5 Questions with Luke Strickler

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

I had a friend who was way better than me at it. I spent most of high school playing Halo 3 and listening to dubstep remixes of Linkin Park, then at some point my friend exposed me to the idea that you could do something outside those two things. He was always making videos and eventually got me involved, which was great because if I had to get into it alone I probably never would have. Everything snowballed from there. Now I'm confident enough to go and make something alone, but its all based off that first experience making stupid stuff with friends for fun.

2) What was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?

At first I just wanted to put a big butt in the sky. But then you start asking questions like why that big butt is in the sky, so I came up with my take on an "outernet", where in the future there's so much data transferring through the air that it clumps together and becomes visible. Everyone is Googling butts. I still didn't have a full idea for a short yet, so I just made a new floating thing every now and again for fun. The short really started rolling once I made the Mario scene. It was so cinematic and dumb, it felt like the future to me. Next came the music, which is from my friend DOT PONY's beat tape, Impro Lea. He makes these great, messy futuristic beats and this one is my favorite. That and the voiceover, which I made using an AI software from Replica Studios, were two things I was really excited to use. But it wasn't until the COVID pandemic that I worked out the full idea of the short. Everyone was online, asking what the future's going to look like, and it felt comforting to come up with some answers. 

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?

I only wanted to use what I could find for free online, so I couldn't really pick and choose whatever I wanted for the short. It was a lot of searching, trial and error. The process would usually start with finding an interesting stock shot, then finding a quality 3D model that could fit the shot, rotoscoping it in, animation, lighting, and then finally figuring out what Jim Carrey's head from The Mask floating over a mall plaza has to do with the future. That was the best part too. Worldbuilding and joke writing in one. 

4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

I'm going through all the Studio Ghibli movies for the first time and wasn't expecting to love The Wind Rises as much as I did. I usually go for their more fantastical stuff but the way they took that animation style and used it to tell a real world story blew me away. The earthquake scene is the most frightening natural disaster I've seen in a movie. 

5) What’s next for you?  

2065. Just kidding. I'd love to do more with 2064. I had originally planned it as a web series with this being the first episode, but wanted to make this first to see if it warranted more. I wouldn't want to do the same thing twice so I gotta figure out how to take it to a new place. I'm learning Blender right now and will probably want to make a few shorts with that before making a larger project like this. I don't think I'll ever stop making shorts. Maybe if they rerelease Halo 3. 

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