Yesterday we watched the exceptional short film by Kenzie Cooke called “Sunder.” Reading over Ms. Cooke’s answers this morning its not hard to formulate the opinion that this young Artist is a thinker, and maybe even a wise soul. She answers with confidence and an ease that typically comes through from an individual with a little more experience in life. She is a young artist at the age of 18, and her material would suggest she’s lived once before, or as she suggests in her answers, has seen “it” before, within the progression of other people. “It” being life, and its cycles, and the reality that we all can choose our destinies. Life doesn’t have to come with a cubicle, or the rigors of a nine to five – sadly they do all too often. Kenzie knows this, and is doing all she can to stop it with a film like “Sunder.”
Twilight Frequencies: This piece has a great deal of self-reflection and a certain absoluteness that’s both profoundly enlightened and predictably sad. When you were going through its creation what were your intentions, your thoughts, and your mood revealing to you?
Kenzie Cooke: At first I was positive that I wanted to make this film because I was discovering a trend of diminished passion, of regret and conceding, in the adult world. I was hoping that with this film I could help reawaken some sort of connection within people to their past and their dreams, a reflection, or maybe even lead someone to realize they’ve suffered a loss. But at some point I became aware that I also was attempting to distance myself from a fear I have of suffering such a loss. Through making this film and putting what energy and thought I did into it, hopefully I’ve saved myself from going down such a path.
Twilight Frequencies: Who assisted in this project and in what ways did they contribute? Idea, filming, score, etc?
Kenzie Cooke: The project was ultimately a collaborative effort, mostly between myself, and Marcos Gasc. I’d like to think Marcos and I were co-everything. The idea initially came about in a round circle discussion type hang out between Marcos, our friend Mauricio, and myself. The development from that point came mostly from Marcos and I. I wrote the outline, or “script” for lack of a better word. Marcos and I both shot the footage. I edited, Marcos helped. We talked through every decision together and I think the cooperation paid off.
Twilight Frequencies: What was the time frame for this piece? Did it come to you quickly, or was it a fragmented process, meaning did you allow time to suggest an improvisational quality?
Kenzie Cooke: We planned on entering a film into a small competition held every year at our high school, so there was a time element, however once we solidified the idea of Sunder, the time and competition weren’t our concern anymore. We really wanted to focus on making this piece as best a representation of our concept as possible. Once we had a firm grasp on what we wanted to do, the rest came about pretty easily. I can’t really speak for Marcos, but I know that most of my best work has come out of experimenting and letting one thing lead to another or create a space for a new element, mostly in editing or cinematography. I believe Sunder followed a more traditional time line than any thing else I’ve done. But by no means was it lacking any improvisational qualities.
To Be Continued…..