Interview: SIL VAN DER WOERD

Sil van der Woerd is an independent filmmaker and graduate of the Academy of Arts and Design in Arnhem, Netherlands and attended the Gnomon School of Visual Effects. In 2004, he created Duet and recently released his follow-up Swim. Both works combine live action, effects, and music to carry their narratives and create

Swim - LINK


Duet - LINK

Do you see yourself as an artist, craftsman, or combination of the two? And why?

As an artist. I make films because I want to share a story with an audience, to show them worlds that are inside my head. I don't make films to show that I am able to make them. The precise work of reaching a certain level of detail in the images (to make the imaginative worlds appear convincing) could be called craftsmanship though.

Soundtracks are a dominant feature of your work. Would you explain your choices of music for both Duet and Swim, and how they relate to the shorts as a whole?
I pick the soundtracks to underline the films atmosphere. For Duet, I wanted a combination of classical and modern music, since that was the theme of the film. I chose heavy beats because I wanted every contradictory and energetic element opposite the sweet girl and dragonfly.

For Swim, I wanted a pulsing soundtrack, subtle in it's changes. Cold, almost like the sound of the ramming of piles underwater.

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