Night cap with Wibble Wobble
An interview with Daphne Do, director of Wibble Wobble
Can you tell us about the scriptwriting process and how the team got together?
If it’s okay, I’m going to combine the answers to this question and the casting question in one!
The two cast members, Alex Chilton and Edward Chalmers, and I are all close friends, and Wibble Wobble was a bit of a last-minute endeavour for us. We were looking to make something to submit to an Australian film festival, Tropfest, and we had a week until the submission deadline. Alex and Edward coach and perform improv comedy together in Melbourne, so with the timeframe we had, we thought it made sense to make something improvised.
Once we agreed to film something, the three of us got together to brainstorm ideas. I had recently designed a film that was shot in a friend’s house which had a real “nanna” quality to it and thought it would be great to shoot something there. It then became a question of how we insert these two guys into this older style home – why would they be there? That then led to the “clearing out a deceased relative’s home” premise and a “Gumtree” (similar to Leboncoin) sale. Beyond that, it was really just spitballing small additions that would create the awkward, absurd vibe the team are fans of. As soon as the jelly idea came into focus, we played around with different beats and then came up with an overarching narrative. The actual dialogue and blocking were improvised on the day of the shoot.
Where did the idea for the jelly come from? How did the casting go?
Tropfest requires the inclusion of a signature item into each film, which in 2017 was a pineapple, so as part of the aforementioned brainstorming, we looked to really take on the challenge and get the item front and centre. The overall result is really the outcome of a bunch of random constraints; the signature item, an interesting location, a small cast.
We experimented with a bunch of ideas and landed on the jelly. I think visually and narratively, it’s quite a potent icon – jelly harks back to nostalgia and childhood, but to me, there is also just something really hilarious about the way it looks and moves!
Are you particularly interested in working with dark comedy? What genre are you interested in exploring?
I do really like working in comedy. Alex is a really strong collaborator in this area, and it’s probably the area we’ve spent the most time exploring. Films by Yorgos Lanthimos, the McDonagh brothers, Maren Ade and Roy Andersson, among others, are an inspiration.
At the moment, we’re exploring a comedic style that focuses on a kind of plausible absurdity. Both characters and the audience alike partake in something mundane and naturalistic, oblivious that they’re all going down a rabbit hole together until it’s too late and they end up somewhere they could never have fathomed based on where they started. Stories that start out quite routine, but because of the specific characters and conditions, end up somewhere strange.
What are your expectations of Clermont-Ferrand?
We’ve never been to Clermont-Ferrand before (both Alex and I will be in attendance), but we’re excited to soak up the atmosphere, see some films, and meet everyone!
Wibble Wobble is being shown in International Competition I2.
