Latvia. An Insider’s view from Outside.

I was not born yesterday. I was born in Latvia. It is a small, clever country. Small because it is surrounded by big countries who each took a slice from it. Clever because despite being small it is still on maps, after all the wars, take-overs and occupations. I talk about history of Latvia in “Rocks In My Pockets”, so you’ll have to wait till the film comes out to find my take on it.

To interpret history means to define one’s current politics. Politics are very specific causes burning in each individual’s heart. When in New York, I find myself standing center – left. It means I am for contraceptives and I am against Big Fracking Business taking over my individual rights to clean, inflammable New York tap water.

But, surprisingly, in Latvia I find myself standing center – right. My recent visit coincided with the National Referendum which called Latvia’s citizens to decide if they wanted one official language (the current one: Latvian) or two (Latvian and Russian). Just like any burning political passions in any country in this world, the flames were fanned by Big Money. The money for the language issue in Latvia were coming from East – Russia, which has never reconciled with Latvia’s escape from it’s economic, political and military grasp in 1991.

But Big Money aside, why would I prefer to keep Latvian as the one official language in Latvia? Yes, there is something inside me you can call a national pride, that strong sense of identity as a Latvian (although genetically I, like most Latvians, am a European mutt – mix of German, Polish, Gipsy, Swedish, Latvian blood). But, surprisingly, that is not the reason. My reasoning for keeping only one language is coming from Tea Party books. Documents are expensive – translation, paper, printing cost money. Having to fill out documentation in two languages would break most of small businesses that are already  struggling. The government’s legal paperwork would have be filed in two languages, too. Imagine what a burden it would be on the small country’s budget! Only to cater to the small percentage of the people who don’t speak Latvian fluently (out of 44 per cent of Latvia’s non-Latvians only 10 per cent are not fluent in Latvian). Necessary everyday stuff (medicine, food, hygiene products) already has labeling in 3, sometimes 5 languages.

How will I make this right leaning view compatible with my defense of contraceptives (free for everyone!) and dislike for Big Business (get out of my water!) ? I guess, I have to live in one country but be just a tourist in another….

Lets see some tourist pics from Latvia. Beehives hibernate wrapped warmly in snow:

Griddle’s heat is off and it is dozing under the heap of snow, too:

Latvians are keen on hunting, but for food, not just for fun. When they kill a wild boar, they use it all: the meat, the fat, the intestines (yes, Latvians eat liver, kidneys, and boil lung soup for their dogs). Even the skins are used – as rugs. Before the skins are taken to tannery, they are hang for hungry birds to scrub off the remains of fat. Who said birds are vegetarians?

If you are in Latvia in wintertime, you’ll inevitably hear talks about icicles – that they form on the houses with poor insulation, that they kill people on streets in Riga in spring, that they are delicious, they are poisonous, they are beautiful. Here’s a sample of a delicious killer icicle:

Fishing doesn’t fall far behind from hunting in popularity. Combine that with cold and you get some hardy characters who find plenty of time and will to sit for hours looking at a small hole in ice:

Believe it or not, modern technology has reached Latvia. Here one can see the latest models of any machine. But Latvians have a collective passion for making things on their own. Women knit and make clothes. Men make machines that move. If this make-it-yourself energy could be harvested, Latvia would have a strong car making industry. For now, it has to be content with the moving devices that cannot get a permission to drive on the roads (Latvia also has strong traffic rules and regulations), like this:

Finally, a tourist is fascinated by the wooden shacks found by almost every house.

- What an archaic structure! – the tourist says and takes a picture. It doesn’t occur to the tourist that the structure has very practical use. A lot of Latvians heat their houses with wood (wood being available, reliable and cheap source of energy). They bring the logs in the fall, saw and split them and store the firewood in the wooden shacks, as wooden shacks allow the air come in and out and dry the woods for the best burning. To me, the shacks are cinematic, like Rome or Audrey Hepburn :

Viruses attack!

It is the season when viruses attack. They attack us for a reason – they love us and think we are delicious.

