This is a daunting thing. I feel like I should already have a handle of what kind of future I have in animation but I very much feel like I’m still finding my place. I wouldn’t say at the moment that I would confidently be able to describe what parts of the animation industry I am especially good at or enjoy, considering that I haven’t had a go at most of them yet. I’m hoping the LIAF project will greatly inform this and allow me to have a go at trying different skills and areas of work.
This does mean however that if I intend to get an internship in the summer, something I am not sure yet if I’ll be able to manage, i’ll really have to consider what it is at the moment I would be most interested in pursuing. Currently the things i’ve enjoyed the most are animation itself, figuring out how to create and evoke a performance, and Character Design but its hardly to say that is what I want to do with certainty having never even approached things like clean up, colour or background. I think before I consider applying for internships i’ll first need to create a show reel, something I’m not even close to having at the moment and really consider what skills I want to develop right now. I don’t think I really have a neat answer for this right now, but hopefully will have a clearer idea next term.
The things I really want to work on next term are all the additional things needed to make a fully realised film as that at the moment feels really unobtainable. I’m looking forward to the LIAF project as I think this will be the perfect opportunity to have a go at different things. I would be interested both in being an AD and in working on someone else’s project at the moment because whilst I do have ideas that I’m excited about making, I am equally as excited about being a part of someone else’s creative vision and having the opportunity to work in different departments.
One thing I am sure about is the kind of work I am excited to pursue. Whilst I love the more experimental side of animation and the beauty and elegance of short films, my heart is really set on short form television animation. I think for me this is about the amount of time you are able to spend in a world and with your characters. Things like The Owl House, Hilda, Steven Universe, Amphibia and She Ra, rich magical worlds that we can sit in an explore alongside rich character development, but also allows space and time for soft world building. I think I find animation most satisfying and affecting when you get to explore smaller stories, almost less dramatic and consequential ones, that allow for the character growth and moral lessons that form the real purpose of the story. This is of course not to say that films and shorts don’t do the same thing, but for me I get the most out of the television format and I would be most excited to be a part of that world.
The other thing I am certain is wanting to create work that comes from both a female and queer lens. I want the work I create to be inclusive, but more than that I want it to be made for and by communities that don’t see them selves represented as often. I want to make animation for disabled people, people of colour, deaf people, queer people, women, non binary people, trans people. I want to use this art form that has so much scope and possibility to create work that people see themselves reflected in but don’t focus on trauma. I want to create stories that have these types of characters in just because that is how the world looks, I want them to be a part of stories that are magical and adventurous just because they can! Why can’t a sword wielding hero be trans and be as exciting and accessible as any other fantasy hero? Why can’t there be more deaf characters that use sign language? Most importantly I want these characters to be the protagonists and not just story beat or narrative devices there to teach “normal” characters a lesson.
Whilst I currently no clue what my final film will look like, I do know that I want it to be reflective and representative but also fun and exciting. I want marginalised people to watch it and feel seen, I want families and children to watch it and understand that being queer or trans or disabled or whatever isn’t just okay but completely normal and worthy. I want the underrepresented to see that they have value and if i can be a small part of that, then I would be incredibly grateful.