you just shoot without permission? How long did the editing and sound mix take, and were there any unusual or difficult problems that arose while doing this? And while we’re on the subject, could you talk about the process of making BREAKER (same questions)? Also, how far apart did you make the films? Was one harder to shoot? Why?
PM: The two films were shot just one week apart from each other and with the same crews and production methods. I was the art director on both and the locations are places I’ve scouted over the years. I produced both films on a very tight budget with a small but talented team. Over the years, I’ve learned the hard way the limits of safe guerrilla-style filmmaking. Most of the exterior scenes were shot this way, but we got permission for all interior locations. An interesting interior scene was the club in BREAKER. I collaborated with the legendary event organizer of the infamous monthly event Tokyo Decadence to create a real party in which we shot the scene. That bar, called DecabarZ, is home to some of Tokyo’s most eccentric fashion and party subcultures, and many of the people in that scene, including the cyber-DJ, are friends of mine that appear as they do in their daily lives! My crew is very international and composed of hungry artists drawn to the cinematic potential of Japan. The director of photography with whom I shot both films is called Hans, and although we both graduated from MHSOC 2 in Montreal, we met for the first time in Tokyo! He was crucial to creating the looks of each film, and I’m very proud that he’s received many awards for his work on these projects!
continue reading this great interview on offscreen
The second interview comes from MATTHEW TOFFOLO’S SUMMARY
How would you describe your short film in two words!?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH C̼Y̜̫̣͓B͍͎̮E̙̜ͅR̠͖̥̞P͍̳̬U̪̼N̦̦̦̦͇K̮̳̰