Few weeks ago I got sick with snivels. I was told snivels and common cold  (for some strange reason hot is not considered common) are caused by rhinovirus.

Under a microscope a rhinovirus looks like this:

To me it looks like a ball covered with penises:

But for some people it looks so cute they made a toy for children (a rhinovirus plush toy!):

If I had to make an animated character out of rhinovirus design, I would draw something like this (it is in an underwear because it goes to private and warm places):

But then I heard that rhinovirus spreads through air. It means it either floats or flies in the air. It probably has wings:

Now, equipped with wings the rhinovirus has a different look and even maybe gender. I’ve heard of the things that fly angels have wings too. The virus takes it’s belongings and moves through the air towards my nose.

- What a nice cave! – she says about my nostril. – It is warm and humid. It has nice little grass! (it is my nose hair, you virus!) I think, I’ll live here.

So she moves in:

First thing of all, she sets up a camp: a little tent and a campfire, to keep herself comfortable:

My body is alerted about the camper without a permit and tries to flush the site with a load of snot:

The load of snot is about as precise as shooting a shotgun in the sky in attempt to get a duck. The virus stays and brings her friends to fight against eviction:

The friends decide that enemies must be fought on the frontline of the war, so they sharpen their axes, tie ropes around their waists and lower themselves through the nasal passage into the throat. With no discussions or offers of negotiation they start chipping at the live flesh:

When the body reacts with more snot and fits of cough that almost throws the virus and her friends out of the throat and nose, they find cotton balls and stuff with them nasal passage to protect themselves from the tides of fluids and sneeze earthquakes. I can’t breathe. They re-start the campfire:

In the end, the bigger size wins:

My body produces enough snot and enough cough to get the virus out. In 5 days the virus is back into the air, homeless again.

But that is not an end to the story. There is another virus sneaking about. This time it is Norovirus. I caught it this weekend:

It actually looks cute, doesn’t it? A little ball with handles, or hands. It calls to be drawn like this:

It would make a nice animated character (it doesn’t have even underwear because it goes to places too dark and private) :

Apparently, one get the virus from a food that was contaminated with fecal matter:

Or from the doorknobs that have been touched with contaminated fecal matter:

I don’t know how I got it (see “Contagion” for the information). I ate some food, I opened some doors, licked some doorknobs. You live in a society and you are supposed to fit in. You’d be laughed out of the subway if you cleaned each seat with clorox wipes. Shit happens. Eat it.

Once in the body, the Norovirus goes straight to small intestine and settles comfortably in. It pushes upcoming food back up (vomit) and outgoing food out (diarrhea). It has a good time doing so:

The virus brought a few water buckets with him, to make sure everything moves out fast:

But his success is also his shortcoming. By swiftly getting rid of the food in the intestine the virus has undermined his own well being. Now it is starved and has nothing to cling to:

The intestine sheds it’s lining and with the lining – the virus. The virus falls out to meet his next host:

After 24 hours of moaning and groaning I am feeling just well enough to write on my adventures with viruses.

Meet the Team: Generation Y. Interview 2.

Remember the mumblecore indie darling from 2010 “Tiny Furniture” by Lena Dunham? Everybody was up on their hind legs, waiving their arms, getting in lines to see the film.

- This is the voice of the Generation Y! – the film critics shouted. – It is the statement of the whole generation! If you miss the film you’ll miss the Future!

For the sakes of my life I didn’t want to miss The Future. I went to see it. I liked it. Cute, honest. Great cinematography for the small budget. But was it the Voice Of The Generation? If you have rich artsy parents with a huge fancy loft in Tribeca and you have spare $20 000 to invest in your first feature film then I guess it is your voice. The representatives of the Generation Y that I have met deal with different problems in very different settings.

The Generation Y I know is hardworking, focussed, self reliant. Yes, they have big dreams and they might be selfish in pursuing those dreams. But they work near the edge of a sawmill blade. The Generation X likes to point out that the newcomers, the Ys, would never have the same resources or the same opportunities as the Baby Boomers had. They would be hit with the joblessness, hopelessness, lack of funds. In short, the Generation Y would have to clean up after the Baby Boomers and Generation X.

