Animated Thoughts: TAIS 2013 AniJam or "what I did on my pre-summer vacation..."

After submitting a short on the subject of "UFO's" to the annual TAIS AniJam, it was finally time for the drive to Toronto to see if the ten-second gag would get a laugh or not. A couple chuckles is really the most I can hope for. Every year, the TAIS ten-second film topic is announced and every year I wrack my brain until I figure out one good idea--which usually morphs into at least three or four really funny ideas--before I procrastinate, set aside the project in favor of billable work, or simply pass out due to exhaustion. And yet, a day or two before the film is due, something goes off in my brain telling me that I have to create a silly little gag film that reflects my off-kilter sense of humor, all so I can represent as the only American member of TAIS by driving to Toronto for the weekend. The ten-second shorts that I produce never live up to the raucous, gut-busting films that I see in my imagination as I invariably accept ten-seconds of animation that is far, far less then it could be since I'm only spending a few hours working on them the night before they're due. On the one hand, I'm reminded that this is why I did so poorly in undergrad, but on the other hand, I fool myself into thinking that I'm prioritizing my projects since the paying gigs are what helps me pay off the student loans with a little left over for that monthly Adobe Creative Cloud membership. However, these little ten-second gag films are what allows me to maintain whatever artistic sensibilities I have, so if ten-seconds every Spring is all it takes, who am I to complain? Especially since it means a weekend trip to Toronto where I can be a part of the most vibrant animation community in the Great Lakes region.

Friday began as it usually did, with me leaving home around 7 a.m. and making the five hour drive to Canada's largest city with a list of stuff to do over the weekend. After arrival and check-in at my hotel (and receiving yet more proof at the border that my purchase of a NEXUS pass was an extremely wise one when I was waived right through security), I braved the construction in downtown Toronto to arrive at the St. Lawrence Market for lunch. A jar of gourmet mustard purchased for my brother and a pea-bacon sandwich later, I reviewed my list of used books and bookstores and then started walking through the underground city. This year, the plan was to continue the research started at the MSU and R.I.T. libraries and save myself overdue library book fines by hunting down my own copies.

The first find of the day was at 'BMV Books' just north of the Eaton Centre: the 2004 printing of "Animation Now". I have the hardback 2007 reprint, unfortunately, that printing removed sections on CalArts, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, La Poudrière, and Supinfocom nor did it come with the sample DVD of animators' films. While I like the smaller footprint of the hardback 2007 copy, still I wanted the earlier printing to fill in the gaps left from the later printing. I also discovered a near-mint copy of the "Nelvana Story" and the hardback "Animation Magazine: the 20-Year Collection".

The good thing was that they were very reasonably priced--only one or two dollars more than what I could get online and all were in excellent condition. The bad thing is that two were hardback copies, all three books were a combined eight pounds, and together were the size of a large dictionary. Still elated from my discoveries, I made the admittedly poor decision to not go back to the hotel and drop the books off before continuing my search through all the used bookstores in Downtown Toronto that I could find. My visits to 'Silver Snail', 'ABC Books', 'She Said Boom Books and Records', and a couple others not on my list were fruitless--some good finds, but nothing I didn't already have. Had hoped to find something good at 'She Said Boom' since that was where I found Karen Mazurkewich's "Cartoon Capers" a couple years back, but there wasn't anything there and the girl working the counter was pretty rude, so I went on my way.

The Bloor Street location of 'BMV Books' was much more rewarding as it was there that I found a slightly-used copy of Giannalberto Bendazzi's "Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation". Knowing that Bendazzi is going to be releasing an updated copy of this book later this year, I didn't want to encounter the same issue as I did with "Animation Now". I'm confident that the additional information that Bendazzi is going to add in the updated version will be worth it, however, just in case he has to remove existing pages to make it all fit within a reasonable page count, I'd rather have my own copy now.

Satisfied with the day's deals, I returned to the hotel for a change of clothes. Needless to say, sitting in front of the computer for over ten hours a day over the past four years isn't a very good workout to prepare yourself for a day of walking all around downtown Toronto in close to 80 degree weather!

After a shower and nursing some blisters, I discovered that it had started raining. Even with an umbrella, I was going to get all wet again. So I stopped by the local Anime store (no love there, but admittedly the DVDs I'm looking for are pretty hard to find) then trudged through the rain to dinner at Hero Burger, and finally returned to the Grange Hotel. I spent the rest of the evening watching the last four episodes of "BTOOOM!" before doing some work in my production journal on the paint-on-glass film that I 'owe my Auntie Martine'. The Grange Hotel may be spartan, but their rooms have wireless routers. Makes for easy, uninterrupted streaming of anime over my iPad. "BTOOOM!" is another example of how far ahead of the game the Japanese are when compared to my American bretheren when it comes to breaking out of the animation age ghetto. The story may be slightly recycled from "Battle Royale", but it's still filled with solid storytelling geared for a more mature audience. Afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to solve a couple problems with my storyboards. I guess sometimes all you need is a change of scenery to jar your creativity and allow the ideas to flow through your pencil.

Saturday was research day for new material for my sister blog "Animated Women" (no pun intended). After breakfast, I went to the Toronto Reference Library to scour their film and animation section, much like I did at R.I.T. and MSU. Having been warned ahead of time by Patrick Jenkins that the Toronto Comic Arts Festival was in full swing, I tried to arrive as early as possible. But even then, there were hundreds of people mulling around, buying product and getting autographs from independent (and some not-so-independent) artists in the comic book scene, like the Hernandez brothers and J. Scott Campbell.

