Burtonite Filmmaker Interviews, part III: Kevin Schreck (Fuzzy Duck)

An Interview with Kevin Schreck
By Michael Smith
October 7th, 2007

Kevin Schreck (a.k.a, Fuzzy Duck, on the Tim Burton Collective) has been a filmmaker for years. His stop-motion animated satire, An Interview with Death, was a Golden Borton Award Winner in 2006. In this interview, the filmmaker talks about his interest in working on various genres of films, working from documentaries to animation simultaneously, and sometimes accidentally bringing out his own personality in the characters he’s created…

Michael Smith: When did you first start making movies?

Kevin Schreck: When I was ten years old, I felt compelled to try messing around with my dad's camcorder. The first couple of films I made involved two puppets, a mallard duck, named Fuzzy Duck, and a hippopotamus, named Billy Bob. The short movies were about ten minutes in length, each scene shot in sequence (since I didn't have any computer programs for movie editing and since it was an 8 mm camera, I believe), and had some music cues, props, etc. I supplied both characters with their movements and voices from beneath a table. I made about four of these movies, I think, adding new characters along the way and drawing them a lot. When I was 11, I received a computer program called "Lego Studios," which allowed you to make stop-motion or live-action short movies. I tinkered around again with the puppets and with some "Simpsons" action figures and toy dinosaurs and such.

MS: When did you realize filmmaking was the career you wanted to pursue?

KS: I'm not entirely certain when that moment was. I guess it became a conscious realization after making the stop-motion experiments on "Lego Studios." I had tried out a lot of forms of art, like drawing, photography, music, acting, and more. But none really fully captivated me (except for drawing). I guess, subconsciously, I felt that film encompassed all of those forms of art for one big project to tell a story.

MS: What filmmakers do you admire the most?

KS: Tim Burton is the big one for me. I really admire his work because he is able to work in so many different kinds of genres and styles and still leave that unique, personal touch to them. Stanley Kubrick is another one. Again, he really was able to work with various genres and still speak very profoundly and convey his own artistic styles and techniques. Others that I really like are Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Moore, Sergio Leone, and Ed Wood. So a lot of different filmmakers with different styles, who worked with different genres, and came from different eras.

MS: Would you like to work in several genres, like the directors you mentioned? Or is there a certain type of film you'd like to be making?

KS: Working in several different genres appeals to me the most. I'd feel a little confined to just one genre. I mean, there are some directors who really defined and even revolutionized the genres they worked in. But for me, personally, I like embracing an eclectic taste. I think being able to tell stories in different ways, with different atmospheres and issues and such, is very appealing. There's so much to do. Different mediums of filmmaking, too, from live-action narratives to documentaries to animated films.

MS: What's your favorite film that you've made?

KS: Probably An Interview with Death. That was a real labor of love. Almost two years of my life went into making that film, so, in order to complete that project, on practically no budget and with things like school going on, that was a big feat, and I had to be really into it and dedicated to it. Plus, I love the medium of stop-motion animation. It's such an organic, tangible style.

MS: Where did the idea for An Interview with Death come from?

KS: Well, I went to Interlochen Arts Camp when I was fourteen. I went there for musical theater, but my favorite class was my elective, sculpture. It turned out the teacher, Jason Johnston, had worked with stop-motion before, and he said he'd be willing to help me make the armatures I'd need for the puppets for a film, if I wanted to. This was the first time I actually had the opportunity to try out stop-motion and construct my own characters and such, which I had been drawing a lot, and I only had four weeks to do it. Although I had worked with stop-motion before, I was still a novice, so I wanted to avoid more difficult things like walk cycles. Seeing how walk cycles would be tricky, I decided that an interview structure would be best, by having all of the characters sit down, and tell a story.

Kevin Schreck with the cast of An Interview with Death (2006).

MS: An Interview with Death is almost completely character-driven, centering on four eccentric personalities. Were these characters your creations, or was it a collaboration between you and the actors?

KS: I had the general design of the characters for a while. They consisted of Fuzzy Duck, this girl with a beret, a guy in a regular sort of corporate employee look but with a brown paper bag over his head, and the Grim Reaper. So they were really sort of one-dimensional before production began. I showed the actors, Laura, Bill, and Brendan, some sketches and the puppets (which weren't even finished yet), just to give them a vague idea of who they were playing. I had them sit in a chair, let the camera roll for about thirty to forty minutes and had them just improvise their material. I did the same with myself for Fuzzy Duck (though I was going to be the paper-bag guy, John Jackson, before I got Brendan). They came up with some really funny material, but I had to choose only the best, most important material (only about two or three minutes a piece, at most) to use, since the animation would be so laborious and time-consuming. After the movie was finished, there was this weird, circular feeling to how the characters had developed. Even though the actors really brought them to life, I found some traits in myself in the characters. I guess those originate more from the drawings.

