Today in my History of Experimental Animation class we talked about William Kentridge, Frederic Back, Igor Kovalyov, Maria Lassnig, and John Canemaker. These very different people with very different backgrounds have the same thing that I am trying to do with my film these next two years.
Kentridge created the technique of using the same piece of illustration paper to animate by erasing charcoal. This symbolizes forgetting and remembering the wake of the Apartheit in South Africa for him.
Back was inspired by this character in Jean Giono's book, and not only took five years to draw The Man Who Planted Trees the 30-minute film, but actually planted trees in his own backyard as a way of making the creative aspect a full circle.
Kovalyov takes his personal life memories and dreams and makes films out of them, usually without storyboarding.
Lassnig explores "body awareness," particularly her own, and has won various awards in Austria for autobiographical experiments. Her background is actually in painting.
Canemaker is more of a historian, but his film The Moon and The Son was a difficult film about the relationship with his father. After interviewing and going through an emotional roller-coaster with completing the film, the Canemaker family found peace, and his father passed soundly.
All of my characters, whether in animation or drawn, are facets of me and the people in my life who relate to the certain story I'm telling. Technique is to be carefully considered for Healing of Snow. I will be layering issues and symbolism like an onion. I met a girl in Character Animation this week who introduced herself as "Onion," and when I asked her why, she said besides her name being hard to pronounce for many people, she liked the layers being peeled away as people got to know her. I agreed with that metaphor, and the fact that onions do make people cry.
