Almost everyone my age grew up watching cartoons, but not everyone gets to make them.
Up until now, I could only say that I have ‘made cartoons’ because I worked for a year as a Production Secretary on an animated Disney movie. Also, I drew little flip books on the bottom of the pages in my Geometry book in high school. And...and that’s about it.
Suddenly, I find myself in an awkward situation at parties. “Hi, I’m Laura” I’ll say, and inevitably, the person I’m talking to asks what I do. I could tell them my day job, sure. But that’s so BOooooring. “I... I... Well, I’m producing an animated music video. I’m a... Producer.”
I wait for them to laugh, because I’m convinced in my gut that this is all leading up to some sort of punchline.
But they never laugh. They ask questions. And suddenly, I’m a Producer.
Just like that.
Now, because I’m not an artist, and because I did not attend film school, I’m finding myself with a bit of catching up to do. I have a lot to learn about animation, and a lot to learn about production.
My goal here is threefold:
1) I want to come up with a primer for animation..an Animation 101 page of sorts. If I’m
going to make a cartoon, I’d damn well better know what I’m talking about.
2) I want to familiarize myself with what’s going on in the world of animation: shorts, features, foreign, low budget, hand drawn, CG, stop motion, all of it. My goal is to watch one new thing (new to me) each week. Suggestions are so totally accepted.
3) I want to tell the story about our cartoon, and how I found myself producing it. But mostly, I want to talk about where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.
My hope is that as a production, we’ll make something beautiful and something that we’re proud of. Personally? I’d like to be a little more confident introducing myself at parties.