Was kind of unimpressed with all the crowds of people at the TCAF tables set up on the Library's main floor, so I went up to the fifth floor, which was much quieter and far less crowded! Still, it was five flights of stairs after being sore from all the previous day's walking. Again, not one of my more well thought out plans, but that's where the film and animation section was. There wasn't a whole lot there that I hadn't seen before, but I was able to review a couple books that are on my short-list: "British Animation: The Channel 4 Factor" by Clare Kitson, "French Animation History", by Richard Newpert and "The World History of Animation" by Stephen Cavalier. It was in Cavalier's book that I discovered a reference to the only book on cut-out animation that Terry Gilliam wrote: "Animations of Mortality". Gilliam, while still working with Monty Python, wrote this surreal little book in the United Kingdom back in 1978 and it only had one print run. It was also a book that I had seen on Friday as I searched through used bookstores--but I couldn't remember which one. Nightmares of running around Toronto a second time swam through my head and the clock was ticking as I was meeting Lynn Dana Wilton for dinner at 4:30 p.m.

As the cosplayers and furries were starting to increase in number, I needed no greater reason to leave the throngs of TCAF attendees behind. So, I hastily exited the library and retraced my previous day's path in nearly reverse order starting with 'She Said Boom'. The book was not there, however, a different yet equally rude employee was. After deciding never to darken their doorstep again, I went back to' BMV Books' on Bloor Street. And sure enough, there it was. Turns out I had passed it over when I saw the slightly-used copy of Bendazzi's "Cartoons" on the shelf below. The copy purchased, I returned to the hotel for another shower. After two candy bars, some serious hydration, and watching a guilty pleasure, the latest simulcasted episode of "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute" (season two) streamed via CrunchyRoll's iPad app, I went to meet up with Lynn for dinner at the Kit Kat before we attended the TAIS AniJam screening.

Time flew by as we talked about our films, the motivations behind our projects, the state of the industry, and traveling to festivals. It was only through dumb luck that I checked the time on my phone during one of the very few lapses in conversation. We had talked through dinner and were left with only ten minutes to walk to the Cinecycle before the TAIS program began! Not more than once on the brisk walk up Spadina did I wish that I had more opportunities to break bread with colleagues--if for no other reason than the conversation.

There were some great films during the screening, and I loved how there was a wide variety of media and technique, but my favorites had to be the following:

"Hula Hoop" by Tess Martin was ninety seconds of visual wow! The story is a metaphor for the age old 'circle of life' tale animated with sand. But, in several places, the fluidity of the animation and precision with which the characters stayed on model left both Lynn and I wondering if some parts of this film were rotoscoped or if she had snuck in some computer animation. It's really refreshing to see some of the older, non-digital media used, but even more so when it's executed as well as this.
Hula Hoop from Tess Martin on Vimeo.


"The McIntosh Apple" by Janice Schulman was only a minute long, but this cute little mini-documentary about a "Great Canadian Invention" told the origin story of the McIntosh apple using a palette of bold lines and colored pencil textures.


Directed by Astra Burka and animated by Pasquale La Montagna, "My Titanic Uncle" was a wonderful "drawn on glass" documentary that told the tragic story of Burka's great-great-uncle Adolphe Saalfeld--a man who survived the sinking of the Titanic but was never able to overcome the stigma of being a survivor.


The screening ended on a high note with "Like Rabbits", the sequel to Osman Cerfon's delightfully twisted "Sticky Ends". A trailer for the continuing tale of the 'fish headed man' can be seen on Vimeo.



Madi Piller and Chuck Wilson

Special notice must be made for TAIS President Madi Piller's film "Animated Self-Portraits" where she contacted a plethora of Canadian animators with the instruction of creating an animated self-portrait using a cycle of only twelve drawings. While the film has not been released online, Acme Art and Works has posted the DVD packaging artwork on their website.

Afterwards, it was time to have a drink at the Cinecycle's bar and chat with fellow animators before dropping Lynn off at her home, driving back to my hotel, and falling asleep before my head hit the pillow. As nice as it was to see everyone again, the highlight of the meet-and-greet after the screening had to be bumping into Graydon Liang of the Canadian Animation Blog who has been advising me as I make the transition to shooting traditional animation with a DSLR camera. Walking away with another two pieces of the image-flicker puzzle, hopefully, I'll get to start filming my paint-on-glass film sooner rather than later.



Sunday arrived way too soon and immediately became a mixed bag for me. My plan to visit the Toronto Zoo was almost thwarted by a marathon that shut down nearly every entrance to the Gardiner expressway around Spadina Avenue. But, after finally making it to the Zoo, an hour behind schedule, the beautiful weather broke and it started to hail as I walked up to the admissions booth. The rest of the trip to the zoo consisted of me leaning into my umbrella against the rain and wind as I rushed from one enclosed display to the next. But, the critters inside the displays seemed to be a lot more active than the ones outside, and the weather kept most of the people away, so I had some time to collect photo and video references for animals that I usually only get to see in passing. My main reason for visiting the zoo was thwarted when I discovered that the newly renovated Asia section had been shut down to finish preparations for the giant panda display which would be opening in six days. Doom on me.

One of the more interesting things that happened there was when I encountered a girl who was drawing a peacock. A short chat revealed that she was a student who wanted to go to CalArts. So, at her request, I looked at her portfolio and gave her encouragement on her drawings--which displayed an excellent grasp of perspective, proportion and gesture. But as I walked away, I was angry at myself for not having a card that I could hand her to promote the interviews on my AnimatedWomen.info blog--the interviews being far more encouraging and informative than anything I could muster in a five minute conversation.

So, slightly crestfallen, I drove back to the hotel figuring that I'd walk around Kensington Market and maybe visit the chocolatier before going to dinner.

Patrick Jenkins

However, as fate would have it, when I returned to the Grange and checked my e-mail it turned out that Patrick Jenkins had sent me an invitation to come up and see his studio if I was still in town. A short jaunt on Toronto's public transportation later, and I got to spend the better part of the afternoon visiting with Patrick as he showed me his animation setup and provided me some first-hand advice on how he solved the flicker issue with his DSLR camera setup. Afterwards, he showed me the preliminary storyboards and test shots for his third NoirLand film. Not more than once during the afternoon, I was kicking myself for not bringing my digital audio recorder from home and continuing last February's interview.

