A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - new photos
Some more photos of the gang after some follow-up interviews in October.
Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, art, disability, Down-syndrome, film
A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook
Join four talented artists with Down syndrome as they tackle the enormously complex process of animated filmmaking with joy and intense concentration.Archive by author
Sketchbook Interview 1: Why we made this film
Over the next few weeks I will be uploading some short clips of the live interviews conducted with the gang. The interviews were full of bright humour, profound answers, and (later on) some outrageous comedy! Enjoy…
This was the response to “why are we doing this film?”
(Right to left: Matthew, Ninah, Petra, Katherine. Note Petra’s bare feet!)
http://citizen.nfb.ca/media/sketchbookinterview1.flv Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, art, disability, documentary, Down-syndrome, film, movie, special-needs
A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - Our Screening
http://citizen.nfb.ca/media/sketchbookscreening.flvJust a brief moment of the gang after the screening…
Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, art, disability, Down-syndrome
A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - post-screening photos
Packing up was hard. It’s been a week since I’ve been back at the NFB in Montreal and I miss the dynamic, hilarious, wonderful gang very much. I’ll be back in Toronto often this fall to meet with the group again - can’t wait…
For now the next step is to go through all of the hours of footage and to start to put together a more complete edit of what we have so far. After that it will be a question of animating the material needed to fill in the gaps…exciting and lovely work.
Here are some photos from our very successful post-screening gathering - it was initially supposed to be an intimate screening for family and friends of the rough material, but we ended up having almost 50 people!
Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, artist, Down-syndrome, special-needs
A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - EQUIPMENT
I miss the gang already! I will post the screening photos soon.It’s so hard to believe the workshop part of the project is done!
As I’m packing up boxes I realized that some of you might want to try setting up an animation stand on your own. There are tons of great references online, but this is how we did it. I have enclosed rough drawings of the lightbox stands below. Our frosted plexiglass was 12″ by 18″, but i’d recommend 14″ x 18″, to give you a larger drawing surface and also to move the plexiglass closer to the column.
We used fairly high-end equipment - but you can modify this setup to fit a much smaller budget if you buy used equipment, and simpler cameras, which work just fine! We used copy stands on custom-built lightboxes. The columns were modified to give them extra height but this isn’t necessary…
We had a digital SLR camera with a firewire webcam looking through the SLR’s viewfinder, connected to Framethief (wonderful and very cheap image capture software). We used Mac minis as they are cheap and quiet - but any fairly recent Mac will do. You can use either a digital SLR (check to make sure they are compatble with Frame Thief) with a webcam, or a mini-DV or other digital video camera. What is essential for Framethief to work is to have live feed - so any video camera works well but your image quality is not as sharp, while digital SLRs give great quality but you need a webcam as well for a live feed.
Our light source was simple - 23W compact fluorescent spiral bulbs - 4 of them in each box. Use the “warm white” rather than the “cool white” bulbs.
Ventilation is very important! So is having a white glossy surface inside the box.
More soon…
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A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - late night editing
Sigh. Exporting DVDs always seems to be more of an ordeal than it is supposed to be…but the screening will go on! Today we are screening the very rough animation for family and friends.
We had a sad and lovely and hilarious last workshop day today. Everyone finished their last bits of work and then we had a raucous foley sound effects session which ended with everyone in hysterics at Ninah’s sound effects for her film.
Yesterday we went out for a celebratory lunch. While the photos don’t tell you much about the animation process, they do reveal an enormous amount about the group dynamic!
Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, artist, Down-syndrome, special-needs
A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - editing
It’s interesting. I’m sitting here editing all this beautiful footage and seeing what the group has accomplished in this very short time. I’m also thinking about what we decided not to attempt - with no regrets but with curiosity as to how things might have been different.
The workshop plan has been very flexible, with the day-to-day themes and techniques varying for each artist as they discovered what they loved (and what they found frustrating) about the animation process. I had initially planned on introducing the idea of storyboards in the 3rd week, and working from those guidelines to complete the animation, but realized that the narration cut together from the interviews described abstract concepts, emotions, and personal experiences that seemed more in keeping with a more spontaneous way of working. I think everyone is happy with that decision and with the work they have produced. The self-portraits are quite cohesive and lovely, and portray multiple facets of each artist.
I think if we’d had more time we would be able to spend a few weeks brainstorming and storyboarding - 6 weeks is a short time to learn the basics of animation, and I after a lot of thought I decided it might be distracting and confusing to suddenly shift focus and add a whole other layer of abstraction. All this to say that this was the most difficult decision I had to make in the workshop - choosing a more intuitive approach over the more structured one. Both ways of working have benefits and some pitfalls.
