My first week of living in the Bay has been a great incentive for attending school here at CCA for my undergrad studies. On top of meeting Zack Parrish earlier this morning, I had the pleasure of meeting the legendary Disney animator Glen Keane at the Walt Disney Family Museum. He was there giving a lecture on his short animated Duet. Even though I wasn't able to record any footage or audio from the event, I was able to find the talk that he gave at Google, while Glen was working on his short Duet. What a privilege it was to sit for 2+ hours and hear Glen's approach to rendering a film that's taking full advantage of the possibilities of where animation can venture to; if given to a talented artist and the opportunity.
Talking with Glen I just explained how I had been drawn back to his talents shortly after viewing Walt Disney's 37th. feature film Tarzan, which came out in the summer of 1999. I went on and on about the feeling of movement, as well as the way in which the foreground and background matched the character stylization. He agreed, and we continued to talk about what I wanted to gain from his lecture? Just put I said, "I want to get a better understanding of staging and timing in my animation..." He replied "you have to be sincere in every element of your approach. Not only what you're drawing but what you're seeing, feeling..."
He spent about three minutes with me talking about, the does and do not's when starting off in the industry, how to accept the challenges of my instructor by understanding they are my directors. He autographed a piece of my sketchbook with the saying "Animate with Sincerity"; before giving the pencil he had used throughout the lecture. So, I'm saving the Prismacolor Ebony for something special, advice that Ollie Johnson speaks of in the documentary Frank and Ollie.
The film Duet is a breathtaking exploration of the reaches of art and technology, presented in an interactive environment presented to the world by Google. Variety's Terry Flores interview with Glen is the best layman's summary I've come across.
Thanks to the Walt Disney Family Museum in connection with the San Francisco Film Society for presenting this event to the public. Please continue to provide us with thought provoking events centered on expanding the vision that Walt Disney had for the medium.
Glen also visited a local elementary school as part of the SF Film Society Education "Filmmakers in the Classroom" series, at some point this month. I'm sure it was an amazing Q&A session that followed. More on that event can be found on their blog SF Film Society Blog.