In a compelling conversation with Skwigly, filmmakers Karni Arieli and Saul Freed, the visionary minds behind the BAFTA-nominated short film Wild Summon, delve into the intricate layers of their creation. Their film, a stirring aquatic journey, blends human and natural elements to tell the life cycle of a wild salmon in a unique and emotive manner.

In anticipation of this year’s BAFTA ceremony, Skwigly spoke with Karni and Saul to glean insight into their creative process as well as the heart and soul of a film that dares to connect humanity with the natural world in a profoundly intimate way.

Wild Summon is not your typical animated film. Narrated by the iconic British singer Marianne Faithfull, this 14-minute eco-film portrays the life cycle of a salmon, with a unique visual twist. Depicted as a human in scuba diving attire, the salmon embarks on a perilous and enchanting journey from birth in a river to the vast openness of the sea, and back again to its birthplace. This imaginative portrayal is executed through a blend of live-action environments and stunningly realistic CG characters, crafted masterfully by the Bristol-based Sulkybunny Studio using Autodesk Maya, Arnold, and SynthEyes software.

Karni Arieli on the Essence of Wild Summon:

It’s the journey of the wild salmon as a woman in human form some birth river out to sea and back again, where she dies and gives birth to a new generation. So it’s a circular journey of the salmon that takes the form of a human being to sort of create empathy and connection. And it’s just an exciting, aquatic road trip, I would say that we portray in the film.

This description sets the tone for a film that transcends the conventional boundaries of storytelling, seeking to forge a profound connection with its audience. The filmmakers aim to stir emotions, something Karni believes is increasingly challenging in our visually saturated, social media-driven world.

Saul Freed on the Evolution of the Film’s Concept:

Saul describes the film’s evolution, from its initial idea to the final product:

“We always worked with wildlife, our work always portrayed animals or wildlife or nature, we love it. Spending a lot of times on rivers, we came up with this idea. I can’t exactly tell you how, but it just popped into my head. When we started out, I remember the first images were more about just the humans, almost naked, and then this kind of postmodern idea coming in to use props which are very much human modern, like wetsuit and goggles. And that just clicked in perfectly because without it, it felt maybe too hippie or alien-like, but this kind of settled it. From there on, the image of the film was pretty solid in our eyes, the mix of Natural History documentary, and adding this fantasy to it felt so fresh and new. We’re still totally in love with it, and it works.”

Their approach to portraying salmon in human-like forms wearing scuba gear is not just a creative choice but a narrative device to engage viewers deeply, making them contemplate our relationship with nature.

The Film’s Underlying Themes and Storytelling Approach:

The filmmakers delve into the core themes of their work, emphasising the interconnectedness of humans and nature. Saul highlights the blend of factual storytelling with elements of human interaction, addressing issues like pollution and fishing. Karni further elaborates on this, mentioning the delicate nature of salmon as an indicator species:

Saul: It’s an adaptation of a very old story, probably the oldest story there is, which is nature – the story was written for us. This is a very strict story of the salmon; if you close your eyes, you, might think you’re watching a natural history documentary, maybe a little bit romantic in places, but it tells a story, factually. So telling the story on screen was about finding moments where we can focus on the dangers and the predators and challenges. We wanted to bring in a lot of human interaction, we found that to be the most interesting. Pollution and fishing, obviously, and farming. This concept shines in these moments, when we’re looking at a million people behind the net. It obviously throws so many more, social, political, immigration, all of that comes into the surface. So we really enjoyed those bits in the storytelling. So they had to stay in, we obviously, had to cut out a lot,  the salmon spends years in the ocean eating krill, so we couldn’t do that for the film.

Karni: It wasn’t method acting for the fisherman, but it was, in a way, method directing for us. The other thing we really believe in storytelling is that we play with a narrative. So we also try and balance the meditative-ness of this journey, together with how often you need the exciting bits – of the predators and being chased or being pursued. There are 50 or so predators that the salmon faces, so we had to really research the salmon deeply and then choose what would be the most exciting and visually interesting. People don’t really know what happens to the salmon out at sea, they know a lot more about what have happens in the rivers, because that’s where humans live. But out at sea, it’s a little bit of a mystery. It’s also a mystery how they find their way back to the birth river. So, we learnt so much about the salmon and that was really fascinating.
We realise they’re also the canary in the mine, they’re very delicate fish that are sensitive to temperature, pollution and water. So if they go, it’s a bad sign for the world. And I think what we tried to show is this chain connection between the salmon, the rivers, the water, all the way to us humans, and indigenous people, who live by the rivers and always talk about nature, as part of themselves. In Western society, we often separate it, we say, “animals and us”, “nature and humans”, like it’s two different things. But we are nature, and if we’re not careful, if we don’t look at it that way, we’re in great danger. Part of our mission was to connect us back to nature and connect the humans, to see how closely connected we are in this chain.

Their storytelling technique is an intricate mix of narrative and visual storytelling, choosing key moments and imagery that resonate with viewers on multiple levels.

Challenges and Innovations in Production:

Creating Wild Summon during the COVID-19 lockdown posed unique challenges and opportunities. Karni shares their experience of “method directing,” a deeply immersive process that involved planning, storyboarding, and eventually undertaking a family road trip to Iceland to simulate the salmon’s journey. Saul adds:

COVID did make this slower. And we embraced it. The BFI were very understanding and they asked for it to be very carefully planned. We delayed our shoot a year, so we wouldn’t push the limitations that COVID imposed. And we did do it slower than we intended to, but the fact that we could do it very intimately was a blessing.

Discussing the technical aspects, particularly the blending of live-action with CG animation, Saul notes the challenges and unexpected ease in some areas, especially working with the pristine waters of Iceland.

Editing Choices and Audience Engagement:

Both filmmakers discuss their unique editing choices, emphasising the balance between action and meditative moments. Karni points out:

Saul: In general, we wanted to create a sense of acceleration. We wanted to use editing as a tool to keep people alert throughout, with really quick cuts, which is very modern, with what’s happening now. But the storytelling had the sense of a journey, we like to keep that rhythm. Then towards the end, everything just becomes more experimental, faster cuts, we have a lot more time lapse, a lot more accelerated shots on the river. We wanted it to end without losing its momentum,  so we go up and up and up, and then it’s just over.

Karni: There’s a very fine line in short films, in particular, about letting people meditate on a moment. We didn’t want it all to be action, so to mix the ‘breathing’ moments together with action and narrative is a very fine line. We played with it for a long time to get it just right, to do both things in 15 minutes.

Saul adds that they aimed to create a sense of acceleration towards the film’s end, enhancing the intensity and engagement.

The Ultimate Goal for the Audience:

In concluding the interview, Karni and Saul express their desire for the audience to feel something, anything. The diversity of emotions and interpretations the film evokes is a testament to its depth and the filmmakers’ success in reaching their audience.

Karni: A lot of people come up to us and talk to us about it. Because it’s a bit of a curveball, and a kind of film with a twist,  people really like to connect with us and say how they felt. Just to make people feel, in 2024, is a huge thing, I think. That’s part of the mission of storytelling and filmmaking.

Saul: You can’t control it, because everyone’s so different and have their own personal landscapes. Some people will take it more towards the human story. Some people will take it as a totally eco, call to arms. And it’s fascinating to see it actually, just to see how different the views are on it.

Wild Summon stands as a testament to the power of visual storytelling, blending the boundaries of documentary and fantasy to create an evocative and thought-provoking experience.

This year’s BAFTA ceremony takes place on Sunday 18 February on BBC One and iPlayer and broadcast around the world including on Britbox in North America. The above conversation has been edited for clarity.