meaning i want it to radiate. Usual unaltered real footage doesn´t do this. When i start looking for images that i can use in order to compose my film setting, i have to decide which kind of „aesthetic look“ i need. Each image conveys already a message by it´s -as i put it- „aesthetic look“, by the way the object shown is presented in the found image. This message already there in the image has to be taken in account. If it is a message that doesn´t fit to the message i want the scene to convey, i can´t use it. If i work with animated scenes, the next question to be answered is what kind of action i want to create. Usually action of some elements of the scene should have a certain plausability in order to help the viewer to find her or his way into my film. Because the setting is already very surreal and functions more as a barrier than an invitation to access, it is so important to keep in touch with reality by being aware of how moving objects are precepted by the spectator. If i would let the moving element conduct action too unrealistic, the film would be spoilt. Nobody would be interested in watching even a second. The last element to be regarded is the sound. The sound should underline the theme and be part of the message. On the other side the sound is an important part of the picture and has to conduct a certain role. Sometimes sound catches the spectator´s attention away from the visual aspect of the film. If this is the case the composition of the soundtrack has to be done as carefully as i compose the scene. In my latest film works sound plays an very independent role. Some sounds are set to be an „actor“ itself by representing an object or a character not visually present in the picture, e.g. the gun shots in the Paradise Gardens + Spa film „Morgue“ where butterflies after a gun shot heard in the background disappear from the screen. We have previously mentioned Jan Svankmajer, yet your filmmaking style is very far from what is generally considered 'academic'. Who among international artists and directors influenced your work? It´s funny that you mentioned Jan Svankmajer. He influenced Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, who are two of my main sources of inspiration regarding Hollywood cinema. Other sources
are the films „Pan Tau“ of czech film maker Jindrich Polák and the czech „black theatre“. In Prague I visited once a „black theatre“ show that impressed me very much by reducing the stage elements on black background and some partially very independent and surreal acting elements in bright colors in the foreground nevertheless telling a full story. When i grew up i consumed a lot of czech films available on tv. I used to be impressed by the late czech culture, uninfluenced by the communist regime. Other influences are of course- as you may think- Fellini, Antonioni,