After dinner, I was tired from yet another day of walking, so I picked up a drink on the way back to the Grange and watched the latest simulcasted episode of "A Certain Scientific Railgun S" on Funimation's iPad app. Again, sleep came easy that night as I reflected on the main advantage of being wired in to the net: 24/7 access to animation, be it through Crunchyroll, Funimation, the NFB's iOS app, or a plethora of other services more than willing to take my money in exchange for sending me animated film wherever I am in North America.

Monday morning rolled around sooner than expected and it was time to go, though I probably could've used another day or two in Toronto. There were still several used bookstores that I hadn't visited, but they would have to wait until this Fall when I stop through on my way to the Ottawa International Animation Festival. I bade farewell to the Grange for another few months and took the streetcars to breakfast at Marche Movenpik--one of the few landmarks still remaining from the days back in the '70's when my parents would bring me and my sister here for vacation. On the way back, I walked past the former location of 'Ginsburg & Wong', a Jewish deli/Chinese restaurant that was one of the three restaurants that my family would always visit on our vacations. With TAIS moving their offices away from the waterfront, the NFB Mediatheque closing their center on John Street, and the Silver Snail moving their store to Yonge Street, I drove home wondering how many places in Toronto that make it feel like a home away from home will soon only live in my memories?

Animated Inspiration: Ottawa International Animation Festival 2010

One of the things that I look forward to at every Ottawa Festival is the signal films. Sometimes they're artistic, sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're just way out there! But, they're always entertaining. Here's the four signal films from the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival that I really enjoyed. They were produced by Nathan Love and J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc.









You can watch more of the festival's signal films over the years, some as old as 1976, on their YouTube channel: OIAF Signal Films.

Animated Inspiration: "A Boy And His Atom"

Well, there's another one for the record books. Scientists at IBM have just made the world's smallest movie: "A Boy And His Atom"--shot frame-by-frame by moving actual atoms!

You can view the movie below, but once you're done, definitely take a look at their how-we-did-it film: "Moving Atoms: Making the World's Smallest Movie". I guess "IBM" really does stand for "Itty-Bitty-Machine" after all!

Animated Quotes: Brad Bird

“the point is, animation is not a genre. It is a method of storytelling. People are constantly analyzing it and misanalysing it as if it is a genre. It isn’t a genre. It can do horror films, it can do adult comedies if it wanted to, it could do fairy tales, it could do science fiction, it could do musicals, it could mystery, it can do anything.”
~ Brad Bird, 1997

Animated Thoughts: Serendipity and Research

My research trip to R.I.T. began with the usual bevy of doubts as I pulled out of the driveway on Friday morning. Did I really want to make a fourteen hour, round-trip drive to Rochester just to see a festival screening and do a little research in the library, knowing that I'd probably be spending the entire weekend by myself? Add to that, I'd be skipping my Friday night wargame at the local comic book store--the only time during the week when I get to visit with my friends. But, I was stir crazy from a winter that didn't seem to want to end and the next chance I'd have to get out of town wouldn't be for another month. So, I soldiered on during an overcast Friday morning, turned on the radio to hear about the latest events in Boston, and drove to Rochester

R.I.T.'s School of Film & Animation

After a pleasant enough drive, I arrived at my alma mater around 2 p.m. and picked up my parking pass from campus security. A quick visit to the School of Film and Animation later, I discovered from Mary Barnard that everyone had either gone home for the day or were involved in student project reviews. Not a big deal, I had work to do and was really only interested in saying 'hi' to some of my professors if they had been around. Since these visits to R.I.T. are rather infrequent, I like to be sociable, but I don't want to be a pest either. I don't like the idea of taking their attention away from the current bunch of students. So, after a nice chat with Mary about the High Falls Festival SoFA event, it was off to the library.

One of the side-projects I work on every year is adding to my remembrance of Erik Timmerman.

Erik was a great influence on my life both professionally and personally. During undergrad, I was an average student but came into my own at R.I.T. due in no small part to the investment that my professors made in me. As the story was related to me back in 1994, everyone was on the fence about letting me into the M.F.A. program due to my lackluster grades in undergrad. However, Erik went to bat for me and told everyone that I could handle R.I.T.’s intensive quarter system, I just needed a chance. His trust in me was vindicated three years later when I graduated from the M.F.A. program with honors.

Tragically, Erik’s life was cut short in 2000 due to cancer, but is survived by his son and daughter out in California—-both of whom still work in the film industry (last I knew), much like their father did before he came to work at R.I.T.

For the past several years, on the anniversary of his death, I have been been posting little stories and recollections about Erik on my blog. As a part of this remembrance, I'm exploring the possibility of obtaining permission from his son and daughter to digitize and post online the only experimental film that Erik ever produced. As few copies exist, this is one of the only ways that people will be able to see Erik’s film. But, I didn’t want to ask them to ship me what could be the only copy of his film that they have in their possession. So, I took a printout of R.I.T’s library listing for Erik’s film and asked R.I.T. Archivist Becky Simmons if she could help me find the library's copy.

As it turns out, she had never seen the numbering system for his entry in the database as it hadn’t been used for years. And, even after several phone calls to colleagues, she was unable to locate his film, if a copy even still existed at the Wallace Library. So, she apologized, we exchanged business cards, and she said she’d see what she could do. This was Friday at around 3 p.m. I thanked her for her time, and then walked across the library to do my research.

