Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Blower.
Christopher, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far. I’m originally from the UK and I’ve loved animation for as long as I can remember! When I was a kid, I always loved making short animated videos with a digital stills camera, usually using toys or plasticine or anything else that was lying around! I loved to draw comic books too that I would always bring into school. I grew up watching a lot of animation on TV and in theaters, and so right from an early age, it was clear that that was what I wanted to do. There were always behind-the-scenes documentaries about animation on DVDs that I loved to watch, and that world looked like so much fun to be a part of!
More recently, I’ve graduated from university with an animation degree, and right now I’m working as a freelancer on several animation projects. My graduation film, ‘Tom’s Story’, looks at what it’s like to live with autism. The film was noticed by the Autism Society of Texas, who screened it last year as part of their annual AutFest film festival. I’m already working on my next short film too – hopefully I’ll be able to reveal some details soon!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I create animation using a blend of different techniques. When I started university, I wanted to do stop-motion animation using miniatures and models – I saw a lot of stop-motion on TV as a kid and fell in love with it – but more recently I’ve started experimenting with 2D traditional, hand-drawn animation.
Even though a lot of 2D animation is now created entirely on computers, I still like to draw my characters, props and backgrounds on paper first, then scan them in. Everything you see on screen was created by human hands. It means that not everything looks clean and smooth, but personally I prefer seeing humanity and imperfections in animation – I love it when you can see how much hard work has gone into making something. I love seeing different people’s styles, too – every artist has their own stories to tell, and their own ways of telling them.
The stories in my films are often inspired by personal experiences – for example, my recent film about autism was inspired by my relationship with my brother, who is on the autism spectrum. It’s a lot easier to connect with characters with human emotions that we’re all familiar with, and who go through realistic challenges. At the same time, though, I like making my films feel fun and lighthearted so that, hopefully, audiences can come away from my films feeling happy or entertained.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful? I think the most important thing is to love what you’re doing. That’s especially true for animation because it can take such a long time to make! So many filmmakers and studios are always thinking about “what do other people want to see”, but it’s always impossible to know the answer to that, because you can’t always please everyone. It’s much better to make the movie you want to make, and I would say that’s true for any form of art.
I feel really proud to have had my work shown at film festivals, and to have such great support from friends and family, listening to helpful feedback is important too, but what’s most important is that you’re happy with what you’re making. As the saying goes, if you can find something you enjoy doing, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work can be seen on my website at www.christopherblower.co.uk. Sometimes, my work can be seen at film festivals too, so I’ll always be sure to update my website whenever a festival screening is about to happen!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.christopherblower.co.uk
- Email: animator113@btinternet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbanimator/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopherbloweranimator/
Image Credit:
Christopher Blower
Cindy Feyereisen
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