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make the words Gilbert and Sullivan
fit into this.
We are up and ready for
the final episode, and how sad
Sullivan looks in bed. Amazingly, it
doesn’t look absurd that he is still
wearing his tail suit.
September 23rd
Well, I’ve done fourteen
exhausting seconds, as well as
editing the Fourth Episode. Little
wonder I’m sat here in something
of a daze. It’s been a frustrating
day, as, rightly, everyone is thinking
of the post-production, but
there are, for me, more immediate
things I need to concentrate on,
like Episode Five. It’s hard to get
my head round the ins and outs of
the complicated grading process,
when I’m meant to be doing Sullivan’s
quiet and moving death
scene. I’m not looking forward to
the post-production at all. At the
moment things look a little confused
but will hopefully all come
together over the next few days.
Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I should
know exactly what is going on in
every single department, but
hang on; I’m already doing about
four people’s work. Should I ever
animate again, which I doubt, I
have to have the framework
where I can concentrate on the
animation itself. Maybe I should
lay down the law and say, “Do
this, do that, then this,” but then
this already takes me away from
filming.
September 24th
36 seconds in two days is
too much, but that’s what I have
to do. I had a long shot of the
three chaps today that took me
most of the afternoon, so I sent
everyone out of the studio to go
and enjoy the sunshine. I was able
to concentrate a bit, but I was so
focused that I slipped into some
other reality. I got such a shock
when the phone rang. Mind you,
when I got home, I was so
exhausted. I definitely went into a
daze. I’m numb with fatigue.
I’m still finding this
sequence hard — trying to keep
the puppets from acting too much
is near impossible. The music is
very slow and calm and sad, with
some notes being held for over
forty frames. As a result, it’s not
easy to find just the right amount
of activity for the mouth: too
much would not match the purity
of the note, too little and it looks
as if there’s no sound coming out.
Hopefully, it’s working okay, more
or less.
I am ready for this film to
finish as I have so little left inside
me — no, that’s not true, as I love
what I do, and have endless stamina
for things I’m interested in.
It’s all the other stuff that is wearing
me down. I’d like to say that at
least it’s financially worthwhile.
Hah!
Maybe I should know exactly
what is going on in every
single department, but
hang on; I’m already doing
about four people’s work.
September 25th
Two long solo shots of
Gilbert and Sullivan being retrospective.
Again, I’m fighting myself
to let them remain as still as possible.
Sometimes I am in danger of
doing something for every single
note. Animating to the phrasing of
the music is more relevant in this
slow piece. Still, this episode is a
dramatic u-turn after the others. It
is very dark and melancholic.
However, I am saving a burst of
energy and colour for the last few
seconds.
Just two weeks to go —
amazing. I looked at Sullivan
today, all frail and feeble, and
thought, ‘How sad, I’ve only got a
few more shots with him and then
he reverts to a lump of brass, latex
and cloth.’ As usual, I will probably
suffer some sort of post filming
depression. It’s inevitable that after
all this effort, I look at this small,
insignificant 15-minute film, and
wonder why the equation of
effort and result do not balance.
What happens after this
film, I do not know. I know there
will be changes. There have to be.
Whether there is any work, I do
not know.
September 28th
Dammit — I’ve just been to
a movie and had a drink with a
friend, and now I’m all behind
with everything. How silly of me
to try to have even a single night
of a social life. Ironically the film,
Love is the Devil, about the painter
Francis Bacon, was about the allconsuming
and somewhat
destructive nature of any art.
Here’s to that!
I think I deserved at least
three hours off tonight, as I’d managed
to churn out 24 sort of okay
seconds. Here we are nearly 75
seconds into this last episode and
still nothing has happened. They
are just sat on the bed looking
reflective. One very good shot, of
Sullivan, still looking very ill, but
also managing to be musical at
the same time. The usual problem
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE December 1998 41