Ninah is a born storyteller, so her animated self-portrait has the most concrete narrative, including the sad tale of Puff the cat (hilarious and moving).
Katherine draws the world in these incredibly fascinating grids with bright, beautifully balanced colour schemes, and her self-portrait is perhaps the most visually abstract but aesthetically consistent.
Matthew and Petra each spoke at length about things which are extremely difficult to illustrate, such as Down syndrome (and chromosomes), talents, love, discrimination, friendships, and independence. They both experimented with multiple animation techniques, so their work is quite rich and varied. They both work slowly and carefully, so there is more audio but less visual material than for Ninah and Katherine, who both work very quickly. My job now will be to create animation that fills in the blanks. I’ll do my best to respect their styles and working methods, and will consult with them all closely over the next year.
Overall I think it looks amazing…
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A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook
Hard to believe that we’ve just finished our last full week of this 6-week animation workshop, and I am really feeling the sadness that comes at the end of a project. I must have looked sad this week because I’ve been getting a lot of hugs from the artists!
We’ve had a number of people (all of whom work with different organizations which provide services for adults with special needs) come in to observe the workshop, and they’ve all been very excited about the project. The group is used to visitors by now, and readily explain their artwork and the animation process. I think (I hope!) it’s been an interesting and empowering experience for these amazing artists.
They were all in a great mood this week - yesterday was a particularly lovely day as everyone was extremely talkative (even our shyest artist was chatting merrily with everyone yesterday) and still focused on their work. It is wonderful to see them laughing and joking with each other and with the staff. Salim (our brilliant camera/sound man) received many smiles and elaborate explanations of the work being done.
Next week we will finish up their last drawings, go out for a celebratory lunch, create foley sound for their films, and have a small screening for family and friends of the rough edits of their work. Then - hard to believe - we pack up the equipment to take back to the NFB in Montreal, where I will start to animate additional footage to fill in the gaps in the animation they’ve completed. Each of them have done an enormous amount of animation in 6 weeks (Katherine has created literally thousands of gorgeous, colourful frames!!!!), but some of the interviews are longer than the amount of imagery generated in this workshop so I will do my best to animate based on the sketchbook drawings, photos, and references they have generously provided.
Yesterday we watched all of their films and each of them gave me their feedback - we tweaked the edits here and there - Katherine decided to take out a title she’d animated, and to put in some other frames we’d edited out. I will be coming back to Toronto on a regular basis to meet with each of the artists to discuss the work-in-progress. I am looking forward to continuing to collaborate with them on the final film, throughout the animation, editing, and post-production process.
Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, disability, Down-syndrome, film, self-advocacy, self-portrait, workshop
A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - early notes cont’d
July 3, 2007
Petra’s really enjoying trying out new stuff and making things move! I love that car!!!!
Tomorrow we will have our 2nd interview. We’ve booked an editing suite which has more soundproofing than the room where we conducted our first interview, and will work in there from now on. From here on in we will be working with more specific focus - now that they all are confident about animation and learning new things and have all mastered the cameras - we will bring them back in to the idea of self-portrait animation as a way of portraying themselves the way they would like to be seen. We’ll talk specifically about Down syndrome in the interviews tomorrow - i’m curious about what they will say.?We tried out clay-on-glass today - they liked it a lot but it’s a tough medium to master. We won’t spend much more time on it for now. The last medium we have yet to try is paint-on-glass, which will be more intuitive.
July 6, 2007
I can’t believe it’s going so quickly and so smoothly – thanks to Merrill and the Mediatheque staff! Dan has been amazing as well with his steady presence - Ninah particularly loves working with him and he has been great at focusing her when she needs some help.
?I cut together some of Petra’s interview last night. Wow. She has some amazing things to say - when I asked her to tell me what Down syndrome is, she described it as “a special kind of hero inside of you”. She also talks about how when she was born her parents didn’t know what to do with her because they thought she wouldn’t even be able to tie her shoes but then they saw she could do everything! She really belies any notion of disability - she is more accomplished and poised than most people. She gave a long answer which is profound and lyrical and very visual.
It was fascinating to hear Petra’s very positive and profound answers in contrast to the others’ replies - Ninah said “Down syndrome means mentally handicapped” and then talked about how she has a line in her hands (the crease that is sometimes used to identify babies with Down syndrome) and that means she is “handicapped and like a child” – real evidence of the generation gap between them – Ninah is from an older generation when babies with Down syndrome were often sent to institutions at birth.
