Joey Jones – Q&A

Q: You mention in the credits that LITTLE RED PLANE was based on a short story by Howard Kouo.  Say more about that connection.
Joey: The story development process for the film was collaborative and evolved as we made it. Howard had recently served in the military before attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and offered to help flesh out the story’s arc.  His experiences in the service helped shape our boy’s desire from simply going out to fly a toy plane…to re-connecting with a father who recently left for war. It was this need that helped fuel the entire story’s structure.

Q: This is a short film (just shy of 6 ½ minutes).  For those of us who are unfamiliar with the process of animated film tell us how much time it takes to create a film like this that is so beautifully made on all levels.
Joey: This film took us 2 years to complete while we were full time students. However, this film was made over 10 year ago, hence the technology and methodology has changed quite a great deal. Although the process of making animated films has remained relatively the same, the mere fact that computers are exponentially faster and our craft has improved, we could make this exact film in a quarter of the time today. For example, a frame of animation that would take over an hour to render then, would take a few minutes today.  However, as artists we are constantly pushing the technology and hardware to produce better results in telling the stories. Hence, we still find ourselves waiting hours for renderings because now we have four times as much going on in the shot.

Q: You chose to create a film without any dialogue.  Talk about your decision to use brilliant colors and imagery to tell the story.
Joey:  At the time, a short film titled “The Red Balloon” heavily influenced us. It tells a story of a boy with a red balloon and his journey through the streets of Paris, France, without the use of dialogue or narration. I knew that if we could tell this story without relying on dialogue, we could pull off something special that would resonate around the world. Plus, we didn’t have the money or resources to record anyone!
The color red in the toy and father’s plane, cardinal, the sunset, and leaves in the tree at the end were all thematic elements I used that image to link the elements together.

Q: The father-son relationship in this film is so poignant.   On one level it feels very specific and personal.  But at the same time it appears to be a universal tribute to generations of servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their families and their country.  Talk a bit about that aspect of the film.  Did you have a particular story in mind?
Joey: Both of my grandfathers served in WWII so it felt right to set the story during that time period. We started making the film before the events of 9-11, and finished in a much different world. When we screened the film in 2002 and 2003, it was quickly apparent that the film had a much deeper and profound meaning.  Although we didn’t have a specific story we were sourcing from, as I showed the film across the country at festivals, it was amazing how many people approached me to say this was their story.

Q: The cardinal plays an important role in your film and brings a profound spiritual dimension to the story.   Tell us a bit about that aspect of the film.
Joey:   I attended St. Charles Preparatory high school in Columbus, OH and was a proud Cardinal (our mascot). It started as homage to where I came from, and ended up as the ideal symbol for flight. There’s also a rich methodology in birds as angels, which I think came to me instinctually.

Q: You have continued to work in the area of animation.  Share a little bit about the projects you have been working on recently
Joey:  I’ve been extremely fortunate to continue working and make a living within animation. Unfortunately, the projects I’m currently working on at 42Entertainment have not been released to the public and hence, I can’t talk much about it. However, you can see a 2 minute reel of my directing work in stop motion commercials for Mattel, various game spots, and numerous marketing campaigns for theatrical releases on the following website.