In this first official Visions4 filmmaker highlight, we introduce North Carolina's own Whitney Polk. She is a Film Studies major at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, with a primary focus in the field of animation. Her animated film,
The Science of Cats, will kick off our second film block, scheduled for 8:30pm in UNCW's Lumina Theater on April 4th. I was lucky enough to ask Whitney a few questions regarding her film, as well as the experiences that led her all the way to Visions Film Festival and Conference.
Born and raised in Albemarle, North Carolina, Whitney discovered her fascination with film and storytelling after her mother bought their family's first camcorder when Whitney was only 11 years old. The allure of film and her family's home videos soon turned to an interest in visual expression through animated imagery. Although beginning first with cut-out animation, Whitney's favorite mode is hand drawn, flip-book style, because "drawing each frame by hand gives the animation a sense of life that other modes often lack" (Polk PI). This style is present in her festival piece, The Science of Cats, and she explains what inspired such an original piece, as her animation reveals the brisk movement and character of the feline through image and fact: "I grew up with cats. I feel a deep connection with cats and all animals in nature, and I was inspired by that feeling to make the animation. It felt like I was transcribing a cat's spirit onto the film, and that's what kept me motivated throughout the process" (Polk PI). This will be Whitney's first festival appearance, and we are all thrilled at Visions4 to feature such a talented young artist, one with a very bright future in animation.
After film school, Whitney hopes to become a freelance animator for films, commercials, and television. Additionally, she would like to return to cut-out animation. What IS cut-out animation? Whitney explains: "Cut-out animation involves drawing, but once you've drawn the character, you cut them out with the intent to photograph them frame-by-frame and you, the artist, manipulate parts of their body. It's like the 2D version of claymation" (Polk PI). She obviously reveals great knowledge of her craft, a sign of true dedication and promise, especially early in one's career.
As far as Whitney's personal inspirations, Hayao Miyazaki's
film,
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind has had a big impact, not only on current and past projects, but on her thoughts of a pivotal point in any animators career--one that she will continue to strive towards: "All of [Hayao Miyazaki's] animated features are hand-painted cell animation which, to me, comes at the pinnacle of an animator's craft. His films, similar to hand-drawn animations, have so much detail and passion that the films are alive; they exist in time, not as some forgotten Pixar flop, but as a beautiful and priceless motion picture" (Polk PI).
So, with this special highlight, we welcome animator Whitney Polk and her film, The Science of Cats, to Visions Film Festival and Conference on April 4th. If her work, passion, and personal thoughts on animation speak for anything, this will certainly not be her last appearance on a festival platform.
Steven Gamble
Marketing Director
Visions Film Festival and Conference
A Short Interview With Film Scholar Brandon Konecny, author of the Visions4 Conference Selection, The "Unfilmable" Lightness of Being
Steven Gamble: When did you discover your passion for film and writing? Was it always present, or did you have a particular dawning moment?
Brandon Konecny: That's a good question, actually. I'm not sure. I
consider myself an incurable cinephile, and as such simply like
discussing films, be it with friends or whomever. I didn't really ever
consider being a "writer" until it became a logical extension of this
inclination, the only difference being I get to use formalized language
and polysyllabic jargon; and this kind of platform became a necessity
when I became a film major, of course. Where this really solidified,
though, is when I began writing for Film International, getting some of
my stuff published, and hanging out with Jacob Mertens, Film Int.'s
review editor and a fantastic writer himself, who taught me what it
meant to take the craft of writing seriously. It's mostly been a means to an end, I guess.
SG: What would you say your favorite subjects of film to write about
are? Ex. Feminism, adaptation, genre, cultural analysis, editing?
BK: When it comes to particular interests in film studies, my
tastes are pretty broad. I do have some favorites, though. Cultural
analysis, for example, looms pretty large in my research, specifically
as it relates to various topics in fandom studies. I also enjoy film
theory quite a bit, especially as it relates to a lot of the new wave of
theorists working today, like Joan Copjec, Todd McGowan, Matthew
Flisfeder, and Slavoj ZIzek. It's doing a lot to politicize film
scholarship and help film theory shake off some of the sweeping
generalizations and totalizing tendencies of the early Screen theorists
and French film scholars like Christian Metz; it's given theory more
specificity as it relates to engagement with filmic texts. Genre is fun:
I really like researching Cold War Era science fiction and screwball
comedies. "I really like
the burgeoning sub-discipline theological film criticism, as well as
gender politics, especially in my work in fandom studies and postwar
American avant-garde cinema. But what occupies most of my research, at
least of the moment, is Eastern European cinemas.
SG: What inspired you to write your scholarly work, The "Unfilmable" Lightness of Being?