Around 4 p.m., I received a call from Becky stating that she had found the library’s copy. Fifteen minutes later, I was watching Erik’s film downstairs on one of the three remaining VCRs that the library still had hooked up. I was able to verify that it could be digitized with only minor clean-up needed for the soundtrack. When I returned the tape to Becky, she suggested that, once the necessary permissions were secured from Erik’s children, I could request that R.I.T.’s copy of Erik’s film be transferred to Michigan State University through their inter-library loan program. By doing so, I could make a ten minute drive with my equipment from my home to MSU’s campus instead of a fourteen hour round-trip drive between Rochester and Michigan.

Becky's commitment to helping an alumnus pursue a personal project on a Friday afternoon when most people would have been wrapping up their work for the week was very encouraging. Her professionalism was everything that I have come to expect from R.I.T.’s support staff. Needless to say, the university is fortunate to have someone of her caliber working at the Wallace Library. This was only one of the moments where it dawned on me that I had made the correct decision to drive out to Rochester.

With the exception of a visit to the local Anime store, dinner, and driving the route to the Little Theatre (so I wouldn't get lost on Saturday morning), I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Wallace Library going through three entire bookshelves of animation books. I live a five minute drive from Michigan State University and they have some real gems in their library. However, as MSU doesn't have a dedicated animation production program*, the library's selection of books on animation history can get a little sparse (and spread out)--especially when the person running the Digital and Multimedia Center doesn't bother to show up for work and unlock the section of the library where most of the animation books I want to review are located! And while I'm pleased with what they can get me through inter-library loan, it's tough to justify the effort if I don't know if the books I'm requesting have what I want. Amazon.com does an adequate job in scanning the table of contents and indices in newer books but I've found that many of the books I want to research either aren't covered or some of the ones that do get scanned are illegible. So. Sometimes you have to go directly where you know they'll have the information you want. And there it was in the Wallace Library. On those bookshelves.

Earlier this month, I launched "Animated Women", a blog dealing with women who work in the field of animation, the historical contributions that women have made to the field of animation, and how we can encourage more girls to enter the field of animation (www.animatedwomen.info). So, at this stage, my research was geared towards uncovering more information about the rich history of women working in animation. I walked out of the library that night with a list of books that needed to be part of my collection, along with pages of notes. And I hadn't even finished going through all the shelves! As I sat on my bed in the hotel and perused new and used copies of books on Amazon.com, I made the welcome discovery that one of the two books that were at the top of my list was available through a used bookstore for only a dollar! For once, being wired in to the Internet 24/7 worked to my advantage! The book purchased, I loaded up "Wreck-it Ralph" on my iPad and watched the movie until I was tired enough to sleep.

Saturday morning came around sooner than expected and I made my way to Rochester's Little Theatre for the High Falls Film Festival. The 'Women of SoFA' event included a mixture of live action films and animated films. Rather then detail that here, I urge everyone to visit my sister-site: "Animated Women" (no pun intended) to read my review of this event and watch some of my favorite films from the 'Women of SoFA'.

Well, after a thoroughly enjoyable screening, and an even more enjoyable chat with my former professor, Stephanie Maxwell, I decided to visit an old haunt before returning to the library to finish my research. On the way to the Seneca Park Zoo--where I spent almost every weekend during grad school drawing the animals--I passed by a store called "Comic Book Heaven". After my little zoo trip, where I became reacquainted with the tiger who likes to let people with cameras get close to her cage only to turn tail and try to pee on them, I stopped off at this little comic book store. Serendipity struck once again as there in a box at the back of the store was the second book on my list: 'The Complete Kodak Animation Book' and priced at a mere four dollars no less.

As I sat in the library later that evening, my research complete, I read a book on Eiji Tsuburaya--the man who invented most of the special effects for the Godzilla films--and reflected on how silly it was of me to have doubts about this trip. It was a successful one on every level. Sometimes, it's only by going through these experiences that I'm reminded how many of the greatest adventures in life are the ones that you're not expecting--and would be missed if you stayed at home.

* While MSU's College of Communication Arts & Sciences does have specializations in Documentary Studies, Fiction Film Production, Game Design and Development as well as classes in their "Media Sandbox" which cover some computer-based 2d and 3d animation, they don't seem to have a dedicated and comprehensive animation program like one sees at schools like R.I.T. or Sheridan.

Animated Inspiration: International Animation Day 2013

It's a little early for us to start announcing screening events and locations for this year's ASIFA International Animation Day, but they just released the official poster for 2013's event, designed by Oscar Grillo.

Animated Quotes: Abraham Lincoln

"You can have anything you want -- if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose."
~ Abraham Lincoln

Women in Animation: 'Annecy' and 'the Women of SoFA from R.I.T.'

First off, I'd like to say a very special 'thank you' to Anne Beal, Carol Beecher, and Signe Baumane for taking the time out of their busy schedules for these interviews and for sharing their experiences with us veterans as well as the next generation of animators.

Next, I'd like to end 2013's "International Women's Month" series on two very positive notes:

I received an e-mail from Anne Beal earlier this week. She has just received notice that her graduation film "Balance and Swing" has been accepted into the 2013 Annecy International Animation Festival and will be shown as part of their "Graduation Films" competition program. The Annecy festival will be held in Annecy, France during June 10th and June 15th. So if you're at the festival, be sure to check her film out on the big screen.

But if you can't make it to France, or you just can't wait until June, you can watch "Balance and Swing" on Vimeo via the embedded player below.

Secondly, there's an event coming up if you're in the Rochester, New York area. At the High Falls Film Festival, there is going to be a special festival screening that showcases both films and animations created by woman filmmakers: "The Women of SoFA from R.I.T."

From the High Falls Film Festival website:

"The Women of SOFA program celebrates the strong creative voices of these young filmmakers. The School of Film and Animation at RIT provides a creative community where students have the opportunity to discover their unique creative potential, explore their talents, and convey their messages to the world through the cinematic medium."



