Affairs of the Art
{{Infobox film
| image = Affairs of the Art.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Poster
| based_on =
| writer = Les Mills
| director = Joanna Quinn
| starring = Menna Trussler
Brendan Charleson
Joanna Quinn
Mali Ann Rees
| music = Benjamin Talbott
| country = United Kingdom
Canada
| language = English
| producer = Les Mills
Michael Fukushima
| editing = Mia Rose Goddard
| cinematography =
| studio = Beryl Productions International Ltd.
The National Film Board of Canada
| runtime = 16 minutes
| distributor = The Animation Showcase
| released = {{Film date|2021|01|31|Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival}}
}}
Affairs of the Art is a 2021 British-Canadian traditional animation short film directed by Joanna Quinn and written by Les Mills. Quinn also co-stars as the voice of Beverly.
The film has been screened at Film Festivals worldwide since February 2021 including Palm Springs ShortFest in the US, winning 26 International Awards including prizes in Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film{{Cite web|date=2021-12-20|title=94TH OSCARS® SHORTLISTS IN 10 AWARD CATEGORIES ANNOUNCED|url=https://www.oscars.org/news/94th-oscarsr-shortlists-10-award-categories-announced|access-date=2022-01-22|website=Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|language=en}} for the 94th Academy Awards and nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation.{{Cite news|date=2022-02-03|title=Bafta Film Awards 2022: The nominees in full|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60243683|access-date=2022-02-04}} The short was part of the world touring screening The Animation Showcase 2021.
The short film follows the character of Beryl and her eccentric family. Beryl, the working-class heroine, first appeared in the 1987 animated short film Girls Night Out, Body Beautiful (1990) and Dreams & Desires: Family Ties (2006). Affairs of the Art focuses on Beryl and her family's fixations and Beryl's own obsession with drawing and her determination to become an artiste of note.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2022-01-12|title=Beryl's Fans Will Fall in Love with Her Eccentric Family in 'Affairs of the Art'|url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/shorts/beryls-fans-will-fall-in-love-with-her-eccentric-family-in-affairs-of-the-art/|access-date=2022-01-23|website=Animation Magazine|language=en-US}}
Cast
- Menna Trussler as Beryl
- Brendan Charleson as Ifor/Colin/Lenin/Interviewer
- Joanna Quinn as Beverly
- Mali Ann Rees as Mum/Edie
Production
The film is co-created between Joanna Quinn and Les Mills. Quinn is the film's director, storyboard artist and lead animator and Mills wrote the screen play, did the colour design and produced the film. It is their first new film featuring the lead character of Beryl since 2007. They began planning another Beryl film straight after their last film Dreams & Desires: Family Ties, but it took 15 years{{Cite web|date=2021-01-29|title=Affairs of the Art - Interview with Joanna Quinn and Les Mills Part 1|url=https://www.skwigly.co.uk/joanna-quinn-affairs-of-the-art-interview-part-one/|access-date=2022-01-24|website=Skwigly Animation Magazine}} before Beryl returned to the screen in a new film mainly because of major commitments to producing many TV commercials in the intervening years. The 16-minute-film was traditionally animated on a lightbox and took more than 24000 hand drawn frames (fps) to produce.{{Cite web|author=National Film Board of Canada|date=2021-12-01|title=Beryl's Back, with a Whole New Obsession, in 'Affairs of the Art'|url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/shorts/beryls-back-with-a-whole-new-obsession-affairs-of-the-art/|access-date=2022-01-30|website=Animation Magazine|language=en-US}} The animation drawings were scanned into the computer, coloured in TVPaint and finally composited in After Effects.{{Cite web|date=2021-05-03|title=Joanna Quinn On The Importance of "Choosing A Way Of Working That Ignites You"|url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/interviews/joanna-quinn-on-the-importance-of-choosing-a-way-of-working-that-ignites-you-204838.html|access-date=2022-01-23|website=Cartoon Brew|language=en-US}} In this film there's a lot of lip sync, with a focus on breaking down the patterns of the lips movements.{{Cite web|date=2021-11-30|title='Affairs Of The Art': Joanna Quinn And Les Mills Discuss Their Creative Process In An Exclusive Video Q&A|url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/sponsored-by-nfb/affairs-of-the-art-joanna-quinn-and-les-mills-discuss-their-creative-process-in-an-exclusive-video-qa-210811.html|access-date=2022-01-23|website=Cartoon Brew|language=en-US}}
Accolades
Since its launch, the film has been selected in more than 65 festival selections around the world:
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|14293560|Affairs of the Art}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAX9_rDvO_c Affairs of the Art] on YouTube
Category:2021 animated short films
Category:British animated short films
Category:Canadian animated short films
Category:National Film Board of Canada animated short films
Category:2020s English-language films