Spunk · How long have you been working in the animation business?

Darcy · For about 4 years, I started doing freelance work when I was a junior at Pratt.

Spunk · How long have you lived in NYC?

Darcy · I've been living here for about seven years.

Spunk · How do you feel about 3D animation vs. more traditional, drawn animation?

Darcy · On one hand, I prefer to create traditional animation because I love to draw, and it isn't quite the same for me if the scribbling-erasing-handling piles of paper aspect is taken away. This tactile connection with a project is something that I miss when I'm working digitally.

I havn't worked in 3D animation yet, but I do use Flash and I find it frustrating sometimes to have the barrier of menus and buttons and peripheral devices there, having the creative flow broken by something like RAM or a malfunctioning computer. Plus, it can be tiring to stare at a monitor for hours on end. Despite all this, I do appreciate how using computers has made certain things easier, and I do plan on working more with that in the future.

In terms of watching 2D and 3D, I do enjoy both. Of course when it boils down to it, the success of a piece depends on its content more than the method that was used. I appreciate the realism and dimensionality that can be created with 3D animation, yet I also like the more graphical nature and man-made quality of 2D animation. Nothing beats a great pencil test though!

Spunk · I'm guessing that a "pencil test" is the drawn animation in its rawest form. Do you mean that 3D may lack the unlimited creative potential that traditional animation has always enjoyed? And if so, do you think that will change eventually?

Darcy · Yes a pencil test consists of only the drawings, before inking or color. Not only do you get the motion before it is redrawn, but you get to really see the work that a person put into it by witnessing each pencil stroke. It seems that the stages after that are somewhat dedicated to removing that evidence and creating something "perfect."

And no, I dont think that 3D lacks any creative potential. Right now it seems to be on trend toward creating realism– once it breaks away from that I can't imagine what will come out of it. It's rather exciting to imagine the possibilities.

Nothing against technology and 3D animation, its just that Darcy Vorhees prefers the simple freedom of drawing. Currently working at 4kids Productions in New York City, she does storyboard clean up, checking and revision on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series. She has also done animation assisting on Disney's Lizzie McGuire movie and recently did character and background design on a new, 'secret' pilot along with assisting on various animated commercials. She really loves to illustrate and has a keen interest in drawing. Aside from animation, she also enjoys doing illustrations for music CDs, book covers and spot drawings for young adult books. We talked with Darcy about her love for drawing and the direction of traditional animation vs. technology driven 3D animation.

 

I think 2D animation in the theater already has fallen off as a result of 3D animation. As far as I know, Disney has no intentions of making feature length traditionally animated films any longer, and they were the major producer of 2D features. As far as I can tell, most, if not all, of Dreamworks' upcoming features are going to be 3D as well.

I feel like there is a plus to this though, and that is with the level of abandonment the medium is experiencing in features, it leaves a lot of room for a rebirth, for it to come back again and redefine itself in a broader sense. For instance, anime is very popular here– and most of it is traditionally animated. The biggest difference between anime and the features we have here in the US is that anime is made for many different ages. Sure you have kids shows, but there are also films made for adults. Anime as a genre is not afraid to make films that address grown up or complicated themes.

On the contrary, here in the US feature animation is viewed as being for kids or for family films only, and that's it. So hopefully with 2D feature animation sort of dropping-off the map, it will allow people to forget the limited box that it has been put into and give something different a chance when that something different comes about. Where is American Anime? I'm waiting for it.

Spunk · And how about some of the work you do geared for Television? I see traditional animation making a large comeback with Television audiences, not in the Saturday morning way, but in all around good programming for a wider audience. Maybe its thanks to Cartoon Network, but maybe thanks to just better craft and more attention to detail now. Is it a lot easier to construct traditional animation these days? Does it take just as long to produce the new TMNT series as it did for the older ones made in the 90's?