Click here to read the R.I.T. CIAS news article.

Curated by Rochester Institute of Technology Professors Cat Ashworth and Brian Larson, this event will be held at Rochester's Little Theatre on Saturday, April 20th at 11:00 a.m. And afterwards, there will be a meet-and-greet with these filmmakers from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Little Theatre's cafe.

Women in Animation: Signe Baumane

PLEASE NOTE: Some of the content contained in the following interview is directed at a more mature audience. Please use discretion when allowing younger readers to read this interview and visit the associated hyperlinked pages.

* * *

I almost didn't meet Signe Baumane last year.

I've known about Signe's work for years, ever since I saw several of her short films as part of the two "Avoid Eye Contact" DVDs which showcased short films from independent animators in the New York City animation community.

My first experience was watching her cringe-worthy film "The Dentist"--an animation that left me squirming in my chair as I dealt with flashbacks borne of a lifetime love affair with sugar in all it's tooth decaying forms. After watching the second DVD, I was left rather confused by the raw sexuality presented in her short series "Five F**king Fables". 'How could a woman make films like this,' I wondered. Thinking that there had to be a dimension to her films that I just wasn't picking up on when watching those two DVDs, I purchased her "Ten Animated Films" DVD and was treated to a roller-coaster ride of surreal imagery and adult situations. Afterwards, I placed the DVD on the shelf along with the rest of my collection, secure in the knowledge that I clearly 'didn't get it.' 1

While I did not write Signe off, I found her work a little too challenging, so I did not seek out her films and only saw a couple of her "Teat Beat of Sex" films over the following years. And while I didn't have any greater success understanding those vignettes any more than her earlier work, it was clear that she was maturing as both an animator and as a storyteller. So when I learned that Patrick Jenkins had invited her to showcase her work at the Toronto Animated Image Society, I filed it at the back of my mind for future reference.

It wasn't until I was at a restaurant in Ottawa that year, sitting across from Madi Piller and Martine Chartrand while Craig Marshall scribbled furiously in his sketchbook next to me, that I made the decision to attend Signe's presentation. Madi convinced me that a trip to Toronto was a wise investment of my time, and given that she has never steered me wrong in the past, I was willing to trust her judgement. If nothing else, I figured I could ask Signe if she would be willing to let me interview her for my annual Women in Animation blog posts.

That night in Toronto, after light discussion over dinner with the TAIS members, we all retired to the Cinecycle where Signe began her presentation. Almost immediately, the confusion that I had experienced before returned with a vengeance. However this time, I was treated to the illumination that had eluded me previously as Signe detailed out why she created certain films as well as the events in her life which influenced her work. As it turns out, "The Dentist" was born out of her experience of needing a root canal in addition to dealing with the past trauma of dental work performed under the former Soviet medical system: read that 'without painkillers of any kind'. "Birth" was her story about dealing with the fears of being pregnant with her first child. And the "Teat Beat of Sex" vignettes were honest stories about sex and sexuality from a woman's perspective. Slowly, I started to 'get it'.

But the best surprise was at the end of her presentation when Signe showed the crowd seven minutes from her upcoming feature length animated film: "Rocks in My Pockets"--what she described as 'a funny film about depression'. Having suffered through a hard fought war against chronic depression myself and having a portion of my extended family tortured and killed during the Bolshevik Revolution, her film about the history of mental illness and suicide in her family set against the backdrop of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Lativa spoke to me. As she announced her Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds necessary to complete "Rocks in My Pockets", it became a personal mission of mine to help spread the word about her film and hopefully encourage people to donate a buck or two in order to help a fellow filmmaker bring a personal vision to the screen.

There has been an honesty and vibrancy in the discussions that Signe and I have had via e-mail over the past few months since we met in Toronto. The topics have ranged from 'do we need film festivals that only showcase films created by women' to 'the merits of crowdfunding films'. Given the depth of our conversations, I'm glad I had the chance to meet her face-to-face and learn about all the thought that goes into her films. Listening to Signe's perspectives on filmmaking has been time well spent.

* * *



Signe Baumane

Q: What is your current job description?

A: I am an independent animator - director

Q: How long have you worked in the animation industry?

A: Since 1989

Q: What roles have you performed during your career in animation?

A: I started in Latvia's Animation Studio by coloring cells for other people's projects, then went to writing and directing my first 3 films (1989 - 1995), came to NY, worked for Bill Plympton coloring cells for his many shorts and features, was a production manager for his projects (1996-2004) then went on to animating, directing, writing, producing my own next many shorts till one day in 2010 I started my first animated feature film "Rocks In My Pockets", which is near completion, we hope to release it in summer 2013.


Click here to see a clip from "Rocks in my Pockets"

"Rocks In My Pockets" is an independent production which means, I am the producer but am also the director, writer, animator (which is very helpful to me as a producer - to have all those jobs in one person reduces the amount of salaries I have to pay :))

Q: Is there a book or film that you worked on that you are particularly proud of?

A: I always like my current film. It would be silly of me to think that my best work is in the past. :)

Q: Given that you have successfully financed your films via patrons, grants, indiegogo, and kickstarter, what are your thoughts on using crowdsourcing to finance your films versus more traditional methods?

A: WHAT is "traditional methods" for an indie film? Grants? Private funding? Your own money? convincing a major studio/distributor to invest in your film? Hmm...

"Rocks In My Pockets" was funded by a combination of resources:

• 2 grants (from NYSCA and Jerome Foundation)
• many tax deductible donations (via non profit organization Women Make Movies)
• IndieGoGo campaign
• Kickstarter campaign
• my personal income

Since the project had a non profit status I was not trying to get investors, and to be realistic - who would want to invest into a funny film about depression anyway? How much money would an investor hope to get back from a low budget indie animated feature?

As to crowdfunding - it was NOT easy for me, and am not sure if I'd be enticed to do it soon again.

