Shawna has been animating ever since she learned that it was possible to make objects come to life. She spent her childhood creating films filled with special effects and stop motion animation, and had a fantastic time creating different worlds. Shawna attended school at CalArts, which is an art school close to Hollywood that specializes in
animation. There, she learned many valuable skills and received firsthand experience on a
variety of animation sets. Now, Shawna works as a freelancer and earns funds
through grant applications for films she hopes to send to festivals. She will also also be heading up the ZOOOM Film Festival in Okotoks this year, which is a festival celebrating the
film making talents of local youth in the community. On top of that, she will be offering
animation classes for kids this coming fall in the hopes of cultivating interest in this
fun and expressive art form.
Shawna love all types of animation, but specializes in wire armature puppet animation, a style similar to what is used in films such as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Coraline". She begins with building the sets, puppets and props and experimenting with lighting and framing. She then takes 12 pictures to create 1 second of finished footage, moving a puppet a small amount for every picture to create the illusion of movement.
Shawna's latest project, "A Lonely Entertainer”, is about an entertainer who no longer has a venue to perform in. Since performing is so much of who he is, he must do it even if he has no audience.
Besides animation, Shawna loves watching Buster Keaton silent films, drinking chai tea
lattes, looking at autumn leaves, meditating, swimming and collecting pumpkin
trinkets.
You can learn more about Shawna and see her work at www.shawnakoski.com.
