BEYOND THE ONIROS FILM AWARDS®
VIP Interview with Susan Lim, co-director of the animated short film ‘Synthetic Me’
by Alice Lussiana Parente
In this interview we introduce Susan Lim, a talented director, storyteller, composer, and scientist. “Synthetic Me” is the third movie she has directed, written, and produced on the theme of companionship between human and inanimate. In this chapter of Alan’s life (an inanimate plush baby lion that belongs to a teenage medical student) the film centers on his desire for an eternal companionship with Cristina. Will he make it? We don’t know for certain; the future of robotics is still unwritten however we get to get a glimpse of it through Susan’s work and we get to dream about it with Alan during this heartwarming short film.
1. Hi Susan, can you tell us something about your background and what brought you to filmmaking?
My background is in science and surgery, and I have always been interested in the disruptive innovations including synthetic biology, robotics, and the application of artificial intelligence in medicine. The practice of surgery is a considered an Art, and I consider it a privilege to delve into the Arts to communicate the new and disruptive concepts in science.
2. You often co-direct your movies alongside Samundra Kajal Saikia and Christina Teenz Tan. What’s the aspect that you prefer about the teamwork when working on a project?
Synthetic Me is part of a larger project ALAN, about the future of companionship between human and inanimate. Synthetic Me focuses on the enabling technologies of synthetic DNA as the inanimate craves repair of its wizened form, so that it may keep its dignity as an enabled companion to its human partner.
In the backdrop of this imaginary world, Samudra is an artist extraordinaire and director of animation while Christina and I are co-creators of ALAN and co-lyricists for all the songs. Christina contributes a more playful, youthful, imaginative approach to our creations, while I provide the scientific inspiration and musical direction for the project.
As Christina, Samudra and I embarked on this film, we set up a virtual studio, as we were spread across three cities, Los Angeles, Delhi, and Singapore. Though separated in space and time, it seemed like serendipity that the music and plot of ALAN and Synthetic Me specifically, would sweep us together effortlessly in one studio.
3. What are the toughest aspects of making a film today?
We started out wanting to make a musical, and in fact, produced a stage Musical at the University of California, Los Angeles, in April 2019. As we were pursuing production plans for a full musical, Covid struck, and we decided to turn to film. As it turns out, this has been the single best decision for our ALAN project. Being a part of the team creating animated films has been the most inspiring learning process for me, especially since we got together with animation artist Samudra Kajal Saikia. As our animated films are based on our own songs and orchestral music, recorded specifically for the films, the process , (joyful I may add), of combining music to form a soundtrack, or the choice of a song, to then inspire the animation of the storyline, while considering the option for narration, is a challenge for the directors as we seek to effectively communicate our concept for a future companionship between Human and Inanimate with the world.
4. Synthetic Me is a crossover between an animation and a musical. Why this choice?
Synthetic Me is based on a song of the same title which was originally composed for a musical ALAN. The science which we wanted to communicate was simply the wonders of the genetic code, and to highlight the 4 nucleotides or base pairs A T G C, as a jingle in a song, that young audiences could easily remember. The concept of repair using synthetic DNA is complex and futuristic, to say the least, and to communicate this fictional science we felt, was best as an animation and musical.
5. Is there a funny anecdote from the production process you would like to share?
After I wrote the lyrics, I contacted my friend and composer Joi Barua in Mumbai, and asked him to compose the music. Joi is a singer, composer, who started his career singing jingles for advertisements in India. I do enjoy the process of writing a song with Joi as he dives deep, and questions me about the meaning behind the lyrics, in this case, the science of synthetic biology.
One day he called me to say his neighbors had started to “tune in’, as my lyrics ‘4 alphabets it is, A T G C, makes a brand new me’ had permeated the local neighborhood in the form of a catchy melody, which sent the neighbors asking what exactly these alphabets were!
6. Who is your biggest inspiration?
It would have to be my soulmate Deepak Sharma, my partner in life. He inspires and is a sounding board for all my ideas and creations, and does occasionally contribute an enlightening perspective, from his background in nuclear chemistry and banking.
7. You also wrote the lyrics of the main song. What would you like to communicate to the audience?
The ever-increasing integration of AI and the new sciences into our lives will forever change the landscape of companionship in society, as we welcome robot caregivers in nursing homes, robot assistants in manufacturing and medicine, and robot actors, musicians, and conductors in the performing arts. My personal experience, working in surgical robotics, has given me the confidence to embrace AI and the new ‘soul machines’, and to share the positive attributes, while cautioning that there is still a lot to be mastered in its full implementation going forward. Cinema and the performing arts can help communicate, explore, and encourage robust discussions on how society may evolve with humans living alongside artificial, intelligent life forms.
