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Showing posts with label ETNA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ETNA. Show all posts
Monday, 27 April 2015
Cartoon Springboard - Pitching Event for New Animation Talents!
Nicola Lennon has asked us to pass on this information about a new scheme from Cartoon, designed as a bridge between animation education and the supports provided by the Cartoon organisation. Designed for final year animation students and recent graduates, Cartoon Springboard is looking for TV Specials, TV series, feature films and cross-media projects. Deadline is 7th September 2015! Some successful projects will be chosen for presentation at Cartoon Forum, Cartoon Movie or Cartoon 360. Exciting!
Other Animation Manifestos...
Thinking on from last week's Symposium discussion with John Parry on 'A Manifesto for Animated Filmmakers in the 21st Century', Donald Taylor Black has asked about other 'animation manifestos'. I responded immediately that most animators don't feel compelled to consider their practice identity in terms of manifesto creation, so animation manifestos are rare. Svankmajer's 1999 'Decalogues' is already quoted in my dissertation draft, but a cursory google search throws up a selection of other animation manifestos...
Walt Disney's 1995 8-page 'letter to himself' (actually a letter to Chouinard's Don Graham) lays out the fundamentals for 2D classically drawn animation pedagogy - how to teach animators to draw better, to analyse action systematically and to build comedy into animation performance. A seminal document, even if Uncle Walt can be forgiven for universally describing animators as 'men'.
Be transparent (be open and honest with people)... (this actually comes from Eimhin)
It HAS to be human!
Make rules, set boundaries and start thinking about your work... Rules shouldn't be arbitrary, they should be based on the emotional intent of your film...
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should... Be economic.
Have BALLS - be scared - safe is boring.
Personal is universal! The more personal it is, the more universal it is.
Make work and show people. (get it out there, you don't know who's watching)
You get the work that you DO!
BAD experiences are STILL experiences.
There's politics and bullshit EVERYWHERE!
The grass is not always greener.
Reach out, ask questions, be a sponge.
You make your own luck (good luck follows hard work, work hard and get lucky)...
Learn always, because skills are brillz...
GO for stuff, you have nothing to lose!
It's okay NOT to know!
Don't plateau (just keep moving forward, keep trying to progress)
Say thanks - don't be a dick to people, there's enough dickheads EVERYWHERE!
Walt Disney's 1995 8-page 'letter to himself' (actually a letter to Chouinard's Don Graham) lays out the fundamentals for 2D classically drawn animation pedagogy - how to teach animators to draw better, to analyse action systematically and to build comedy into animation performance. A seminal document, even if Uncle Walt can be forgiven for universally describing animators as 'men'.
Walt image from lettersofnote.com
------------
A very different approach fro 1960's Japan 'The Three-Person Animation Manifesto: Toward the Creation of New Images' New processes and technologies must go hand in hand with new modes of consciousness. Therein lies the path to the creation of truly new images.'
------------
Skip forward to Kyiv in 1986, where Aleksandr Tatarskiy wrote his 6,800 word 'Making Animation' manifesto.
Tatarskiy quotes pedagogue M. Gurevich in the journal "Children's Literature" [Detskaya literatura], "...in today's production of animation a
strange, yet characteristic trait is readily noticeable: a gaping chasm between
the forays of select seekers and the routine production of most others, between the flood and the works which are marked
with the stamp of individuality." Tatarskiy is very much arguing for the 'select seekers'. "Animated filmmaking is practically the first art form which is encountered by a child." He also points out some of the parallel track 'siloing' which has always formed the environment through which animation and animators must navigate... "but here's the tragedy: our animation, on one
hand, and artistic criticism, pedagogy, psychology and sociology, on the other,
seem to move through completely different spacetime boundaries, and they never
meet..."
Igor Kovalyov and Aleksandr Tatarskiy from niffiwan
------------
And from Stuttgart two years ago (April 2013), a manifesto arguing that German commissioning bodies (especially broadcasters) to be clear and transparent in relation to budgets, programming and commissioning. This manifesto also calls for support for feature animation as a form, for adult animation and the maintenance of 'a diversity of cultural identity.'
------------
And finally, Svankmajer's 1999 'Decalogues', including...
Remember there is only one form of ‘poetry’. The opposite of poetry is professional expertise.
Surrender to your obsessions. There is nothing better.
Use animation as a magical operation. Animation isn’t about making inanimate objects move, it is about bringing them to life.
Keep exchanging dreams for reality and vice versa. There are no logical transitions.
The deeper you enter into the fantastic story the more realistic you need to be in the detail.
