By Katie Dahl
Not every graduate is lucky enough to pursue a career in their desired field but for some dedicated few their dreams do become a reality.
After spending three years in Algonquin’s animation program Dougall Dawson, who is now working for Mercury Filmworks, will be premiering his final project completed as part of his diploma at Ottawa’s Animation Film Festival.
The film entitled The Plug which has a running time of just over a minute and a half, features an astronaut, a white planet and the idea of making something from a clean slate. The astronaut “plugs in an infinitely long extension cord,” described Dawson and then leaves two pill-like objects behind to create new life. Sort of like Adam and Eve, he added.
The idea started out as just a visual concept to Dawson. The idea of animating trees and foliage appealed to him, and over the course of two semesters of school he managed to narrow his focus and juxtapose the astronaut with the white barren planet.
The festival ran from Sept. 17 to 21 and showcases various films from all over the world. Dawson’s was a part of the Canadian Student Category and was alongside 25 other films. Regardless of final placement the accolade of being a part of a film festival is exciting enough.
“They don’t normally encourage students to submit their films,” said Dawson. However, his seemed to have a cohesive narrative with a touch of the bizarre.
Thankfully after an extra summer of hard work Dawson’s film was deemed festival friendly and he took a chance entering it into the Animation Festival.
Previous to this year’s festival Dawson’s only involvement was scoring the music for a friend’s film. So this year he was lucky enough to attend his first official film premiere.