Matthew, who is traveling independently between Montreal and Toronto every week as well as easily negotiating a brand new city on his own, spoke thoughtfully about how people are not used to seeing a traveler with “special needs” on his own, and about some of the reactions he gets from strangers. ?Katherine was too shy to respond to the question about Down Syndrome but she had some other lovely things to say. She talked in more detail about her work at the daycare (she has a job that she loves at a daycare for kids with special needs, many of whom have Down syndrome as well), and about being an artist.
Matthew and Katherine were a good interview pairing - each was very respectful of the other during the process. They are all having a blast and learning a lot (as am I!) The challenge now will be to get them to focus on a longer, more consistent piece of animation. They are all experts now at additive animation but they don’t really like the drawing and erasing process regardless of technique - the last technique we will try before storyboarding will be using a pegbar and animation paper. I think Katherine feels uncomfortable erasing because it means that her hard work feels wasted - so perhaps the traditional animation method will be more to her liking! I have been asking them to draw specific things in their sketchbooks that I would like to put into the film - whether it is in their animation or in the parts that I animate - like Katherine’s tandem bike and horse and Petra’s sports activities (did you know she is a black belt in karate?!? And a swimming champion???) and extensive travels.
From Merrill Matthews’ weekly project update:
Hi Everyone,??
Hard to believe that we are already reaching the mid point of Shira’s workshops!??Another very successful week. The participants all continued work on their self portrait sketches, as well as began some exercises with clay on glass. The exercises entailed making an image grow in size and move around the space. The result is pretty spectacular to witness. Each of the participants has no difficulty manipulating the clay to their liking.??Interview sessions also took place in pairs, with Matthew and Katherine being interviewed together and then Petra and Daninah. I have yet to see the footage, but I have been told by Shira that each was very profound and candid about some serious topics around their lives.??As well, each participant had the opportunity to draw each other. While it was very easy to make quick sketches, we encouranged them to take their time and look at all of the facial details properly.??Matthew, Petra, Daninah and Katherine also got a chance to paint on glass. They used their self portraits and made painted versions of this. Again, the effect was really amazing and gave each of them the opportunity to see the numerous materials that can be used for animation.??I find as the days pass, as each participant grows more and more comfortable with the surroundings, they open up a little bit more about themselves, and therefore this is reflected in their art and animation. It’s really great to see.??Next week will bring more of the same, as well as some work on storyboarding which each participant was really excited to do!??
Merrill?
July 9, 2007
We had an amazing day today - we worked on cutout animation based on some of what each participant described in their interviews (today they all animated the means of transportation they travel in most often - Matthew by train, Petra by plane, Ninah by TTC bus, and Katherine by tandem bike). I played them the rough cut of Petra’s interview and they are all excited to work on their self-portraits now that they seem even more concrete. Today we increased the pace and the focus quite a bit and they rose to the occasion really well - the work looks great! Ninah (working closely with Dan) animated a bus and then did some hilarious, gorgeous cutout animation with the cutest animated dog I have ever seen. Petra’s jet even has speed lines…it was one of the most rewarding days we’ve had so far.
July 11, 2007
The weeks are flying by!
We had another wonderful day.
We started off watching a video called Dreams, put out by the National Down Syndrome Society – all of the group loved it, and each said they recognized themselves in some of the people portrayed.
After that, Matthew and Petra gave an absolutely phenomenal interview. We went long over-time because they were saying such beautiful, profound things that I didn’t want to stop the discussion. They have a warm friendship and the interview was very conversational, with as much interaction between them as there was with the camera – a pleasure to see and hear. Topics ranged from childhood memories and stories, to love and relationships, to a very moving and profound conversation about war and loss.
Ninah’s and Katherine’s interviews were short but we will catch up next week. They each created some beautiful animation in the meantime – Katherine portrayed herself in her artist’s studio, and Ninah drew different versions of her hands to show the line she referred to in her earlier interview.
Tomorrow we’ll finish the work they began today…and the week is already done! I feel very privileged to be working with such an incredible group. I’ve asked the impossible of them – to learn a difficult new skill (animation is a complex process!) and create interesting, viable material for a film in a 6-week period while providing profound responses to tough questions on camera – and they are all managing to create gorgeous work while maintaining boundless enthusiasm, humour and warmth.
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A Day in the Life of a Sketchbook - early notes
Here are some notes compiled from early emails and writings from the first days of the project.
June 20, 2007
Hello all,
Just a quick note to say that our first day went wonderfully! The group was so excited and they all seemed to really enjoy the experience. I was very impressed with how quickly everyone learned to operate the camera setups on their own, and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s session.
Warmly,
Shira
June 25, 2007
I asked the participants to draw Toronto as they see it, since they will all refer to it in the interviews, and they all came up with really interesting and very different views of the city. 3 of the 4 participants are already creating work that is usable for the final project - ahead of schedule! One still needs some time to ease into the process, but that is fine…??
