SCAD alumnus Ty Coyle returns to the Film Festival
Photo courtesy of SCAD
This is not SCAD alumnus Ty Coyle’s first time seeing his work on the big screen at the Savannah Film Festival. His senior project, the animated short “Baxter,” was screened at last year’s festival and received awards and acclaim, including a nomination at the 41st Annual Student Academy Awards. Coyle, who graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in animation and now works as an animator at the Moving Picture Company, is back in Savannah to screen his latest project, “Sunny and Steve: Enjoy the Sweets.”
What’s it like being back in Savannah having graduated last year?
It’s absolutely surreal but at the same time fantastic. I didn’t realize how much I missed Savannah until I was gone. You take everything for granted, like the little squares with the trees. I’m based in New York now, [but] I call [Savannah] my second home.
What inspired you to pursue animation at SCAD?
I had grown up enjoying animation and I always knew deep down that I wanted to do it. It just, you know, never came to me until I came to SCAD because I was taking a bunch of different classes. I wasn’t really positive at that time about what I wanted to do. Originally, my major was visual effects and it was very technical and it really didn’t feel like me. I told myself, “You know, I should just take one animation class and see how that goes.” And I took a 2D Animation [course] with [Professor] John Webber. From the beginning, I instantly knew I wanted to do that. I changed my major and I changed my course and stayed the summer to catch up in animation and just kept going from there.
What was your inspiration for “Baxter”?
So the film is about an obsessive-compulsive raccoon and growing up… Well, to take it back a bit, my older brother had passed from cancer when I was in middle school and after that had happened, I developed a severe case of OCD. Through middle school, it was very hard for me to get through [it]. My parents didn’t even know if I would be able to make it through high school because it was very difficult for me. OCD is very difficult for everyone and everyone has their own little tendencies, but eventually I was able to get through it. It became a blessing and a curse because for me. I was able to use it to my advantage. The fact that I’m a perfectionist but I didn’t let it get to me as it used to, but it stuck with me for a very long time, and so that sort of fell into the character when making the film. And it’s ironic to have a raccoon who’s known for breaking in and throwing things to actually want to color-coordinate and clean something.
On your website, you mentioned that you worked with 40 artists. What was it like collaborating with 40 of them?
At first I wasn’t expecting it to grow with so many people, because I wanted to do something that I could manage. But then it turned into something where more people wanted to work on and everybody was so passionate about it, so I sort of let it just happen. It got to a point where so many people were working on it that I no longer was working on it and I was just managing people’s time. It was great; I met so many people and now I know friends who are spread throughout the country because of meeting them through making my senior film. It was difficult but it was fun. I would definitely do it again.
I have two roommates who are both animation majors who are currently working on their senior projects. It’s way more intense than I thought it would be.
It is, yeah! It is intense. You make it your own and so you have to set your own deadlines, which is what also makes it more difficult. When you’re in the real world, nobody’s there to tell you your own deadlines if you’re making a personal project. It is great in that aspect that SCAD let us do that.
You also have to a pick a topic that you’re passionate about for you to go through the entire year.
Of course! Or else you’re just going to hate yourself on working on something you don’t like!
Looking back on your years at SCAD, is there anything you would have done differently?
You know, it’s funny because I had thought about this question earlier this week when Jorge [Gutierrez] was here for “The Book of Life” and someone asked him that question and my answer is sort of the same lines as his. No, I wouldn’t do anything differently; I would make my mistakes. I would go through the struggles I had because that’s what makes you who you are and that’s what influences your work. You need to go through all of that to figure yourself out. I wouldn’t change a thing. It happened to happen. You didn’t know what you were doing while you were going through it, but that’s the best part.
How has SCAD prepared you for the real world?
Immensely. I actually found my job through the SCAD career fair and all of the professional development classes prepared me for the career fair and everything teed up and worked out.
What advice would you give to SCAD students?
For animation students who are making their films, I would say, “give it your all.” This is your opportunity to work with so many talented students who are all in the same area, who are all passionate about filmmaking to make your own projects. Go all out. Pull those all-nighters. Don’t hold back. That’s why you’re here. You’re learning, you make your mistakes and you get through them and you meet people. Don’t hesitate to just branch out.
I had a phone call with my mom before my film [got to a point where] a lot of people started coming on board, I was at a point where I was like, “You know, Mom, I don’t know if I want it to be where there are a ton of people on the film and it’s overly ambitious and I may want it to be something small where I can handle it and manage it and feel comfortable about it.” She told me, “You know, when are you going to have this opportunity again with all this technology?”
Go all out; go do it. It doesn’t matter if you finish it; it’s not about the grades. It’s about going through it.
