Seeing With Fresh Eyes

“I remember the first time I played with fire…” says Xavier Chassaing of his film Scintillation. Filmed using a painstaking combination of stop-motion animation, 3D modeling and live projections, the Parisian director’s enchanting short was intended to recreate “the experience of seeing something so different that it is registered in a virgin part of the brain… as it is when kids see glitter and sequins for the first time.” An exciting emerging talent, Chassaing has previously worked with Yves Saint Laurent (for their first manifesto with Gisele Bundchen in 2008) and electronic group Del Wire. His sense of wonder and visual magic is informed by his previous work as a magician and special effects guru.