Update“Sisu: The Death of Tom Sukanen” is screening at the: Petaluma International Film Festival
on October 23rd
at 7:50pm

Animation and Visual Effects Director, Andrew Schlussel, was Director of Photography and Animation & Visual Effects instructor, Brian Andrews was visual effects supervisor. Many graduates contributed visual effects work to this beautiful film, their names are listed below.

Sisu is an independent film written and directed by former Ex’pression College instructor Chrystene Ells. Ells recruited Andrew Schlussel to be the director of photography on location in Saskatchewan, Canada and on site at Ex’pression College. Sisu is a Finnish word that means a combination of perseverance, courage, and a refusal to give up. The film is based on the true story of a Finnish immigrant institutionalized after the death of his wife in a Canadian farming town.

“Working as the Director of Photography on Sisu was an amazing experience. We came out with a beautiful film, I’m very proud of everyone’s hard work”, said Schlussel of the project. The Bay Area location crew was comprised largely of Ex’pression College staff and students, and the post-production visual effects served as a real-world project for Animation and Visual Effects students.

Visual effects supervisor Brian Andrews, also an instructor, brought the project directly in to the classroom illustrating Ex’pression’s mission to demand the level of performance expected in professional production houses. Andrews, “As the Visual Effects Supervisor on Sisu, I was able to direct our students on a professional effects pipeline for a feature film. The students were responsible for every aspect of production, including modeling, texturing, animation, dynamic simulations, matchmoving and compositing. The experience demonstrated the talent and drive of our student body.”

Launch the trailer »

The students and faculty from Expression College who contributed to the film:

For the full list of credits and related sites, follow the links below:
Sisu the Movie website
Montreal World Film Festival site
Film entry and description
Sisu the Movie blog site