Aquarium (2006)  UK Premiere
An underwater ballet to the music of Saint-Sciens' AQUARIUM Busby-Berkeley-style! Sea horses playing the harp, urchins swaying, jellyfish on the piano, octopuses changing color, tiny fish turning into a kaleidoscope of color and pattern.
   
DOFN Editor Susanne Fosse talks to Nadia Roden. Nadia is an ward-winning director and animator has been featured on the Discovery Channel, at the Kitchen Theater, the Walker Arts Center, and Guthrie Theater Lab in Minneapolis. She has designed textiles, accessories, and book and CD covers for clients including Absolut Vodka, the Metropolitan Opera, Radio City Music Hall, Neiman Marcus, and BMG/RCA. The short won first prize at the ASIFA Film Festival, an honorary award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and a Director's Choice award at the Black Maria Film Festival.
 
 

Susanne Fosse: What was the concept behind creating Aquarium?

Nadia Roden : To create a surreal Busby Berkley like underwater ballet, with
formations and patterns coming together in a figurative kaleidoscopic
dream.

Susanne Fosse: You are a painter as well as animator. How does that
influence that type of films you have been making?

Nadia Roden :I I'm very interested in the color, movement, drawing and emotion of painting and bring that into my animation as opposed to a cartooning
or graphic sensibility.

 

  
 

Susanne Fosse: The music by Camille Saint-Saens works wonderfully for the Sea horses playing the harp, and jellyfish on the piano. How much time did that sequence take to put together?

Nadia Roden : I loved the piece and played it over and over again until images came to me. I manipulated the images until they undulated harmoniously with the passages.

Susanne Fosse: A lot of recent animation is moving towards the use of CGI. What do you think of that shift?

Nadia Roden : It's a useful tool for editing and backgrounds, but I think there's no soul in the imaging and so I can't see a day when I'll use it for drawing animation.

  
 

Susanne Fosse: You have worked on children's ANIMATIONS for Sesame Street International. Are you involved at the
conceptual stage for those projects?


 
Nadia Roden :Yes, I'm given a list of motivations, like how to get children to
brush their teeth or to recognize an animal, and I try to find an
entertaining way to inspire them.

Susanne Fosse: You were originally from England. How does
the animation scene in London differ from New York?

Nadia Roden : I have to admit, there are some very good animators in Britain. If I
had to pick one difference, it would be that the humor in Britain is a little less obvious and a little darker.

  
 

Susanne Fosse: What is your next film project?

Nadia Roden : At the moment I'm doing some humorous and painterly T.V. commercials
and I'm hoping to find time to make an animated documentary.

 

  
   


This film is part of Dance, Camera, Action 2
and is being shown on Thursday 22nd March 2007

Reprinted courtesy of Dance On Film News.