Faculty of Art

Integrated Media: Digital Painting and Expanded Animation

Nick Ridge

Adventures of an Adolescent Michael

Motivated by his curiosity and desire to play, a snake-like creature gets into trouble with his mother throughout his childhood.

“What I've learned in my last few years of being a teenager is that being an adult is not worth it, turn back. If I have not convinced you, I understand, being an adult is not all cons. If this is the path that feels right for you, I will not stand in your way, but my friend Michael will. Michael is a child, he is impulsive and misbehaved, but also curious and present. Michael does not look to the future, he looks where he is, and makes the most out of it. Michael has a mother who is also an adult like you, she tries to keep him in line and out of trouble. As Michael grows up he continues to misbehave. His desire to play in new ways keeps him up to no good, but his relationship with his mother is always strong, he never has to hide anything from her.One day, Michael’s body has an impulse he cannot control, a massive morning erection. Before he realises what has happened to his body, his mother walks into the room and they both get a fright. Michael and his mother become filled with embarrassment, and their relationship is tested. They could laugh it off and have an odd but necessary conversion, setting the standard for all puberty questions. Just as easily, Michael could be tempted to hide this new fact of life from his mother, and also start hiding his misbehaving from her too. His mother could stop getting through to him, he could slip through the cracks and stop being himself, all because they did not want to talk about an erection.In truth, being an adult is worth it if you never let go of your inner Michael. Having a sense of play, curiosity, and the present is what keeps me going. Creating a story with colours limited to a package of dry erase markers, illustrated by messy lines, and narrated by silly voices and sounds, is what my Michael would have wanted. I’ve created the art that I was wishing to make as an adolescent boy who scribbled his heart out with a package of crayons. Becoming an adult is a balancing act, you can become too serious, and you can lose your Michael, if you stop allowing yourself to relish in immaturity. It is important to find out why and when you stopped having adventures of an adolescent Michael, could it have also been a massive erection? Adventures of an Adolescent Michael is inspired by those who have found the balance, and created with the same sense of freedom as a child; people like Norman McLaren, Tim Robinson, and Pendleton Ward. The film is a love letter to myself, my best friends, and all the people who are still silly at heart. It is a reminder to ask yourself “Why so serious?”, and permission to be immature.”