Darcy · Traditional animation undergoes pretty much the same process that it did in the 90's, the biggest difference I can think of is the fact that digital coloring is prevalent now rather than painting cels. Digital coloring is a lot faster, and I would imagine cheaper since one program can color for a long time and there is no need to be constantly buying paint or cels or brushes. Plus mistakes are a lot easier to fix when you're working digitally.

It still takes many months for a single episode of a show to go from start to completion, just as it did then. I'm not sure how much faster it is now, I wasn't working yet in the 90's.

One interesting thing about TV animation is that even though there are a lot of shows, we don't do a lot of the animation for it here, it's all shipped overseas to be done because it's cheaper that way.

The planning stages are done here in the US, like storyboarding and design, then the rest is done elsewhere. This makes it possible to have a bunch of shows on the air and a bunch of unemployed animation artists simultaneously. Plus the popularity of anime makes it even easier to cut corners. Companies in the US just buy episodes that have already been completed, dub them, and play them here. That's the cheapest of all because we don't make any part of it.

Spunk · Tell me something about your interest in illustration and how you got started in animation production...

Darcy · Well I started getting interested in art as a result of illustration... from the children's books I had as a kid. I always loved to look at them, draw, and imagine. As I got older I also started making cheesy live action movies involving my friends and family members.

Then one day I had an epiphany as I was watching Disney's The Little Mermaid– that animation was a combination of the two! I then set my sights on that, and started learning what I could about it. When I went to school to study animation, I also realised that I like doing design for animation a lot, which has to do more with still images than sequential ones in motion. It's also nice to shift gears sometimes too, going from doing a project that involves a ton of drawings, to another that involves one succinct image, which is illustration.

As for how I got into animation production, I was lucky to start in college, working as an animation assistant in a studio run by a professor I had. I got a lot of studio experience there, and also some valuable contacts which helped out later. I also did freelance work, acting as an animation consultant for an internet gaming company and also doing illustration and animation projects for a band in New York City.

Darcy · Lemme see if I can explain timing and checking. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is animated overseas, but all of the preproduction work is done here. One of the things that is done in preproduction is all of the action that happens in each show is planned out frame by frame on exposure sheets- every kick and punch and jump and step and gesture and blink that the characters do is written out on exposure sheets. This is done by the timers, who are animators, but they don't do the actual drawings. The overseas animators take the exposure sheets and do the drawn animation based on what was written by the timers.

After the timers have done their job, but before it is sent overseas to be animated, the timers notes are checked against the storyboard to ensure that there are no weird mistakes, that nothing has been forgotten, and to ensure that everything is clearly explained.

After graduating I moved into getting work in larger studios, helping out on a few pilots and commercials and learning Flash along the way. I also worked on the Lizzie McGuire Movie doing animation assisting, which was a great experience. Thrown in there are more freelance projects as well, doing design and a bit of illustration work. Then I went to work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doing assistant checking/timing, then moved into a new position on the show, which is where I am today, doing storyboard checking/clean up/revision. I have also been lucky enough to get to do design work on a pilot recently and am also looking forward to completing some projects of my own.

Spunk · That's interesting. You mention "checking/timing" what does that involve? And, how was your experience with the Lizzie McGuire animation?

That's what I assisted at. My job involved fixing things that needed to be fixed, and working with my boss to check each show and also make sure that the storyboards are clear and complete. This is basically trouble shooting. If mistakes do get through then the messed up scenes need to be redone, and that wastes everyone's time and money. I hope that helps to explain it.

As for the Lizzie McGuire movie, I did animation assisting on it, which is involved doing inbetweening, making sure the character stays on model, and cleaning up the animation so that it's ready for color. It was a great and talented bunch of people to work with. It is also my first feature, so it was fun seeing it in a theater and being with the audience as they watched it– with TV you dont really get that opportunity. I learned a lot from the experience and am very glad I had the chance to work on it! ∞

Spunk · That's great. Darcy it has been very pleasent talking with you, thank you for your time.

Darcy · Thanks, it was pleasant chatting.

Links:
www.darcyv.com
www.4kidsentertainment.com

New York City, August 2004

Darcy Vorhees