Interview with Matteo Mabelle

Dear Friends,

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In this interview we would like to present to you Matteo Mabelle. 

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Matteo is not a filmmaker, neither his film " Isabelle" was nominated any awards in our event. 

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Hello Matteo, tell us something about yourself and how you got into 3D design.

I‘m not a professional 3D artist, let alone a filmmaker, it‘s just a hobby. I‘ve always been fascinated by the things you can create virtually, especially since there are absolutely no limits to fantasy. Everything is possible, everything is feasible. I wanted to be able to do that too, so I studied to to become a 3D designer alongside my job. I was immediately fascinated by the boundlessness but also overwhelmed by the incredible complexity.

So you never worked professionally as a 3D artist, did you create the film on your own and how long did it take you?

That‘s right. It‘s difficult to say how long it took me because I realised very quickly that I still had to learn many things. The animation of people‘s movements, for example, which are so incredibly complex, especially facial expressions and gestures. In addition, there were extreme difficulties because some things just didn‘t work as they should. Sometimes it was really exasperating. All in all, I worked on it for more than 15 months, however 7 days a week and sometimes 20 hours a day.

Your film is called „isabelle“, what is it about and what is the idea behind it?

It‘s about me romantically inviting Isabelle out for coffee with the help of a little hummingbird. Now a lot of people will say that it‘s quite an effort for a date, but it‘s not just any Isabelle and she probably gets 1000 invitations every day and mine had to stand out from them. I knew it wouldn‘t be easy, but like the little hummingbird in the story she always likes to tell herself, I try everything possible to achieve my goal.

This is indeed one of the most elaborate invitations you have ever seen. What happened that made you do it?

I don‘t know. I first saw and heard her in a commercial in late 2018 when she was launching her new album. That‘s it. That incredible, extraordinary beauty, that laugh, that charisma and on top of that that voice...there are no words that could describe it. My mind said „you‘re acting like a teenage girl right now“ but my heart said „shut up and take me to her, no matter how“.

So you started looking for her.

Yes, but I had no idea how. I missed the concert in Munich by two days. At another concert I didn‘t see any possibility to get in touch with her. Requests for a meeting via her official site were answered with „we‘ll get
back to you“ but of course no one got in touch. Understandable but also disappointing. I had to come up with something extraordinary to even get noticed and I asked myself, „what can you do that can‘ t do everyone?“ and there was the answer. I had the limitlessness of my imagination at my disposal, what more could you ask for? And barely 15 months later my little animation was ready. However, no one has watched it.

And then you asked us for help.

I wrote to many TV stations and film festivals around the world to raise attention for my animation and to increase the chance of Isabelle seeing it, but you were actually the only ones who wanted to help me. Not only did you like my animation and the story, you also saw the story behind it and really went out of your way to help me and I‘m really grateful for that.

Now I just hope that Isabelle will see my little animation and who knows, maybe she‘ll even answer one day, but that‘s out of my hands.