Creating a world out of nothing: Niek shares his story in animations
Creating a whole world from nothing with animation; for Niek de Leeuw (26) that is the beauty of his subject. “Making animations is an art form that has grown very much in recent years. It keeps evolving, which makes it so interesting," he says. Niek is graduating from the Animation Design course at the Academy of Art & Design in Zwolle this year. His finals work, an animation, addresses the stigmas surrounding homosexuality.
“In this course I learned to look at myself very carefully. What do I feel about this? Why am I doing this? Because I received a lot of encouragement and support from lecturers, I started doing more personal research. Otherwise I would never have made this animation. Yet it suits me very much. Even though I didn't really stand on the barricades to voice my opinion before, thanks to this course and my thesis I dare to do so a bit more," Niek says.
Niek's animation is about the view he had on homosexuality before coming out. He came out after secondary school and wants to show the stereotypes he had in his head in his film. “I always had this idea that if you're gay, you have a lot of sex, you're on dating app Grindr and you go to pride parades. Those extremes. That's because of the media, but it's also because of the biggest events," he says. “Obviously there is no stereotypical gay person and I created that image myself. It's not that I feel discriminated against, but it's more the expectations of society that gave me that idea.”
To another world
For his animation, Niek made at least twenty versions that were a little different each time. He worked out his story in broad outline and then transferred it to the computer to further draw and colour it in digitally. He describes his style as sketchy, where you can see the craftsmanship. Not too polished.
The animation is three minutes long, already quite long for animation, Niek says. In the film, the viewer follows the main character who comes home to his partner after shopping. Together they unpack the groceries, and as they do so, the protagonist's mind goes to another world: expectations. In it, he has a lot of sex with men. “Milk plays a major role in this animation. That's part of the shopping, but it's also easily linked to sperm. More and more sperm is added, until the protagonist finally goes back to his real life where he chooses to be with his partner. He gives the carton of milk to his partner.”
Studying Animation Design: the tip...
The Animation Design course has been enjoyable and educational for Niek on several levels. Everyone can be themselves there, according to him, and in addition to personal development, he also received many lessons in storytelling skills. Before he started Animation Design, he took a vocational training course in animation. As a result, he knew very well that that was his passion. For prospective students, Niek has another tip: “There are many lecturers who will give you feedback; it's important to be open to that, but you don't have to accept everything either," he says.
Niek's finals work will be on display from 29 June to 9 July 2023 at the Academy of Art & Design's major finals exhibition in Zwolle.