First, crowdfunding is what the name says: it is a crowd giving your project funds, in other words: you need a lot of people strongly supporting you and your project. So, you need to actively engage with at least 1200 - 3000 people to get to 800 backers to reach your modest goal of $42,800 (one cannot make an animated feature film for $42,800, it is only 1/4 of our budget, but we felt we couldn't raise more than that).

The way I see it there are four levels of projects on Kickstarter:

1. low goals from $2,000 - $12,000
2. medium - $20,000 - $60,000
3. high - around $100,000
4. super goals of million $$

My project was on medium scale with it's $42,800 goal. Low - medium projects have a different patterns of engagement with their supporters than high - super goal projects.

We, the small scale people, need to be nice to our supporters, and in general, we have to be nice people with interesting projects, we also need to do a lot of work - do social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) and we have to make phones calls begging for money/support. On this low-medium level, projects that get crowdfunded are mainly niche topic oriented, and their team has an extensive net[work] of personal connections (you'll be surprised, but the few articles we had on "Rocks" didnt translate into pledges, it was personal calls and emails that did the trick).

Then there is the other level, projects with big names attached - names that can do anything they want and bring a lot of money from a lot of people that are not personal connections. Star power.

Packaging DVDs after a successful Kickstarter Campaign.

Q: As you have worked for studios and as an independent, which do you prefer and why?

A: I have not worked for studios (Bill Plympton's was an independent studio, too, so that doesnt count). I can only imagine what it would be like working for a studio: bigger paycheck? more creative constraints? But should not talk until I have a real experience of that. :)

Q: As many independent animators give up a certain measure of financial security in order to tell stories which more so-called “mainstream” studios might not want to cover, given your experiences, do you feel that this is a fair trade-off (money/security versus creative freedom)?

A: I don't know.

Some people are lucky to have the desire to tell stories that are mainstream-friendly. I am not that person. I am also invested in the idea of being an auteur - where under my name there is a story, film, blog, Facebook page that has a strong presence of my DNA. Like a dog, to mark his territory he pees on corners, the piss containing his DNA is his name and if he has enough of it to cover all corners of the town, he is a very successful dog.

As to money vs creative freedom....

Big studios, big publishers, Broadway theaters are reluctant to take big risks with unusual stories, and they are right - they exist to make money, they don't exist to make art. On the other hand, I exist to express my Eternal Soul and I am willing to starve in order to be able to do that. If I gave up the work I do in exchange for total financial security in a few years I would probably kill myself. I guess I need the excitement of instability, of trying new things out, being on the edge. To be able to live the way I live - in a constant financial turmoil but having my name under my work - I have to have a sense of purpose, an answer to the question: why you are doing this? My Joan of Arc syndrome answers that question. :)

Please, note that the industry oriented towards pleasing "mainstream" would not exist without independent artists willing to try out new things, failing or succeeding, pushing the boundaries, exploring what will be accepted by mainstream audiences today or tomorrow. Mainstream studios look closely at those independent experimentations and pick the ones they think will succeed, leaving the supposed failures in this indie ocean of attempts. We all need each other, we are all one - indies need mainstream studios to validate their experiments, studios need indies to generate new ideas.

In short, my answer to your question is: no, I don't feel there is a trade off - I chose to be independent because I can't be otherwise. sorry for the long rant. :)



"Teat Beat of Sex"
Episode 2: Juice

Q: Your short film series "Teat Beat of Sex" deals with stories of sexuality from a woman's perspective. Setting aside financial returns, in your discussion with audiences, do you find that the acceptance level of your films are similar to the acceptance of films with stories of sexuality that are produced by men?

A: I do not know how to separate where my work is rejected as a work done by a woman, from a WOMAN'S POINT OF VIEW or it is a work that just doesn't have that mass appeal because it just doesn't.

There was a famous short film website that once rejected "Teat Beat of Sex" "Juice" episode, they said that according to their guidelines it is acceptable to show male genitals but not acceptable to show female genitals, however stylized.

PES very cleverly escaped the problem by making "Roof Sex" with chairs. Bill Plympton cleverly escaped the problem in one of his "Sex and Violence" episodes shoving a dick into a woman's mouth, shown from the mouth's perspective. I, on the other hand, in my uneducated naïveté, show everything as it is. Not a good idea.

Q: How have opportunities changed for women pursuing a career in animation today as opposed to when you started your career?

A: I don't know. When you look carefully - there are many women-producers in the industry right now, an amazing amount. There are many women-students in animation schools and classes. There are many young women making a lot of short films. BUT there are not so many women-directors, after making shorts for a few years, women move to producing, or teaching, or animating for a studio, or something entirely else. So, YES, there are many more women in U.S. animation industry now than there were 20 years ago (I am from Latvia, we almost always had many more women in animation than men), but they seem to be more in the supportive roles.

Q: What do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation?

A: I feel there never were visible, clearly outlined obstacles in the way of a woman who wants to become an animation director.

One obstacle is her own mind which comes from the way she was brought up - we are trained to be team players, to be supportive and nurturing of others. We are trained to deny the validity of our own will and desires for the good of others - in short - we are trained to be mothers and wives. At least it was in my case. As a producer you get to be a team player, nurture a director's vision. One woman producer recently told me: - I never feel my idea is good enough to be a director. When I asked if she thought her male director's idea was better than her own, she said: - well, at least he feels passionately about it. Hmmm.

The other invisible obstacle is who big studios and networks want to please. I am coming up against that constantly. It is assumed that only 18 - 21 year old males want to see T.V. shows and animated films. That girls just passively tag along. As a woman I don't make that kind of content oriented towards young male tastes. So I don't get big jobs. Once I don't get big money jobs, I don't have them on my résumé and my opportunity to get better directing jobs dwindles.

