The Last Rhinestone Cowboy
Defying gravity within the hyper-realistic landscape
Directed by Kristyna Archer
Interview by Tatev Avetisyan
The Last Rhinestone Cowboy, directed by Kristyna Archer, is an experimental short film featuring two rhinestone space cowboys engaged in a gravity-defying highline duel. With an otherworldly landscape, artists showcase their acrobatic skills that ultimately turn into a challenging dance with destiny. Beyond the film, Kristyna Archer is an interdisciplinary artist, who has garnered accolades and awards for projects spanning volumetric capture, advertising campaigns, and festival-nominated films like Musical Chairs.
In conversation with the director, we delve into the inspiration behind the surreal aesthetic of The Last Rhinestone Cowboy, discover the secrets behind her meticulously crafted hybrid worlds and gain insight into her current pursuits in promoting sustainability in production.
What initially sparked your interest in filmmaking, and could you share the story of how you entered the film industry?
My grandfather religiously documented our childhood through photography and film, which had a big influence on me that I did not realise until I was in high school, where I would spend hours in the darkroom. It led to studying photography in college, and it was a natural evolution into directing and filmmaking. The collaborative nature of a team coming together to take creative risks by making something original and birthing it out into the world, all for the love and power of storytelling through cinema, is my why. My stint as a PA in Chicago, during the filming of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, was a game changer.
The title of your film, The Last Rhinestone Cowboy, suggests an unconventional and intriguing narrative. How did you arrive at this title, and did Glen Campbell's song influence your choice?
The surreal aesthetic of the film, using shiny mirrors and a reflective cityscape, influenced the wardrobe into a rhinestone, disco-inspired direction that alluded to its performative nature, putting on a show. Glen Campbell’s song was, of course, in the back of my mind. I am setting up a desolate desertscape in a far far away land where the last two rhinestone-clad cowboys roam the surreal skies. And with the competitive tightrope walk-off, the title was born.
Your experimental short film features a highly unique concept. Can you delve into the inspiration behind this idea and shed light on the creative process that brought it to life?
Even in the dustiest of circumstances, you can still shine. The root of the idea connects to a deeper purpose woven into many of my short films revolving around mental health, the climate crisis, and gender equality. The new tools at our disposal, like virtual production, the LED volume + Unreal Engine, and AI, have been sparking inspiration for me to create seemingly impossible scenes. Bringing tightrope walkers into the studio and faking a shot high up in the air was the perfect challenge for me to explore as a passion project with their acrobatic talents combined with innovative technology.
The film paints a vivid picture of a surreal, otherworldly landscape with elements like dust storms and relentless winds. Could you elaborate on how you crafted this distinctive visual and atmospheric experience for your audience?
What I feel makes it so distinctive and bespoke is the evolution of my work into creating hybrid worlds, both digital and physical. This otherworldly landscape was achieved through a combination of practical set design merged with a digital world and AI elements woven throughout the scenes to push further into the surreal.
Additionally, what were some of the challenges you faced in achieving this aesthetic?
The challenges lie in how you tastefully and tactfully blend the digital and physical to feel as one aesthetic. That delicate merger is where the high-level artistry and eye come into play. I had my designer continually adjust the time of day to be just as I envisioned, then collaborating with an experienced DP that can match that lighting on your practical set to magically blend the worlds is where the magic is.
“The new tools at our disposal, like virtual production, the LED volume + Unreal Engine, and AI, have been sparking inspiration for me to create seemingly impossible scenes”
The rhinestone-clad riders in the film display a mesmerising balance that at times seems almost unreal. Could you provide insights into the creative process behind choreographing and capturing their acrobatic prowess?
I greatly respect physical performers and have always wanted to create a film highlighting how epic and powerful they are through a magical lens. After finding our two slackline performers, I wanted to play up their strengths. One had more experience and practice with yoga and ballet-driven movements, while the other focused more on “tricks” like spinning, flipping, standing upside down, laying down and balancing their entire body weight on the thin slackline. That dynamic juxtaposition between their strengths naturally evolved the story of two duelling acrobatic rhinestone-clad cowboys.
Your work is often associated with themes of hyperrealism and absurdity. What draws you to these themes, and in what ways do they shape your approach to filmmaking?
I find reality quite boring, well rather now, scarier, and I have always had an absurdist lens on human behaviour. My focus on heightened hyperreal landscapes comes from a place of hoping to break you out of your own learned behaviours and into new possibilities. Most can’t imagine something unless they see it, and I feel my job as an artist is to create worlds that feel rooted in what we know so there is a sense of connection to inspiration, empowerment, or hope, but left of centre to allow for breakthroughs; as opposed to creating ideas so off-the-wall that it’s complete nonsense and there’s no ground to stand on with the concept. Hence, I love the hyperreal as the nuanced balance I am constantly looking to achieve in my work.
Can you remember any specific challenges you faced while directing this video and how you overcame them?
Oh yes, the rig! Rigging the slackline in a studio was quite the feat! After a conversation with the slackliners, my talented grip, and the production designer, we were hopeful it would work but not entirely certain until we got it up and running. The calculation required approximately 1250 lbs of sand on each side with a 20ft distance between the ends so that the slackline, when walked upon, would lower no more than 2.5ft. We were at the boundaries of this unique LED screen dimensions, so the mechanics involved in making the rig exactly right were very challenging, but we pulled it off within the constraints we had all within a 1-day shoot.
You've mentioned your role as a Green Bid ambassador and your commitment to sustainability in production, as well as promoting diversity on set. Could you provide more details about the initiatives you're involved in and how they align with your work in the film industry?
As a Green The Bid ambassador, we echo, share, and push for more brands, agencies, and production companies to pledge goals towards more sustainable production values and use the framework and tools Green The Bid has spent years developing. My goal is for the GTB approach to become ubiquitous and to have a line time for a sustainability consultant on every estimate. As for diversity, I have not been lucky enough to be able to implement the Double the Line initiative onto my sets, which I think is the most fantastic initiative, but what I have developed over the pandemic is my own database of underrepresented crew from all over the world that I look to bring into the mix on my projects.
Can you offer a glimpse into your upcoming projects?
I have an upcoming short film that is a comedy satire on climate change through the lens of a flower bouquet, which is currently in post-production and will be doing the film festival circuit soon after. Stay tuned for that!
Director: Kristyna Archer
DP: Carissa Dorson
Set Designer: Rob Fidel
Hair& Makeup: Alix Youngblood
Wardrobe: Lisa Madonna
Post-Production: Artclass
Post-Producer: Laurenn Reed
Editor: James Boger
Assistant Editor: Dominique Machain
Colorist: Arianna Shining Star
VFX Artist: Tyler Keith | Sound & Mix: Julian Bickford