Oh my gosh! Well, here we are. My time on Pinocchio has come to a close. And IT. WAS. EMOTIONAL. Saying goodbye to all of my wonderful friends and colleagues. It was very bitter sweet. I do however feel confident that it is not goodbye, but just seeya later! I know I will be back (Just try to keep me away!)
Now, here in my quarantine hotel, I have plenty of time to reflect, and honestly… with all of the ups and downs of 2020, it was such a wonderful year for me overall. I learned so much, grew so much, and made so many amazing connections with beautiful, wonderful people.
There are two elements to this final post; this, the written portion, which I will attempt to keep brief (good luck Jhess!), and a video element which you can see below. I decided to try something a little different. I called out on my socials for questions from you and asked my amazing friend and colleague Anna Thompson to help me out with a bit of an informal interview. We couldn’t tackle all of your questions sadly. The video would have been three hours long if we tried to get through them all! Because by-golly Jhess can talk!
I do want to thank Anna so much for helping me out with the video. It was a really nice opportunity to reflect on the experience, and also thank you to everyone who sent me questions! If yours didn't get answered and I forget to write back, please just send me a PM and I will answer any and all questions you have!
My final weeks on Pinocchio were equal parts nerve wracking and wonderful. As things drew to a close, I felt the pressure build inside and many emotions were competing for my attention. I’ll admit, I don’t always handle this kind of situation well, when 10 contradicting emotions are vying for attention. Often times my brain chooses to feel none of them, so I just feel a little numb and lost. I am trying to flip the script though and not see this as my brain failing me, but as my brain protecting me in the best way it knows how.
Though I was excited and happy to come home, I was also nervous about the transition, and of course sad to be leaving and dreading saying goodbyes. Though I always knew my time in Portland was temporary, and though I love my life in Melbourne too, I had gone all in, and Portland really felt like home for the time I was there. This is again (I will harp on this!) due to the amazing people who looked after me so well. My wonderful housemates, my friends and colleagues. I could not have asked for better company to spend a pandemic with!
Of course the time to say goodbye did come, and though it was hard (as expected), it was also very moving. I blubbered all over everyone (I am not someone who can hold in my emotions, they come right out of my face) and many blubbered right back. People said wonderfully kind words and I felt very loved and very appreciated.
Zilla introduced me to a quote earlier in the year which really allowed me see the upside in the situation.
“How lucky I am to have had something so special that makes saying goodbye so hard”. - Winnie the Pooh
I have had many farewells of this nature in my life, and they certainly don’t get any easier. But I am so incredibly grateful to have made such wonderful connections and so many lasting friendships.
My final day wrapped with a fun video games session in the conference room. This was honestly the perfect send off for me! We played Mario party, controllers were passed around the room, we drank wine. There was much laughter and silliness! It was wonderful.
My time on Pinocchio has been so important in my development as an artist and I am incredibly grateful for this. I touch on this a lot in the video, so won’t repeat myself too much. I am very excited for how all of the new processes and techniques I have learned over the last year will inform my work moving forward. Not only in creating stop motion work of my own, but also in all of my puppetry. Every new skill is transferable in to other forms of puppetry. I feel I am a stronger, more skilful artist over all for having worked on this film and for all I have learned from my incredible mentors.
I have to say a huge giant thank you to all of my amazing teachers who took me under their wing and taught me things. You were all so wonderful. And to absolutely everyone in the puppet department for being such amazing supports. Gosh I miss you all so much already!
I need to thank our producer Melanie Coombs for instigating this whole thing and for being such an amazing leader. The culture Mel has created for our crew is so amazing. It really does feel like a family.
Of course a huge thank you to Screen Australia for providing this opportunity! I really can not thank them enough!
To our incredible Head of Puppetry, George Hayns for all of your support, for teaching me and having patience with me, and for all of your kind words. And for being a fun, silly goofball who always made me laugh!
To our Puppet Production Manager Jennifer for being my champion! It was Jennifer who pushed to keep me, did the leg work for my visa extension, vouched for me! And on top of that, looked out for me all year. Always checking in to see that I was ok, and making sure I was getting the most out of my time! And for being the big, joyful, loud, amazing energy that she is!
Honestly to the whole Pinocchio crew! It was such a joy to be a part of this amazing family. Thank you for having me!!
To my amazing housemates Zilla and Chris for looking after me, and to my amazing friend Winona for being my bestie and keeping me sane! I could not imagine my time in Portland without these three amazing people backing me.
To all of my amazing friends in Portland; Alex, Aaron, Hasani, Magda, Josh, Bica, Emily… there are too many to mention (you know who you are)! But all of you made my time so fun! I loved seeing your faces every day and being silly together.
Sooooo much more I could say haha. I know I will never do this final post justice for myself! But here we are…
Maybe I don’t need to wrap it up perfectly. It has been such an immense year and an immense experience, perfectly summing it up is impossible. And in truth, any time someone says that this is the end of this chapter, I am very quick to correct them. This is just the beginning. I fully intend to return to Portland in future for another adventure, and hopefully work with these incredible artists again. But till then I am going to put all of the skills I have learned in to practice!
What is next for Jhess? Well, there are a few things in the pipeline work-wise which you will hear about if you follow me on instagram etc. But honestly my main priority right now is to get home and snuggle my pooch Chewie, take him for a nice long walk on the beach, see my friends and family and give them big, tight hugs (pandemic permitting!)
I have one more week in my quarantine hotel, and by golly am I ready to be home!
For those who have been reading along since the beginning, thank you for coming on this journey with me! I hope it has been entertaining, informative… other adjectives (lol). Well, if you are reading this you obviously don’t mind my ramblings too much!
And thus ends my Pinocchio blog. 47 weeks. What a trip.