I am stuck on shorts and other small budget projects. Lately I started to think that the studios might be right - it does seem that it is mostly young men who are interested in animation news, comics, graphic novels. Why aren't more women obsessing over Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Fritz the Cat? Oh wait. Those are male characters with their male superpowers, male motivations and needs, created by male artists.



Click here to see a clip from "Rocks in my Pockets"

Q: If your daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her?

A: I tried but I have a hard time to imagine having a daughter. Even more - a daughter who would want to go into animation. Any reasonable person who would have grown up with me as their mother would want to do anything else but animation and arts. My son when he was 6 said he would never become an artist because artists don't have money.

Q: What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation?

A: If I were to give an advise (and not from an authority position - I don't have one, I just have my own experiences) I would give it to girls and boys alike:

• Please make an informed decision if you would want to be an independent animator or work for a studio, those are two very different things although sometimes but rarely they can collide

If you decide to be an independent animator:

• Learn to be very careful with the money, know how to save it when you have it and learn to live on nothing when you don't have it. The money you save has to go into your next film.
• Don't buy a house, do not have children - at least not at the beginning of your career, they'll make you less flexible in many regards.
• Make your own films as often as you can!!!! At least one film a year - mark your territory!
• Do not be perfectionist - make a film the best you can at the moment and move on to the next film, trying to make one film perfect on a small budget is not going to make it perfect but it is going to hinder your development. My next film is always better than the previous one.
• Explore new subjects, new techniques with each film.
• Repetition is boredom. Once you master one thing, move to the subject or technique you don't know anything about.
• Grow!
• Keep watching films any time you can - shorts, feature, live action - any film at any opportunity, expand your visual language.
• Educate yourself what other people are doing, lack of updated knowledge is death to your growth.
• When you embark on a new project, look at it as an adventure.

"Ten Animated Films"
DVD available for sale on Signe's website.

* * * All photos and videos used in this interview are copyright Signe Baumane and used with her permission.

1. Just to clarify a thought as I'm not sure I've stated it as well as I could have: at the time I was introduced to Signe's work, I was unintentionally viewing it on a very superficial level. At that time, I simply didn’t know how to observe films with a critical eye nor do I feel that I had the intellectual and emotional maturity to understand the thought processes that went into the films she was making. As such, I was very glad that I had the opportunity to meet her in Toronto and learn about where her films came from on a primal emotional/intellectual level. Doing so allowed me the chance to truly appreciate her films—a chance that I wouldn’t have had otherwise had I not gone to Toronto that weekend. On that note, for those who are interested in learning more about how to critique films, I recommend this series of articles by Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman found on Animation World Network--particularly his (currently) nine part series entitled "The Animation Critic's Art".

Women in Animation: Anne Beal

Anne Beal is an interesing case study.

Given that animation is primarily a visual medium, many of us enter into animation from the simliar background of the visual arts: drawing, painting, sculpting, or cinematography.* Anne followed a different path: music. As I'm sure all of you who have struggled to find the right musical score for your films can attest, this additional skillset provides her the ability to avoid a lot of the pitfalls the rest of us encounter as we try to explain our personal vision to musicians/composers and are forced to trust in their ability to interpret our personal vision. Nowhere is this more apparent than in her thesis film which I had the pleasure of watching at the 2012 Ottawa International Animation Festival. Having met online months earlier through ASIFA/Central, I sat at the table behind Anne and her friends from RISD during the Salon des Refusés program as "Balance and Swing" danced across the screen, seamlessly integrating a rich musicial score with lush visuals created using a mixture of ink, goauche, and watercolor.

I encourage everyone not only to view the films presented here and on her portfolio, but also to listen to the samples of her original compositions on her soundcloud account--notably "PINK_DPsound_dec15" or the longer "descending (architectural sound exploration using violin)"--and witness her interest in experimentation which extends past visual media into sound.

* * *

Anne Beal

Q. What is your current job description?

A: Freelance animator, aspiring teacher, fiddle player

Q. How long have you worked in the animation industry?

A: I graduated last spring, so almost a year. I started animating at RISD – I had never made a film before. While I was in school I worked on various productions, live action and as an animation intern. Now I do freelance projects in Chicago including animation, painting, and playing the fiddle.

Q. What roles have you performed during your career in animation?

A: Sound designer. I love sound and I worked on some of my friends' films at RISD, helping with music and using my violin when needed, and making weird soundscapes for my classmates' films. In summer 2011 I had the privilege of being an animation intern for Dan Sousa, interning on his amazing film, "Feral."

Animation workstation at RISD

While at RISD, I worked as a Studio Teacher's Assistant in two classes, "Introductory Film" and "Sound Design for the Screen." In summer 2010, I worked on a live-action feature film as part of Kazoo Films. Our film was called "If I Had Wings to Fly," and we filmed it all across Western North Carolina, where half of us grew up. We spent a beautiful eight weeks shooting this loose narrative about a traveling banjo player in turn-of-the-century Appalachia. I was credited as "Production Supervisor," although I played many roles, including driver, cook, human relations manager, set dresser, props supervisor, square dancer, and fiddle player. The best thing about having a career in animation is that you get involved with projects that take you places you wouldn't expect. You get to work with lots of interesting people, and whatever role you perform on one project just adds to the skill set you bring to the next.

