By inspiration, I mean the pieces created by other artists, in various artforms, that first sparked my creativity and motivated me to create this type of short film. While it can be argued that this is just more research, and some of these will reappear in that section, what separates these pieces from other research for me is the frequency with which I revisited these sources. With most of my research, I would look at the piece once, maybe twice, extract whatever I needed from it, and put it to the side. However, the pieces below meant more to me than that. These
are the pieces I revisited time and time again, to remind myself why I was making this film.
Inspiration
Short Films
Lost & Found
The influence this film had on my animation is immediately obvious. From themes to characters, this was a huge influence. Without this film, my animation would never have happened. What was most inspiring for me, was how much I read into the film and tried to create deeper meaning. Whether or not it was intended, I began to view the wool unraveling as a symbol of the character’s declining mental health as they watched their loved one slip away. However, the ending did not match the narrative of what I was experiencing. My dad was not going to make it, and no amount of self sacrifice from me was going to change that. I was missing a story that said, it’s okay to enjoy the
time you have left. And so, I decided to make it myself.
Dances
Nuggets
This film was an inspiration in the way it was able to create so much meaning from such a simple animation. Seeing how the creators were able to effectively address as dark a topic as drug addiction, using sound, flat colours and simple line animation was a huge motivator
for me. The fifty seconds worth of credits at the end of Lost and Found made it feel pointless to even try something like that alone. However, what this video achieved with incredible simplicity became a huge motivator for me to not give up.
I can’t dance. I know basically nothing about dance.
Yet, for some reason, any dance with a narrative running through it became a huge inspiration for me. It’s hard to explain how, or why. It’s just the feeling they gave me. These dances had the ability to refocus me on the end goal.
The Waiting Room
The theme of this dance was particularly potent for me when I first
saw it as my dad was constantly in and out of hospital. Waiting was like being in limbo. I couldn’t do anything but worry and every second felt like a lifetime. This made me want to create a film that would resonate with others in the same way this dance resonated with me.
Suicide Hotline
With this dance there was just something about that ending. The
feeling when that phone rings and everything freezes. It was like my heart stopped, and I couldn’t breathe, waiting for that second ring. It's
a feeling I can only describe as: “That can’t be it, there has to be more.” That’s the feeling I had when my dad passed away, and it’s a moment
I felt should be included in my film somehow.
False Confidence
This dance was a motivator. For me it’s about a girl who has lost
the ability to find happiness in the world, despite the efforts of those around her. Throughout the entire making of this film I was fighting feelings of defeat. But the dance ends with her smiling, and I clung
to that. I just needed to find the smile at the end of my story.
Thought of You
I found this video long before I even started college, but something brought it back for me. I think this animated dance is what made me realise the connection between the dances that I kept watching and
the animation I was making. For a while the dances were only having
a subconscious influence, but after rewatching this video, I learned to view them consciously and with purpose.