We will be posting a series of interviews our intern Katie Kotler did with a handful of Integrated Media students about their work. we start the series with Molly Shears, enjoy!
Molly Shears is a third-year Integrated Media student. You can see samples of her work at: http://mollyshearsart.tumblr.com/
1. Tell me about your technique and preferred style of animation.
At the moment, my preferred style of animation is to cut and paste different live-action clips and create video collages. I merge and alter the different pieces on After Effects and occasionally I like to go a step further and rotoscope (on paper) the result-whatever works for the specific project!
2. Your work seems to revolve around natural settings, rotoscoping, figures and gifs. One of these natural settings is the ocean. What does that mean for you? How does it resonate?
I didn’t realize it until recently, but shooting nature, the ocean in particular, has been something I’ve been doing since I was a kid. Throughout my life, I’ve spent a great deal of time by the ocean in Nova Scotia, where my family is from. To me, the ocean
resembles a symbolism of familial connections-a reason I collect images of different landscapes and make them into one-it’s a way for me to discuss heritage and genetics. I also love the ocean because of the incredibly profound power it holds: it is so large
and strong and wise.
4. Which artists are you influenced by?
The animators I am most influenced by are Joe Hamilton, creator of the amazing Hyper Geography films, and the sound and video artist Ryoichi Kurokawa.
5. You are now on exchange. What are you learning about your new surroundings and being at a different school?
The school I’m currently doing my exchange in (FAMU, in Prague) is definitely different than OCAD. It’s a film school, so we learn a lot of theory and it’s practical applications. My time here has made me greater appreciate the artfulness and symbolisms within narrative film and how I can apply this to my own work (we watch a lot of movies!). It’s also amazing to be able to create projects with an international group of people-I’ve learned a lot about perspective here.
6. What are you currently working on?
Because I am abroad and have access to a lot less materials while I am here, I have been spending a lot of time working on my writing. I’ve started to work on the script for my thesis next year, as well as some short stories. In a couple of weeks, I’m doing a
“filmmaking bootcamp” with my school, where we go to the woods for a weekend, and return back to Prague having made a film.
7. What do you hope to do after graduating from OCAD?
After graduating from OCAD, I’d love to focus even further on writing and directing short films. I definitely never want to stop creating art. I’m really going to miss being in a school environment, so hopefully I’ll do a Masters degree eventually. My time in Prague has also made me understand the value of working within an international community, so I’d also love to work and travel.
8. What’s been your favourite piece that you’ve worked on throughout your time at school?
So far, I think my favourite piece I’ve made at OCAD is a short video I did last year titled “Recurring, Receding.” I really wanted to create a piece where I collected multiple landscapes and unified them into one entity. The piece fulfilled my constant desire to
work with moving images of the ocean and piece them together.