Verona Animator Screens Film Sunday in West Orange

Robert Otterbine has had a life-long passion for animators and artists who make drawings come to life.

The Verona resident, an artist who works in a range of media, has been creating his own images on film for years. Now, the public can see his film on Sunday at the WAE Beyond Film Festival in West Orange.

"To say the least, it’s an honor, and I think it reminds people that before video we had to have film," Otterbine said.

"I don’t work in video and it was difficult to find the relevant equipment to screen my film,” he said. “You can still do things with film that you can’t do with video.
Video has no sprocket holes. Cinematography is set apart from videography."

The JSDD's WAE Center (Wellness Arts Enrichment Center) hosts daylong programs that include yoga, meditation, art and more, said program coordinator Sherri Zuckerman.

The film festival is an outgrowth of the program. It will feature short works by members of the WAE community as well as submissions by local filmmakers and examples of historical animation, she said.

Otterbine's film - an abstract film in the genre of 1940s film animation pioneer Norman McLaren - was created using old style 16mm film, she said. He started it in 1981.

"He uses a combination of things that are pasted on, drawings, scratching. That's even how the sound is done," she said. "If you mark certain areas on the film, it will make a sound."

Otterbine, a graduate of Arts High School and the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art, said he is excited to be using his talents to do what he loves doing best  — creating images and making them come alive on film.

The program at the WAE Center has helped him achieve confidence, a newfound love for his craft, routine and socialization, he said.

Otterbine's film is the only one the festival is projecting the old-fashioned way. The rest of the submissions are being shown digitally, Zuckerman said. The festival will also feature a Japanese-style animated film as well as submissions by local high school students.

After viewing historical shorts, there will be a discussion led by John Skillin, former film programmer at the Montclair Library who currently serves as the WAE Center librarian.

The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled, 270 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange.

Admission is $10 at the door.