Drawing the Passing

I wish to begin by saying, this class has been very enlightening. The literature, discussions, and films we watch have all altered my way of thinking towards the better, but I would have to say my favorite part of class would be the films. I suppose it's probably because I can remember films I watch better than books I read or lectures I hear. But in Thursday's class, Prof. Leeper showed the film "Drawing the Passing" that I found to be the most informative. It showed a man (William Kentridge) at work on an animated film, but his technique was no ordinary way of animating nor was it anything I have ever seen but completely unique. Instead of drawing pictures on thousands of sheets of paper that would plays a scene, this man would do a charcoal drawing on only one sheet of paper, snapping a picture of it on a camera, and then alter or redraw it on that sheet, and repeat that process over and over again to play a scene. And his finished product would be extraordinary! It seems though, like his work was some form of obsession to him. His work is so painstakingly slow and tedious, and you can see it in his eyes that this was mind numbing work to him, yet he showed no signs of stopping or letting it get to him. I just think it's so neat to not just see the different ways to animate, but what type of person it takes to actually do that work.