Antechamber

Created and performed by Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet

PROJECT
Antechamber is an animated film, a show and an exhibition all at the same time. This manifold production, bringing together different cultural stakeholders (cinemas, festivals, theaters, museums, etc.), is one more step in the company’s work, combining disciplines and reaching out to audiences of all cultures and ages, beyond words, leaving room for the imagination and poetry. The two artists of STEREOPTIK, Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet, expand their artistic research with the production of a short animated film combining cartoon, stop-motion, painting, object theatre and music. In addition to being the making-of of the film, the show lets the audience discover the company’s creative process. The exhibition supplements these first two proposals, by taking the audience behind the scenes to discover the research stages, the preparatory sketches, the storyboard and even installations made from overlays revealing the principles of frame-by-frame animation or how to create a movement from six or seven drawings.

PITCH
Locked away in his room, a student spends all summer working on his thesis. Lost among his notes, he finds a photo of himself as a child, holding a butterfly. And thanks to this photo, he reconnects with his capacity for observation and the wonder that were buried inside him. He spends his days feeling the wind, watching the clouds and daydreaming. He flies over the Amazon, dives into ocean depths, meets chimerical creatures and falls in love. His imaginary travels, and his contemplation of his own environment, sometimes intrigue him, move him, and often fill him with wonder, but above all change him forever.