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Otto von Schirach has a dinner date. But there’s nothing to eat. Lightbulb. Otto gets an idea. In a laboratory, complete with smoking beakers, styling lab coats, and a shitload of equipment, the musician decides to concoct an intergalactic eel. Yes, an eel, a slimy disgusting animated eel, made out of bass, yes, {{{{BASS}}}}, all so that he could cook this eel for his dinner date and true romantic love Monica Lopez de Victoria, from the TM Sisters. Sound weird enough?
This was the premise of last month’s short feature, Otto and the Electric Eel, which premiered at the Borscht Film Festival. New Times caught up with von Schirach via e-mail while he was on tour in Europe.
The crowd-pleasing flick was a fast paced, five-minute trip,
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well-directed by the Brooklyn-based Duncan Stiles and his Waverly Films
production company. Of course creating an intergalactic bass eel from
scratch doesn’t go off without complications. The eel gets away,
calamity ensues, and Otto eventually hunts, captures, cooks, and eats
the little fucker, with his date. Awww. Happily-ever-after for one of
the more entertaining shorts of the evening.
New Times: What did you think of the film?
Otto Von Schirach: Beyond awesome. Miami has brilliant adventurous mind talents. Huge brains.
How was it working with filmmaker Duncan Stiles?
Precise
precision. Exact. No mistakes, ha! He is super fun. Good laughs. And a
perfectionist at his art. He made me step it up a level on many terms.
Define the electric eel…
Slimy, juicy, wet and fun. The eel is cute and cuddly, every one should have an eel at home. It’s the Gizmo of the 2012s.
Was it hard working with a computer generated antagonist (bad guy)?
No
way, one of the directors, head of the eel, Mr. Zuchero, he obsessed
with the eel after eating sushi and eel every day for a month. He became
the eel, he was reborn as the eel and started even getting an eel rash
and his skin was adapting to the earth. We were blessed to have his
presence.
Um. OK. So how long did filming take? Where did you guys shoot?
Roughly 36 hours. We shot at the Dorsch Gallery. The huge room in the back, which is my Bass Palace and Studio love.
What do you think of the Borscht Film Festival?
The
festival is super rad. I am so happy to be a part of it. To watch and
help it grow to an international audience. The Borscht guys are super
special.
Otto, define weird.
Normal.
Okay, then define normal.
Weird.
Had a feeling you were going to say that.
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