Movies You Made: “Speed Dating”
One of the great things about my new position as an assistant professor at the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts is the talent in evidence here, both students and faculty. Case in point: My colleague Meghann Artes, an award-winning filmmaker and animator who has worked with Sesame Street, Dreamworks, Nickelodeon, Bix Pix, Nick Jr., NBC and ABC. Her short films have enjoyed success in festivals around the world and, in 2009, her work for Sesame Street was awarded both an Emmy and a Peabody.
Meghann Artes
Meghann’s latest is a delightful and entertaining short film Speed Dating which has been featured in dozens of film festivals, has been a Vimeo Staff Pick, and was recently highlighted by Film Inquiry.
I asked Meghann what the inspiration was for Speed Dating:
I was looking for a story to tell and searching for inspiration. I called up one of my best friends and somehow we began to reminisce on the time we both went speed dating. We moved on to the subject of dating in general and memories of dates that went less than perfectly. Almost everyone has had an experience like that and I thought what a great situation in which to set a story. I compiled some of our most off the wall incidents and then began to put my spin on them. I have a tendency to lean toward the absurd, so my mind just let loose on all the crazy things that people encounter when looking for love. So the story came first. I also happen to be fascinated with pixilation and stop-motion right now so a lot of my ideas tend to lend themselves to that technique. And I really love the work of Jan Svankmajer so it became a matter of gathering this momentum that I had to follow through to its conclusion. As it turns out, the story ended up with a lot of things that could really be exploited to great effect with pixilation and stop-motion.
Here is the short film Speed Dating:
Wonderful, isn’t it?
For more on Meghann and her filmmaking, you may visit her website here.
Meghann Artes on Vimeo: Here.
If you know of any promising high school or college students interested in animation at the undergraduate or graduate school level, or the field of TV and movies in general, tell them about the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts. It’s an exciting place as faculty and students are building something special here in the heart of downtown Chicago.