another Q&A with a university student (Patreon)

I'm still working on animation, it's still going to be a good while before the next Sublo episode is done but I'll post some sneak peeks soon. Today I did another little interview with a university student and figured I'd share my answers here. 

1) Why do you create art?

My answer is probably the same as anybody else's... It's just fun. I've done it all my life and want to keep doing it, whether I make money from it or not. As well as animating, I like making music too, and scratchbuilding miniatures. There's just something really satisfying about creating something from nothing-- and being able to purely, directly express ideas in your head and share them with people. On the other hand, I also do things like mashups and collages, which are fun in almost the opposite way-- they're all about taking existing things, reacting to them, figuring out weird connections and juxtapositions. And I think all these different things feed back into each other creatively.

2) Have you ever, or do you plan to work as an animator or creator in a professional industry setting?

I've worked in the animation industry for the last decade, mainly on Bojack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie. I started as a storyboarder and animator, then eventually worked my way up to supervising director (but found that was too much work and not enough fun, so I stepped back down to episode director).

3) Do you think artists are more free to express themselves when working independently online?

I've mostly been lucky enough to work on shows I like, but yes artists are definitely more free to express themselves with indie work! If I could get by just doing that, I would. A lot of us get into animation to make our own stuff, and working on other people's shows to earn a living is an obviously necessary compromise. But it means drawing in someone else's style, executing someone else's filmmaking ideas, to tell someone else's story, for a corporation. There's just not always a lot of room to squeeze your own point of view in there, so working independently is a great way to unleash all the pent-up creative energy. I don't know if I could bear working in the industry and NOT doing my own little thing on the side.

4) What do you think are the risks vs rewards to going independent? If any, what have been some challenges for you in establishing yourself as an online creator/making money through your independent work?

The creative rewards of working independently are obviously huge - you can literally do whatever you want - but there's also no guarantee of any money or that anyone will see your work. Figuring out ways to get your stuff in front of people is hard, probably harder now than it was 10-15 years ago. Everything online is funneling into a handful of sites and apps' algorithms that favour big dumb loud stuff that will keep you hooked on the app for another dopamine hit. You're competing for attention with not only other online creators but literally every corporation, news story, meme, etc. There are all kinds of sleazy ways to manipulate different platforms and tailor your work to what will succeed on them, but it seems kind of gross. I think in the end, just doing the work you want to make, and hoping it gets in front of people who will connect with it, is the only way it can be creatively satisfying. When you put something out and it doesn't get the response you want it can be discouraging, but I try not to let it influence what I make. I've come to accept that my stuff is mostly too slow and quiet to go viral, and that's okay.

And even once people are looking at it, there's no fool-proof mechanism to make money with indie animation. Compared to comics, the idea of spending money on an individual cartoon is pretty alien to people. Some animators can make money from youtube ad revenue if they get a lot of views and have a steady output, but I don't. I make some from Patreon, a little bit from prizes/rewards from animation sites and festivals, mixed with freelance work and industry jobs. I still don't really feel like I know what I'm doing! But I've realized that's true of a lot of my favourite creators too, which is comforting.

5) Are there any independent series or creators that inspire you?

Especially these days, I'm much more interested in indie animation than what's coming out of the industry. That wasn't always the case, but the industry has really been squeezing the life and variety out of the art lately. I feel like a lot of the middle ground (smaller-scale, artistically interesting but industry-funded) has fallen away and it's like there's a big gap between sterile corporate animation and totally independent work. A random list of contemporary indie animators who inspire me: Andrew Onorato, Harvey Rothman, Nick Cross, Kamigoroshi/Tomoyuki Niho, Hannah Daigle, Koji Yamamura, Cyriak, Tim Rauch, Kalen Whitfield, Victoria Vincent, Felix Colgrave, Davey Swatpaz, Smallbu, Felix Massie, Jonni Philips, Drue Langlois, Sean Buckelew, Sawako Kabuki, Gibbon Animation, Michael Cusack, Jack Stauber, Nata Metlukh, McBess... I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch and I could go on for a long time! Everybody is doing different stuff - there are a few who make indie series like me. Others just make shorts, or just little non-narrative bits of animation, music videos, or whatever. Some have a regular output while some of my favourites haven't put anything out in years, but their older works continue to inspire me.

6) Any advice for people trying to create animation in a similar way to you?

A lot of the big advice I have isn't animation-specific, but just applies to making art in general... Not everything you make will be great, but at a certain point you have to just jump in and start doing it, rather than waiting till you're 'ready'. You can only prepare so much before you're just procrastinating. That applies to every level of the process - writing, storyboarding, animating individual shots, doing the music... Start making stuff, then evaluate and edit/re-work/abort if you need to, and decide later what you want to put out publicly. I have a bunch of friends who want to make indie stuff but are paralyzed by wanting it to be perfect. You'll never see your own stuff as 'perfect' anyway.

But that said, planning IS really important. Even if you don't reach the goals you set for yourself (I never do), having a schedule or framework to aim for and an outline to follow is a huge help.

Another thing is, you have to find ways to make the process fun. The whole act of creation can't be a miserable slog towards a distant end product, you have to enjoy actually doing the work. Especially when you're not necessarily making any money off it. I try to tailor my product to a process I can enjoy and play around with. So I have minimal lipsync and in-betweens... the linework is sloppy, messy and wiggly partly because I like that look and partly because I'm bad at drawing clean... I usually don't do separate rough/cleanup steps, I just do the drawing and fix any egregious bits later when I see it with fresh eyes... That kind of stuff. Trying to emphasize the work you enjoy, and minimize what you don't.

7) What is it about animation as a medium specifically that speaks to you?

Hmm it's hard to say. I think part of what speaks to me about animation is that everything you're seeing is somebody's deliberate choice. Nothing is just arbitrarily there because they forgot to take it out of the frame or something. It's like somebody showing you how they see the world, or how they want to see it anyway. I'm conflicted though, because I also really love the messy spontaneity and immersion that comes so much easier with live-action. A lot of my favourite films and shows have a messy, organic, documentary feel to them, which is impractical with animation... but I try to keep that in the back of my mind as I make my stuff too, even if you can't pick up on it in the final work. I LOVE animation that achieves a sense of spontaneity and real vitality, it's like the best of both worlds.