NIGHT OF THE DIMENSION TROLL, 8min., South Africa
Directed by Tyrone Donovan Patrick
One dark night... a little boy gets ripped from a wonderful dream when a terrible little troll appears through a portal at the end of his bed... and steals his blanket!

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

'Night of the Dimension Troll' (or 'Nag van die Dimensie Trol', original Afrikaans title) is a culmination of wanting to do a scary, silly, fun, fantasy children's story in book format, with simple and clear illustrations that told the story visually well enough that a young child could follow along by looking at the pictures alone, not even needing to hear or understand the narration. I wanted to take an everyday setting, ie: a house/home, and transform it into, a type of, epic fantastical setting, by taking the characters and shrinking them down to a diminutive scale and thus magnifying the world around them to epic proportions. I also wanted a supernatural villain that was a bit of a menace, that would create a sense of urgency- the longer they didn't get to him, the more trouble he'd create for our heroes.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

The story had been brewing in my mind for a few years. I finally got around to completing the story & script and then started with the illustrations. There were nearly sixty in total (not all of which made it into the final film) which took me about three months to complete. The final editing took me just over a week or so to complete, so you could say ultimately around four months.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Spellbinding & exciting (hopefully)

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Completing the illustrations was a major challenge. I always wanted to do the story as a children's illustrated book, but the idea changed to making it into a short film. I had the opportunity to work on the illustrations full time and so I did. The illustrations were all hand drawn in graphite colouring pencils, which took me around 12 - 16 hours of drawing full time, everyday.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was pleasantly surprised that it had mostly been received well, it seemed that even though the audience were adults (obviously), they said they'd been quite captivated by the story which was awesome to hear.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

In my early 20's I did a degree in visual communication and took 'Video' as a subject in my second year and discovered- "Hey! This is awesome". I've been in love with the medium ever since.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Full Metal Jacket

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

Anything that would create the opportunity to screen the film to as wide an audience as possible.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Great. The website is very simple & straightforward to use. Maybe too easy even.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Seafood.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I'm currently working on a documentary on ancient stone circle ruins in Southern Africa.