On Departure – An Interview with Eoin Duffy

On Departure by Eoin Duffy; A lone traveller makes his way through an airport before finally accepting his journey’s end. Show Me The Animation asked director Eoin Duffy about his stunning and moving short film…

Hi, Eoin can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m an Irish designer turn animator living and working in Vancouver, Canada.

Can you tell us about your film “On Departure”?

In short the film depicts a personal journey centred around the loss of my younger brother Emmet. The film premiered at the 2012 Galway Film Festival and is now represented by Future Shorts. It also has just been released online via shortoftheweek.com

As for design of the film, I enjoy creating scenes and characters within rigid self-imposed limitations. I restrict the colour palette and then start to discard all unnecessaries until I reach a point where the audience has to work to decipher the scene. Film maker Andrew Stanton points out that we should give the audience 2+2, never 4.

Can you tell us about the process of making the film?

The entire design from early sketches to final storyboards was created in Adobe Illustrator. I then animated these assets in Flash and After Effects. All 3D elements including the main character were created in Blender 3D.

Also the film was funded by an Irish state body “The Irish Film Board” so strangely enough a large chunk of my workload was providing paperwork, cost reports, deliverables, etc … A necessary evil often overlooked when idealizing your dream project!

Is there anything you would change about the film?

Good question! I’ve gotten much better at character animation in the past year so if I was to revisit this I’ve give the main character more attention.

What’s been the most challenging aspect of making the film?

I’ve had the story and visuals planned for some time so it was only a matter of executing them. But I found giving direction to others, i.e. composers, producers, sound designers, editors, sound-mixers, production companies, etc … to be quiet challenging. The film was a huge learning curve in this aspect, one I was grateful for.

The visuals of the film are backed by a stunning, emotive musical score. How important was the choice of composer and sound design for you in making “On Departure”?

Stephen Rennicks’s score is well over 50% of the experience. I first came across Stephen’s work in the Irish Film “The Garage” and later “Adam & Paul” (two excellent films by the way). We contacted him, gave him a blank canvas and he gave us an amazing piece of music, it fitted the film perfectly. No changes, we signed off on it there and then.

Have you always wanted to work in animation?

My background was in illustration, then graphic design, and as of the past 2 years – animation. So I more or less fell into animation from tinkering around with programmes like Adobe Flash and Blender 3D. But I am happy with where I’ve landed.

Where does your overall inspiration come from?

Since studying them in college it would have to include the early pioneers of movable type and the early explorers of geometric form. Artists like Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, László Moholy-Nagy, Theo van Doesburg, Piet Zwart and Jan Tschichold. Later swiss graphic design with a special obsession around Josef Muller-Brockmann.

More recently, and as with most artists in the age of the internet, its pretty broad ranging from amazing works of art on Vimeo to cat gifs on Reddit.

What projects will you be working on next?

I’ve just completed my second short film The Missing Scarf. The trailer along with other details will be released within the next few weeks.

What words of advice would you give to students starting out in animation?

I’m not sure if I’m the best candidate to be handing out career-type advice to future animators. Advice leading to my own path into animation would suggest you first study graphic design, then take 3 years off to trot around the globe, then get a job in design and slowing transition yourself into animation.

So if you’re already an animation student, you’re doing ok.

What was your earliest memory of animation?

Being raped by Roger Rabbit! No wait thats a suppressed memory trying to surface. But I do remember drawing Roger Rabbit a lot.

What animated film do you wish you could have made?

There are a lot of animations I admire but I can’t say if I have a desire to have been the one in the driving seat for any.

Its a bit cheesy but years ago I remember being greatly moved by Grave of Fireflies.

For more of Eoin’s Work visit: eoinduffy.me/