An animated short film by Mardo El-Noor, in collaboration with Professor Slavoj ŽižeK
Tagline:
Can you ever fall in love with the perfect person?
Synopsis:
In an alternate 16th century Europe where online dating somehow exists, Slav (voiced by world-renowned thinker Slavoj Žižek) is the quintessential Renaissance man, pondering life’s greatest question: "To match, or not to match." Between tinkering with inventions and perfecting his chess game, Slav is faced with his ultimate challenge—falling in love.
His journey into the realm of online dating reveals a problematic discovery: everyone seems too perfect! And for Slav, one cannot ever fall in love with the perfect person. Enter Slava, a woman who shares his love for art, chess, and spilling tea. Could she be the match he’s been longing for, or is she just another perfect mirage?
As Slav and Slava navigate the delicate dance of online courting, their story crescendos into the perfect date night. Chess pieces in place, and dirty secrets up their ruffled sleeves—Slav may have finally found the imperfect woman he's been dreaming of.
Main Credits:
Director, animator, producer: Mardo El-Noor - Writers: Mardo El-Noor, Slavoj Žižek
Director's Notes:
I vividly remember the moment I stumbled across Professor Slavoj Žižek's thought-provoking—and often hilarious— interview about online dating. My first thought was, “Wow! Someone should turn this into a short film!” The second thought quickly followed: “I think I should be that someone.”
It took me a whole week to track down his personal email, but when I did contact him, his response was surprisingly swift given how busy his schedule must be. I was determined to impress him with what I believed was a fresh, creative spin on the explainer genre—a dramatised animated character based on a real-world thinker, living in a fictional world that echoed his actual thoughts and opinions. And, I think he was impressed.
After sharing a one-minute test animation, not only did it get Professor Žižek excited, but he gave me his enthusiastic blessing to move forward. Our communication after that was brief and to the point, with Žižek's replies packed with exclamation marks and capital letters. Though I offered to share updates along the way, he preferred to wait for the final product, of which he said he “REALLY enjoyed, and was very proud of!!!!!!!!!”
The animation's visual style is a tasteful hodge-podge of Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical art—potentially an art historian’s worst nightmare. What began as a purely 2D animation exercise quickly morphed into a 2D/3D Frankenstein with a pinch of East European stop-motion aesthetics. It’s the kind of project I’ve always dreamt of doing but never had the opportunity to, working mainly as a director of commercials and music videos with a focus on motion graphics and live action.
The whole project took around 18 months from start to finish, carrying it out all by myself whenever my work schedule allowed. My dream is to take this approach further, expanding the explainer genre with animated characters embedded in fictional worlds while based on talks by more world-renowned thinkers.
This short film by about online dating is unlike anything you'll ever see: an animated explainer mocumentary with a side of existential deep thoughts (& super naughty storyline!) Hope you'll swipe right.
Technical Specs:
Title: Professor Slavoj Žižek on the Problem with Online Dating
Runtime: 14:55
Genre: Animation, short, explainer, narrative
Rating: n/a (not suitable for young viewers)
Category: Animation (2D, 3D)
Completion date: September 2024
Country of production: New Zealand
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Frame rate: 10fps, or 30fps
Colour/BW: Colour
Sound mix: stereo, or 5.1
Language: English
Subtitles: English (if required)
Screening format: DCP (when required)
Biographies:
Mardo El-Noor is a director-designer of ads and music videos from New Zealand. With a keen interest in combining live action with animation and typography, he approaches all his projects through the lens of a graphic designer, creating ads for the likes of Toyota, Subaru, Lexus, SsangYong, Visa, Vodafone, Samsung, Serato, Burger King, Red Bull, America’s Cup, etc.
He dabbled with fiction after finishing art school in 2008, creating three animated short films that were screened around the world in festivals like SITGES, Anim’est, Milan Int’l Film Festival, Message To Man Int’l Film Festival, etc. His animated short film Professor Slavoj Žižek on the Problem with Online Dating is the first fictional work since 2010, taking him 18 months to write and animate all by himself.
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University, professor of philosophy and psychoanalysis at the European Graduate School and senior researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana. He primarily works on continental philosophy and political theory, as well as film criticism and theology.
Professor Žižek was pleasantly surprised when Mardo pitched the idea of turning one of his interviews into a short film. He stated that this collaboration has made him feel proud of the interview and the final outcome.
FAQ:
Q. What software was used in making the short film?
A. Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dimension, Adobe Audition
Q. How long did it take to create the short film? & Who was involved in the process?
A. It took 18 months of non-continuous work, or around 4-5 months if continuous. Everything was done by me.
Q. Was Generative-AI used at any stage of making the film?
A. The ONLY part created using an AI-Generative tool was animation of the mouth, where I used D-ID.
Q. Was Professor Slavoj Žižek involved in the process of making the film?
A. The concept as a whole & a test animation were pitched to him initially. He expressed his excitement to the idea, & urged me to move forward with full creative freedom.
Q. Other than submissions to film festivals, where do you see this short film going?
A. I’m hoping to use it as a pilot episode to pitch for a network series, where I collaborate with 6-8 world-renowned thinkers & intellectuals by turning a selection of their already-existing interviews into short narratives that echo what they are reflecting upon. It’s a style that hasn’t been done before as a perfect marriage of explainer & narrative genres.
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