Join the Animated Conversation

The summer is hotting up for our 4mations Digital Shorts directors. While the rest of us are busy catching up on this summer’s bestsellers or topping up our tans, Emma Lazenby has been working on her 4mations Digital Shorts commission, Mother of Many, which is being produced at Arthur Cox.

How did you get started in animation?

I always drew lots and after college found a degree with animation - once I saw things moving I couldn’t go back to still things (but now I can’t draw as well).
After Uni I emailed lots of companies and got my ideal job working for a tiny company - West Highland Animation - in the Trossachs.  I worked on Gaelic series and interactive games and lived in a small hut next to a loch in the middle of nowhere.  I used to row to the pub.  It was a very lovely 3 years.

Your film is about midwifery. Your mother has recently retired from 30 years in this job - how has that affected your story?

It was my mum’s retirement that got me thinking about what an amazing thing it is she has done as a lifetimes work - to be the first person thousands of people touch and see, and to help women (and their men) through such a ridiculously hard time continuously day after day - just seems crazy.  Such a worthwhile job.  It makes me think about what I do and consider a change in career.

You’ve watched a lot of birthing videos on YouTube. Is this difficult research?

It is sometimes difficult research - though I am not squeamish and am now used to watching it. But it does make me very emotional sometimes - it is a very overwhelming thing to see, I try not to cry at my desk (in the boys’ room at ArthurCox).  It is sometimes a little too intense.

Looking so indepthly at childbirth hasn’t put me off thinking of having a baby one day - just knowing realistically what happens has been really interesting and made me less scared of it.

On your blog, you compare making a film to child birth. Is it quite a difficult process for you?

I haven’t made my own film like this since my degree - and though it is quite crazily exciting, it is really hard work.  I get quite frustrated with it sometimes because I am usually very confident in what I do (mostly design and animation) - I am being challenged by things I haven’t done for a long time and greatly enjoying it really.

Your style is a mixture of clean lines and rich textures. Where do you draw inspiration from?

I read a lot of children’s books and love screen printing - and am a big fan of patterned material.  I have been finding a lot of inspiration from the illustration and cartooning blog drawn.ca and following links from there.  I started off looking a lot at the painter Mark Francis, and Oliver Jeffers and an amazing french children’s book I bought in France.  I recently found Zara Pickens work which is beautiful.  I suppose I just keep my eyes open. I have a big inspirational style Photoshop file for this film that I add to and look at when I need my brain to set off.

You can keep track of Emma’s progress on Mother of Many’s production blog, where you can take a look at animation tests and other nifty things.