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best of the nw animation festival 2012
August 8, 2012
truths about animation
by sven at 4:58 am
Animation is literally magic, breathing life into something inanimate.
Animation is diverse, encompassing many possible methods, media, and technologies.
Animation is a serious art form with enormous potential for creative expression.
It is possible to do things with animation that cannot be done in any other art form.
Animation is often misunderstood, being identified solely with kids, comedy and computers.
Many people enjoy mainstream animation; few have seen much independent animation.
To artists, the appeal of animation is being able to turn any daydream into an external, living, sharable vision.
Trading hours of real life for seconds of life on screen is laborious and isolating.
The amount of labor that animation requires makes it an extremely expensive art form.
To justify the effort, animators need audiences and hope for money.
Indie animation is almost entirely a genre of short films.
As with shorts in general, most films' only chance of getting sold is through compilations.
Festivals excel at compiling films for audiences.
Despite occasional screening fees, distribution deals and prizes, showing at festivals is unlikely to earn a typical animator any significant money.
Festivals provide filmmakers with an audience's human reactions to their work.
The emotional reactions of a crowd are different from those of an individual or small group.
It is easier to watch difficult films when they are interspersed with fun ones.
If audience members don't feel like they had enough fun at a festival, they won't come back.
When people return to a festival annually, it begins to feel like a kind of family reunion.
Though premised on screening films, festivals should emphasize and support the individuals endeavoring to create art.
Animators are more likely to persist and thrive when they feel connected to a supportive community.
Seeing other people's work helps inspire animators to make new films.
Anyone with a desire to animate can learn the basic principles quite quickly.
The main requirements for doing animation are enthusiasm and patience.
Emerging artists benefit from seeing a huge number of short indie films, as a way to become literate.
There is more to be learned from studying flawed films than perfect ones.
Master animators develop by continuing to make more films, experimenting and trying improve upon previous projects.
Animation evolves as an art form through a dialectic of animators making creative responses to one another's work.
posted by sven | August 8, 2012 4:58 AM | categories: nw animation festival, writing