Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis are a Canadian animation duo. On January 24, 2012, they received their second Oscar nomination, for the National Film Board of Canadaanimated short film, Wild Life. In addition to writing and directing the film, Forbis and Tilby drew and painted every animation frame in guache, and wrote the lyrics for the film's final song. They were only able to work on Wild Lifepart-time, due to commercial obligations, and the film is reported to have taken them from six to over seven years, from concept to completion. Both originally from Alberta, they first met in Vancouver at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design. In 2003, they relocated from Montreal to Calgary, where Forbis was raised. In addition to their NFB work, they have collaborated on workshops and commercials, working with Los Angeles-based Acme Filmworks on major ad campaigns, most notably for United Airlines. In 2007, they founded the Bleak Midwinter Film Festival in their home neighbourhood of Inglewood, Calgary.
Amanda Forbis attended the University of Lethbridge as well as the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Like Tilby, she went on from the Emily Carr Institute to complete animation work for the NationalFilm Board of Canada on the 1995 short The Reluctant Deckhand. Forbis has also worked as an instructor at the Arts Umbrella Children's Art Centre in Vancouver, as well as leading many animation workshops for children.
This film was not a collaboration between Tilby and Forbis, it was only worked on by Tilby. The animation style used is reminiscent of Caroline Leaf's method of painting on frosted glass, used in her 1976 short film, The Street. However, Tilby used bottom-lighting in her film, instead of top lighting like Caroline Leaf. She used an animation camera apparatus and worked directly under the camera, she applied, moved, and removed the colored paints on the glass until the frame was finished. When the frame was complete she took two frames worth of footage from the overhead camera. Then she would modify the image to make the next frame, and repeat the process. To make details on the characters' faces and in their body language Tilby used a stylus and scratched details into the paint. She also used her fingers, q-tips, and tissues to move the paint around the glass and change the scene. Tilby enjoys using this method because the artist erases the previous work as they go, and it forces her not to dwell on what she has already shot and keep going with the filming.
This film was co-directed by Tilby and Forbis and was made using a new animation technique that they designed. The duo used a Hi-8 video camera and shot real life scenes of people and objects, the film focuses in on many mundane inanimate objects, and other things that they thought they might include. They then printed stills from these scenes on a video printer attached to a VCR as three by four inch images that they enlarged slightly. They then would take these stills and draw on them. This technique was designed to save time, however, the film took about four years to complete.
''Wild Life''
In the making of Wild Life Tilby and Forbis experimented with many different techniques for animation. They wanted to find a technique that would save them some time, the last film they had made took them four years. However, they also wanted to make sure their technique allowed them to get the look and style that they wanted for their film. They tried many computer drawing and hybrid techniques in an effort to save time, however, they eventually found that the computer drawing wouldn't work, as the effect was too clean and it didn't seem right for this film. They decided to print their images onto paper and use gouache painting. They then scanned these images onto the computer and would sometimes do some composting on some of the images. This process ended up taking about seven years, however, they achieved the texture and style that they wanted to with the film.
