Crafting Visual Essays with Joe Donaldson

In this Workshop, award-winning director and founder of Holdframe, Joe Donaldson, talks about the series he created for The New Yorker. We discuss everything from the project’s conceptual development and process, all the way down to the production techniques used in each film. This Workshop offers a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse at what went into creating each of these films on seminal figures: Leonard Cohen, Janelle Monáe, and David Attenborough. Focusing specifically on what decisions were made, why, and what it was like producing 3, nearly 3-minute films, in just 15-weeks.

01
The importance of process
In this chapter we take a look at how important process is to creating long-form animated content, how to organize your thoughts, and how to present work to the client.

02
Turning words into pictures
In this chapter we explore how to develop mere words into a rich visual narrative. Most importantly, we look at how to start small and systematically build and develop your ideas.

03
Setting the tone and art direction
What should it look like, and why? In this chapter, we examine these age-old questions and try to better understand Joe’s process for finding the right solution.

04
Project organization and process
Regardless of style, managing 2+ minutes of animated content is no laughing matter. In this chapter, we take a look at how this project was organized, what worked, and what didn’t.

05
The art of economic animation
Sometimes animation is fun, sometimes it’s about survival. In this chapter, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly. How can you be uncompromising in your ideas, but still make them manageable?

06
Not making the same mistake twice
Now it’s time to go full circle and take a peek at one of Joe’s early “mistakes,” what was learned, how that informed his process, and how this was applied for the last film in the series.