Not so fast. Although a lot representatives of Generation Y are part of Occupy Wall Street movement voicing the opinions and demands of the young, there is the other part that is quietly and privately trying to make the best of the cards dealt to them. Before you know,  Generation Y is creating opportunities for us, the Xs.

Rashidah Nasir is one of the young artists I know who is ambitious, thoughtful and talented. Andy London recommended her to me.

- She is a great worker, – he said. – Nothing is too difficult for her. Photoshop? After Effects? She can do them in her sleep. Rashidah would thrive in a creative team.

- My studio might be too cold for her, – I fretted. Great workers always come with great conditions.

- She is not spoiled. She wants to work.

Rashidah joined the team and now brightens our workday with her cheerfulness. There is no problem she cannot fix, there are no setbacks that can hold her back. Not even my questions.

Q: Animation is a very particular form of self expression. It infuses storytelling with art, and art with movement and a narrative of some sort. What exactly attracted you to animation in the very beginning and if that attraction stayed the same over the years?

I think the thing that has attracted me to animation all stems from being a kid. I remember becoming interested after seeing “The Lion King” in theaters for the first time. Since then its sparked something in me. Watching behind the scene’s specials of Tarzan on TV and seeing how the animator created the character I’ve been hooked and knew it was something I wanted to eventually do when I got older. It stayed the same until I made it to college.

Q: I have noticed that compared to your peers you are well informed on political events in this country, although you don’t necessarily express your opinion. Should politics reflect in their art? Do politics have place in art?

Art wouldn’t be art without politics would it? It gives people inspiration to create a piece of work in any medium to express their opinion in what’s going on in the world.

Q: An artist, when creating a new piece, almost always enters an uncharted territory. It is thrilling but also frightening, like looking for a light switch in a completing dark strange room. Artist’s life has the same feel- we never know what is around the corner, there is no job security or an income certainty, no outside structure. How do you feel with the fear of unknown in your life and in your art?

After graduating from school almost two years ago I had to face the fear of the unknown. After loosing a job l had lined up after graduation, due to downsizing of the company, trying to find any kind of work was a huge struggle. The jobs I did have I’ve enjoyed and learned a lot from, but the thought of not knowing how long it will take to find the next gig was always stressful. Working in this type of industry has its ups and downs. I look at this way, at least I know I can never get bored, using the unknown as inspiration to keep going.

Q: Are there any advantages or disadvantages of being a woman artist?

From my point of view there is no difference between being a woman artist and a man artist. At least I haven’t come across any of them.

Q: How does being an African American define your art?

I don’t really think being African American defines my art. When I create art I’m usually open minded about other races and cultures. I create something that focuses on the story I want  to tell for that moment.

Q: What is your ambition? What do you want you achieve?

My ambition is probably similar to other animators/ illustrators out there. It’s just to make work that can get shown in front of an audience. I want to one day work on and create something that can inspire future artist/animators the same way I was inspired.

That was Rashidah’s self portrait. But here’s how a photo camera sees Rashidah:

The Man’s World.

(the “Generation Y. Interview 2″ is coming next week)