MS: Fuzzy Duck seems to appear from time to time throughout your work. Do you plan on reusing any of the other characters?

KS: Possibly. I'd like to come up with some more characters some time. I love the ones I have, but it's good to keep drawing, observing strange, funny things, and sort of personalizing them. I guess Fuzzy Duck comes up the most because I relate to him most. He's this short, odd, kind of angry guy who just seems to vent about a lot of messed-up things in the world. I'm not usually that easily enraged or irritated, but I like those characters that are aware of those little annoyances in the world. It's cathartic to bring your own quirks out with a character. Also, I like ducks; they're my favorite animal. My very first drawing was of a duck, so that's a personal thing for me. Lula (the girl with the beret) is interesting, too. She sort of is a tribute, as well as a parody, of modern liberalism. But it's kind of hard writing for a female character, being male. It's good to work with what you know (even though I'm not a duck).

MS: What led you to make Dear Leader: Mr. Kim?

KS: I had begun the drawings and making the puppets for Interview in the summer of 2004. But then school came along, and I had to focus on my grades and classes. Also, I didn't have the technology for Interview so I had to put it on hiatus. But I still wanted to make a movie. Luckily, I found out that my history class was going to have this big, technological project for the whole second semester. The project would be focused on a contemporary world conflict, and that was all I knew. Making a movie was an option, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to be able to make a movie while simultaneously contributing to my classes and schoolwork. So I decided on making a documentary on North Korea, and the dictator of the country, Kim Jong-Il. I started the movie in the fall, reading about a dozen books on the subject. It's such a fascinating situation; it's really the only place left in the world with that sort of communist regime. And Kim Jong-Il is such a weird, mysterious character. He's like some sort of Hollywood super-villain.

MS: I often find it easier to complete a film when it's for a project or a festival (i.e., the Golden Borton Awards) because you have a deadline that spurs you on. Do you feel the same way?

KS: I guess so. I think having a certain amount of pressure like a deadline is really motivating, or else you may not finish a project. It can be hectic, but that's part of the process of filmmaking. I had a deadline for Dear Leader: Mr. Kim more than on Interview, which was more of a personal goal of mine. So I've kind of worked with both. I guess I'd have to try it out more to find out what works best for me. It can be a hindrance, too, though, but you learn from your mistakes.

A drawing of Fuzzy Duck meeting his doom for An Interview with Death (2006).

MS: You seem to enjoy animation, from your drawings to your film, An Interview with Death. Do you have any plans for future animated films?

KS: Nothing official as of the moment. I've been messing around a bit with an idea called Fuzzy Duck Goes Hawaiian. I'd like it to be a cel-animated film, kind of like the old shorts from the 1930s and 1940s from Warner Bros. The technology would certainly not be the same, but I'd like to capture that sort of energy to it: the manic energy, the character expressions and movement, the artistry of those films in general. I don't really have a synopsis of the film. I just like the idea of putting my character, Fuzzy Duck, in a setting like Hawaii, with the stereotypical music and such. It's a very different place from anywhere else I've been, so that'd be fun to try out.

MS: Any plans for future projects in general?

KS: Again, nothing official as of now. I wrote a screenplay last year, though. It's not completed, but it's a comedy about these two poor, middle-aged guys who live on the St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin and enter a local fishing competition for a cash prize. I don't know whether it'd be a feature-length film or a short, but I hope to do it someday. I'd need actors, though. Another idea is a documentary on the issue of creationism/intelligent design vs. evolution. That's a debate that's really interested me. There's this multi-million dollar Creation museum that opened in Kentucky this year. I'd love to check it out...

MS: Any inspirational words for all the other indie filmmakers out there?

KS: Don't be afraid to go out there with just a camera and make something. I know I'm not the only one, or the first one, to say this, but really, if you have creativity, motivation, and a camera, that's really all you need. Don't allow issues like budgets or transportations or actors (or a lack thereof) to stop you from expressing your ideas and making something that you think is important, something that you think would be entertaining, or something that you think would just be a lot of fun to make. The best way to get into filmmaking is simply by making films.

MS: Thanks for your time, Kevin.

KS: No problem, Michael. Thank you very much.