EI: Emotional Intelligence - by Dennis Kim

"The story of an AI unit who is anything but artificial."

BUREAU: When you decided to make this short film, where did you start?

I began brainstorming about a film about artificial intelligence units since around September of 2015, and the production process began from there until August 1st 2016. Having come from a background in which hand drawing my animations was within my comfort zone, I decided to integrate After Effects and definitely some more tools in the editing process this time. Though the animation has seen countless changes over time, it did begin with the idea of, "what if people could transfer emotions from one being to another?"

BUREAU: What kind of hurdles do you face as a filmmaker working in short film?

I personally find that as an independent animator, time in animation production really is the equivalent to production value in live action filmmaking. Because I know that the final product can and most often will lead to something greater if more time is invested upon it, it can be incredibly draining as a one-man animator to juggle all parts of the production process on my own. I think a balance is really essential as an animator and there are moments when you need to sit back and not overthink things, since it can often be terrifying to invest so much of whatever time you have left into your work.

BUREAU: What projects are you working on next, and how can people who are interested best support that work?

I have recently enlisted in the South Korean military and am not entirely sure when I may be able to begin my next animation, as the service will last for the next 20 months or so. However, in the meantime, I hope to be able to finish a few feature-length screenplays as an experience and possibly the pre-production phase of my next animated short. People can easily support my work and my future ones by sharing and viewing my work with family and friends as it is available on Vimeo for free :) It will be an incredible honor to know that my animation is thriving on the web while I may be off the grid for the time being.