Evangeline Than

We had our graduation ceremony and screening in the FTI cinema on Friday night. It was crowded, noisy, and joyful; altogether, an outstanding evening.

This is the speech I gave on behalf of the animation students, and I meant every word of it.

“On the first day of this course, our training coordinator, the beautiful and formidable Fern Nicholson, sat us down in this cinema, and said, “Succeeding in this course is not just about getting your diploma. It is about what you do afterwards. It is about getting out there, seeking out opportunities, and forging your path. If you think that succeeding in this course means getting your diploma, and then going home to sit on the sofa, drinking orange soda, and waiting for an opportunity to fall into your lap, then THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU.”

Wow.

That is the kind of place that FTI is, and that is why we have grown to love this place, and why we have cherished every minute of our time here.

My class and I would like to thank our instructors, who led us, inspired us, and were so generous in sharing their incredible, vast amounts of knowledge with us. Tim Beeson, Stephen Grant, Phil Jeng Kane, Noah Norton, Wendi Graham, and Khrob Edmonds–thank you.

A special thank-you must go to our facilitator, Ebbie Williams. Like a mother, she cared for us. Like a father, she gave us wise counsel. And like the dear friend that she has become, she did not hesitate to give us a swift kick up the backside if we stopped believing in ourselves, and felt like we couldn’t go on.

To our partners and families, thank you for being so patient with us, and for simply loving us, and sticking with us, all the way through this very challenging year.

Finally, we would like to thank all the people involved with FTI, for welcoming us into your family. Thank you for making this one of the best places in Australia to learn the trade.

Have a wonderful evening, and the animation class of 2009 hope that you enjoy our films.”

It’s graduation night at FTI and I’ve been asked to give a speech on behalf of the animation class.

Go away, butterflies!

A rough portrait (I sketch when I’m nervous). Tim has a kindly, bemused expression because, well, I suspect he was trying to be kind, and feeling slightly bemused as we fawned over him. There was no fat, startled dog-pretending-to-be-a-kangaroo sitting next to him. I just like to draw them.

Last weekend was eye-opening, unforgettable, and a little surreal.

I secured a last-minute place (hurrah for cancellations!) at a narrative comedy workshop taught by Tim Ferguson and arranged by the WA branch of the Australian Writers’ Guild. The people attending this course were a mix of early career film makers like myself (“early career” is a nice way of saying, “n00b!”), mid-career types with wild eyes and exhausted hair, and relaxed veterans of Perth TV, stage and film.

Tim definitely makes learning fun, and even threw in some interpretative dance for free. I will never forget your parting of the Red Sea, Tim. Where were you when I was trying to get my head around neural computation?

I’ve always wanted to write for comedy but grasping the “how” of it was always just out of reach. Comedy writing kept slipping through my fingers. It was Frodo Baggins to my Sauron.

Well, look who’s got your ring now, Frodo.

Naturally, this knowledge comes at a price. I watched an episode of “Extras” last night and my brain kept shouting, “Ooh! Look! Distortion! Positive negation! Misinterpretation! I see it all now, Ricky Gervais! You dunnit with mirrors!” and it took ten minutes to cajole Mr Brain into using his inside voice.

I went to this writing workshop with the intention of adding some je ne sais quoi to a couple of animation scripts I’ve been working on (oh, and by the way, the Japanese have discovered that you CAN polish a you-know-what, so nyah), but now I’ve gotten greedy.

I want more. I want to write for live-action too. I want to write for stand-up. TV! Movies!

Look out, world.