If there is such a thing as pure man’s world then my new studio is located in one. First, to get to the location you have to dodge enormous trucks hauling enormous amounts of potato chips, roofing materials, cement and hardwood. You also have to dodge a freight train that comes charging in the middle of the street like an enraged bull pulling loads of unmarked goods (I doubt if they are fragile perfume boxes or tiny bottles of nail polish). When you successfully have dodged the truckloads of danger and enter the final stretch to your destination, you have to pass through a line of men who wait for their trucks to unload on the docks. If you are a man they measure up your size, your physical capacity to fight. They check for the spark in your eye to see if you’ll chicken out when they make a sudden and threatening move. If you are a female, well… Your fertility levels are quickly assessed and louded with cat calls and gestures intent on making Venus blush.
This is not the dainty world of trained in restraint corporate males where an innocent compliment (- You look really nice today, Amanda!) could get them fired with indignity. The men here are either self employed or employed by people who have never heard about standards of politically correct behavior.
But there is also another kind of male here – a conservative man who flees in panic seeing a woman’s skirt cut above her knee. It’s just not done where he is from.
In both cases, sex is on the mind.
The skirt I used to wear without fear in Manhattan’s Wall Street area, the long skirt with a cut so deep you could see the seams where my legs are attached to body, I adjusted to the new conditions by wearing an underskirt, so no legs above ankles are visible.
The sex jokes and wonderful sex words I used to pepper my conversations with (- My new film is about pussy juice! virginity is for olive oil!) are guillotined out of my casual elevator conversations with my neighbors. I took down some suggestive and provocative pictures off my walls. Not to irk the shy. Not to rouse the bold.
But sex in this world, although so obvious to a visiting female, is only an afterthought to the men working here, a mere diversion from something more important.
A possibility of an accident and death is always present here. And – the subconscious male struggle for dominance, seemingly a game that never ceases to interest them but in fact it’s a real need to find out who is stronger, bigger, smarter, wittier, more fertile. Add to that some severe cultural tensions (the building is a melting pot of conflicting cultures) and at times I feel as if I have entered the setting of “Ajami”, the 2009 Oscar nominated film from Israel where the characters’ life is depicted as a tightrope walk above Field of Death, with an Angel of Destruction hovering above sprinkling adrenaline and testosterone.
Few years ago a carpenter’s young assistant was pushing a box into a freight elevator. Exactly the moment when the man’s head and hands were inside the elevator a cable disconnected and the elevator fell down pulled by Gravity – fast and furious.
It cut the man’s torso in two halves – one with the box in  the elevator, the other – outside, near the “push” button.
After learning about the accident I tend to step inside the elevator quickly and sometimes chose stairs ‘just to be safe’ (although the stairwell doesn’t incite too much trust either as it is slippery after rain and dark after twilight).
Few weeks ago a fight broke out on an unloading dock, in a broad daylight. What was it about remains a mystery (no participant of that fight explained their reasons to the spectators), but the fact remains – police arrived without delay and efficiently handcuffed some of the men.
Anything can happen at any time. The men who work with dangerous tools (carpenters, electricians, lathe operators) know it. We, who work with the help of a mouse and keyboard are able to imagine ourselves invincible and Eternal.
Having a mouse and keyboard studio near men who work with dangerous tools puts things in perspective for me.
You better be ready for anything when you enter that darn elevator.

Meet the Team: Generation Y. Interview 1.

Making a feature film is a collaborative process. Even if you managed to write, direct, design, animate everything, you may not be able to do sound design, or compose a piece of music. It is more fun yet more chellenging to work with other people.

The Team of “Rocks In My Pockets” (besides me) at the moment consists of Sturgis Warner (voice over director, lighting designer, set advisor), Rob Daly (sound designer), Ljova Zhurbin (music composer), Wendy Zhao (production manager, editor, compositor, art assistant), Rashidah Nasir (art assistant) and my Mysterious Boyfriend who in general is very supportive of the project and studio operations (without him there would be no laminate flooring here).

Wendy and Rashidah are young artists, just starting out. Aren’t you curious what artists of Generation Y are thinking? I am very curious, that’s why I decided to briefly interview both of them. Let’s start with Wendy.

I met Wendy in April in Boston after Battle of Sexes show. She expressed interest in animation and we kept in touch via email. Sometime in early July she came over my studio for a brief job interview. She got the job and moved to New York in September. If you wonder what exactly impressed me to give her the job, they are 3 very simple things – 1) Wendy is very talented 2) she has a good personality, she is open minded, curious, warm, and to some extent – daring (I think it was a dare for her to approach me after the show and it was a dare for her to dare me to hire her) 3) and she really made an effort to get the job (I was skeptical of her skills (she was not an animation major) so she set out to prove me wrong).

Wendy has a strong blog.  A drawing every day.

An Interview: Art as Personal Space for Communication.

