THE WORLD OF ANIMATION
I did it! I actually did it! I finally finished the 4 week Future Learn animation course I started way back in January! Granted it took me over 4 months to see that last section of the online course, I am still over the moon I completed it. Animated films and TV shows have always been and will always be dearly loved companions of mine - I hope they know this. And I know my love for them will continue to lead to me to investigate their inner workings as best as I can with the resources made available to me.
Source: Columbia Pictures & Sony Pictures Animation
One thing that I love about animation is how childlike it can be. You can literally dream up anything story-wise and it can become a "reality" (want a weather forecast of 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? - totally possible) but not without the amazing skills of some talented artists out there. And it is these artists - animators, animation directors, compositors, illustrators, model makers, scriptwriters, visual developers etc - and their jobs and how their work fits together to make the films and TV shows I enjoy that I want to know more about.
I cannot remember the first ever animated video I watched but I don't think I will be too far off if I say it was by Disney, not that it really matters; the latest one I've seen though was either Your Lie in April (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso - really liked this!) or Up (I know, I know I am incredibly late to the party but goodness is Up a great film!) - I feel like I should mention that I have seen Zootropolis and will definitely have a post dedicated to it. Taking part in the Future Learn 'Exploring Animation' course by National Film and Television School (NFTS) course taught me quite a few things and made me appreciate the work that goes into making an animated film a bit more. It was there that I came across the video above where Walt Disney himself talks us through the basics of cel animation and the inner workings their MultiPlane camera. I am fascinated by how a 2D drawing or a lump of clay can be brought to life with an assortment of powerful tricks as I am sure you are too.
Source: Manga by Naoshi Arakawa / Anime produced by A-1 Pictures
Be prepared to see more posts from me related to animation, illustration and art in general as it seems my interests are evolving yet again. As just learning the theory can only take you so far, I will be sharing my own foray into film and illustration over here so as not to scare everybody with my horrendous first attempts haha - although, I am rather proud of the photo at the top of this post :). If you want to try out the animation course which you can definitely finish in less than 4 months, the next one starts on the 20th of June. And if you are already knee-deep into the world of animation and illustration I would love to hear all about it.
Animation is most definitely not just for kids and, like I hinted at earlier, I doubt I will ever stop finding it fascinating.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths”