MIAD Animation professor’s short film to premiere at SXSW

This March, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) Professor Lou Morton’s short film “MINE!” makes its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival. Last March, Morton’s animated music video “Born Days: How to Disappear” received a Juror Award at the 62nd Ann Arbor Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.

Morton, who teaches Animation at MIAD, says, “’MINE!’ was initially inspired by a collection of short stories about early 20th century Illinois coal mining, including one written by my great grandpa reflecting upon his dad’s experience in the mines.”

“I was inspired by the graphic imagery of a coal mine and the limitations of that sort of space,” he says. “I eventually came up with a story that is meant to be a humorous commentary on the tragedy of capitalist-driven fossil fuel extraction and its resulting environmental devastation, told through examining the workings of one specific mining operation.”

“’Born Days: How to Disappear’ is the Chicago-based music project of my college friend Melissa Harris,” explains Morton. “She asked me to make a music video for her song ‘How to Disappear’ in 2023. The animation was a solo effort, which seemed fitting since Melissa’s music was also created all by her.”

“Melissa shared with me that she would take long walks along Lake Michigan while working on the album. I had recently moved to Milwaukee from L.A. and was also spending a lot of time by the lake, while enjoying all the seasonal rain, so it was only natural that it became a water driven video.”

The two projects posed somewhat different challenges, says Morton, and had different impacts on his teaching. “My process on MINE! was sort of convoluted, and it reminded me of the value of clearly figuring out the story and structure of a project before beginning production and animation. I try to really enforce this process in my animation classes, but I also understand that if you are taking an experimental approach, sometimes you just have to go where the visuals take you.”

“How to Disappear” was more of a visual challenge, he says. “It took some experimenting with a few different approaches in 2D and 3D before I figured out what the final look should be. I worked with my long-time collaborator Katie Gately on sound design and music and a couple of voice actor friends for the coal miner’s ‘efforts.’”

“While working on it I was teaching a 3D class using the software Cinema 4D. To better familiarize myself with the software, I integrated it into the workflow for the video. This had a direct impact on my teaching.”

Morton says that “in addition to the SXSW screening, “MINE!” will be screening at a couple more festivals in the spring, and I’m hoping for a Milwaukee premiere soon too.”

Formerly a graphic artist/associate art director at Disney, Morton’s previous clients include MTV, Airbnb, Meta and CVS.

Follow Morton on his website. Learn more about MIAD’s top-ranked Animation track.