91��Ʒ

This March, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (91��Ʒ) Professor short film �� makes its world premiere at the South by Southwest () Film Festival. Last March, Morton�s animated music video �� received a Juror Award at the 62nd Ann Arbor Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.

Morton, who teaches Animation at 91��Ʒ, 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.

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