{"id":25762,"date":"2016-06-07T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/?p=25762"},"modified":"2016-06-06T14:16:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T14:16:09","slug":"hothouse11-duncan-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/hothouse11-duncan-major\/","title":{"rendered":"NFB Hothouse 11: \u2018Little Big Bang\u2019 (Duncan Major)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-25763\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Hothouse11_DuncanMajor.jpg\" alt=\"Hothouse11_DuncanMajor\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" \/>This week on Skwigly we&#8217;re delighted to meet the participants of the <a href=\"http:\/\/nfb.ca\" target=\"_blank\">National Film Board of Canada<\/a>&#8216;s 11th <a href=\"http:\/\/films.nfb.ca\/hothouse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hothouse<\/a> apprenticeship scheme for emerging Canadian animators.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/duncanmajor.com\/\">Duncan Major<\/a> started out as a printer\u2019s devil making books, cards and posters with metal and wood type in a letterpress shop at the age of 14. After obtaining a degree in English he took a left turn into the world of graphic design, and since 2010 has worked at the Newfoundland-based creative agency <a href=\"http:\/\/perfectdaycanada.com\">Perfect Day<\/a>. Alongside his wife Duncan also runs the letterpress print shop <a href=\"http:\/\/duncanmajor.com\/Walpurgis-Press\">Walpurgis Press<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nfb.ca\/film\/little_big_bang\/embed\/player\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><strong><br \/>\nOn the production of <em>Little Big Bang<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Little Big Bang<\/em> is a linocut animation about two beings. It\u2019s inspired by becoming a father and learning unexpected things from a baby. Visually the film grew out of a love for the rich grainy texture you get from putting ink on linoleum and printing it on paper, and the random misalignments and miscuts that can occur in printmaking. When I was moving from script to animatic to animation (with generous guidance and help from the people around me), I was thinking a lot about the pure expressiveness of babies, about getting stuck in a pattern of thinking, and about the imprints people leave on each other.<br \/>\nWhen I was writing my proposal, my wife said, \u201cWhat about letterpress animation?\u201d I knew immediately it was something I\u2019d love to try, and I knew there could be something in that process that could inform the story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>On the benefits of Hothouse:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Hothouse gives you a unique opportunity to make a complete film quickly, learn a new process or hone an existing one, and work with the NFB, which has been releasing innovative films for decades. For me it was also a logistically feasible opportunity, since I could work from home and be close to my family but be part of something national.<br \/>\nTo see how other people work and think, whether they be an editor, producer, sound designer, animator or otherwise, was enriching. I learned a lot about animation. Living in a remote place, it was a lifeline to a creative hive. It was an eye opener and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>What next?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I\u2019d like to try something with linocuts again, and maybe pen and ink. For now I\u2019m just waiting in the wings, collecting ideas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Keep your eyes on Skwigly over the coming days to hear more from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfb.ca\/playlist\/hothouse\" target=\"_blank\">Hothouse 11<\/a> participants. To learn more about the work of Duncan Major visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.duncanmajor.com\/\">duncanmajor.com<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week on Skwigly we&#8217;re delighted to meet the participants of the National Film Board of Canada&#8216;s 11th Hothouse apprenticeship scheme for emerging Canadian animators. Duncan Major started out as a printer\u2019s devil making books, cards and posters with metal and wood type in a letterpress shop at the age of 14. After obtaining a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":25765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,755],"tags":[4112,4110,4113,693,557],"class_list":["post-25762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-interviews","tag-duncan-major","tag-hothouse-11","tag-little-big-bang","tag-national-film-board-of-canada","tag-nfb"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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