Imagination is subversive, because it puts the possible against the real. That’s why you should always use your wildest imagination.
Always pick themes that you feel ambivalent about. This ambivalence has to be strong (deep) enough so you can walk on its edge and not fall to either side or even both at the same time.
Cultivate your creativity as a form of self-therapy. Such an anti-aesthetic attitude brings creativity closer towards the gates to freedom. If there is any purpose at all in creativity it is that it liberates us.
Always put the continuity of your inner vision or psychological automatism before an idea. An idea, even the greatest one, shouldn’t ever be a sole motivation for wanting to make a film.
And Svankmajer's parting suggestion is that such 'rules' are there to be broken, with perhaps one exception...
Never subordinate your personal creativity to anything but freedom.
------------
I could also quote our friends and IADT graduate Eamonn O' Neill from his April 2014 IADT AnimSoc talk... Perhaps not quite a manifesto, but still some key human and animation learnings for us all!
99.9% of engineers do NOT make guitar pedals...
Be transparent (be open and honest with people)... (this actually comes from Eimhin)
It HAS to be human!
Make rules, set boundaries and start thinking about your work... Rules shouldn't be arbitrary, they should be based on the emotional intent of your film...
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should... Be economic.
Have BALLS - be scared - safe is boring.
Personal is universal! The more personal it is, the more universal it is.
Make work and show people. (get it out there, you don't know who's watching)
from eamonnoneill.ie
You get the work that you DO!
BAD experiences are STILL experiences.
There's politics and bullshit EVERYWHERE!
The grass is not always greener.
Reach out, ask questions, be a sponge.
You make your own luck (good luck follows hard work, work hard and get lucky)...
Learn always, because skills are brillz...
GO for stuff, you have nothing to lose!
It's okay NOT to know!
Don't plateau (just keep moving forward, keep trying to progress)
Say thanks - don't be a dick to people, there's enough dickheads EVERYWHERE!
------------
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
My Research MA Symposium! Success!
Thanks to ALL the participants in yesterday's morning symposium for my research MA! Special thanks to John Parry MA RCA for delivering a probing and provocative keynote speech - your hard work was really appreciated John! 'animism' and 'confidence' were two central themes for me!
The discussion afterwards (on 'A Manifesto for Animated Filmmakers in the 21st Century') was extremely valuable and lucrative, clarifying and 'framing' many of my research findings and discoveries and posing questions and threads for future exploration. Some really considered, heart-felt contributions to the debate! We started the manifesto ideas with Laura's proposal of 'failure' and ended with Michael Algar's telling and decisive 'so what?' observation about 'disruptive change'.
Thanks again to Elaine Sisson, Donald Taylor Black, John Parry, Andrew Power, Marion Palmer, Mark Riordan, Brendan Rooney, Derek Laffan, Katy Goodhue, Michael Algar, Steve Woods, Laura Venables. Also DL832 Animation 3rd years Fiona, Eleanor, Ruth, Caoimhe, Fionn, Laura, Laura Jask, Morwenna, Kayleigh, Komila, Glen, Sean and Sophie. If I've forgotten anyone (or if I don't know your name) apologies and thanks!
Also thanks to Aidan Hickey, Edith Pieperhoff, Eimhin Macnamara, Michael Connerty, and Tara Ryan who couldn't make it on the day. And remembering the late Jimmy Murakami who did the first interview for my research - we miss him!
Next, finishing the dissertation and delivering the 30 minute rough-cut of the reflective documentary before the summer - thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions about the documentary slugs I screened yesterday.
I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks to my learning network!
The discussion afterwards (on 'A Manifesto for Animated Filmmakers in the 21st Century') was extremely valuable and lucrative, clarifying and 'framing' many of my research findings and discoveries and posing questions and threads for future exploration. Some really considered, heart-felt contributions to the debate! We started the manifesto ideas with Laura's proposal of 'failure' and ended with Michael Algar's telling and decisive 'so what?' observation about 'disruptive change'.
DQ, Donald, John Parry and Elaine
Thanks again to Elaine Sisson, Donald Taylor Black, John Parry, Andrew Power, Marion Palmer, Mark Riordan, Brendan Rooney, Derek Laffan, Katy Goodhue, Michael Algar, Steve Woods, Laura Venables. Also DL832 Animation 3rd years Fiona, Eleanor, Ruth, Caoimhe, Fionn, Laura, Laura Jask, Morwenna, Kayleigh, Komila, Glen, Sean and Sophie. If I've forgotten anyone (or if I don't know your name) apologies and thanks!