Q: Some people consider being gay as a failing of one’s will, as if being gay was a personal choice. I believe that people are born that way, they don’t chose to be gay or straight. With years I came to believe that also being an artist is not a choice, one is born that way, and to pursue one’s happiness one must pursue his/her art. Is there a particular moment in your life when you realized that you are an artist and you can’t change that?

I think until about July of 2011, I was still daydreaming about pursuing professions unrelated to art-making, like research, or medicine, or this or that. Then I started to do some serious job hunting, which stressed me out, but also really helped me realize what I truly would and would not enjoy doing. Especially after moving to New York in September, I no longer doubted what I’d like to devote my time and energy to. Of course, I’m still exploring and struggling with what forms of art I can and want to create, but I’m certain at this point that art-making is what satisfies me the most and what I’d love to commit to.

Q: Your drawings are erotic and sensual, but there is something sad about them, like a happy song sung in a minor key. Why is that? What in the subject matters that you chose interests you? What would you say IS the subject of your art?

These drawings are very personal, and this blog is equivalent to a diary. So, they reflect what I think about, how I think, and how I feel. There is no ONE big subject of these drawings, I don’t think. If I had to summarize, I would say that they’re quiet glimpses of personal life, which is why they may come across as a bit melancholic. I make them because I can be extremely open without being explicit. So, they are therapeutic for me and fun for my audience.  

Q: When I finished my “Five Fucking Fables” and was about to premiere the film at a festival, I was quite frightened that someone will mistake what I depicted in the film (a woman’s head cut off lands on a guy’s dick, flowers suck man’s penis, a dog licks a woman’s pussy etc) for what I desire. I was worried that I’ll get unsolicited sex offers because someone assume that am I nymphomaniac. Nothing of the kind happened, to my greatest relief, festival audiences are quite open minded. Aren’t YOU afraid of showing the sensual and erotic images you create to a broader public?

I’m not so concerned because that sort of thing is inevitable for any piece of work shown to an audience. Like with other forms of communication, the way my drawings communicate with another person may go in many different directions, and I welcome that.

But of course I do care about how these drawings are perceived because by having this blog, I am inviting people to get to know me. I am also my own most important viewer, and I want my work to communicate successfully and tastefully. I want my drawings to communicate personal explorations, feelings and desires, but not explicitly and not literally. 

So, I hope there is enough playfulness and ambiguity in my work that no one would say, “oh I get it, I know exactly what she’s all about.”

Q: A question I get a lot: Do you show your artwork to your parents and what they think of it? (my answer is so longwinded and complicated, it may be a book)

I would have a huge long complex answer too. But the short answer is no, I don’t show my parents these drawings. I’ve shown them other works, but not this blog. I don’t know if maybe they’ve found it somehow via some other way, but I don’t actively show it to them and they haven’t mentioned anything.

Q: A question I used to hate but by now I grew to appreciate it: What are your influences?

That is a question I always have trouble answering.

 First of all, you, Signe Baumane, are a great and immediate influence for me. I have grown a lot, professionally and personally, since knowing you. Thank you, and I value our relationship immensely.

Other influences (in terms of people whose works and lives I ponder upon) include: my dad, a few professors I had in Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, a few friends and acquaintances.

Some famous individuals include: Morandi, Cezanne, Gwen John, Giacometti …

 Also: Todd Solondz, Woody Allen, Igor Kolvayov (whom Signe introduced to me), and many specific pieces of work by various others.

 It’s really hard to talk about influences, because there are so many, and they exist in such various forms.

Q: A lot of women study art but don’t practice it for very long. Why do you think is that?

I really am not experienced or qualified enough to answer this question. Anything I say in response would only be an assumption, and I don’t want to make any about how other women live and work.

Q: Are there any advantages on being a woman artist? Disadvantages?

The biggest disadvantage, I’d say, is being automatically considered a “woman artist” rather than an “artist”.

There may be some advantages in terms of getting funding, grants, etc. I personally am not there yet. The biggest advantage I have right now, being a woman and keeping this blog, is that from a man’s reaction to my drawings I can better determine how much I want to date him.