They are all completely at ease with the cameras/keypads now, and it’s exciting to see them come in and get right to work!
Katherine says she can’t wait for tomorrow to finish her city piece, and Petra stayed late to finish her city animation. They are chatting happily with each other now, and are actively curious about each others’ work, though there are long periods of silence where everyone is extremely focused.??We will wait another couple of days before beginning the interviews - I would like to wait for the shyer two to feel really at ease. Tomorrow will be a shorter workday as they will meet the entire Mediatheque staff for the first time, so we will wait until Wednesday or Thursday to conduct the first interview.?
On the technical end things are going pretty well. They all love working with the underlights, but they find the side lights are too bright even with 40W (equivalent) bulbs in them - so I think we will be working underlit for most of the session. The lightboxes have a slight hotspot but the work looks pretty good on the high-res exports. I’ll do some cropping for the final images. We had a couple of unexplained flicker moments in Matthew’s piece today but I think it can be fixed in Photoshop.
June 26, 2007
We had a wonderful, productive day today. The gang met the Mediatheque staff and everyone was thrilled. They all finished their cityscapes, and Matthew began a self-portrait which will be one of many. Tomorrow the rest of them will begin their self-portraits. This week we are focusing on drawing - next week we will introduce other techniques. They all wanted to stay later today to keep on working. Yay!??I figured out the flicker in Matthew’s animation - it corresponds to turning off the lightbox for break or lunchtime and resuming before there was enough time to stabilize the lights. Today we left them on throughout the session and there was no discernible flicker at all.?More soon!
June 28, 2007
The group met the whole Mediatheque staff on Tuesday, with great excitement.?We’ve just finished our first full week, and all is going very well (lovely, fruitful, and exhausting)! Today we had our first interview session, which lasted for 2 hours and seemed to pass incredibly quickly. They all loved the interview process and were forthcoming and articulate and were very comfortable with the camera and microphone - even Katherine, who is the shyest one. I am listening to the tapes now and the sound is great - their voices sound clear and warm - but we do have some faint background traffic sounds so next week we will possibly record in the cinema or in the upstairs editing suites. (In any case we will take a lot of room tone from all of the recording locations.)?
Next week we will start working with paint-on-glass and clay-on-glass. I will cut the sound from the first interviews this weekend so that Tuesday they will have some sound to help them structure their work. We will also go further into the idea of self-portrait.?
It’s fascinating to see what each of them likes and what they are less interested in.?Petra is fascinated by everything - she is incredibly creative and has been eager to try everything offered. She’s so articulate and bright and has been experimenting a lot with the techniques we have tried so far. She loves animation and grasps even the most difficult aspects - she animated a car moving across the screen, drawing and erasing and redrawing completely on her own - she instinctively moved the car on an arc to make it look like it is zooming by. She amazes us on a daily basis with her humour and intelligence and talent.?
Katherine loves the additive animation process - she patiently makes her beautiful designs appear line by line, and is very much aware of how she is able to vary the speed that her work appears on the screen. She is able but not as interested in trying character animation. She said she feels uneasy erasing and redrawing but is excited to try moving cutouts so I will make some cutouts from scans of her drawings. She is very excited to try clay-on-glass and paint-on-glass. She is quiet but has been slowly revealing her bright humour as she feels more comfortable in the group.?
Matthew is comfortable with everything, and is excited and eager to try new techniques. He gets a bit tired of working for long periods on the same sequence, but he musters the energy and creates interesting work. He’s done some beautiful animation and also created some amazing sketches of his voyage from England to Canada when he was a baby that I will be able to use in the fall to base my animation on. His enthusiasm is contagious, and keeps us all motivated and happy.?
Ninah, as the oldest of the gang, is learning more slowly but is starting to grasp the more complex parts of the process. She is star-struck at being here (she signs autographs at her other workplace and telling people she works at a movie studio) and has been a bit distracted but yesterday she worked closely with Dan and created some great work!??All of the participants love being here and we are all so happy to come to work every morning! Things are progressing very well and I can’t imagine a more wonderful experience.??
?
Category : Uncategorized
Tags: animation, developmental-delay, disability, Down-syndrome, film, intellectually-challenged, self-advocacy, self-portrait, workshop
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About this blog
Join four talented artists with Down syndrome as they tackle the enormously complex process of animated filmmaking with joy and intense concentration.
Blog Authors
ShiraShira Avni has been an animator at the NFB since 1997. She also teaches animation at Concordia University. Her film John and Michael, a love story between two men with Down syndrome, won 13 awards and screened in 50 festivals worldwide. Shira lives happily in Montreal with puppeteer Salim Hammad.
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