Also thanks to Aidan Hickey, Edith Pieperhoff, Eimhin Macnamara, Michael Connerty, and Tara Ryan who couldn't make it on the day. And remembering the late Jimmy Murakami who did the first interview for my research - we miss him!
Next, finishing the dissertation and delivering the 30 minute rough-cut of the reflective documentary before the summer - thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions about the documentary slugs I screened yesterday.
I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks to my learning network!
Monday, 31 March 2014
UWE Bristol - Animation
Thanks to John G. Parry for his invite to and guided tour around Bristol's University of The West of England Bower Ashton campus. John also did a very valuable video interview for my Research masters. In return, I did a one-hour presentation for his students about animation in Ireland - hope it was of some assistance to them!
Some real potential for future student and Institute hookups...
http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/W615/2014
John Parry
Some real potential for future student and Institute hookups...
http://courses.uwe.ac.uk/W615/2014
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Halle - Day 2 Session 1 - Mike Riemenschneider
HALLE DAY 2
session 1 Mike Riemenschneider (IAMA - DE)
Presentation of the Animation Talent Award
i won't bother you with the funding issues we had..
International Academy - non prof founded in 2004
we produced a lot of student films
started with 9 months and then cut that to 3 months - they had to be v precise
we have individuals, companies
the question was how can we attract people, attract students
how do we stay alive in the market?
can we do it alone? or do we need partners?
tried to find a niche - the idea was to create a festival but there are tonnes of festivals (260 animation festivals) in the world...
how can we find a niche...
maybe do something with music??
not starting with animation, but start with the music...
a web-based short film competition, where you can earn your production budget to turn your ideas into an animation film
warner set some conditions - streaming yes, download no...
design guideline -
transfer concept into web and digital media
how can we bring everything together?
licencing?
a few people were totally happy to give us music from their new albums...
but the lawyers were a little more difficult...
alan doherty plays the flute - he's from ireland but he lives in Halle - i met him by chance...
pitch video from students who're proposing their projects...
top 10 projects
pitching mode
then they communicate and find additional budget (through crowdfunding pledges)
building up a crowd and then find money
an ongoing process... (still live)
click to support the projects you like...
having found that you can buy 1000 facebook fans for 360 euros, we decided not to rely on facebook
through google analytics - we could see that we were being watched in 90 countries
LinkedIn a great thing to do..
how it's going right now?
they're in the middle of producing the top 10 videos
they needed to get 100% of the money before 20th October - if they're missing 5%, they get nothing (standard crowdfunding)
E2,500 euros is the main prize from ARTE
ARTE is the most important partner
a link with Adobe - unlimited licence of CrativeCloud for 1 year for 3 projects
voting
sharing
like
production
donate
support
we want to establish ourselves as a partner for the animation schools
we were asked if we can licence ATA for India - but I don't know if it's a real offer...
we have projects from
bristol
portugal
belgium
phillipines/indonesia
poland etc etc
www.startnext.de - crowdfunding platform
www.animationtalentaward.com
end of Mike's presentation
were you genuinely surprised by the worldwide interest?
definitely...
also we're talking to samsung, canon
we will then support the finished films
the rights belong to the people who make the movie
but we can use the films for non-commercial projects
normally we'd be finished production, but that was postponed because of the flooding in Halle!
it will happen again next year - if you all help us, we will succeed!
session 1 Mike Riemenschneider (IAMA - DE)
Presentation of the Animation Talent Award
i won't bother you with the funding issues we had..
International Academy - non prof founded in 2004
we produced a lot of student films
started with 9 months and then cut that to 3 months - they had to be v precise
we have individuals, companies
the question was how can we attract people, attract students
how do we stay alive in the market?
can we do it alone? or do we need partners?
tried to find a niche - the idea was to create a festival but there are tonnes of festivals (260 animation festivals) in the world...
how can we find a niche...
maybe do something with music??
not starting with animation, but start with the music...
a web-based short film competition, where you can earn your production budget to turn your ideas into an animation film
warner set some conditions - streaming yes, download no...
design guideline -
transfer concept into web and digital media
how can we bring everything together?
licencing?
a few people were totally happy to give us music from their new albums...
but the lawyers were a little more difficult...
alan doherty plays the flute - he's from ireland but he lives in Halle - i met him by chance...
pitch video from students who're proposing their projects...
top 10 projects
pitching mode
then they communicate and find additional budget (through crowdfunding pledges)
building up a crowd and then find money
an ongoing process... (still live)
click to support the projects you like...
having found that you can buy 1000 facebook fans for 360 euros, we decided not to rely on facebook
through google analytics - we could see that we were being watched in 90 countries
LinkedIn a great thing to do..