Q: Does being an Asian American define your work?

That is not a focus at all currently. (It used to be a focus when I was still in school).

But I’m sure certain qualities seep through here and there because there’s no denying that I am Chinese-American. For example, some of the girls I draw have Asian features. I think that is simply related to me being who I am. But being Asian American is not an “issue” or “topic” of any sort for me right now, and especially not in these drawings.

Q: What is the most difficult thing for a young artist?

I think one of the biggest challenges is finding the will to deal with various struggles. Note: not the struggles themselves – but the will to deal with them.

 A young artist is rarely where he/she wants to be (circumstantially, conceptually, technically, and more), and such struggles can often be neglected or traded for something more convenient and immediately satisfying. For me, right now, I know I have to make a big effort to just keep alive the will to keep making work.

 

 

Here’s the picture of Wendy herself:

Research.

I was reading a book the other day. An old book, from 1991 – John’s Grisham’s “The Firm”. I won’t mention the shallow sexist fantasies this book promotes, nor the vapid, materialistic values the main (good) characters manifest. Nor I go into why I am reading this book (I own it because in 1996 I found it on the street in front of my building, I picked it up because it was free and I felt I needed to start building a library). What struck me in that old old book was that those characters are constantly talking about doing research. They have their secretaries go to libraries, and they themselves sift through piles of paperwork for hours. They even make phone calls to accomplish the research! How amusing!…

Research is easy these days. Mirror Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?

Google is pretty much like the Magic Mirror – it gives you a reflection of yourself, of your wants. How you punch in the question, that’s the answer you get.

I have to make paper mache sets for my film. Some of the characters wander into a forest.

- How does a forest look?- I ponder. Not that I don’t know how a forest looks but it’s perplexing starting a forest out of newspaper and glue without exact image in my head. I could get a train ticket and get out of New York into a nearest forest. But I don’t because: 1) it costs money 2) it takes time 3) it’s not the right forest anyway (my paper mache forest has to be Latvian) 4) you can’t get green tea in delis outside New York.

So I Google “forest” and look what I find!:

It is just what I was looking for – the unobstructed by bushes, clear ground (making paper mache bushes would take all the time I have and would leave nothing for making the film)  and the tall, unaffected by fungus pine trees. It creates nice sense of the set’s dimensionality. I print out the picture and put it in front of me while immersing my hands in glue. There is one thing I have noticed before – my hands are in conspiracy with my eyes. The eyes see, the hands make. They don’t need me to tell them what to do.

Three days later they have created a forest. Here it is:

Hmm… maybe not exactly like in the picture, but close, eh? The characters take their little stroll in the forest and even find a mushroom.

But the other character has to fly away from the forest. I need an airplane. To make the story realistic I would probably have to make a commercial airliner because the flight is transcontinental, but I find airliners visually boring, just a long white sausage with a row of holes. I Google “small airplane”and click on “images” button… It is small and it is charming:

Here’s my hand version of this aircraft:

- Well, – you’ll say. – Doesn’t it look like a dolphin?

Oh well, it takes only a millimeter here and millimeter there for something to look like something else. But I am very proud to be sending my character overseas in this dolphin airplane. It’s pretty visual and thought inspiring.

Oh, and then I needed money. Not the green money: why everybody associates money with green color? Money has variety of colors, just Google it! I needed Czarist Russia’s 100 ruble banknotes. One of the film’s characters spends 2 years locked in a Warsaw apartment painting the banknotes by hand to raise money for his political activity. Here’s what I found, still not sure if this used to be real money:

The two headed eagle is pretty mysterious until you read Wikipedia entry. It represents Tzars double sovereignty - religious and secular. Ah, history is so delicious!

Here’s my version of the same banknote:

I actually prefer my version. My eagle got more character, the dualness of Tzar’s sovereignty is right in your face, whether you are buying bushels of wheat or barrels of crack – you’ll never forget that the Ruler has the claim on your Spiritual Path as well as on your Lust for your Wife.

