Another week, another 4mations director interview…
This week we catch up with Anna Fitzimons, who is working on The Life, Death and Suffer Story, a sort of mock tragedy that introduces us to Verity Burns, a lonely girl suffering the madness of a broken heart.
You’re working on a mock tragedy. Is this Antigone meets The Office?
Ha! No, not quite, but maybe a little, the difference being that Verity is wallowing in self pity (between fits of pique and glimpses of optimism) rather than struggling against some kind of greater force for a noble cause.
Did you go through a sulky phase growing up?
No I don’t think so, I was a pretty happy child. I had a lot of freedom, I was always exploring and setting out on epic adventures in my head. The inspiration for this story comes from later on, from relationship age. It’s a bit of an amalgamation of stories I’ve been privy to or part of but most of all it’s poking fun at how we can torture ourselves when it comes to matters of the heart.
You’ve worked in a tattoo shop. Has that influenced your visual style?
I work in my friend Helen’s tattoo shop Skullduggery Tatu on occasion, not doing the tattooing or anything as cool as that, I am the front desk chick who books appointments and checks IDs whilst handling the very important task of choosing the music (it’s actually quite a powerful position for that reason alone (wink)). I love working in there because it is such a creative environment, it is an original art studio so every client’s work is bespoke, there is no flash art to choose from on the walls. She has an amazing collection of books and magazines to reference for design ideas as well as objects and art within the studio. I don’t think working there has affected my style but it has given me loads of inspiration. The name for my short came from time spent in Skullduggery, Helen had some drawings pinned to the wall that her friend’s son Jai had done for her, one was a comic style story called Sonic Clutch and the episode was titled ‘the live death and suffer story’. I loved the sound of that immediately - my story came later.
What’s The Life, Death and Suffer Story going to look like? How important is experimenting in your work?
Experimenting is a constant part of my work. At this stage it is probably as much because there is so much I am learning as I go and so much to try, as it is important to me. I always think that the next project will be a bit easier because I’ve got the last one behind me but inevitably I want to try something I haven’t done yet and so a whole new adventure begins.
I am attempting to blend my building with my doodling for this piece. I have been busy making sets to photograph in the stopmotion way but empty of characters. I will add them digitally afterwards as doodles. It’s not a new method but it’s the first time I’ve done it to this level, I am really enjoying the process. It is all tests and trials so far, but one of these days all my bits will come together and become something more than disjointed bits - and for that I cannot wait!
Does animation ever make you feel miserable?
I laughed out loud when I read this question because today has been one of those ‘feels like I’m spinning my wheels in the sand’ days but I can still honestly say no it doesn’t.
Watching animation never makes me feel miserable, I enjoy so many things about it. Memories of shorts and episodes of favourite cartoons punctuate my life the same way songs do. Making animation however is another story, but it doesn’t make me miserable either. Sometimes I do stretch myself a bit too far because I am very much a one man band at this stage and I am only one me and there are only twenty-four hours in every day and then there’s a bit of sleep required, some time to eat, the time it takes to walk between the studio and home, even the time it takes for the lights to turn on. . . . . . . and so it goes. I wish I could create a pause button on the world then I could press it when it is time for sleep, get all the sleep I need, then when I wake up I could press play and continue working on my animation without having lost any time on anything else. Until that day, come, let me tell you about the energising virtues of greek salads, coffee and chocolate. . . . . .
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