I remember seeing Ed Hooks in-person in 2018.
I was lucky enough to be studying abroad in Germany for a few months, during my undergrad, and part of that included attending the FMX conference, where Ed Hooks was giving a talk.
He talked about “power centers” – animators need to find a character’s power center when they animate – is their power coming from their head? Are they leading with their hips? Something like that.
But what I remember most vividly was his face when he exclaimed, tears in his eyes, wiping them away under his glasses: “Don’t you see? Don’t you see the world needs…” Something like that.
But I knew what he meant. In the animation powerhouses, where the money is in technological advancements, the priceless humanity of stories is often thrown by the wayside for render power.
(Not to insult VFX artists, jesus. Who doesn’t appreciate realistic simulation? Who doesn’t want the water in their animation to look like real water? Who doesn’t want the food to look good enough to eat in their favorite animated movie?)
But I knew then, as I’ve always known, my calling as an artist was for people like Ed.
I want to be an ANIMATOR. Bring LIFE and CHARACTER expressed through performance. Tell HUMAN stories through pretty, moving pictures. Then one day, when I know better than everyone else in the room, I’ll become a director, haha!
I’ll never REALLY know better than everyone else, thank god, but, maybe I can get pretty wise.
It remains to be seen.