The project also required building a house. Again, not just some suburban tasteless villa that people who wish they were rich live in, but a very specific house on a very specific hilltop. It had to look like this or nothing:

This was the hardest of them all. Note the unusual roof and strange small entrance room. I am not an architect, I have no idea how those things come together. It only looks easy, but try to make a replica in paper mache and you are going to be daunted. I put the set aside a few times, but the deadline kept pressing. I just couldn’t master it.

- Fuck it, – I finally said. – I think I am looking too much at the picture. I can’t get what is in the picture, so let me try something else.

So I threw out the house printout and started from zero, relying only on memory. Here’s the paper mache house, ready for move-in:

I know it doesn’t look like the original house at all, but better this than nothing. Next time I’ll have a group of architecture experts guiding my paper mache construction work.

There is a scene in the film where a young woman marries and starts feeling trapped like a fox, to be killed and skinned. Her husband has her hide. I had to make a fox hide for the husband to wipe his feet in. Last time I stepped on a hide (it was a beaver by my Mom’s bed) was more than 2 years ago, so I needed to look it up. The sweet skin of an innocent fox:

I rolled up the sleeves, put the glue on an old paper (post elections 2008, what unbelievably old news!) and twisted it the best I could. A little paint later and here’s a paper mache hide by the bed:

There would be no film if there was no barn. The family in the film at that moment is suffering through Second World War. Russians had confiscated their cow and a horse, the Germans took the remaining cow and a horse. The only thing the family has left to eat is rabbits that they grow in the empty barn. I find barn interiors very visual – horizontal lines meet vertical lines in a very elegant way. See what a nice picture my research found:

But I was worried that alone I wouldn’t not achieve this elegance. I invited the Master of the Lights Sturgis Warner to collaborate on the barn.

- Don’t you have anything else to do on the project?- he asked.

I did, so I left him alone with the barn set. When I returned, Sturgis presented me with the most amazing barn. I wish I could enter it:

Now, you’ll ask:

- How about research on those characters of yours? Where do THEY come from?

I did an extensive research on how people dressed in that time or the other (my story spans from 1901 to 2010) and I found characters in the family photo books, like this one:

Note how stylish this man is. He is also extremely entrepreneurial, adventurous, opportunistic and self absorbed. In the language of contemporary USA politics one would diagnose him as a Republican, but he was actually a fervent Social Democrat.

Here’s my loving rendering of this character, Indulis:

But now – back to research!

Kodak Moment gets Animated.

Everybody has experienced their own Kodak Moment. Even Kodak itself, when once a year it hosts Focus on Animation program. Yesterday with the efforts of Kodak’s Anne Hubbell and Susan Selig this special program had taken place for the eighth time in the last 8 years. DeWitt Davis, our another Kodak agent 007, was the infallible expert behind the dark curtains separating audience from the projection room. The event went without a hitch. It was a moment of glory for Kodak and Animation.

Me and Bill Plympton presented the following films:
1.
“Luminaris”
by Juan Pablo Zaramella (this film made it to Academy’s short list for nominations, a great story about the power of light, collaborative efforts and love told with the help pixilation technique)

2.
“Biology”
by Danny Madden, Jonathan Silva, and Will Madden (this film made it to Annie Awards, a  mix of pixilation and hand drawn animation it tells a story of a boy at a biology class who can’t hold his imagination tied to the dry biology notes)

3.
“Why do we put up with them?”
by David Chai (if you had ever had a dog, you’ll laugh and cry during this very short film, but I had a question: why do THEY put us with us? we don’t understand even one tenth of what they tell us while they know what we want before we can say it)

4.
“More than Winning”
by Nick Fox Gieg (what would happen if the human species run against all the others? well, this film shows what is happening, in 2 minutes)

5.
“Paths of Hate”
by Damian Nenow (this film made it to Academy’s shortlist in competition for nomination, it shows the strength of male hate; not ironically, the film is loved by all men and hated by most women who see it, I love the polarizing gender aspect of it)

6.
“Place Stamp Here”
by Noelle Melodie and Joy Vaccese (to counterbalance the previous film’s testosterones this short brings the best of estrogen – sweet but daring story of a girl, her heart and her travels)

