The time of the first showing of my first real short film is upon us...
In the process of prioritizing the fluidity of my animation, and conveying understanding of how cats move, I didn't make enough time before my first film's first showing to finish coloring in a few shots, make final backgrounds, or play with effects and editing as much as I would have preferred. That was a learning experience. Even still, I proceeded to dig myself so deep into criticizing my own work that accepting others' praise for what I had accomplished became difficult. In addition to that, I think I have already implied before that this year was an unusually difficult one to accomplish my artistic goals due to some unforseen health circumstances (but in case this is the first time I've brought that up, there it is).
Three days ago, I walked into FUSE convinced that no one watching on the big screen would have a reason to care about (or even understand) the story because of how incomplete some of the visuals were.
Three days ago, I walked into FUSE convinced that no one watching on the big screen would have a reason to care about (or even understand) the story because of how incomplete some of the visuals were.
Then, to my surprise, 16 or 17 people —yes, I counted— told me that my film made them cry. They were a mixture of fellow students, children, adults and industry professionals. With that, my perspective on the parts of it that I did finish have dramatically shifted. My perception of myself as an animator has forever changed.
I remembered that evoking that scale of an emotional response was, in fact, one of my most valued goals for this project, from the time it was just floating around as a few images in my mind. I will probably never even know the full scale of the impact, because if that many people were willing to tell me about their tears, odds are there were probably several more in that theater who had a similar experience, but never said anything to me. As the animation seniors and our professors swapped stories, we seemed to agree that this FUSE Saturday could easily be the most people packed into the Giant Screen Theater that we have ever seen!
I want to give a shoutout, to everyone who was moved by my film whether they admitted it out loud or not. To everyone who, when all seats were taken, piled up on the theater stairs just so they could watch our animations. To everyone who travelled far and wide and took time out of their day to attend FUSE 2024, who accepted our free stickers, postcards and sketches. And of course, to the IM Department and Peoria Riverfront Museum for making all of this possible.
Do not get me wrong, Animation for animation's sake is very fun, but it's still a communicative medium just like any other art. Seeing my hard work over the years get an audience, and reach people, has been one of the most incredible things I have had the privilege to experience in my life.
After a break to finish up the rest of my senior year, 10th Life will resume production this summer. My aim is to spend a maximum of 2-3 more months on it, so that the next time it appears in full for the masses, the art will more adequately do the story justice. But without using the lack of deadlines as an excuse to work the finished product into oblivion.
So all in all, I still have some unfinished business to attend to before I can call the film complete. However, thanks to all the support for it, I now realize that a sense of closure is a lot closer than I anticipated!
So all in all, I still have some unfinished business to attend to before I can call the film complete. However, thanks to all the support for it, I now realize that a sense of closure is a lot closer than I anticipated!
The shot on the left, but playing in the DOME Planetarium!
The shot on the left, but playing on the largest theater screen in the state of Illinois!
1 of 5 quick sketch cards that I handed out to visitors at the senior capstone table!
My FUSE merch in its printed form, and others'!
FUSE Theatrical Poster
