Two years ago, one of my friends sent me a vimeo link, saying “This is probably the weirdest thing you’ll ever watch, it’s awesome check it out”. At first, it felt like as if I had thrown my brain in a new digital age multi blender full of pixels and electronic sounds. Gradually, it all started making sense through an insightful narration consisted of dark humor and absurd imagery. When the film was over I realized that David OReilly had achieved a lot with what most animators find absurd to begin with: his audience could actually empathize with his lo-fi, aliased, simply structured and everything but realistic characters.
In most of his works, this Irish animator, denies the usual ornamental elements of animation and strips his visualizations down to the most basic forms, literally creating a new era in 3D animation with an aesthetic manifesto that embraces economy, coherency and the faulty nature of the digital medium itself. Still, his shots are qualitative and nothing less than cinematic, revealing the profile of an artist who knows the rules of his art and is aware of the reasons he chooses to break them. While at first glance the imagery presented to the audience is simplified to the last bit of its visual nature, a second reading reveals the scrupulous attention to detail that has been given.
However, economy does not apply to any of David’s scenarios and concepts. Even if he chooses to create a 3D model of a cat or a mouse consisted of the smallest possible number of polygons (“Please Say Something”, 2009), the narration of their relationship is perplexed, descriptive and provoking. Portraying whole city blocks through a distorted topography, lacking even the basic elements of simple perspective, OReilly manages to make strong statements on the formation of contemporary society and its dysfunctional characteristics, even though and quite surprisingly, his initial purpose is not the making of a commentary film whatsoever.
Glitch is a strong element in your animations, what was it that charmed you about this digital fault in first place?
People tend to work really hard to cover up glitches in 3d animation. It always seemed strange to me. You dont actually have to look hard to find them, they’re inherent to the medium, so it just seemed natural to me to follow them for ideas.
Could a glitch exist in the physical world?
Quantum entanglement.
Do you usually come up with the normal form of a scene (realistic apartments, landscapes etc) and then distort it while modeling it or do you visualize it as a glitched scenery, sometimes even lacking perspective, from the very beginning?
Sometimes the chaotic elements are planned, sometimes not. Building/designing in 3d is always a 2-way process for me, a kind of feedback loop happens where you force the software in one direction but also listen to where it wants to go.
Do you think that the art of animation could be really taught when your work itself proves there can be no solid rules except the ones that the creator himself chooses to follow?
The technical side of 3d can absolutely be taught. I feel that a traditional path is the best one to follow if you plan on doing experimental work. You should know the rules if you’re going to break them.
Could you see yourself put rendering aside and direct a non-animated film? Become an “away from keyboard” director?
No. I really enjoy the process of making animation too much to delegate everything. Even though a lot of what I do is considered lo-fi and minimalist, theres still a lot of consideration and craft that goes into it.
You have uploaded all of your work online, you even released your characters from “The External World” for free download and abetted any alterations on the models whatsoever. Why is that?
Why not? The idea of people bringing my characters back to life and learning from them is a far better fate than having them sit on a hard drive.
In the past you have stated that coherence to a set of aesthetic rules is mandatory for a successful narration. How do you come up with these rules before each project of yours in the first place?
My aesthetics evolve with my understanding of 3d software, as well as what’s necessary to show an idea and a few other factors. Mostly it’s intuitive, with the general goals of exploring 3d without nostalgia, photorealism, or imitation of other mediums.