how it's going right now?
they're in the middle of producing the top 10 videos
they needed to get 100% of the money before 20th October - if they're missing 5%, they get nothing (standard crowdfunding)
E2,500 euros is the main prize from ARTE
ARTE is the most important partner
a link with Adobe - unlimited licence of CrativeCloud for 1 year for 3 projects
voting
sharing
like
production
donate
support
we want to establish ourselves as a partner for the animation schools
we were asked if we can licence ATA for India - but I don't know if it's a real offer...
we have projects from
bristol
portugal
belgium
phillipines/indonesia
poland etc etc
www.startnext.de - crowdfunding platform
www.animationtalentaward.com
end of Mike's presentation
were you genuinely surprised by the worldwide interest?
definitely...
also we're talking to samsung, canon
we will then support the finished films
the rights belong to the people who make the movie
but we can use the films for non-commercial projects
normally we'd be finished production, but that was postponed because of the flooding in Halle!
it will happen again next year - if you all help us, we will succeed!
Brainstorming in Halle!
GREAT brainstorming session to finish Day 1 of the ETNA conference in Halle! Topics included 'Student Project Management' and 'funding models'. Strong possibility that we'll establish a rotating presidency for ETNA - to impel our collaborations forward! A pan-European postgraduate animation flexible pathway beckons!
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Halle - ETNA conference
Morning One of the ETNA (European Training Network for Animation Schools) annual conference. Good presentations by Richelle Wilder (script development for animation) and Keith Hopwood (music and sound effects for animation).
011013 halle
Richelle Wilder
animation has the widest demographic
animation isn't limited by cultural or social boundaries...
katzenburg 'the idea is king. if a movie begins with a great, original idea, chances are it will work...'
great ideas are rare...
the strongest ideas can be encapsulated into a logline, or 'hook'...
chicken run 'great escape with chickens'
flushed away 'african queen with rats'
shrek ' greatest fairy tale never told'
when i ran the development department at aardman...
it was a creative forum for generating ideas...
sometimes the original idea FAILS when you try to expand it...
Scorcese said 'there's no such thing as simple. Simple is hard.'
pitch: plot, characters, world, tone...
now we're talking about leprechauns...
but Katzenburg didn't like it 'and all our leprechaun ideas left with him...'
hitchcock 'all you need is a great script, a great script, a great script...'
the technical differences between writing for live action and animation are negligible...
writer needs to be hugely imaginative...
all the projects I've worked on have featured multiple writers... a lead writer certainly, but multiple writers...
we follow the three act structure...
it's important the bg designs and char designs are shared with the writer, to make sure he's on the same creative track...
andrew stanton... the first draft is nothing more than a starting point, so be as wrong and as fast as you can...
rewriting can be twenty paces back and five paces forward...
rewriting is about 'getting the story right'
rewrite is about making creative ideas the best they can be...
often multiple stakeholders involved in rewrite - all opinion is valuable...
however, multiple voices (if they're not managed properly) can destroy the script
in indie productions, this role is rarely managed...
managed, not dictated... Dictatorial no...
ideas often get put in the script to please the money people, to greenlight funding...
DEVELOPMENT HELL - the rewrite black hole...
caused by the writing process being poorly managed...
Many scripts get put into development hell, very few scripts get out
dev hell becomes an illogical dance, with lots of crap and random ideas being built into the script...
remember the project's potential, remember the hook...
billy wilder - an audience is never wrong. an individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles sitting in a darkened room - that is critical genius...
end
show don't tell
anim scripts are approx 80 pages in length, live ation are usually 100 to 120 pages...
character world themes and audience demographic
screenwriting is an art
screenwriting is also a craft
lasseter 'the art challenges the technology and the technology inspires the art...'
act 1 who is the main char what is the story about what is the conflict? (this is the inciting incident) first 10 pages, first 10 minutes
the suspension of disbelief must happen in act 1, the audience must buy in
want versus need is the character arc
the char want needs to be established early
drama is conflict...
act 2 longest in length
develops the action (A plot)
develops the main char
develops sub plots
it's essential to have more than 1 storyline
A plot is the action storyline
B plot is the emotional storyline
then subplots
there must be multiple plots, or the story will be completely linear
there can be multiple multiple subplots, adding texture and charm to the storyline
moving between acts is done by turning points - twists
act 3 is the climax
the central premise of the plot is resolved...
shrek gets his swamp back, but with an unexpected twist (fiona)
tv script format...
