Independent animation is built through years of artistry, experimentation, collaboration, and persistence. For Tongal’s latest mentorship program, two emerging artists, Yann Carrillo and Sandra Suarez, stepped inside the New York City studio of acclaimed independent animator and filmmaker Signe Baumane to experience the making of her upcoming stop-motion feature, Karmic Knot.
“I couldn’t believe Signe’s dedication to her craft, and her unwavering commitment to creating art her way,” Yann shared. “I didn’t expect Signe to be animating every frame herself, especially considering it’s all done on paper.” He was also struck by the studio’s attention to detail, “While many studios might cut corners for efficiency’s sake, Signe refuses to compromise on her vision, even if that vision might demand an extra day’s work.”
For Signe, it was important that the mentorship be more inclusive than observing her filmmaking process. “We believe that intelligence is in our digits,” she explained. “Observations tend to float on the surface.” By scanning drawings, fabricating props, preparing sets, and helping with lighting, Yann and Sandra could experience the production from multiple perspectives. “When you are making something with your hands, at some point you start asking questions: why this is made this way and not the other?” Signe said. “And you are actually qualified to ask that question — because you have experienced making something that is part of the whole.”
Yann found himself contributing directly to Karmic Knot. “I felt that I was contributing to the film throughout the week, whether I was scanning Signe’s drawings, fabricating props, or helping light sets,” he said. “As an animator, I’ve learned that the contributions of each collaborator, no matter how small, are always essential to the project you’re working on.” One of his favorite tasks was learning Signe’s papier-mâché techniques. “I’m now working on my thesis film and will definitely be using these techniques in my fabrication process.”
Sandra, a mixed-media artist who combines animation techniques in her projects, similarly found herself immersed in the day-to-day work of the studio. She scanned animation frames, helped prepare sets, created papier-mâché rocks, and participated in a stop-motion shot.
“I’ve run into these problems in my own projects,” Sandra said of watching Signe and her team work through issues whilst animating. “While they can be a bit stressful in the moment, that’s what makes solving them rewarding.”
Signe sees problem-solving as central to the process. “People sometimes imagine that making a film is like a bolt of lightning that arrives all at once to a genius director who then tries to implement his genius idea into reality,” she said. “But the creative process is more messy, more collaborative.”
“When we are shooting, it is always like that — we make proposals, we argue, we compromise and we try to solve sometimes seemingly unsolvable problems,” Signe continued. “Sturgis and I have been working together for a long time, so we have a trust built — I can criticize his ideas and he can criticize mine and we both know that we criticize each other not to win an argument but to make the shot better.” The experience also gave Sandra a look at Signe’s approach to building a scene. “I don’t work with storyboards,” Signe explained. “I feel they stifle my creativity. I want to be open to new ideas, new inspirations and to improvisation.”
For Sandra, seeing the different pieces of the production come together changed how she understood the work she was doing in the studio. “When I read the script, I could recall the photos I had seen of the lit sets,” she said. “Everything that I was doing in the previous days made sense, and I appreciated the effort everyone was doing to make this film.”
Beyond the technical skills, both mentees ended up with a greater understanding of what is required to make an independent animated feature. “More than anything, I learned the dedication and hard work needed to become a filmmaker of Signe’s quality,” Yann said. “She remained laser-focused for hours on end and would continue to animate even after my co-workers and I had left. I aspire to have her level of dedication and patience.”
Signe hoped the experience would show that independent animated films are built through incremental progress. “On each day we made only a small advancement towards the goal of finishing the film,” she said, “and that required sitting down and doing the work (and washing floors), and that without this incremental advancement it would be impossible to reach the goal.”
Signe’s devotion to the craft stayed with Yann. “I’ll definitely devote more time to my projects and make sure not to compromise on quality and effort.” He also mentions planning to continue implementing a rule from Signe’s studio: “Signe made us put our phones away when we got to work. It definitely helped my focus, and it’s a practice I’ll continue as I work on my thesis.”
For Signe, the hope in her mentorship program was that those lessons would translate into the mentees’ own creative practices. “We hope that both of them will find in our studio something specific and useful for their work,” she said. “In general we hope that working in our studio assured them that having your own studio is not such an impossible dream and that it can be fun.”
By the end of the mentorship, Sandra left with one of the papier-mâché rocks she had made, along with new techniques and perspectives. “I’m excited to see all their hard work in the finished film, and I appreciate that I was able to play a small part in it,” she said. “I’ll remember this experience fondly. I was ready. Ready to learn, ready to create, and ready to connect with great artists and people.”
“We felt that it was meaningful to them and meaningful to us,” Signe reflected. “We are hoping to stay in touch with both of them and witness their progress as filmmakers with all the success that they will have.”
Tongal’s mentorship programs offer creators the chance to step directly into the worlds of successful working filmmakers, while gaining practical experience, insight, and inspiration. If you’re looking for your next opportunity to learn from an established filmmaker, be sure to check out the upcoming Tongal mentorship opportunity with filmmaker Mike Pecci.
