DIRECTOR BIO
Carlotta Steckner and Adèle Fisch are Animation students and aspiring directors at the Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam. Respectively from Germany and Belgium, they first met in the second year of their studies. With a shared appreciation for both films d’auteur and horror flicks, they ventured into the arthouse horror genre, giving impulse to their first film Pull The Plug.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT
Pull The Plug is a 4 minute 2D animated short film set in the arthouse horror genre. Through an unsettling and dramatic storyline, it stands as an introduction to our main character, Greg, and his environment.

This project first came about when we decided to collaborate in the beginning of our third year. Although we come from very different backgrounds, we initially bonded over our shared love of films - a side to our friendship which ultimately became a central point in our project. With references such as Midsommar (2019), Goodnight Mommy (2014), and Virgin Suicides (1999), we were greatly drawn to these films’ unconventional ways of storytelling and were keen to explore such tropes through the medium of animation. Stepping aside from traditional horror, we aspired to startle our audience by establishing an overarchingly ominous and eerie tone.

Similarly to our inspirations, we wished to explore atmospherical directing, meaning for the short to offer a peak into this dark reality. In the hopes of setting the audience aback, we played on the juxtaposition between a nursing home - a place generally associated to weakness, fragility, and vulnerability - and acts of extreme violence. Without knowing it, we’re led through this tale by none other than the perpetrator himself. As he describes his concerns regarding his fellow residents and staff, we realise bit by bit that the truth might not be the way he makes it out to seem. Held captive by his own delusion, no escape seems to be in sight for him.

Furthermore, we also wanted to portray the sense of isolation, as well as lesser spoken of experiences that come with old age. Literally cut off from his diegetic outside world, Greg hides behind the walls of his imposed prison. He shies away from the light, both afraid to get caught and unable to open himself to a world he doesn’t understand anymore. Secluded from all, Greg finds solace in his mind as he projects his own beliefs onto unsuspecting victims.

Through this short, we wanted to explore a set environment by taking advantage of every of its peculiarities. Said environment ends up becoming a character of its own as it not only sets the scene for Greg’s actions but reveals his true intentions. Our main focus was setting an offbeat tone for a sinister chain of events; through a tense, slow build-up, both the visuals and sound convey an uneasy feeling, which ultimately leads to a final crescendo.

Setting the mood for an uncomfortable watch, Pull The Plug is a project originally made for school which we co-directed and co-produced from start to finish.