Production Process: The deserted fairgrounds in Remember Me (2009) were suggested by footage of the defunct Saltair amusement park as it appeared in the movie, Carnival of Souls (1962), as well as snapshots of the derelict and overgrown Chippewa Lake Park in Ohio; the ruins of the 1964 World's Fair New York State Pavilion; and vintage pictures from Coney Island. The Carnival of Souls (1962) movie was a large part of the inspiration for Remember Me (2009), including the rich, resonant organ score. The composer and solo player of the theatre organ music punctuating Remember Me (2009), is the celebrated house organist of the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, California, playing the titanic Mighty Wurlitzer installed at the Nethercutt Collection Museum in San Sylmar, California.
Technical Details: The animation for Remember Me (2009) took two solid years to achieve, working steadily, while the shooting ratio was, on average, approximately three exposures for every one used in the finished piece. Frames were shot digitally with a Nikon D70 DSLR camera and fed directly into the computer. But with convenience in shooting came a nightmare in editing: because they were shot digitally, most frames needed individual color correction, often extensive.
Obscure References: Ray, the pet hermit creature, lives inside a TV-shaped cage in honor of his namesake, Ray Milland, who did a series of wildly hyperbolic 1953 magazine advertisements for GE televisions and some memorable creature features later in his career. The TV ads featured Milland and two other actors staring adoringly at the set while a miniature Milland, as if trapped behind the screen, stares back at them in bewilderment. The strange tableau formed the basis of the idea that Ray Milland lives inside the TV. In fact, glued on the screen of Ray's TV cage in Remember Me (2009) is the rapt face of one of the other actors in the print ads.
Timothy and Helen Bellweather are pangolins (scaly anteaters).