Homework 3

I found this article from Future of Storytelling about two weeks ago while scrolling through Tumblr about legendary Disney animator Glen Keane. The article was short, but it described Keane's history in working in animation, the classic films he's worked on like The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, etc..., and attached was a video of him talking about how through his forty plus years at Disney, he had witnessed the advancement in technology used for animated feature films and how he has embraces them in order to tell stories.

The video starts off with Keane drawing characters like Ariel and Beast on paper with pencil, and describing how the drawings of these characters transcend the paper and reflect the artist's soul and imagination. Like most animators, he describes his frustration of wanting to go inside his drawings and live within the world they create. So, Keane puts on virtual reality gear that allows him to see and draw his characters in a three dimensional plane. Watching him move around and 'digitally sculpt' these beloved characters and bring these characters in to life is quite moving as someone who values how animation can immerse a person beyond their scope of reality.

Keane claims that the nature of an animator is being anything you can imagine, and that the nature of any artist is freedom. The reason I chose to share this video and why I think it's relevant to this class and to art and technology in general is this progression we see of technology specifically engineered to help artists bring the products of the imagination to life. I'm specifically interested and dedicated to animation and translating the human soul and heart in a story that can resonate with people. Animation itself is a type of medium that requires artists to constantly learn new programs and invent new technology for artists to work with (Another video that explain Dreamworks Animation Studios new Apollo software here). Animation as a craft is about translating the human experience with images and pushing the boundaries of how to intrigue and fascinate the audience for years to come.