Affairs of the Art - Creative Process

Affairs of the Art – Creative Process | Video of the Week

This is the Video of the Week from Wales Arts Review. We’ll be showcasing some of the best art in Wales with a new video shared every week. From music to drama to everything in between, videos will not be limited by medium. Today our video of the week looks at the creative process behind the making of ‘Affairs of the Art’ – the Oscar nominated short from Welsh couple Joanna Quinn and Les Mills.

Marking the Oscar nomination of ‘Affairs of the Art’, today we take a look at the extensive process that goes into an animation of this kind. The short video below provides a glimpse into what happens behind the scenes – with the Oscar nominated short featuring over 24,000 drawings created by animator, Joanna Quinn.

Quinn, along with her partner and producer Les Mills, spent 6 years bringing Beryl – a well-loved character who appears in multiple other short pieces from Quinn and Mills – back to life. In an interview for Skwigly, Quinn said: “We enjoy Beryl as a character because she’s very accessible and audiences seem to really like her. She’s a little bit of an anti-heroine, she has a go, fails and succeeds. I think she has a lot of foibles and weaknesses, so you can have fun with her.”

The below video gives insight into just how much hard work and determination has gone into creating Beryl and her family, as well as offering reflection from both Quinn and Mills  on their intertwined careers and how they got started. Speaking on the process, Quinn says: “My bedroom wall was covered in drawings. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I knew I liked to tell stories. I also liked to make people laugh, and at that point, I thought, ‘this is just the best thing ever, I’m going to do this for the rest of my life’”

Mills and Quinn plan to attend the 94th Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood and have said they would love to give Welsh arts some recognition by bringing the Oscar home.

You can see Joanna Quinn and Les Mills speak on the creative process of ‘Affairs of the Art’, in the video below.  

Winner of the best animated short Oscar will be announced at the 94th Academy Awards on 28 March.