Animation Masters Summit 2020 is a boon to the industry and animation enthusiasts indeed. With amazing talents talking to the audiences through virtual conferences, the sessions everyday only keep getting better. Day three of AMS 2020 started with an informative session with Walt Disney editor Fabienne Rawley.
Rawley is one among the distinguished league of women film editors who have made the cut in a largely male-dominated discipline. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as well as American Cinema Editors (ACE).Her remarkable body of work, spanning over a career of 25 years, includes Academy Award winning animation feature Zootopia (2017) for which she also bagged the American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award, Academy Award nominated Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Oscar and Golden Globes nominated Monster House (2006).
Also a voice actor, Rawley brought to life her namesake character `Fabienne Growley’ in Zootopia. Talking about the experience, Rawley mentioned, “I was surprised when the team decided to keep my voice in the sequence.” One night while editing sequences from Zootopia, Rawley found a sentence missing and filled it in her own voice. And that’s how the snow leopard in the movie got her voice.
When asked about the lack of women editors in animation, Rawley said that even she sees that difference. But she further added or rather motivated the females out there stating, “It is fun to be a part of the editing team. You learn how to make films, by trying different angles, how to create storyboards and storytelling too.”
Rawley gave away three important learnings for any person wanting to enter the animation industry. “Be enthusiastic, be experimental and keep that ego aside.” Animation theses days don’t need much drawing, thanks to technology, but Rawley insists on drawing with hands as that gives out the optimal result.