Q&A with SYNC and I.R.I.S. Writer/Director Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull

Hasraf ‘Haz’ Dulull, writer and director of DUST films I.R.I.S. and Sync, took a break from his busy career in visual effects to answer a few questions for us. Now is your chance to experience the worlds of I.R.I.S. and Sync if you haven’t already.

If the world you created in your film became a reality, is that a world you would want to live in?

Probably not! Look at I.R.I.S., it’s killer drones, and then look at Sync, it’s badass transportation robots doing whatever it takes to deliver a package to its destination. I think my films depict the f*cked scenarios of technology let loose in society.

Name a Sci-Fi character you relate to on a spiritual level? 

Batou from the sci-fi Anime – Ghost in the Shell. He’s a badass with a sense of logic to everything he does.

What if robots start making their own sci-fi films? Will you support them in their endeavors?

That would be interesting and would probably be spot on. They would take feedback well from execs and produce films based on demographic data. Will I support them? Hell no! Just like robotics currently taking over human jobs, if I support them in filmmaking then they will take over filmmakers, too! But we could get them to do those art-house films.

Do you consider yourself more of an analog or digital person? What kind of balance do you strike between the two?

I am very digital; I mean, my whole filmmaking studio is cloud based for starters. However, I do like the old school ways of the analogue world, such as, the optical feel to shots. With lens flares I try and avoid doing it in post, but rather, capture it in the camera with actual lenses. It’s those imperfections that make the shots feel real, especially when CGI is integrated.

Is there a disconnect between the technology you make films about and the technology that you make films with?

I hope so!  I wouldn’t want my editing software to become self aware and re-edit the film based on its artificial intelligence of watching me edit for years; then it would come in and re-edit based on the data it gathered of me. But for my current film, I am making good use of drones to get aerial and cinematic landscape shots which would have cost a fortune back in the day when you had to hire a helicopter and Varicam.

Lightning round:

Philip K. Dick or William S. Burroughs?

Philip K. Dick!

Practical or CGI?

Both Practical and CGI, well combined.

Post-Apocalypse or Pre-Apocalypse?

Pre-Apocalypse, please! There is much more to do in that world than a post-apocalyptical world, in my opinion.