Animator Among Us
This month we are celebrating the talent of Marius Chertock. Born into a multi-talented family, Marius has found his own passion and talent in the Art of Animation.
Marius began his love for drawing and storytelling at a young age when he wrote his first book in third grade followed by his first full length novel in fifth grade. Now in ninth grade at Mason High School, Marius has incorporated animation to bring his stories to life.
Animation artists must be good at drawing and be able to design memorable characters while also learning how to make those characters move. Marius has done that through creating a brand new, larger than life cat-like species called Calians. To develop in depth storylines, he expanded the species to include six sub-species which allow him to have a whole world for the characters to interact.
Animation is not just about putting pen to paper. Marius has learned to work with software like firealpaca to bring his vision to life. In addition to all of these skills, it requires a great deal of patience and determination. It can take hundreds of individual frames, in fact 120 frames were used to complete a twenty second animated film he created for our exhibit.
During a recent interview, Marius opened a window into his creative soul:
What appeals to you about animation?
When you make animation, you get to see your characters come to life. More than any other artform. I get to combine my two favorite things in the world -storytelling and art- and put them together. There is no other art form that’s better at doing that than animation.
What is it that you like the most about creating your characters?
My favorite part is seeing how they affect each other and how that tells a story. I like that anyone could guess what that story is and in their own mind develop what they want the story to be.
How long did it take you to complete this short clip?
The time span was about a month and there are over 120 separate frames in the clip. I work on animation about an hour a day and more on the weekends. Animation is the most left brained form of art so it requires me to use my logical, analytical and mathematical side combined with my right-brained creative and artistic side.
How would you describe what we will see in the short film you have created for us?
The two characters that you see in this clip are Slate and Smolder. Smolder is the brown character and Slate is the gray character. The best way that I can describe what is happening in the film is that you are watching a character, Smolder, let go of the unpleasant past that he's lived and wiping his hands (or paws) clean.
What is your dream for this art in your life?
It would be awesome if I could make a career out of it, even if I could start creating my own films but I do keep my goals realistic. Right now, I like creating a story and seeing how my animation makes the story become real.
We are so excited to celebrate Marius Chertock this month and invite you to stop by the exhibit wall to see his process.
“Animation can explain what the mind can conceive”
Walter Elias Disney
