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.
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