Hamster Cage
by Joanna Priestley
A former student came by my studio to show me the tiny amount of work he had done in the past four months. He is incredibly talented and the work had a fresh, unique style. He said he was not able to get much done, even though he has lots of time to animate. After chatting with him for an hour, he told me that this has been a problem since childhood. Every time he starts making something, he feels like it is never good enough, so he stops working.
Sometime our minds repeat negative thoughts. This can be likened to to a hamster spinning on a wheel inside a cage. Over and over and over we hear thoughts like “That’s not good enough!”, “You have no talent!”, “You’ll never succeed!”, “That won’t work!” There are endless variations to the meaningless, negative thoughts that repeat in our minds.
I had a bad case of this for many years, but one day I realized that the thoughts were always the same, no matter how good or bad the work was. That day, I simply stopped listening to them. If that thought popped up, I would say (in my mind or out loud): I am not paying attention to this anymore. It took a few years to completely ignore them, but finally I was able to experiment wildly or do something truly ugly or weird without hearing the nasty voice in my head saying: “That's horrible and it doesn’t work!”
How to Make Your First Animated Short Film
Think of a good, solid idea for a very short film (ideally 1 to 2 minutes). It should be something that you are very familiar with and an idea that you love and want to spend a while developing. Run it by two or three trusted friends or family members who love films and see if they think it is a good idea. Refine your idea several times, then do a bunch of rough sketches that show what the film will look like. Show these to the 2 or 3 trusted people and get their feedback. Now work on it every day, even if it is just for a short time. If that does not work, try to work on your film for several days a week, every week. Develop the habit of working. If you don’t enjoy this, figure out what you do enjoy and do that. Work discipline can be inherited from observing a parent, friend or mentor. It can also be developed by simply by working everyday or as often as you can. Do not give yourself a hard time about not meeting your goals. Reset your goals to an attainable level, enjoy the process and keep working. Keep it simple and do your best!
Make Misteaks and Enjoy the Process!
One final tip is to make lots of mistakes. I always stop and pay close attention when I make a mistake while animating. I almost always use those mistakes because they often lead to something more interesting than what originally had in mind. Be flexible and open to inspiration, change and new ideas. Learn to enjoy and love the process. You are building new worlds!
Live Fully, Imperfectly and Wildly!
Writer Anne Lamott's manifesto on perfectionism: "It is the voice of the oppressor. It will keep you very scared and restless your entire life if you do not awaken, and fight back, and if you're an artist, it will destroy you". I love Lamott's motto: "I get to live fully, wildly, imperfectly. That's why I'm alive." Ignore those inhibitory thoughts. Just be yourself an experiment!
What a joy to be able to make things with your hands and your heart.