Mike's topic for the evening was Character Performance and Workflow and wow, was it an inspiration! Great to see a good mixture of animation students and recent graduates from IADT, from Ballyfermot and from other schools and colleges. A lot of buzzed up young people!
A few gem quotes from Mike on the night...
Animation is very simple!
All of the animation principles are to invoke LIFE!
Three things have to come together - technical, performance and DRAWING! We want to see performance, not technical! Today, some animation misses the mark sometimes!
You have to train your eyes to move beyond technical flashiness... 'Is it just moving around, or is it ALIVE?'
Is it alive, is it telling me something?
I become the character, YOU become the character, you animate. I don't see anyone. I don't see the paper. I live in the animation.
Aim to make money is short aim! Aim to make someone joyful and happy and also make money, that's HIGH aim!
You feel the movement, you live the movement. That's why it's really tiring afterwards. That's why I don't go to the gym!
The drawing will just tell you where to go - I'm just listening to the drawing!
I would love to see good films come from anywhere! Good films are hard to find!
It will get easier for you. In time you will wake up and everything will be easier. For now, you're not minding the pain! If I don't swim, I'll sink. One day I realise, just swim, and the pain goes away.
You ARE the future industry! We will always try to make things NEW and different!
www.julyfilms.net