7.
“Made You Cringe”
by Andy London (this is a teaser for Andy’s larger project – TV series pilot that is in the works; Andy explores the fine line between normalcy and madness of his own strange but unflappable family)

8.
“Rocks in my Pockets” excerpt from work in progress feature
by Signe Baumane (about this: later)

9.
“Test Late in Summer”
sneak preview of work in progress
by David Levy (David’s Dad tells a story how he, a poor kid from Brooklyn, miraculously got into Cooper Union  and David animates the story with a great skill)

10.
Summer Bummer”
by Bill Plympton (sharks are out to get you)

“Waiting for Her Sailor” (ships are out to get you)
by Bill Plympton
30 sec

11. ”Fantastic Flying Books”
by William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg (a  bit incomprehensible but cute story that could be perceived as 15 minutes long commercial for Public Library, nevertheless, the film made it to Academy’s short list)

The filmmakers who were brave enough to attend the event were grilled after their films. Here’s the happy family photo before they were eaten:

Nick Fox Gieg, Joy Vaccese, David Levy, Andy London, Signe Baumane, Bill Plympton

My personal excitements from this Kodak screening were in showing first 6 minutes of my work in progress “Rocks In My Pockets” fully colored, edited, with sound and music. In the weeks before the screening the project’s art assistant Rashidah Nasir rushed to finish painting few scenes while the project’s art supervisor Wendy Zhao feverishly composited animation in After Effects and then edited the Quick Time movies in Final Cut Pro. Ljova Zhurbin, the raising star of the competitive music for film field, gave several amazing pieces of his music to fit the video (he is the official composer of “Rocks In My Pockets”). The talented sound designer with an extraordinary ear Rob Daly worked diligently to do the complete sound work. The result of this collective effort was impressive, but I was still very nervous to present it in front of audience. Few months before I had presented a black and white line test of the same footage with no music nor sound and the audience feedback was pretty brutal:

- Your voiceover sucks. You should get a professional actress.

- The film is going to be fine if you get rid of your voiceover. Your voice has a weird accent and it is elevated – no one speaks like that in real life.

The problem is that I am pretty invested in the voiceover. The theater director Sturgis Warner rehearsed me for 7 weeks in 5 hour everyday rehearsals. When I was ready I performed the piece in front of a small group of 20 people and the story seemed to hold their attention (unless they were mesmerized by the home-baked snacks behind my back?) Based on that audience’s feedback I shortened the piece and made adjustments. When we recorded it the  story seemed to work also as just an audio track. But once the voiceover started to get animated images and shaping into a film the wind shifted.

- To be honest, you are no Meryl Streep. Hire a good American actress that can act and speak properly.

- But an American actress would have no Latvian accent – how would an audience believe she was from Latvia? – I feebly protested.

- For a good actress faking an accent is no problem.

- But… but this is my personal story and I feel my voice with my Latvian accent has to tell it to stay close to the truth, – I kept protesting, getting weak and sweaty.

- The truth is – you are not famous and will never sell your film without a big name attached to the project.

- Then make me famous. These days any dirty street pigeon seems to get on a Letterman show. I could do it, too.

- Oh, you just don’t get it…

And I don’t. So I thought maybe if the film was colored and had sound effects and music, maybe that would distract the audience from paying too much attention to my imperfect voiceover?

The Kodak screening was that chance to try it.

At the end of the night the feedback came in.

- It is still unnaturally elevated, not your normal voice, – was one verdict.

- I loved the voiceover, – was the other. – It was so deliberate. It reminded me of Beatnik poetry.

Hmm… would you listen to a Beatnik poetess reading her funny mega poem about depression for 90 minutes while watching surreal images in bright schizophrenic colors?

I would.

“Rocks In My Pockets”

creative team (part of it) at Kodak

Wendy Zhao and Rob Daly

Signe Baumane and Rashidah Nasir

Rob Daly, Signe Baumane making a face, Ljova Zhurbin

The Golden Standard of Independent Animation:

Bill Plympton