Rasquachismo. Sleep Dealer is a science fiction set in Mexico. In the script I described everything from exploding buildings and fighter-jet dogfights to remote-control robots. The effects were never the focus of the film — they existed to give a politicized futuristic setting for my characters. When time came to actually produce the insanely challenging visuals, my amazing d.p. and VFX supervisor and I solved many, many problems with rasquachismo. Rasquachismo refers to a spirit in Latino communities of taking what’s at hand, cobbling it together, and making something wondrous out of it. Like using parts of one old car […]
If I could’ve had 10 percent more of something on Chronic Town, I would have to say that it would’ve been 10 percent more length on our extension cords. That may sound odd, but when you have to plug in your production vehicles (which on our budget equaled two minivans) to prevent the oil in your car from freezing overnight, then every inch counts. During the winter in Alaska, you need to plug your car into an outlet to keep the oil in your engine from freezing (it’s advised to be plugged in when it’s below zero, which it was […]