What does animation mean for you?
By making animation I can let my creativity loose. It’s a way to express myself, and to show my weird ideas to the world.
In animation it’s possible to create different worlds where anything is possible. And to me, this makes it one of the most entertaining art forms.
From whom did you learn animation?
I recently received my Bachelor in Animation at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands.
Before I went to study there I experimented a bit with animation, but I didn’t really know what I was doing and I wanted to learn more about it.
I learned how to write stories for animation from my two main teachers: Egbert de Ruiter and Roelof van den Bergh. But I didn’t always listen to the advice they gave me…
The only animation software I was taught in school was TV Paint, by my teacher Peter Wassink. He taught me mostly about how to animate objects and characters.
But of course I can’t go without the Animators Survival kit from Richard Williams.
What projects have you worked on?
I’ve worked on only a few animation projects so far because I just graduated this year, but I’m trying to get some jobs as a freelancer.
A few months ago I helped animating a video-mapping project for the NFF (Dutch Film Festival). Even though the idea was not mine, it was really cool to see the animation projected onto the Dom tower, the highest church spire of Holland, and to experience the response of the public.
As part of a school project, a few classmates and I made a short animation for the Klik! Amsterdam Animation Festival that appeared as a commercial on TV.
How would you describe Sloppy Seconds?
Sloppy Seconds is my funny, colorful, over the top, raunchy graduation film! My goal was to make a film that I would enjoy working on and that I would also like to watch.
I wanted to improve my frame-by-frame animation, because before Sloppy Seconds I always made cutout films. I also wanted to try to animate more dynamic motions so I could get more out of the characters.
Along with computer animation, I like working with traditional techniques; so I drew every frame on paper, then scanned it, and digitally edited it. It was a lot of work but I’m quite happy with the end-result!
What is the message of the film?
There isn’t really a message to Sloppy Seconds, it’s just meant as a funny film. But if I would have to come up with a message for the film, it’s that we all have our dirty secrets.
What kind of animated films do you like?
I really enjoy watching stopmotion films like Wallace and Grommit and Fantastic mr. Fox. In general I like films that have a traditional feel to it or a really unique style. But I also think The Spongebob Squarepants movie is awesome! The animation is really hilarious!
What future projects do you have?
I don’t have any projects going on right now, except that I still have to find a homely box to live in… But in the future I definitely want to make another film. And I want to start illustrating again.
What would you like to do in life that you couldn’t do it because of lack of time, resources, etc..?
I would like to travel the world and go on adventures, but right now I’m broke and I’m also kind of scared of big spiders, tigers, and chance encounters with four headed aliens… Otherwise I also would like to become a pirate or a zombie, but zombies aren’t real and pirates nowadays are pussies! YARRR!
