Kyra & Constantin Talk NDS Success with Rollin’ Wild’s Bloated Beasts

Kyra & Constantin’s ‘Rollin’ Wild’ series was one of the best received films at the New Directors’ Showcase in Cannes. And rightly so. Extensive research into the animals they choose to balloon makes for uncannily true tendencies that quickly result in brilliantly absurd outcomes. Addison Capper chatted with the duo (full names Kyra Buschor and Constantin Paeplow) about what inspired the bloated beasts. 

LBB> When did you guys meet and why do you enjoy working together?

K&C> We met at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany, during our animation film studies. The first four clips formed our third year project at the school and were created with Anna Habermehl as a third director. After that we decided to work together on further clips and form a company [Flying Stone] while Anna decided to specialise in character animation. We actually both like working together - we share the same sense of humour which is quite important!

LBB> What inspired Rollin' Wild?

K&C> Most of the inspiration for Rollin’ Wild came from diverse nature documentaries like ‘Earth’ or ‘Serengeti Shall Not Die’. We watched those films and imagined how the typical wildlife scenes would precede if the animals were not as elegant and agile as they are in real life, and instead were bloated and clumsy.

LBB> What kind of research do you do around the movement of the animals?

K&C> We watched hundreds of wildlife documentaries, specifically slow motion references for the animals we had chosen for the shorts. Luckily the BBC has a great stock footage library where you can watch hundreds of animals in their natural habitat.