Friday, February 6, 2015

Blog #1: Artist Statement

To give life to pencil marks, whether it be words or sketches, bounded to paper is, perhaps, the greatest gift of animation.

An animation embodies the values and perspectives of the animator. I believe that these are the qualities that truly bring life to animations. 

It is the years of craftsmanship that allows for the audiences to admire Jerry's cunning wits or to sympathize with Tom's persistent demeanor.

However, it is the hearts of the animators that makes the audiences fall in love with Jerry's deviousness and Tom's resilience.

Yet it is the dreams of these animators that allowed for the creation of Tom and Jerry.

While technology has revolutionized the animations industry, Tom and Jerry, at its very foundations, was a simple and silent slapstick comedy animation. However, its animators were capable of bringing a great deal of character to Tom and Jerry through expressions, actions, and movements. These attributes constantly drew my family into the living room one by one for each episode.

Although the story-line remains essentially the same throughout its entirety, Tom and Jerry shows that storytelling goes beyond a plot.

Animation, in its own right, is a powerful form of storytelling. I find that one of the most intriguing characteristics of animations is its ability to bridge between the viewers and the makers, stopping people for as little as two minutes so that they may listen to what the animators have to say and connecting the audiences with one another.


It is a way to share your own story while learning the stories of others. By evoking the perspectives and emotions of your own works, characters and stories, animation, as simple as it may be, is a way for people to learn about others as well as themselves. 

-Smith

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