Award-Winning Animator Visits in February

Emily Hubley discusses her recent film and other animation 

Award-winning independent animator, Emily Hubley will give a presentation on the craft involved in the creation of her animation at UNC Asheville on February 12­­–13, 2013. In addition, she will elaborate on influences, including that of her world famous Academy Award-winning animator parents, John and Faith Hubley. Even though her parents worked in animation, Emily was not drawn to the field until later in life. As she recalls, she turned to animation when she began telling stories that she had written. She found that "including the visual component of animation made it a layered process" that enhanced the original tale.

Hubley's recent feature film, The Toe Tactic, first shown at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2009 (a DVD was subsequently released by Kino International), and has been on the Sundance Channel recently. The film has screened at various prestigious national and international film festivals including the San Francisco International Film Festival and the Rio de Janiero International Film Festival. Notably, The Toe Tactic was developed at the well-known and highly regarded Sundance Institute's 2002 Screenwriters' Lab and 2003 Filmmakers' Lab. See the title sequence & brief effects shot from the opening scene at http://vimeo.com/13777187.

This film centers on Mona Peek who is having a difficult time moving beyond her father's death. In Emily Hubley's words: It is sort of a magic-realistic film about a young woman who is getting over and revisiting the grief over her father, who died several years before. She is stuck in her mourning phases and not really engaging in her real life. So, these animated dogs who are sort of watching over the human machinery notice she is stuck and not pulling her own weight. So they engage in this little game to sort of trick her back into enacting her life.

In addition to screening her feature film in advance of the public talk, Ms. Hubley will present her animated shorts, which have been shown internationally. Drawn with markers and watercolors, Hubley's animation has been featured in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and in the documentaries Everything's Cool and Blue Vinyl, and her animated shorts have been shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and the South by Southwest Film Festival. These works range from dealing with issues (e.g., in portraying the means of overcoming self-doubt, death of a loved one, or learning a lesson) to a poetic focus on the world of William Blake. Recently during the power outage associated with Hurricane Sandy, Ms. Hubley "made a moving graphic (not a full blown animation but a fun piece. . ."; it may be viewed via youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDojbuBQlmo.

Emily Hubley is an independent artist, who works outside the Hollywood studio system. Her animation is created the old-fashioned way—crafted by hand. In her first feature film, The Toe Tactic, she blends live action and animation in a new, innovative, and moving manner. In this way, she has explored the boundary between the real and the imagined. Even though Hubley is combining live images with animated drawings, she clarifies that, I pretty much hand animate everything
. . . . We did do some layering on (Toe Tactic) that was very fun, but for the most part the digital process was for coloring. Everything exists in some way on a piece of paper.

As director, writer, animator, and producer, Emily is the central creator of the work (the "maker").

In relation to content, her films emphasize a positive outlook that is enhanced by its imaginative and meticulous craft-related techniques. As noted by Hubley: It [the film] works as the distilled depiction of the creative process: illustrating poetry with simple linear drawings in a stream-of-conscious way—starting with pictures of familiar objects, imbuing them with particular emotional qualities and historical significance and allowing them to metamorphose through a sequence of related symbolic or narrative images.

A university and community-wide presentation, Emily Hubley, Award Winning Animator, will take place on Wednesday, February 13, 2012, at 6:30­­–7:30 p.m. in Karpen 038 (free and open to the public). The Toe Tactic will be screened on Monday, February 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Karpen 038 and is also free and open to the public.  (Screening is prior to Ms. Hubley's arrival on Tuesday, February 12  ). A question-and-answer lunchtime talk with faculty and students on the subject of women's issues and filmmaking, A Conversation with Animator, Emily Hubley, is scheduled for Tuesday, February 12, 2013, at 12:30­­–1:30 p.m. in Laurel Forum. These presentations were envisioned as a shared event supported by multiple on-campus programs.

Emily Hubley's website is http://www.emilyhubley.com/index.html, and several DVDs are available on her work.

See the title sequence & brief effects shot from the opening scene at http://vimeo.com/13777187.

For additional information: email Dr. Cynthia Canejo ccanejo@unca.edu or phone the Department of Art office 828.251.6559.