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BW:
What are you doing in Cambridge Mass?
AF:
Wendy is a visiting animator in the Fine Arts department here
at Harvard. I have been very busy dealing with family issues
in this last year, but now that I'm back we hope to get a
new project going.
BW:
Is Derek Lamb (formerly of the NFB) still there?
WT: He still lives in Cambridge but no longer teaches though
he will be visiting my class later this year.
BW:
Turning to your films, why did you change from the paint on
glass technique of "Tables of Content" and "Strings" to pencil
and paint on photocopies in "When the Day Breaks"?
WT: I tried a number of things including pen and ink and collage
under the camera but the complexities of the story demanded
a technique with more control. Also, paint on glass is very
solitary and the paint on paper animation enabled me to collaborate
with Amanda.
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BW:
How do you feel about the success of "When the Day Breaks"? It's
won a phenomenal amount of awards!
AF: The response to the film was extraordinary! I'm still getting
used to it.
WT: There is always a fear when making a film that nobody's going
to get it. The first festival we went to was Cannes. We had no expectations
and so were completely shocked that it won! The feedback was very
gratifying.
AF: Better than the prizes is the profoundly satisfying feeling
of having the film resonate with people.
BW:
What do you think resonated with people?
WT: Everyone has experienced trauma of some sort and this is a story
about a pig and what happens when her life (or day ) is broken by
such an event - in this case, the death of a chicken. Her first
impulse is to run home and batten down the hatches. The city, which,
at the beginning of the film, was happy and friendly -becomes dangerous
and threatening to her and she feels alone and vulnerable. Ultimately,
by way of the plumbing and circuitry of the city, she reconnects
with her community and at the end, is a sadder but wiser pig.
BW:
I was glad to see Pig reconnect in the end. My research in trauma
shows something called secondary traumatization, where someone can
witness a trauma, and experience the event as though it happened
to them, as a secondary witness. If they don't feel through the
pain of the trauma and reconnect in a trusting way, they'll keep
recreating the trauma. I was glad to see Pig go through the feelings
of withdrawal and isolation, and then reach out with hope. That
was great.
AF: I read a quote somewhere that said that we only recognize our
connections to other people through difficult and painful experiences.
When you're happy isolation is not an issue, but when you're unhappy
you seek connection with others and through that need you often
find strength and along with that an empathy for others and the
difficulties they face. Ruby's initial response is to try to deal
with what she has seen by shutting out the world at large but instead
she comes upon a different, larger view of herself in the world.
BW: That's quite a beautiful idea. To, in
distress, have the courage and wherewithal to see beyond your pain
to someone else's.
WT & AF: Thank you.
BW:
To shift to another topic, what do you think of women in animation?
There are so few, do you think it's an issue?
AF: I'm giving a keynote in Regina about women in film and I don't
quite know what to say on the topic as I have only have my own rather
limited experience. At the NFB, it is not an issue. The Film Board
has a long history of being proactive and there have been marvelous
films by women there. I can't address the studio situation and have
been privileged to avoid it. Neither of us has set out to make films
on women's issues.
WT: Someone
once asked me why the character in "Tables of Content" was a man.
He was inspired by people I had observed while working in a restaurant
and the solitary diners were (alas) usually men. Had I gone against
the stereotype and made the character a woman, the audience would
likely have made quite different assumptions her - which is not
what the film is about. The REAL reason, though, is that men are
much easier to draw than women!
BW:
Less bumps? (everyone laughs)
AF: In "When the Day Breaks" the characters are animals. We initially
worked on the main character as a human female, trying to achieve
an average person, but we just couldn't do it. There's a strong
tradition of the "Everyman" in literature and particularly in animation,
but there's no "Everywoman" counterpart.
BW:
It's the madonna/whore duality stereotype.
AF: Exactly. Everything we did came across as bland or sexy, Olive
Oyl or Jessica Rabbit. Turning our main character into a pig cut
through the problem entirely. She was allowed to be female and piggish
and not utterly defined by her sex.
BW: Interesting. Do you have any suggestions
for independent filmmakers?
WT: We were lucky enough to make this film at the NFB and so did
not have to struggle with fundraising or having a day job. That
aside, you must be passionate about your ideas because this alone
will sustain you when the going gets tough (and it always gets tough!).
Another difficulty is that short films tend to be underappreciated.
We need more venues where people can actually see them.
BW:
I recently saw Michel Ocelet's "Princes and Princesses", a collection
of short films compiled into feature length animation. What kind
of venue do you see?
WT: Theatrical anothologies like the Spike 'N' Mike Show have helped
to popularize animation.And television, of course. Like most filmmakers,
I would really love to see shorts back in the theatres before features
but the theatres, of course, prefer to run trailers and commercials.
BW:
At a recent short film festival in Toronto, one of the directors
from Europe said new media and cheaper technology are making it
easier for people to make their own films.
WT: It must be true - at Annecy this year we saw a huge number of
new films and many were made on the computer. However, it still
costs time and money and if it's not a commissioned piece one must
rely on grants - which are getting scarce.
BW:
In the U.S. grants vary according to state.
AF: Yes, there are state specific grant programs. Animation is not
for everyone. You have to be passionate and obsessive and willing
to live with no financial security . I only wish that there was
more support for independent film, because not every talented person
out there is constitutionally inclined to go out and drum up funding.
BW:
So what does the future hold for you?
WT: It will likely not be limited to animation. It may include making
documentaries, painting, teaching. Variety is good.
BW:
Thank you for your time.
WT &AF: Thank you.
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