i've made a huge mistake

yesterday i realized that library school was potentially the wrong choice. while driving to class, i was listening to terry gross and wes anderson discuss his new movie fantastic mr. fox, loosely based on roald dahl's tiny little book of the same name. i generally object to terry gross as an interviewer, but i was interested in the movie and anderson and anything related to roald dahl so i stuck it out. anyhow, during this time, i realized i have potentially missed my true calling: working on stopmotion animation films like fantastic mr. fox.

terry gross asked wes anderson to describe the process of creating these films, and he went on to explain the intricate detail required to frame each shot and, even more interestingly, the strange mix of materials used to create the hand-made sets: saran wrap for the water, cotton balls for the smoke, orange gel-like soap for fire, towels for the grass, etc. with each new frame, the animator has to just slightly reposition the arms or the fingers or the facial expression or just a slight movement of the eyes of the puppet while also manipulating pieces of saran wrap to make it look like water flowing in the background. it's such a time-consuming process but also the animators have complete control over every single aspect of each frame. wes anderson talks about how, after visiting dahl's home in england during the autumn, they decided the film would have almost no blues or greens in it. he says that in movies like this, when you make that decision, it is entirely possible to completely exclude those colors because you have complete control over the creation of each piece of the set and each puppet.

anyway, i think this is an amazing process. the crafting that goes into putting together each tiny aspect of the movie is so awesome. i think being the person who gets a drawing of what the scene looks like and has to figure out how to make that scene, how to use things like cottonballs and bath towels to look so rich on camera, would be the greatest experience. i am very detail-oriented and i already consider myself experienced in the medium of construction paper. when putting together constructino paper projects, particularly in high school, i would stay awake for hours, surrounded by rubber cement and sharpie fumes, just to ensure that each little detail was just right. it would make me crazy to have even the smallest thing out of place. this job involves crafting, details, and creative problem solving. as of yesterday, i have decided that i was born to be a stopmotion animator.

this isn't like that time i thought i could be a cake decorator on ace of cakes. that was clearly a pipe dream and not really possible. and not to say that i am currently fully qualified, BUT i do feel like, if i had the opportunity to be someone's apprentice / padawan learner / dare i say protege, i could be truly happy and fulfilled all the time while i was working. right? RIGHT?! i suppose this isn't a huge market as i can't remember the last movie before fantastic mr. fox which would have needed someone with my imagined abilities. but maybe there will be a resurgence? maaaaaaybeeeeee?

i will settle for library school for now, but when i am old and have lots of free time, i think i will make stopmotion animation films as a hobby (instead of building ships in bottles and things). look at how fun and detailed these look!!!:

(look at the detail inside that roast beast on the table! and how tiny the furnishings are!)


related only to roald dahl, i've been thinking a lot about tatoos for the last month or two. i used to think i would never get one because i was too fickle and would never like any one thing long enough to want to have it on my body forever. that is until i thought of a matilda tatoo! she and i have been together since i was in third grade. she was the main character in my entrance essay for undergrad and made a cameo in my personal statement for grad school. anyway, so if i ever do get a tatoo, i think it would be of matilda atop her pile of books looking happy and/or thoughtful.


also, it's gross out today and happy early thanksgiving!