Those of us facing wear and tear, need not despair, as repair and rejuvenation remain on the horizon with a better understanding of the new sciences including gene editing, cell reprogramming and DNA repair, among others.
Susan Lim director, writer and producer of Syinthetic Me – alanthemusical.com
8. As a surgeon and scientist, what is your position toward the pandemic and how do you think movies will be affected by the current situation?
The covid pandemic has posed one of the biggest challenges to societies globally. The roll out of effective vaccines, and a better understanding of the disease process, together with cooperation between countries, will soon lead to a re-opening of the world, and with that, the performing arts, which has been severely affected. Historically, crises have created huge opportunities for innovation, both in technology and then in changing the status quo in all aspects of living. No doubt, the film industry will take on new forms, and respond through innovation of its platforms, in addition to offerings of traditional cinemas and theatres, to continue to deliver film to audiences.
9. I found the image of Leonardo’s Vitruvian man surrounded by DNA that transforms into Al particularly interesting. Leonardo was an undiscussed genius in his time, do you believe that the scientists working to give life to inanimate objects are the “Leonardos” of our time?
Leonardo da Vinci’s innovative thinking towards future possibilities assimilating art and science together remains a big surprise in humankind. The Vitruvian man, the ‘Renaissance man’ not just idealizes the human body, but examines it for future prospects. The current State-of -the-Art surgical robotic system is named Da Vinci in his honour. It also happens to have been my partner in the operating theatre for a decade.
In a way, the reference to the Vitruvian man came to us almost instinctively and inevitably, as we looked to include the new science and technologies while developing a dialogue through art and music.
10. This is the third film you’ve made about the relationship between Humans and Inanimate. What should the audience expect to find in this specific project? How is the story progressing?
This specific project focuses on the new sciences for the inanimate, to repair and rejuvenate its wizened form. This leads on to the inanimate wanting more, not just repair, but to be enabled, as a companion to its human partner.
In the words of the inanimate:
“I have dreamt of some magic that would enable me to communicate, a little louder than the whispers which reach my partner’s ears as an echo of her thoughts. I have dreamt of being endowed with some comprehension, perhaps some neurons embedded in my cotton-filled head, that may enable me to participate. I have dreamt of some independent movement, and respectability. But most of all, I have dared to dream of a future eternal with my partner, where I may not just look intelligent, but be intelligent. And keep my adorable form, let my eyes always hold her gaze, let the color of my iris never fade. In the future, I imagine a shared existence through the phenomenon of quantum entanglement; two hearts, one soul, it is a story of the future of Companionship.”.
11. Who would you love to work with in the film industry and why?
Interestingly, our orchestral music, the Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra, which forms the soundtrack for our animated films, has been featured in Apple Music’s ‘Contemporary Classical’ Playlist, which includes three of the tracks. This is Apple Music’s description of the playlist ; “Funny that they call it classical, right? After all, we’ve survived the radical reinventions of modernism—and equally radical syntheses of postmodernism—yet composer are still finding plenty to say without deferring to tradition. The works here reflect the current state of composition, from orchestral to chamber, from conventional instrumentation to electro-acoustic hybrids…”
Just as with music, our approach to film is to move from traditional formats to embrace the new and disruptive science and technologies which have given rise to Synthetic Me New World Order and Teleportation.
The film industry is going to be the platform through which society will turn to, not just for entertainment, but to learn, and perhaps to live in, one day, in a metaverse.
We would love to work with disruptors in the new tech and space industries like an Elon Musk, as we progress the storyline of ALAN in a futuristic direction.
12. Are you planning on making Al’s story into a series?
ALAN II is in the pipeline, which carries the storyline of the companionship between human and inanimate into space. We have written 16 new songs, and an orchestral Cosmic Rhapsody, which will be recorded at Abbey Rd Studios this November 2021. As with ALAN I, the music and soundtrack will serve as “the foundation stone, the performance text to guide the animation”, in the words of animation artist Samudra Kajal Saikia. So yes, we may have more films in the pipeline!!
Connecting to Susan Lim:
Websites: alanthemusical.com ; limfantasy.com
IMdb Page: www.imdb.com/name/nm12418686
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drsusanlim
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LimFantasy ; facebook.com/ALANinanimate
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fantasyofcompanionship
Twitter: twitter.com/limfantasy1
