Tofield Talks Felines and Flash
In a recent article from Rob Sharp in the UK paper The Independent a prominent Flash animator has detailed his thoughts on the medium. Simon Tofield, the creator Simon’s Cat, is quoted in an article titled Internet animation: Draw it yourself. Here’s what he says:
“I do my films on Flash … and it would take me much longer if I were drawing them all by hand,” Tofield explains. “If I were doing what I do traditionally I would need to draw every frame by hand, then I would need to take them to a professional – a line tester – to photograph all of the images. Then I would need to take notes on them, make corrections over a light box and then shoot them again – it can be a very tedious process.” It is a tribute to the accessibility of the software that Tofield is a self-confessed “technophobe” – he says he knew nothing about computers before he started using Flash. Eighteen months later, Simon’s Cat has been turned into a book and Tofield’s cartoons have been seen online by an estimated 30 million people: far in excess of the audiences he would traditionally have reached. Many of his fans make their own “tribute animations” to his work. “I get a lot of these fan films,” he continues. “Some of them are really sweet. They are made by people who are very young and are very basic but it’s a nice compliment to have. I always try to reply when I can.”
