The third guest Lecturer we had in was David Bunting who is currently destroying our child hoods with the 3D Bob the Builder.
He mostly talked about how a storyboard artist works in the industry with three main factors that should be considered, Drawing skills, (Clarity and Appeal) Acting and Cinematography. It was all about how a story board has to be clear and informative to tell the other members of the team what is happening.
When he talked about cinematography he explained reasoning behind why you should use a shot, e.g. extreme close up is used to convey the emotion of the character and to tell us what is the character feeling, however this isn't commonly used in animation as the designs are simplified and faces are clear from head shots, both david Bunting and Mike want to see more of these sort of shots because they give a much deeper look into the characters personality. If something is important, focus on it.
Avoid exposition dumps with excessive dialogue, tell it through the acting.
Out of the guest lecturers we had across the month i found David Bunting the most interesting as he gave both an insight into the industry as well as his own personal belief on star telling and how a character and writing drive the emotion of the story which is something i myself strongly agree with.
Friday, 31 March 2017
Reg Issac - Guest Lecturer
We had another guest lecturer in, Reg Issac, who in comparison to Fraser McClean who was a veteran in the industry, has only been in the industry for around 5 years. So he was an example of how our careers could progress after University.
He had worked on Simons Cat as an effect artist and worked as an inbetweener on short films, that we had seen at MAF. This biggest thing he worked on was Ethel and Ernest.
Reg Issac talked about how he was a freelance animator moving from job to job and how he is constantly updating his showreel with each of his jobs. While it didn't really give a massive insight into the industry because he had only been in it for around 5 years it gave a really eye opening view and idea of what we could and can do after graduating to keep doing the things we want to do such as character animation. Reg Issac wanted to do character animation when he signed up for Simons Cat but he couldn't draw the cat on model but he still knew how to do effects such as rain so he was put on that. It came down to who you knew and if you can get to know someone you can get into the industry or at least a chance because he was able to get job after job because he was referred by others.
He had worked on Simons Cat as an effect artist and worked as an inbetweener on short films, that we had seen at MAF. This biggest thing he worked on was Ethel and Ernest.
Reg Issac talked about how he was a freelance animator moving from job to job and how he is constantly updating his showreel with each of his jobs. While it didn't really give a massive insight into the industry because he had only been in it for around 5 years it gave a really eye opening view and idea of what we could and can do after graduating to keep doing the things we want to do such as character animation. Reg Issac wanted to do character animation when he signed up for Simons Cat but he couldn't draw the cat on model but he still knew how to do effects such as rain so he was put on that. It came down to who you knew and if you can get to know someone you can get into the industry or at least a chance because he was able to get job after job because he was referred by others.
Fraser Mclean - Guest Lecturer
A few weeks ago we had fraser Mclean come in to talk to us about working in the industry. He has worked on Roger rabbit, Space jam and Tarzan.
He talked about his earliest time at Disney when he worked on Roger Rabbit doing the in-betweens of the shadows of a background cow character, what was funny was he had no idea at the time of how to in-between so he put the first frame on the bottom and the third on top with the one he's drawing on in-between the two so he had to keep flipping the sheets up to see his drawing and check if it was in the right place until one of the older professionals came over and made sure he knew what he was doing.
the main topic he covered was how to make use of layout and what exactly a layout artist was. covering the areas of how much the artists have to put into the backgrounds and how the camera moves. He showed us the curved perspective backgrounds and extended scenes along with the extensive detail that would go into the mere concept scene sketches, (thus putting us to shame). He also talked about his experiences at the disney archives where he took 10 minutes to start crying and the supervisor he was with said "Well you lasted longer than most."
He was an incredibly relaxed person and was happy to stay afterwards for a few hours to answer questions, although i didn't have anything to ask i listened to my classmates questions.
He talked about his earliest time at Disney when he worked on Roger Rabbit doing the in-betweens of the shadows of a background cow character, what was funny was he had no idea at the time of how to in-between so he put the first frame on the bottom and the third on top with the one he's drawing on in-between the two so he had to keep flipping the sheets up to see his drawing and check if it was in the right place until one of the older professionals came over and made sure he knew what he was doing.
the main topic he covered was how to make use of layout and what exactly a layout artist was. covering the areas of how much the artists have to put into the backgrounds and how the camera moves. He showed us the curved perspective backgrounds and extended scenes along with the extensive detail that would go into the mere concept scene sketches, (thus putting us to shame). He also talked about his experiences at the disney archives where he took 10 minutes to start crying and the supervisor he was with said "Well you lasted longer than most."
He was an incredibly relaxed person and was happy to stay afterwards for a few hours to answer questions, although i didn't have anything to ask i listened to my classmates questions.
Thursday, 30 March 2017
Manchester Animation Festival
This year at MAF i made an effort to be more talkative and attempt to speak with the working professionals and focus on going to see the master classes rather than the short films and student films.