Q. Is there a book or film that you worked on that you are particularly proud of?

A: My degree project, "Balance and Swing." I had a whole year to make the film – that's a special thing about the animation department at RISD – and it felt amazing to make an entire animated film by myself. I hand-painted each frame in watercolors, gouache, and walnut ink, and shot the whole film on a light pad, two frames at a time. I arrived at this technique through pasting together a bunch of concepts I had seen from other filmmakers, and it worked well for what I wanted to do. I wanted to create this flowy environment where the color and sound merged and lots of events and emotions were suggested, but not made literal. I worked straight ahead, but the slowness of my technique allowed me time to think about what I wanted to do next. I made about 2,520 paintings for the film, which ended up being 3 minutes 21 seconds. I created about six complete sound tracks throughout the year, and experimented with many sound concepts. I play the fiddle so my violin was an integral element in my sound design, although I went through a brief period where I wanted only sound effects and percussive sounds and nothing "musical." When I had completed most of the picture, in late March, I decided it might be cool to bring my partner into the process, musically. He worked at the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School, so I was very fortunate in that they let us use their facilities after hours for four weekends. We recorded most of the final soundtrack in one of their magical recital halls, which had a grand piano. I set up my Zoom H4N field recorder in several locations throughout the room and we just played the film on loop on my laptop, and performed the soundtrack while watching it. I brought in a tiny tape recorder and put it underneath the piano which made a sweet distorted sound that I used for a few seconds of the film. I am grateful to have gotten into a few festivals – it's really affirming and thrilling to think of people you don't know actually watching your film!


BALANCE AND SWING from Anne Beal on Vimeo.

Q: How has your music influenced your filmmaking processes?

A: For me, sonic and visual perception are complimentary parts of the same process. I think learning to play the fiddle at a young age integrated music into the way I communicate visually, and so colors naturally have a sound to them. When I compose on the violin, I imagine the sounds in colors and shapes. I know some filmmakers start with the visuals and then do the sound. In my filmmaking process, I work with sound and visuals in tandem. If I'm working on an animated sequence and I'm not sure how to proceed, I'll take out my fiddle and start improvising. Or listen to the noises around me, for sounds I want to collect on my field recorder to put in my film. I like to make sound collages...I think making soundscapes that aren't even directly related to my film helps the ideas surface.

Q: How much time did you spend experimenting with watercolor, walnut ink and gouache before you found the correct visual style you were looking for?

RISD FAV (Film/Animation/Video Department)
Triennial Show, February 2012

A: At first I wanted to paint and draw on the surface of 16mm film. I wanted to use found footage as well as my own, playing around with a Bolex. I can't remember what changed my mind, but I started messing around with brush markers (Tombos) and thought I might play with layering tracing paper...I experimented with mediums for about a month before I chose painting as my method. It felt the most natural.

Q: What festivals has “Balance and Swing” been accepted to?

A: • Les Nuits Magiques (France)
• SENE (South Eastern New England) Film, Music and Arts Festival
• Black Maria Film Festival

Editor's Note: "Balance and Swing" was also screened at the 2012 Ottawa International Animation Festival as part of their Salon des Refusés program for exceptional films that did not get selected for the competition or the showcase screenings.

Q: Do you find submitting your film to festivals an important part of the academic thesis process?

A: Yes. I have submitted to several festivals. I got some rejecton letters, and they were temporarily crushing...but the festivals I have gotten into felt so gratifying. The more festivals I research and submit to, the more I realize that festivals have to put together a program...they might think your film is awesome, but they don't have a space for your particular film because it doesn't fit in with the others it would screen with. Rejections or not, getting organized and making myself submit to festivals has been enough of a learning experience to make it worth the trouble. It's like officially acknowledging my project and saying, Hey, I made this, I am responsible for getting this out into the world, and I would like for you to see it!

Q: Did you choose freelance work over a full-time position at an animation studio or is that just the way it turned out due to the nature of the economy and the animation business?

A: Going to film festivals, especially Ottawa, and attending the filmmaker panels has helped me to understand a little about what to expect as an independent animator. It's not easy. I'm at the beginning of my career and am learning as much as I can, including taking a web design course at SAIC so I can make my own website. In the short term I would like to continue to take on freelance projects, building my portfolio along with my skill set.

Q. How have opportunities changed for women pursuing a career in animation today as opposed to when you started your career?

A: I would say that the past five or ten years have made it easier to access information about independent animation. Now you can go online and find great animations – Vimeo has become a great vehicle for that – and it's easier to find out about film festivals. So that means more chances for your films to be seen, but also more filmmakers to be inspired by. As far as making animated films, developments in technology make it so much more feasible for an individual to make an animated film, on minimal equipment and a meager budget. Of course, I am not discounting the countless hours it takes to make many kinds of animated films, which also require money, if for nothing but food to sustain oneself...but I would say that one person can do a longer, more involved film much more easily now than they could even fifteen years ago.


Cut to the Chase from Anne Beal on Vimeo.

Q. What do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation?

A: Being nervous about the software and equipment. In general, at least in my experience, guys have more confidence about operating cameras and jumping into animation software. It's like they were "trained" earlier than we were – video games, Nintendo, X-box... "boy activities." At some point I threw away the notion that I was less competent than the guys around me, and just really worked hard to learn the equipment and programs.

Q. If your daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her?

A: Grab a camera and start filming things. Home videos, experimental stuff, make-believe stories...just mess around, and get comfortable using a camera. Read stories, practice telling stories, and listen to people tell their stories. Watch movies, taking note of how they are structured. Keep a sketchbook. Get used to making art every day. Remember that animation is informed by everything you do, and it is easy to make it a solitary art form. So go dancing, go outside and look at your surroundings, take long walks, people-watch in restaurants, take a class in something you wouldn't normally do. Be aware of your own movements, and of what is moving around you. Take in as much information about your surroundings as you can - colors, smells, light, and especially people. Use that to make art.

Q. What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation?

A: Encourage them to resist self-editing early in the process of making a film. Just "make" and don't let your inner judge block your progress. My animation professor at RISD, Amy Kravitz, helped instill that concept in me while I was working on my degree project and it was exactly what I needed to hear

* * *

All photos and videos used in this interview are copyright Anne Beal and used with her permission.
* In the interest of full-disclosure, I didn't enter animation through the visual arts either but rather through a degree in English Writing.