What an amazing article!! When I saw the title I leapt to read it. To my surprise, I saw I was mentioned. Thank you so much for this kind shoutout, it means so much, and it’s an honor to be mentioned in such a context too!
Animation with its incremental progress can do a lot of things to an artist. Doubt is a constant harpy, and so on. It’s so important to hear things like what Tissa David said, about not knowing what will happen ahead of time; and to read about greats like Miyazaki working *with* the story instead of treating it like a dead, inert thing. And: “But the storyboard, on the other hand, isn’t something you just do at the beginning. You do it every day. It’s alive.” YES!
Thank you so much for giving space and weight to a way of making that is willing to fully invest, and engage, with the story—not just once, but all the way through.
I take off for MacDowell in a few days and waking up to this after an insane few weeks felt, in many ways, like a cosmic *you got this.*
Coleen -- this is really wonderful to read! Thanks so much (and especially for providing the spark for the piece in the first place). So happy that this one could be a boost. Wishing you all the best with the residency!
Such a good, meditative post - I love to see other artists working. I do think most of these tech shortcut tools are being made for people who don't enjoy the work - for although going through the process is often agonizing, I think the people that keep making art long-term do it for the same reasons why mountain climbers don't helicopter to the summit. It's just so much more satisfying to earn the result, and the benefits you gain by climbing last much longer than the peak moment. I think anyone making interesting work, that's able to endure more than a couple years in the industry has cultivated that ability to love the process, and I hope people won't cheat themselves out of that opportunity.
Really appreciate that, Daniel! Thank you. And you've made a ton of great points here. We agree with all of this -- and especially with the language of people cheating themselves, ultimately, by trying to get around the process of art-making. Covering that process for five-plus years in the newsletter has only driven home for us how important (and universal) it is.
I now truly understand that one scene in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5. It has a deep piece of dialogue that goes like this: "When you only desire the results, you start trying to take shortcuts... And when you start taking shortcuts, you might lose sight of the truth. Eventually, you lose your motivation, too."
Your linked earlier article about Raggedy Ann has this quote from Tissa David:
> “I think you do have to love her [to animate her well],” David said. “Not as a little cartoon character but as Raggedy Ann. It’s like a little thing that is alive. I think that’s very important.”
Any relationship therapist can tell you that building a loving relationship requires doing things together, spending time together, and putting in the work. "Love-at-first-sight" is just infatuation with an imagined version of someone until you get to know them.
From that anthropomorphized point of view, generating something "perfectly to spec and with zero effort" sounds about as disconnected, impersonal and loveless as a relationship can get.
This is a very good point! And that kind of deep, invested relationship with the work (the story, characters, movement, etc.) is something that people like Miyazaki and Norstein similarly have in spades. Takahata argued that Miyazaki, in a sense, fell in love with all of his own characters, which was what made them as powerfully believable as they became. The relationship metaphor really does drive home the cheapness inherent to generating this stuff instantly.
What an amazing article!! When I saw the title I leapt to read it. To my surprise, I saw I was mentioned. Thank you so much for this kind shoutout, it means so much, and it’s an honor to be mentioned in such a context too!
Animation with its incremental progress can do a lot of things to an artist. Doubt is a constant harpy, and so on. It’s so important to hear things like what Tissa David said, about not knowing what will happen ahead of time; and to read about greats like Miyazaki working *with* the story instead of treating it like a dead, inert thing. And: “But the storyboard, on the other hand, isn’t something you just do at the beginning. You do it every day. It’s alive.” YES!
Thank you so much for giving space and weight to a way of making that is willing to fully invest, and engage, with the story—not just once, but all the way through.
I take off for MacDowell in a few days and waking up to this after an insane few weeks felt, in many ways, like a cosmic *you got this.*
Thank you again.
Coleen -- this is really wonderful to read! Thanks so much (and especially for providing the spark for the piece in the first place). So happy that this one could be a boost. Wishing you all the best with the residency!
Such a good, meditative post - I love to see other artists working. I do think most of these tech shortcut tools are being made for people who don't enjoy the work - for although going through the process is often agonizing, I think the people that keep making art long-term do it for the same reasons why mountain climbers don't helicopter to the summit. It's just so much more satisfying to earn the result, and the benefits you gain by climbing last much longer than the peak moment. I think anyone making interesting work, that's able to endure more than a couple years in the industry has cultivated that ability to love the process, and I hope people won't cheat themselves out of that opportunity.
Really appreciate that, Daniel! Thank you. And you've made a ton of great points here. We agree with all of this -- and especially with the language of people cheating themselves, ultimately, by trying to get around the process of art-making. Covering that process for five-plus years in the newsletter has only driven home for us how important (and universal) it is.
Excellent, that's we are looking for " the art of processes" thanks for impressing us with your informative , educational post 📌🔥🔥😍
Thank you -- very glad you enjoyed this one!
I now truly understand that one scene in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5. It has a deep piece of dialogue that goes like this: "When you only desire the results, you start trying to take shortcuts... And when you start taking shortcuts, you might lose sight of the truth. Eventually, you lose your motivation, too."
Your linked earlier article about Raggedy Ann has this quote from Tissa David:
> “I think you do have to love her [to animate her well],” David said. “Not as a little cartoon character but as Raggedy Ann. It’s like a little thing that is alive. I think that’s very important.”
Any relationship therapist can tell you that building a loving relationship requires doing things together, spending time together, and putting in the work. "Love-at-first-sight" is just infatuation with an imagined version of someone until you get to know them.
From that anthropomorphized point of view, generating something "perfectly to spec and with zero effort" sounds about as disconnected, impersonal and loveless as a relationship can get.
This is a very good point! And that kind of deep, invested relationship with the work (the story, characters, movement, etc.) is something that people like Miyazaki and Norstein similarly have in spades. Takahata argued that Miyazaki, in a sense, fell in love with all of his own characters, which was what made them as powerfully believable as they became. The relationship metaphor really does drive home the cheapness inherent to generating this stuff instantly.