Why did you make Jung & Restless?
My goal was to make a film that generates a feeling of mystery and wonder using symbols and images from my dreams. When I was working with a senior Jungian analyst, I stopped dreaming. The analyst called this “deus absconditus”, Latin for ‘hidden god’. So I began doing “subconscious” animation experiments, working straight ahead without planning, creating storyboards or even thinking about the imagery. I completely ignored internal dialog like “What is this about?”, “Where is this going?” and “What should I do next?” In place of the absconded dreams, I shared the animation experiments with the analyst and was gobsmacked by her interpretations. Inspired by what I learned, I turned this animation into a film, adding compositions inspired by dream notes, session notes and and the art of Carl Jung.
What does the title mean?
The title refers to the restless state of dreaming and it is a pun on a popular television soap opera, The Young and the Restless, that premiered in 1973 and was the number one daytime drama in the US for 32 years. The title sequence for the film was animated by Brian Kinkley, a brilliant visual effects designer and compositor that I have collaborated with since 2009.
How did you work with the composer and sound designer?
Composer Seth Norman and I have collaborated on seven films. I absolutely love his work. He does the score after the animation is complete. We had only one phone call and an email exchange where we discussed Jung & Restless. Two months later I received the first (and final) music from Seth. At first I was shocked that it was an orchestral score. As I continued to listen, I came to the amazing transition in the middle of the film, where the music goes in a completely different direction. A lightbulb exploded in my head and I thought: “This is genius!” Seth said he had always wanted to compose an orchestral score. His first one is marvelous.
Sound designer Chris Barber doing frequency carving on Jung & Restless in 2019.
Working with Chris Barber on the sound effects and mix was my favorite part of making Jung & Restless. Chris does not use a commercial sound library and makes nearly all of the sound effects himself. He is extraordinarily inventive, smart and playful. About one effect, Chris says: “first I recorded rush-hour traffic with a heavy truck driving by. Then I picked out the descending frequencies from the clip. I love messing around with frequency carving and like to set patterns across the clips to create weird and strange sounds.”
Why should I watch Jung & Restless?
Jung & Restless is an immersive, mysterious film with an awesome soundtrack that might inspire you to explore your dreams through drawing, painting or other media.
Was it made for a specific age group?
People of all ages like this film. Jung & Restless has no dialog or text and is colorful and engaging so it appeals to children. The film is about symbols so each viewer has a personal interpretation of what it means.
What feedback have you received?
Marcel Jean, the Artistic Director of the Annecy International Animation Festival said that “Jung & Restless is beautiful and spectacular. The synchrony between the animation and the music and soundtrack is fabulous”.
Jung & Restless won the Best Sound Design Award at the Reykjavik Independent Film Festival (Iceland), Silver Award for Experimental Film at the Los Angeles Animation Festival (USA), Short of the Year Finalist at Click for Festivals in Madrid (Spain), Audience Award at the Fresh Stream Experimental Film Festival in Los Angeles (USA) and Nominee for Best Animation at the Maracay International Film and Video Festival (Venezuela). It has shown at 60 other international film festivals.
What are you working on now?
I just finished making Fleeting Marvels, a mostly live action film (with a bit of animation) about Burning Man. It was designed and edited by Zak Margolis with music composed by Seth Norman. I hike in the forest as much as possible and I make botanical medicine and maintain a large herbal pharmacy.
“Imaginative, playful and whimsical, Priestley’s work radiates a sense of wonder and delight about the art of animation. -Maral Mohammadian, Cartoons: the International Journal of Animation
Jung & Restless 