An Interview with “Red Eye” Filmmaker Collin Aull

In Red Eye, you work entirely with found footage. What about that interests you?

I feel very inspired whenever I see a film utilizing found footage, as the ability to create a film from pre-existing material feels distinct from typical filmmaking. It's more akin to sculpting, and enables / challenges you to find something of your own in the work of others.

Describe your process in creating a film composed of archival footage- from gathering materials to experimenting with them in the editing room.

I found all of the material for the film on the Internet Archive, not searching for anything in particular, and I chose a piece of music by Jean-Luc Ponty that would bring energy and atmosphere to the edit. I made this film rather quickly, and only afterwards have found things in its stream-of-consciousness that I wasn't aware of when making it.

In addition to your experimental work with films like Red Eye, you also make narrative films. How do you think your work in either modality informs the other? Is there anything you learned from making Red Eye that you may bring into future narrative films?

I love to bring the freedom of experimental filmmaking to my narrative work. Avant-garde cinema taps directly into your senses to create experiences outside the realm of narrative storytelling, and I hope to make films that defy labels and engage the audience in bold, unconventional ways. As far as working with found footage, I do love surrealist storytelling and "fake histories," and would love to attempt a more "narrative" project composed entirely of found footage...

What do you hope to do next? (Any themes you want to continue exploring, genres you want to work in, mediums you want to experiment with? etc...)

I want to do everything, but right now I'm very invested in making music, and bringing that to film.