Twilight Frequencies: The music is so fitting for the different periods of life. Give us an idea how you chose the soundtrack. Who are the Artists?
Kenzie Cooke: Some of the songs I knew I wanted to use as soon as I had a good visualization of the film in my head. I immediately knew “Sis Around the Sandmil” by Avey Tare and Kria Brekkan would be perfect for the Childhood sequence because of its magical, curious mood. It reminds me of just waking up, of yawning and opening your eyes and seeing so much that you didn’t see before. We used Avey Tare and Kria Brekkan a few times, Animal Collective as well. For the songs we weren’t already sure of, we basically went through my iTunes and listened for the right mood.
Twilight Frequencies: Adulthood seems to evoke such a bittersweet time in “Sunder,” do you think being at the latter stages of life is bittersweet? If so, why?
Kenzie Cooke: I’m sure that it is. I’m definitely still in the earlier stages being 18 and Marcos 17, so our interpretation of adulthood was definitely a speculated perspective. I certainly don’t believe that the latter stages of life have to be the way adulthood was represented in Sunder. In fact, I hope that they are not. The ideas portrayed in Sunder represent, for me, one possible reality that many people fall into. Again this is just based on an accumulated general perception, that may actually represent a subconscious fear of my own. Becoming disconnected with a childlike perspective, loosing a sense of wonder or passion. Feeling as if you’re stuck or fallen into a way of life you never pictured for yourself. I’ve felt this actualized in other people i’ve encountered too many times to not address the possibility.
Twilight Frequencies: It’s funny to think back to when I was a child, and a teenager. Your imagery couldn’t be more cogent in that regard. How has your past influenced the sensory you put forth in Sunder? Is the premise autobiographical?
Kenzie Cooke:We wanted the different stages of life to be reminiscent of as many possible experiences as we could in order to really make it powerful for the greatest amount of viewers, so we tried to be vague enough to encompass as many emotions as possible. Of course though, we were biased in what we chose to shoot and on some level the sensory is a reflection of myself as well as Marcos’s combined pasts. We talked about the different experiences of adolescence and childhood and tried to take events vague enough to be relevant to a good amount of people, like the first interactions with love and exploration of the body. It became autobiographical through the emotions we attached to the experiences with the use of color, timing, texture, etc. So the premise is in a sense autobiographical as well, but I’d hope that it feels that way for many people.
Twilight Frequencies: Recently I have been reading into religion, most notably Natural vs Supernatural. Does Sunder’s origins come from a religious Lens?
Kenzie Cooke: No, it wasn’t really influenced by religion.
To Be Continued…..