BK: Well, the novel itself. It holds a more or less special
place in my experience. I remember tearing through it during a Christmas
break with my girlfriend, texting back and forth discussing our reading
progress and amazement at its density and brilliance. And then you have
the disappointing adaptation. I
think the project, at a subconscious level, probably, was an attempt to
reconcile my love
for the source novel and the disappointment with Kaufman's adaptation,
and what resulted was so much more, with implications beyond just the
film itself, I think..
SG: Your research was very thorough, well rounded, and enlightening.
How did you first approach the research process? And did you have to
stray away from your original planning?
BK: My original idea for the project was quite different from
its present incarnation—in fact, the one Visions has seen is probably a
revision of a revision of a revision of a revision of a revision,
each with slightly different scopes and aims. Originally, my interest in
the topic was born out of my horror at watching the film adaptation for
the first time. There was certainly a privileging of the novel’s
romantic subplot and the performances were really lackluster.
However, as I continued to research to the film and watch it a
few more times, I realized there was more to consider here, that there
was more in this film than itself, perhaps. Some of its adaptive
decisions, while paling in comparison to its novel counterpart,
illuminated issues of the epistemological privileging given to narrative
film and its opposite polarity of the documentary. It became, I
suppose, kind of a springboard for other issues in film studies that
issued from this one filmic example.
SG: You are a returning Visions4 scholar. Any advice or tips for
those who have never presented their work in this environment before?
BK: A few points. First of all, practice your presentation!
You'd be surprised how many people either try to give an off-the-cuff
presentation or read straight from their paper. And while the latter
isn't a terrible thing--in fact, one should always follow some kind of
script, however general it may be--it can be uninteresting and, more
importantly, if you don't practice and simply rely on your original
draft, you'll most likely run over your time. And that brings me to the
next point: don't be irresponsible with your time. Fifteen-minutes is
nothing, really, so you'll doubtlessly be hard pressed for time. That
said, use it wisely and responsibly; it's infuriating when one has to
cut their time short because another presenter ate up most of the bloc.
Finally, and this is the trite piece of advice, HAVE FUN WITH IT. We're
here because we all love film, be it as a viewer, critic, scholar, or
filmmaker, so act accordingly. When you present, allow yourself to be a
bit conversational; treat it as if you're just talking with your friends
about some topic in film studies.
SG: You are currently a Film Studies graduate of UNCW. Any current projects in the works? What are some of your future aspirations?
BK: I’ve got a few projects in the works at the moment, many
of which are submissions to some journals and doing some film and book
reviews—a few of which I’m really excited for, actually. One that I’m
particularly eager to get to is a book review of Hollywood Chemistry:
When Science Met Entertainment, which I plan to co-author it with my
girlfriend, who’s currently working as a microbiologist and way more
scientifically acute than myself. I’m also planning—or dreaming
of—submitting something to Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies
Association. I really want do something on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer
episode “Hush,” wherein I'd read its textual details (the uncanny
creatures, the traumatic stealing of the voice, for example) under the
rubric of Lacanian psychoanalysis, specifically regarding the function
of the voice as the objet petit a, the "object voice," as I believe
Mladen Dolar puts it. We’ll see what happens, though. Time has to
permit. I’m also currently going through all the joys that going along
with law school admissions, so that’s the next big project to
accomplish. Ultimately, my intention is to pursue a career in law,
perhaps something in IP, trademark, or patent.
SG: Do you have any authors in particular that you enjoy? Perhaps a few that inspired you?
BK: Honestly—a.) literary authors, b.) authors who write about film, or
c.) film authors. For the sake of thoroughness, I’ll include some names
from all three categories:
a. I read quite often, so I have quite a few literary authors I like: David
Foster Wallace, William Faulkner, John Jeremiah Sullivan, David Sedaris,
Paul Tillich, Matt Fraction, Ernest Hemingway, Slavoj Zizek, Jonathan
Franzen, Jack Kerouac, Milan Kundera, and probably a lot more that I’m
forgetting to mention.
b. Authors who write about film: P. Adams Sitney, David Bordwell, Robert Stam, and Todd McGowan.
c. Film Authors: Ernst Lubitsch, Pedro Almodovar, John Waters, Preston
Sturges, Stan Brakhage, Frank Capra, Glauber Rocha, Tomas Gutierez Alea,
Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Andrei Tarkovsky, Elia Kazan, and probably a
lot more that escape me at the moment.
Steven Gamble
Marketing Director
Visions Film Festival and Conference
Through the first few installments in our Visionaries series, we've tried to shine a new light on individuals within film and art that have recently come into prominence. While historically the industry has not fully supported an individual who is well rounded in different media forms, the times are changing. Increasingly today, individuals who have a wide range of skills and talents, spread out over many different art forms, hold an advantage in getting ahead. This mastery of different positions on set, from an organizational, business, or creative standpoint, is both an inspiration and challenge for film students currently. As our world modernizes, film goes with it. No longer is a single skill the end all be all. Development of skills from all aspects of the filmmaking process is becoming paramount. 
