Missoula News

New Westerner Profile

Meet Andy Smetanka, The Artist, Writer, Filmmaker, Missoula Legend

By Matthew Cochran, 1-21-07

Photos by Matt Cochran.

I first met Andy Smetanka in a media arts class at the University. He was invited by the professor to show one of his animated films to the students. He was really excited about little cutout figures that he uses in his silhouette animations, and I remember thinking to myself “how in the hell does this guy makes a living doing this?” And then I learned that animation was only the beginning of the artist’s depth.

Andy Smetanka, 35, spends his time moving from one project to the next, and juggling all of them in between each other. Smetanka had no professional training as a journalist but was hired as the arts editor for the Missoula Independent directly after he finished his undergraduate work at the University of Montana. During his five-year period with the Independent, Smetanka critiqued musicians, albums, artists, and a variety of other editorial positions that were widely recognized. He set up interviews, wrote editorials, and even designed new artistic marketing strategies for the weekly paper. Though the opportunity allowed for growth and freedom, Smetanka wanted to focus on other things. “I reached a point where I wanted to write about what I wanted to write about and not struggle for deadlines. I couldn’t put all of my attention into one piece because of the several I was working on at one time,” Smetanka said.

So, after five years with the Missoula Independent, Smetanka began to focus on his own projects. He made a few short-stop motion animation films for the local Missoula band the Volumen. He received admiration from the underground art world and started a career in filmmaking he says he never thought was possible. With inspiration from the early1900’s silhouette animator Lotte Reiniger and her short film The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Smetanka built his own workstation in his house and began the tedious but rewarding process of silhouette animation. “I never really could draw, but I seemed to be able to cut out little figures and backgrounds,” Smetanka said. And that is exactly what he does. With an Exacto knife, Smetanka meticulously cuts out individual body parts and landscapes to create his animation. The construction paper figures need to have moveable separate parts for realism, and these are pinned together at the joints. Each minute movement made by Smetanka is captured in a single frame taken by his Super 8 camera. The hundreds and sometimes thousands of frames are then looped back to back like a flipbook to create the film. Smetanka created his first elaborate film for the Decemberists’ song the “Taine,” which is an epicaly-long piece, about 11 minutes, revolved around an ancient tale of wizards, empires, and curses. The film will be available to the public when the Decemberists’ DVD is released. The date is still yet to be announced. It was Smetanka’s first silhouette project and it took him nearly seven months to complete.

After a project is finished, Smetanka enjoys inviting a few of his friends over to his house for a jam session. The group plays flutes, guitars, the saw, and various other instruments. Because they record the music for rolling credit tunes at the end of his films, they just have fun with it. “I’m holed up like a hobbit for several months by myself working on this (the film), so it’s kind of a release party with my friends,” Smetanka said.

But, animation is really just a hobby for Smetanka and another form of income. What he loves is writing and he is currently working on his Master’s degree in creative non-fiction. The graduate work requires that Smetanka teach two basic English composition classes at The University of Montana. Once finished, he plans on being a professor. School takes up most of his time these days, but he still reads at the Shakespeare Co. in downtown Missoula and works on various promotional projects for several local businesses in town. Smetanka is creating silhouette photos of the Wilma Theater for its 85th anniversary. He is also filming some advertising for the Independent and Big Sky Brewery. During all of this, the man still has time to work about 20 hours of the week at the Good Food Store as a baker in the kitchen.

Aside from his left hemisphere-driven passions, Smetanka has new inspiration in his life. With his wife Joanna, Andy has an 18-month-old son named Asa.  With all that is keeping this talented artist, writer, teacher, musician, husband, and new father busy, you just might be able to get a glimpse of him around town. Then again, he probably moves to fast for mortals to see.

This story has been altered to correct that Andy Smetanka was the arts editor at the Missoula Independent.

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