The Feel

Faith, routine and movie nerdity (and yes, I know that isn’t a word)

I am Jewish. I wanted Eli to be too. With the death of his mother I wanted him to reconnect with his faith and so you see his siddur, you hear him recite Modeh Ani and refer to his faith more. It is part of him as much as his schmutz covered white t-shirt and dirty bath robe, as much as his best friend Babka, as hatred of his housemate Bloom, as much as his love for movies and obsession with Ruthie Frankel.

His diet is beige, his cupboards filled with peanut butter, matzo cracker and onion soup mix. He is always eating matzo. He loves movies. He loves his dog. And is an anti-hero we have not seen in film for a long while.

The Music

It had to be Klezmer, other than his rock out anthem at the end. From the intro theme to the final credits, the feel of the movie is mirrored by the musical obscurity of long since forgotten Klezmer tracks, the clarinet and the violin. All I needed to do was find public domain and royalty free music that fitted the scene.

The Apartment

I wanted the apartment to seem real. And actually, I did such a good job people, even Morley Nelson, commented that it looked real.

Whilst most animations the set is just the backdrop, in Dreidel of the Dead, the apartment, the buildings and streets are as much a part of the movie as the characters. Some scenes are just the sets, and they convey, whether it is the snow filled street outside, or the garbage, dumpsters and graffiti of Bloom’s set, or the movie prop and poster rich apartment, the apartment a movie nerd, it is all deliberate. The viewer should understand more of what is going on by looking at the backround.