single drama
mini series (multiple eps)
returning series (many eps)
script development TV:
development workshop
bible
premise
outline - fleshed out without dialogue
scene by scene - again fleshed out without dialogue
drafts x 2 - dialogue in, story structure, basic structure is movie structure with beginning, middle and end (this is usually where finance is greenlit)
polish - final draft, often done by the script editor - script editor ensures continuity across the series
development by committee is a staple of modern TV script development
broadcaster
co producer
series producer
each of the stakeholders will want an active input in the series development (includes financiers, co prod partners and broadcasters), all coordinated by the script editor
all opinion is valuable, but all opinion is.
an effective script producer or script editor offers the writer creative support and managerial guidance.
katzenburg: every single thing you see onscreen came out of somebody's creativity. It doesn't exist. Nature didn't deliver it to us. Everything had to be dreamed.
end
011013 halle
Richelle Wilder
animation has the widest demographic
animation isn't limited by cultural or social boundaries...
katzenburg 'the idea is king. if a movie begins with a great, original idea, chances are it will work...'
great ideas are rare...
the strongest ideas can be encapsulated into a logline, or 'hook'...
chicken run 'great escape with chickens'
flushed away 'african queen with rats'
shrek ' greatest fairy tale never told'
when i ran the development department at aardman...
it was a creative forum for generating ideas...
sometimes the original idea FAILS when you try to expand it...
Scorcese said 'there's no such thing as simple. Simple is hard.'
pitch: plot, characters, world, tone...
now we're talking about leprechauns...
but Katzenburg didn't like it 'and all our leprechaun ideas left with him...'
hitchcock 'all you need is a great script, a great script, a great script...'
the technical differences between writing for live action and animation are negligible...
writer needs to be hugely imaginative...
all the projects I've worked on have featured multiple writers... a lead writer certainly, but multiple writers...
we follow the three act structure...
it's important the bg designs and char designs are shared with the writer, to make sure he's on the same creative track...
andrew stanton... the first draft is nothing more than a starting point, so be as wrong and as fast as you can...
rewriting can be twenty paces back and five paces forward...
rewriting is about 'getting the story right'
rewrite is about making creative ideas the best they can be...
often multiple stakeholders involved in rewrite - all opinion is valuable...
however, multiple voices (if they're not managed properly) can destroy the script
in indie productions, this role is rarely managed...
managed, not dictated... Dictatorial no...
ideas often get put in the script to please the money people, to greenlight funding...
DEVELOPMENT HELL - the rewrite black hole...
caused by the writing process being poorly managed...
Many scripts get put into development hell, very few scripts get out
dev hell becomes an illogical dance, with lots of crap and random ideas being built into the script...
remember the project's potential, remember the hook...
billy wilder - an audience is never wrong. an individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles sitting in a darkened room - that is critical genius...
end
show don't tell
anim scripts are approx 80 pages in length, live ation are usually 100 to 120 pages...
character world themes and audience demographic
screenwriting is an art
screenwriting is also a craft
lasseter 'the art challenges the technology and the technology inspires the art...'
act 1 who is the main char what is the story about what is the conflict? (this is the inciting incident) first 10 pages, first 10 minutes
the suspension of disbelief must happen in act 1, the audience must buy in
want versus need is the character arc
the char want needs to be established early
drama is conflict...
act 2 longest in length
develops the action (A plot)
develops the main char
develops sub plots
it's essential to have more than 1 storyline
A plot is the action storyline
B plot is the emotional storyline
then subplots
there must be multiple plots, or the story will be completely linear
there can be multiple multiple subplots, adding texture and charm to the storyline
moving between acts is done by turning points - twists
act 3 is the climax
the central premise of the plot is resolved...
shrek gets his swamp back, but with an unexpected twist (fiona)
tv script format...
single drama
mini series (multiple eps)
returning series (many eps)
script development TV:
development workshop
bible
premise
outline - fleshed out without dialogue
scene by scene - again fleshed out without dialogue
drafts x 2 - dialogue in, story structure, basic structure is movie structure with beginning, middle and end (this is usually where finance is greenlit)
polish - final draft, often done by the script editor - script editor ensures continuity across the series
development by committee is a staple of modern TV script development
broadcaster
co producer
series producer
each of the stakeholders will want an active input in the series development (includes financiers, co prod partners and broadcasters), all coordinated by the script editor
all opinion is valuable, but all opinion is.
an effective script producer or script editor offers the writer creative support and managerial guidance.
katzenburg: every single thing you see onscreen came out of somebody's creativity. It doesn't exist. Nature didn't deliver it to us. Everything had to be dreamed.
end
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