The City is a giant gear spiraling infinitely around and around. At least that’s how it feels today. I’ve been working on an animation sequence involving the symbolic city of gears. This was probably one of the first uninterrupted studio sessions I’ve had in a while. There always seems to be something else to take care of. I took full advantage of the open schedule and have been producing frames rapidly pace since noon. After this short interlude for eating and typing, I’ll put in a few more hours before calling it quits. If I’m lucky I might get 10 frames done. (That equals less than 1 second of film) Each frame is almost exactly like the previous. The image depicts the metropolis rolling around in a gear like formation. The process involves two basic steps, a brief under drawing and a final rendering. This means that after I drawing the whole thing once, I actually have to go back a re-draw it all again. The short loop is going to take at least 200 frames to complete but I am just stubborn enough to enjoy the doing this kind of work.
In fact I more than enjoy the work and have become a bit obsessive about the films. It takes so long to draw a single idea that the ordeal is simultaneously meditative and exhilarating. The animation itself requires immense attention, single ideas remain prominent (almost static) for extended periods of time, yet I can barely think about anything else. I’ve come to this sort of slowed down thought process based around movements equaling 1/22 of a second while attempting to physically transcribe these movements as quickly as possible. Meanwhile my conscious attention remains focused on the gear, each building and how they are going to move in the next few 1/22ths of a second and where they need to be 2 or 8 seconds from now. Occasionally I flash to future scenes or other stories, though through necessity, I rein in those wandering thoughts and drive them swiftly back to the gear. Sounds all fragmented and crazy, it feels like that a bit too, however when the damned thing starts breathing… well that’s something I can hardly wait to see.
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