Gabe Askew

The urge to create is sometimes insatiable. As a child, it forced Gabe Askew to draw all over his bedroom walls and then pursued him into adulthood, manifesting in oil paintings, illustrations, CGI and architectural visualization. “I feel an anxiety when I’ve gone too long without expressing myself in a visual medium,” he explains.

Earlier this year, that anxious itch propelled the budding director to devote four months of his spare time to a fan video for Grizzly Bear’s hit “Two Weeks”. The result was a dazzling, joyous rollercoaster ride of a video that melded an array of animation styles – from photo-real CG to child-like illustration – into interlocking dioramas to tell the story of a tumultuous relationship.

Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste was quick to offer praise, prompting bloggers to ask, who is Gabe Askew? The 27-year-old hails from southern California, where he works in architectural visualization. Before that, he worked as a CG artist. “Two Weeks” is his directorial debut and it’s a beautifully assured start.

How have your first projects shaped you as a director?
My work as an illustrator has informed me as a director more than anything else. Planning out compositional elements, color, value, etc, all comes from my work in illustration. Even as things move within a shot, I break them down into moments and consider all those basic elements.

Name a contemporary filmmaker or visual artist that you admire. Why?
I greatly admire Phil Hansen. He usually films his work because the creation is often the most important aspect to it. Many people may have seen his work on YouTube where he put paint on his hands and karate chopped a canvas until it revealed a portrait of Bruce Lee. His more serious work often involves human right’s issues and politics. He does a lot of work that he destroys afterward. To me that says that he works simply because he has to create.

Do you think advertising can become a personal expression for a director?
I think “expression” is the right word, but I don’t know about “personal”.  When making a piece of art as a vehicle for persuasion I think you have to step into the mind of your client. I think when you express things that are too personal it can detract from the work. And directors shouldn’t feel like they’ve sold out because of it. They should feel proud that they executed their client’s vision more accurately than some egotist trying to make his opus out of a chewing gum ad. Personal expression, I believe, is for personal work. Q

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