Asthma Tech was my first professional film, produced at the National Film Board of Canada in 2006. It's the semi-autobiographical tale of my childhood experiences with asthma, and how they led to me learning how to draw.
From a character design perspective, I wanted to continue in the same style as my previous film, Sherry, like the Drink. Part of the reason for this stylistic continuation was because these dot-eyed, round headed characters were so fun to draw, and also because the inspirations for both films were coming from a youthful place in my memories.
Narratively, the film breaks into two different worlds: 1) the world of reality where Winston is an asthmatic outsider and 2) the world of fantasy where Winston becomes a high flying, space defying super hero. Between these two worlds, the character designs stay consistent while the textured finish of the image corresponds to the particular world we are in. The animation in the reality scenes were hand inked with ink liners, and the lines thickened, much like the visual aesthetic of Sherry, like the Drink. For the fantasy sections, the rough animation with its gritty, expressive lines in pencil were used as the final drawings to re-inforce the hand-drawn fantasy world within Winston's drawings.
It's interesting to note where the sound of the asthmatic cough came from. The asthmatic cough is unmistakably deep. I knew from the start that the voice actors were not going to be able to replicate it. So the only choice I had as the filmmaker was to induce my asthma for the recording session. I ran around the NFB building a few times up and down the stairs and through the hallways, and ducked back into the recording studio, and wheezed and coughed for a couple continuous takes. The recording technician was looking at me, like... are you sure you're ok? I gave him the thumbs up like... yeah, we're getting it! Then I took the cough recordings and pitched them up to sound like a kid's cough.
I tried to sneak in some comic book references wherever possible. Instead of a Superman "S" on his brow, Winston's hair has a "W". The rainy day features a lightning bolt like Shazam. An Optimus-like tractor trailer. The features a classic superhero team dynamic, complete with an inclusive happy ending.
It was one of the most enjoyable, fun films to make, and I hope you have as much fun watching it!
Please check out the link to Asthma Tech below:
http://www.nfb.ca/film/asthma_tech
