Staff Select Premiere: "Ghost Dogs" by Joe Cappa |

The film starts simply enough with a cute rescue puppy, gated in the laundry room, looking forward to meeting its new owners. Before the owners arrive, things start to get weird. A robot vacuum starts to scurry around the hallways while the dogs of the previous owners, now mutated anthropomorphic ghosts, tread the hallways. Cappa brilliantly mines humor by subverting human horror tropes: when observed by a pet, the ghosts aren't scary but rather fascinating; as the vacuum cleaner becomes the main antagonist.. These differing tones and atmospheres are beautifully evoked through an edgy, densely outlined, and color saturated style that is reminiscent of MTV's Liquid Television and early RAW comic collection.

The film has been an extremely long-distance journey. Cappa realized he had enough being employed by others and decided to pursue an individual project -- so he took six months to complete his first animated film. Two years later, with post-slow learning curves, mistakes, as well as a crippling arm injury The gamble paid off. "Ghost Dogs" was a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2021, and then went on to appear at a number of local and international festivals.

 Prior to the Staff Pick Premiere, we called Joe to learn more about his inspiration, style, challenges and many more.

 On the inspiration:

 "I was sketching these dogs that are crawling around on hands and knees for long time. They looked weird and made my coworkers laugh. In the past, I made the decision to purchase the Wacom tablet which allowed me to draw directly to the computer. One of the first things I considered to animate was a dog or a person rolling across the floor. The result was okay and I thought I could make a little short film from the footage.

 At the time I was creating music videos for friends' groups, but I'd never worked on a passion idea for myself. I believe I was just trying to prove myself to myself that I was capable of creating something that could have been aired in the MTV channel Liquid Television back in the 90's. I wanted to make something that inspired me when I was a kid when I first came across my father's camera. It's likely that's where the whole vibe originated. The story was just inspired by the premise of every horror film where the family dog barks at something which isn't visible by the rest of the family. I thought it could be something interesting to tell in the event that dogs were able to detect the spirit of dead family members ."

 The dog's personality appearance:

 "I enjoy films and artwork that tread the line between comedy and terror. I think a lot of my work falls into this category as well. It's such a fun emotional response to get out of individuals who aren't sure what to do, if they're afraid or laughing. It's my opinion that the dogs create that reaction. There's also something mysterious about the dog's legs and arms. Are they mostly dogs or is it mostly human? What is the best way to describe something similar be behave? ?"

 The visual style:

 "That goes back to Liquid Television. My director JW Hallford and I were adamant regarding the feel of the film feeling dated. As if it was a short movie which was resurfaced. We added a little film shake, but I wasn't looking to introduce dust or hair. I think the animation style is a good example of the style. It is also important to give a shout out to the background artist Patrick Carroll, who I believe captured the style and attitude of the piece so perfectly. ."

 From a point of view and influences:

 "I consider that the thing I found amusing about writing "Ghost Dogs' was that I was able to play with terror tropes through an animal's point of view. The underlying joke in the whole piece lies in the idea that the pet doesn't seem to be terrified of things they should be scared from, or scared by things that should not be. So I had to make reference to 'The Shining', obviously. 'Poltergeist' was also a huge influence tonally. It even has a reference to Michael Mann's "The Keep". However, I believe the spirit of the actual ghost dog character (no no pun meant) is borrowed heavily from "Gremlins." Are they ridiculous? Are they dangerous? Are they dangerous? ?"

 On conceiving of the character robot vacuum:

 "The original version of the film that I wrote revolved around three dogs that were stranded in their home. I really was just storyboarding for each scene as I was writing it and just coming up with interesting gags and what not. My brother suggested an idea to have a fight with Roomba. The film was rewritten by me with just one dog protagonist The robot vacuum seemed like such an entertaining character and a huge plot device that could provide a lot of misdirection and humor ."

 On challenges faced:

 "I mean this was my first animated movie, therefore it was a process of learning starting from the beginning. Everything was a mistake after a mistake after a mistake. My expectations of being completed in just six months, ended up taking two years. One of the biggest challenges for me, however, was animating the psychedelic scene. The animation ramps up from 12fps up to 24fps, so it was a time-consuming section. Repeatedly making the same drawing repeatedly and over blew out my arm! I developed frozen shoulders and was unable to move my drawing hand beyond the belly button of my body for a good two months. It caused a lot of pain. So I had to take a six month hiatus while I allowed my arm to heal. It was quite a setback. ."

 What's your top piece of advice to aspiring filmmakers?

 "If you're planning to develop yourself your own product (like, not to make it for anybody else It's difficult to find that motivation with the huge risk of going broke. I was a bit afflicted with the fear throughout my life. Somewhere along the line, I really saw no way to continue what I was doing to help other people. I had no endgame. In the same way I was not able to find a goal for making my own crap.

 At the time of your choosing, the only option you have is just to follow the bliss. Do not be troubled by doubt. You make the sacrifices, and take the risk following your passions. I was simply trying to find something that seemed pleasing to me and seems to be paying dividends. It's a very yogi idea to share but I'm not really competent to provide career guidance in that manner, but it's currently working for me and something I would like I'd done earlier. !"

 What's next? Do you have any projects in the pipeline?

"Yeah! I've been producing minute long short films you can find on my instagram @joecappa ."