Movies: Animation Film Festival

I have a pet peeve.

When you're of the creative ilk, you often find yourself immersed in a variety of projects. It's like breathing, in a way; it must be done. You get visions, ideas, bursts of artistic energy that must be worked off in the same way as someone who escapes to the gym to run 5 miles on a treadmill.

When you're an artist, these things happen. And my pet peeve is when a person, who is not of artistic ilk, looks at something you have made and reacts by saying, "Boy, you sure do have a lot of time on your hands."

No, artists do not have a lot of time on their hands. They make time, to do things with their hands. They put down the magazine, they turn off the TV, they log out of IM, and they make something. Because, to them, "making something", is like breathing. It must be done.

Last night I saw an impressive collection of animation shorts at a mini film festival. The crowd was small (it should have been bigger), but the talent was high. In about an hour I saw a collection of 8, maybe 10, short animated films. After the lights came on, a few of the animators got up on stage to answer questions.

The films were beautifully inpiring, and made me want to go back to my own drawing board to finish some ideas I've been carrying around with me for a while. The artists admitted that these films took nearly a year to make, even though they were only, at most, 10 minutes long. Many even shorter.

There's an intimacy to the animated short; it's a quiet way of telling a story, a focus on imagery as opposed to flash. It's a genre that is so unique and impressive, and so utterly time-consuming to make. Each time I see a new one, I am conscious of it being uniquely distinct from anything else I've seen. You really see the handprint of an artist in an animation, because it places such an emphasis on personal style and personal perspective. It's nothing without those two elements. I love it.

The fun part of the evening was getting to see, in person, Odd Todd. I also got to watch this beautiful film and hear from the artist about the process it took to make it. And many more, including this one, which I highly recommend. It was beyond spectacular.

I have to tell you, I'm going back to the drawing board.