30 Characters Challenger: Amy “Of Many Faces” Heisei

Well met, everyone. I’m Amy of Many Faces: she who spontaneously breaks into song, and she who makes strange noises while talking to herself when she’s bored. I tend to do a lot of things at once or nothing at all. For example, I recently finished shooting a feature-length movie (my first) as a production designer while simultaneously playing a small part in a musical, putting me at sometimes 15-hour workdays not getting paid. But so are the labors of love. Now with those projects over I’ve been lamely lethargic. Through this 30 challenge, it is my hope that I see this thing to completion and get back into the swing of art and drawing and design.

On top of doing movie-making and theater-doing, I write and perform music with my sister, here in Northeast Ohio. We do songs that are both silly and serious, haunting and taunting. I play piano and sing. She does guitar/bass and sings. We’re still figuring out a name for ourselves, but what’s in a name?

I love graphic novels and surreal art. Some of my biggest influences and looked-up-to names include Brian Froud, Alan Lee, Dave McKean, HR Geiger, Beloved Creature, Salvador Dali, and… there’s more, I just can’t think of any at the moment… Inspiration also comes from weird bugs, animals, people, places, animation and puppetry. Among my favorite directors/storytellers are Hayao Miyazaki (I spent two years teaching English in Japan and was surrounded by Miyazaki films’ characters in some form or other, and during my learning of Japanese I was bent on watching the movies in their original language with English subs in order to get a feel for the myth and culture and history surrounding each story and appreciate it in a way that would be missed in English dubbing: the artwork reflects the natural beauty of the Japanese rural countryside and is breathtaking to watch– I feel like I’m back in the small town I was living in where there are rice fields in every direction and a big mother mountain watching over everyone), Don Bluth, Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, Henry, Selick, Charlie Kaufman, Guy Ritchie, and Neil Gaiman. Nearly every film/television series/etc. involving Jim Henson’s Creature Shop inspires me. Some miscellaneous titles or particularly influential films: The Animatrix, The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal, Mirrormask, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and many more. I also used to watch Disney/Buena Vista’s “Gargoyles” obsessively for a while. The bug still bites me time and again.

Oh! I have the most splendid birth date: 7/11/1984. It is both lucky and ominous. Made for great things that I must put into action before it’s too late… (duhn duhn DUHN…!)

Good luck, everyone! I’m excited to see the process in all of us. Creativity is what brings us together today. May it do its part.

I need to get my scanner fixed, and soon!

宜しくお願いします。
Mucho gusto.
Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Category: About, Participants