A local filmmaker had their work showcased at this years’ Edmonton Short Film Festival.
Gwynne McMaster was raised in Fort Saskatchewan and grew her passion for cinema at a young age.
“I think a lot of it was due to just finding a way to discover more of the world outside of where I lived,” McMaster said. “As I watched more film myself, I got into art quite a bit, and that led to me wanting to combine my love of art and film together, and that’s what interested me in animation.”
McMaster found inspiration in the works of Stephen Hillenburg and the animations by the National Film Board of Canada. McMaster even attended Vancouver Film School to pursue her passion.
“It was a very intense program. It was a full year, and it was August to August, so I was in school twelve months consecutively, and a lot of that was making my short film,” added McMaster. “Despite it being a two-minute short film, there was a lot more effort that went into it than you may think.”
Her short film “Rock the Block” was created at VFS and premiered at Edmonton Short Film Festival on October 15 and 16. The short was made with cel animation, a traditional technique where every frame is drawn by hand.
“It’s about two bandmates and they’re rocking out in their garage, and a neighbour overhears them and gets really frustrated with them playing music, and so he interrupts them, and that leads to them transforming into rockstars and totally getting under his skin and having the best rock performance of their life.”
Despite the hard work and stress that went into creating the short, McMaster said it was amazing to see her work on the big screen.
“Each individual can be their own self critic, so sometimes I can be overly critical looking back on the work, but I was really excited to see my screen filmed at the Garneau Theatre, because I really enjoy going to that theatre, so it felt like a really big honour.”
As for what comes for the future, McMaster is working on a grant funded children’s animated show but hopes to pursue more personal work as well.
You can see McMaster’s short film below:
