Interview with Animator
Pedro Eboli
Creator of
"A Pug's Life"
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Background
When did I first become interested in doing animation? That's a tough one. So, I'm answering with the cliché of "as long as I can remember". I used to play a lot with the old Autodesk Animator as a kid, but never really understood the animator's career as a possibility until much later.
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Getting Started/Training
So, like I said, I guess I'm a late bloomer. That's because I worked for 5 years as an advertising copywriter before I decided to quit everything, go to Canada and learn animation. I went for the Classical Animation program at Vancouver Film School, where I met some amazing teachers and fellow artists. It was a great new beginning for me, and having previous experience in writing also helped a lot.
I like how animation speaks more directly to our imaginations than live action usually can. It taps into a territory that manages to be both universal and extremely particular at the same time. We work with archetypes and codes, but also manage to convey our personal views and aesthetic unlike any other medium. It's limitless.
Influences
Being a child of the 80s, I couldn't escape from "He-Man", "Thundercats" and all that wonderful cheese. But I always preferred the Looney Tunes shorts. They will never stop being aired. Ever. I guess my biggest influence, or at least the first guy I recognized as a genius when I was a kid, was Chuck Jones. His 50's stuff is just perfect.
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Well, apart from Mr. Charles M. Jones, I have a special place in my heart for the UPA shorts, Chris Sanders, Stephen Silver, Craig McCracken, Bill Plympton and all the hard working people out there making shorts regardless of everything. Oh, and Konstantin Bronzit's "Au Bout du Monde". Probably the funniest short I've ever seen. And it's on YouTube for everyone to see. Lovely.
Inspiration
Well, I guess I heard one too many times what a "nice guy" I am. And we all know what happens to nice guys, right? So, this is kinda where
"Pug's Life" came from. This and probably watching one too many Woody Allen movies. Oh, and also I really wanted to have a Pug as a character. I love those little ugly things.
Technique
Flash for all the animation and Photoshop for the backgrounds. A pinch of After Effects too, for color correction and what-not.
Time Required
We were in the final month of the VFS program. And we had little less than a month to learn Flash and make a short. So I'm guessing "Pug's Life" came to life in just over 2 weeks, from start to finish.
Challenges
Definitely the ridiculously tight schedule. But this sorta helps too. It keeps you focused and avoids too much second-guessing. And this is how I usually work best. Apart from that, thhe deadline also provided time constraints on how long the short could be. So I had to be really concise with the story. And I guess this also paid off in a way.
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