Blind Faith
Hello dear readers,
Happy one year of consistent-ish blog posting! What a fulfilling year of creation and consumption.
I explored both the sewing machine and hand sewing. I painted on wood and unrolled canvas. I shot on film and digital with three people. I made a paper costume and delved into set design.
I read 15 books and watched 72 movies/shows.
I held Blind Faith in each of these projects and succeeded my imagination.
Most notably, I taught myself the basics of Procreate Dreams…
My childhood was full of animated films and TV–it was accessible, it was passed down, it was joyful. Every time a film opens, a rush of gratitude supplants itself in my heart. Wonder swims through my bloodstream as a new castle reveals itself or a new art style fills the screen. I can feel my astonishment ooze out of me as plot drives along.
The summer I was 14 Incredibles 2 (2018) had opened in theatres. My family had long awaited its release and couldn’t wait to see the outcome between the Parr family and the Underminer.
New art, characters, and laughs forged a novel belief that I could do this. I remember it coming to me so unshaken as I sat up as the credits slowed.
I hadn’t known how to get from point A (this feeling) to B (making an animated feature film–probably a letter much further down the alphabet). It wasn’t until the latter half of last year that I could finally make a decision (single of many unknowns) in relation to my future. But I was hungry for the how whenever I watched an animated film.
As an upperclassman in high school, I rewatched Inside Pixar (2020) over and over again, hoping for more (it was released in four installments). I watched the pixar story (2007), A Spark Story (2021), Pixar shorts–new and old.
I have been chasing that high from 2018 not knowing for some reason why I couldn’t just sit down and do the work. I think at some level, deep down I was just scared that this was not achievable, that I wouldn’t be good enough, that this wasn’t a suitable path.
I hadn’t let myself dream a “whole dream” (The Holdovers (2023) reference), especially after the concussions, and it was killing me.
The phrase “Blind Faith” had stumbled upon me and got me through 2024 creatively and I wanted to finish the year out strong.
I had explored Procreate throughout the year and finally made my way into Procreate Dreams in October. Earlier that month, or maybe the one prior, I was facetiming Mia Lorelei, and we somehow got to talking about the storyline of my animated short, “For best friends that happen to be cousins.”
She imagined us as children, as we do now: her talking and I listening. We’d be in a field. But of course, I would be making something–and it would be for her: a flower crown.
This was it. Needless to say, Mia was at the source of it all. This isn’t the first time I say that her being has inspired me to follow my dreams and it won’t be the last.
I studied early childhood photos of us, trial and errored my way through software, and stumbled across a voice memo that could work for the score.
About a month and a half of work went into a 25-second short. My first short!
I love creating. I love following through on a project. And I’m learning how to love sharing what I create.
This is for all the best friends that happen to be cousins…