It normally takes months or even years to create an animated film, but two UNF instructors managed to put one together in just ten days. Fortunately, their hard work paid off as their film, titled Call + Response, was one of the top 33 selected for screening at the Southern Graphic Council International (SGCI) Conference last April in Portland, Oregon.

Call + Response is an experimental narrative. It shows Sheila Golobortoko, an assistant professor of printmaking, fabricate a print project. Golobortoko created prints by cutting metal from just a few rings into this giant sheet of rings. The film documented each stage of the plate.

The inception of the film started when Golobortoko entered an open call for an animation film for the conference. She admired the animated film work of Vanessa Cruz, an associate professor of Graphic Design and Digital Media.

After approaching Cruz, the two partnered up to produce the film.

Golobortoko said, “My collaborator, Vanessa, is an animator. So my job was to discuss with Vanessa what we had in mind.”

The instructors were fully aware that they would be working on a tight schedule. “[Golobortoko] asked if this project was crazy,” Cruz said, “and I said, yes it is. Let’s do it.”

The film explores how a printmaker “speaks” in an animator’s language and vice versa. The creative process produced a kind of call and response, which gave birth to the film’s title. Golobortoko and Cruz answered the call to produce an animated film by illustrating their response as a collaborative work.

Call + Response visualizes this collaboration through printmaking since it’s a method that usually encourages artists to band together in the name of creativity.

“It’s about the trust, the respect, and knowing that I’m working with a top professional,” Goloborotko said. “I think what’s exciting is that when you get to the level where we are at both professionally is that you discover you’re still learning from the people you work with and that’s a big message.”

This year was the 44th conference, with Cruz debuting her attendance at the event while Golobortoko making her appearance several times before. The conference highlights the educational significance of printmaking and has grown to host over 200 exhibitions and over 3,000 attendees this year.

Watch the film for yourself here on Vimeo.

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