The Coincidental Killing of a Cat by an Unworldly Tune

“The Coincidental Killing of a Cat by an Unworldly Tune” is an animated short film I produced. It is based on a nightmare I had, in which a mysterious musician pulls out a meteor from outer space and plays it like an instrument. I wanted this nightmare to become a closed narrative and my initial reaction was to write a horror story around it; however, further reflection made me realize the written form would take away from the dream’s audio-visual elements that made the story intriguing in the first place.

I collaborated with director Maya Kurdoglu, who also took upon the animation and illustration roles for the film. Turning such a personal experience into something visible was a compelling experience and Maya and I really focused on visually interpreting the mood of the dream. She used analogue animation techniques and digitized them manually, and her notes on the process are available on her website.

The “tune” was at the heart of the story so finding the right sound as well as the right way of playing the meteor were the most discussed things in the production phase. In the end, Turgut created the incredible original composition for the film and did its sound design, while Maya recorded herself moving to Turgut’s captivating song, which created the basis of the musician’s movements in the film.

This was my first collaborative project and it showed me how teaming up with the right people can elevate and improve one’s vision. I am grateful to Maya for taking the project further than I could have imagined, and to Turgut for breathing life into it.