harvey @ deneroff.com

Independent animator Joanna Priestley just sent me her most recent film, Streetcar Named Perspire, a whimsical “instructional” film about the roller-coaster ride that is menopause. Ever since her autobiographical Voices (1984), her CalArts thesis film which became her signature piece, every 10 years or so Priestley has attempted to keep viewers up-to-date on what’s going on in her life.

The 6½-minute film, done using Flash, reminds me of the comic strip she did for Animation Magazine, when I was editor almost 20 years ago, on “How to Make an Independent Animated Film” (see panel on right). (It’s included in her Fighting Gravity DVD.) After screening it, my wife immediately wanted to give copies to all her friends. I noted to Priestley that this must be some woman thing. She replied, “It’s definitely a ‘woman thing,’ especially women over 45.”

Streetcar Named Perspire is just beginning to make the festival circuit and she has begun work on her next film, Poof. She says, “Poof is about proofreading and spell checking. It is based on a poem by Taylor Mali. He has won the National Poetry Slam many times. I am animating it with Flash CS3.”

Priestley once told me that many of her fellow CalArts students were reluctant to make independent films on their own, having been spoiled by all the equipment and facilities they had at school. It was then she decided to use the least costly equipment and techniques she could, some of which seemed to harken back to the early days of Winsor McCay. Although she gradually started to use more complex equipment, she avoided going digital, sticking to 2D and stop motion. (She did play around with computer animation as a student.) However, she did use Flash for Dew Line (2003), for which she expressed considerable pleasure over how the it allowed her to work on a smaller scale again. At the time, she wasn’t sure if she would make her next film with it, but she obviously did and seems to be comfortable with it.

Anyway, look for Streetcar Named Perspire at your local animation/film festival, even if you are not a woman over 45.