Daniel Hymanson ’11 is having a blast getting ready to shoot what is sure to be one of the year’s most unique senior thesis films. The Argus caught up with him on a rainy afternoon at his house on Vine St., sipping tea and peeling a Clementine as he answered a few of our questions.

The Argus: Tell me about yourself.

Dan Hymanson: I’m a senior and I’m from Chicago.

A: Why did you want to be a film major?

DH: I like movies a lot—you watch a lot of movies in the film major.

A: What’s your film about?

DH: It’s about this kid and he’s imagining himself as a superhero. The superhero’s a sloth and the sloth has a wife who gets kidnapped. The sloth goes on an adventure with this rabbit and they go to rescue the wife. And it gets to be too much for the kid. It’s sort of a fantasy, possibly. Maybe a bit of a romance, as well. They’re not actually rabbits and sloths though, they’re people. The actors are dressed like rabbits and sloths but they talk like people. A friend of mine is building the costumes. I like using real animal parts for these costumes. I was looking for cheap taxidermy online and people just seem like they’re trying to get rid of the heads—I got some small rodent heads for cheap.

A: Tell me about Slothman.

DH: He has the powers of a professional basketball player and a sloth. I’ve always been thinking about Slothman, for my whole life.

A: Do you have to get these scripts approved?

DH: You take a class and you talk about making your thesis film. It has to be twelve minutes and it can’t be porn. You meet with your advisor about it and I think they might reject some of them. They didn’t reject mine though, thankfully.

A: You haven’t shot your film yet. What’s your plan for when you do?

DH: I’m planning to shoot on the first and second weekends of December. I’m shooting at a synagogue, a house that the University owns, and Holy Land—an old, decrepit Christian-themed amusement park near here. And then there’s this castle. People from the film major are helping me out, but so are some others.

A: How did you cast your film?

DH: I had auditions after posting on Craigslist, Connecticut Callboard, and some other places. I posted signs around campus.

A: I didn’t see anything about a sloth and a rabbit!

DH: Oh, they were around. Definitely.

A: Do you feel confident going into your production experience?

DH: I don’t really have all the technology together yet, but I’ll work that out. I’ve never made a movie before really, so I have no idea how it will go.

A: What do you intend to do with your film?

DH: If I like it, I’ll probably show some people. I guess the plan is to use it to further my filmmaking career.

A: Do you have any plans for post-grad so far?

DH: No. Something to do with movies.

A: What’s your favorite movie?

DH: Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It’s a colorful musical—you watch it in Intro to Film. The same director, Jacques Demy, also made Donkey Skin, which is another one of my favorites. I have it. You can borrow it.

Daniel’s film will be screened along with the other senior thesis films in the spring semester.