While there I was able to gain the opportunity to meet and talk with Paul Wells. An author on animation script writing and the study of it. I was able to get the opportunity to talk to him for about half an hour on script writing and how to improve my writing skills. as well as Paul Wells I gained the chance to talk to Joanna Quinn briefly as well to talk about how she goes about character design. I was really nervous because of how well known they are but they were both really nice people to talk to and helped me pin down more of an idea of what i want to do with my animations and character.
I was also lucky enough to have my first experience with VR with Blue Zoos VR film. They advertised it as a film rather than a game. It definitely told a story, however I felt it would still be classified as a game because of the base principles between movies and games, the interactivity. I feel the moment you give an audience the capabilities to interact, no matter how planned out you have it, you've made a game. Films aim at being a non interactive medium while games aim to be interactive. I did needless to say really enjoy the VR, it was incredibly surreal and it makes me excited for how it can be used in the future.
Of the masterclasses and documentaries i saw, two stood out for me: The making of Ethel and Ernest, and Floyd Norman an animated life. Ethel and Ernest is a british feature length 2d animated movie based on the book of the same name by Raymond Briggs where the production team went through the process of recreating Briggs unique and textured pencil style. They showed the final scene as well as the progression of the characters ageing and in the final scene shown I found the characters to be incredibly real and hit very close to home as they reminded me of my own grandparents so much. On the animation side of it, it was just pleasing and enjoyable to see 2D animation be used for a full feature length movie. The Floyd Norman documentary covered the life of the Disney animation Veteran and his life as Disneys first person of colour employee. It was really nice to watch the film covering the development of his career and work as well as seeing what his life at Walt Disney studios was like. I just enjoyed for once seeing the studio be presented as a positive place rather than hearing people go on about the corporate side of it but the actual production and animation studio.
Of the short films there was only really one that i found almost hypnotic and haunting in its execution, Stromae - quand c'est? A music video about Cancer and who and when it will strike. Along with its tragic topic the acting of the singer responding to the haunting and twisting vfx was chilling and i just found myself fascinated by it.
Finally i had the opportunity to see the Red Turtle which was a collaborative film between Studio Ghibli animators and dutch animators. The movie was for the most part silent but left a huge impact and left us discussing the film afterwards. There were questions on if the character was experiencing a dream or hallucinating, if it really was a magic giant red turtle that turned into a woman or if he just had sex with a turtle corpse who knows! Personally i agree with the first statement but would like to believe the second, call me a romantic. I loved the simple style and the muted tones left it looking flat but it had perfect perspective and depth with the island and world being rendered beautifully.
Overall i felt i got more out of this years MAF than i did last year which was spent just watching shorts.
While there I was able to gain the opportunity to meet and talk with Paul Wells. An author on animation script writing and the study of it. I was able to get the opportunity to talk to him for about half an hour on script writing and how to improve my writing skills. as well as Paul Wells I gained the chance to talk to Joanna Quinn briefly as well to talk about how she goes about character design. I was really nervous because of how well known they are but they were both really nice people to talk to and helped me pin down more of an idea of what i want to do with my animations and character.
I was also lucky enough to have my first experience with VR with Blue Zoos VR film. They advertised it as a film rather than a game. It definitely told a story, however I felt it would still be classified as a game because of the base principles between movies and games, the interactivity. I feel the moment you give an audience the capabilities to interact, no matter how planned out you have it, you've made a game. Films aim at being a non interactive medium while games aim to be interactive. I did needless to say really enjoy the VR, it was incredibly surreal and it makes me excited for how it can be used in the future.
Of the masterclasses and documentaries i saw, two stood out for me: The making of Ethel and Ernest, and Floyd Norman an animated life. Ethel and Ernest is a british feature length 2d animated movie based on the book of the same name by Raymond Briggs where the production team went through the process of recreating Briggs unique and textured pencil style. They showed the final scene as well as the progression of the characters ageing and in the final scene shown I found the characters to be incredibly real and hit very close to home as they reminded me of my own grandparents so much. On the animation side of it, it was just pleasing and enjoyable to see 2D animation be used for a full feature length movie. The Floyd Norman documentary covered the life of the Disney animation Veteran and his life as Disneys first person of colour employee. It was really nice to watch the film covering the development of his career and work as well as seeing what his life at Walt Disney studios was like. I just enjoyed for once seeing the studio be presented as a positive place rather than hearing people go on about the corporate side of it but the actual production and animation studio.
Of the short films there was only really one that i found almost hypnotic and haunting in its execution, Stromae - quand c'est? A music video about Cancer and who and when it will strike. Along with its tragic topic the acting of the singer responding to the haunting and twisting vfx was chilling and i just found myself fascinated by it.
Finally i had the opportunity to see the Red Turtle which was a collaborative film between Studio Ghibli animators and dutch animators. The movie was for the most part silent but left a huge impact and left us discussing the film afterwards. There were questions on if the character was experiencing a dream or hallucinating, if it really was a magic giant red turtle that turned into a woman or if he just had sex with a turtle corpse who knows! Personally i agree with the first statement but would like to believe the second, call me a romantic. I loved the simple style and the muted tones left it looking flat but it had perfect perspective and depth with the island and world being rendered beautifully.
Overall i felt i got more out of this years MAF than i did last year which was spent just watching shorts.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)