It’s always exciting to see Short of the week alum giving back to the filmmaker community, so whenever these ventures come to our attention, we like to share the love and shine the spotlight on them. Case in point: Animation for Anyone from Alex Grigg. A talented animator, having featured on our site as part of the Late Night Work Club collective, with standout shorts Phantom Limb and Born in a Void, Grigg has decided to share his animation knowledge in a new initiative that offers ‘a solid foundation for those that are excited about how to make things move’. Eager to know more about the project, I reached out to Alex to discuss what the project aims to offers and what he hopes to achieve with Animation for Anyone.

Can you explain to our readers exactly what Animation for Anyone is?

Animation for Anyone is a free online educational resource exploring the big ideas behind animation and hopefully making the medium a little more accessible. I don’t really cover software, or specific executions because I think there are some really great educators making that sort of thing already. I think that if people have the basic building blocks of the medium they’re likely to create some really interesting stuff!

What was the driving force behind wanting to create this resource?

I find that most animation education is targeted towards really specific tastes, whether that’s the traditional Disney style, motion graphics etc. I want to share some of the big ideas behind animation in a more style agnostic way, which will hopefully lead to some people picking it up that might not have done so before.

“I try to be really careful not to tell anyone there’s a right way and wrong way to animate”

Of course I have my own biases and they definitely come through in how I present the classes, but I try to be really careful not to tell anyone there’s a right way and wrong way to animate. I just want to explain some of the tools they can use to create the sort of work they want to see.

What are your main hopes for the project? Is there an “ideal” outcome you’re working towards?

Ultimately, I’d just like as many people to have a go at animation as possible. It’s such a versatile medium and the barrier for entry is getting lower everyday. 

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For more information on Animation for Anyone and to sign-up for the newsletter head over to the website: animationforanyone.org