The film began with a call to death workers posted on a Reddit page dedicated to the profession:
Once Kristen and I met over Zoom, I built a script out of the transcript of our interview..
I also did hours of research, on both the content and the visuals.
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The visual story of the film was my favorite part of making. It began with sketches.
Then turned into building puppets and sets with my hands.
The materials for The Final Touch were made mostly on the floor of my apartment or in my "studio," a closet space that I put a desk into.
Then I took all the assets into the studio, which I was thankfully able to book time in despite pandemic regulations at Skidmore.
I spent about three months animating, editing the footage along the way.
Once I finished animating, I embarked on the final effort of editing, sound designing, and overall finalizing the film, all of which was also done in my apartment.
I completed the film in time to submit it as my thesis project. The first place it was screened was Skidmore College Academic festival, and it has gone on to be shown at film festivals across the U.S.
-Claire Maske
