Animation in Process, by Andrew Selby

With 'Animation in Process', by Andrew Selby, i was able to look at a few artists work and how they went from character design to character animation in their productions.

Pages 46-51
Motomichi Nakamura created a 3 minute animation in 2006 for a music video called 'We Share Our Mother's Health'. The song is performed by the band The Knife.

What is your own personal definition of animation?
It's one more way for visual artists to communicate ideas.

Motomichi created this animation with influences from the meanings within the song. He felt anger and pain from it, so he used these emotions in his concepts. For this project, he took on the roles of character designer, animator and director, because of his huge interest in being a part of the different stages and roles in the process. He started by imagining the key frames of the animation, before developing characters. He was involved in every part of the animation, which was created in flash 8.

What inspired me about reading this interview was his inspiration to be a part of both the design and the animation process, which i myself feel torn between.


Pages 60-67
Jerome Dernoncourt, Corentin Laplatte and Samuel Deroubaix created 'an animated triumph' in 2006 called 'Once Upon a Time'. The animation features steam-powered transportation and unlikely heroes in a largely black and white western setting.

What is your own personal definition of animation?
For me, animation like every other form of art, must convey emotions. Animation is no different to live-action movies in many respects, although we have far more creative license! We can create universes that can be either singular or complex with fewer means.

The animation features modern 3D CGI as well as primitive cut paper animation, as well as elements of live-action. 'Our characters are swept along by the action more than they create it.' In preparation for creating this film, the team immersed themselves in the genre, with a supply of visual references in the form of film shots, backgrounds, soundtracks. They experimented with the blending of animation techniques , using a hands-on approach to their development. They created a 3D animatic in order to correctly work out the pacing of the animation.

The juxtaposition of so many different elements in one animation is what makes this project interesting. They are apart, yet they fit together so well.


Pages 106-109
Also in 2006, Smith & Foulkes created a feelgood film for 'Coca-Cola Videogame', a game showcasing the brand. The game seems like your typical Grand Theft Auto style, until the tough exterior of the main character is changed by the magic of coke. Oh yes.

What is your own personal definition of animation?
We started off editing together bits of live-action footage with graphic elements along with more traditional drawn animation. To us it's about how to get the idea across, no matter what the technique. Animation is more the composite of all these, used to tell a story. When we write a script, for example, we focus on the ideas first, then when that works we might say 'Why don't we make the main character a puppet?' or 'Can we reduce the environment down to a single sketchy line?' That's why each of our jobs tends to be different from each other.

The main idea behind the animation was visualising the difference between good and bad by the difference between a restricted colour palette and full colour, with the product acting as the trigger. To help with the choreography, they hired a professional, to help with the big dancing scene in the animation. Timing was crucial.

What i find inspiring is their attitude towards their work. "We are as much influenced by trash TV as by High Art. As far as the animation industry goes, there are lots of great people making reat work, more so now because the easier access to technology has democratized the industry. You just have to make sure that you are doing the work the way you want to do it, rather than be distracted by others... You also just need to do stuff over and over again until it looks just right - if you're directing then your main skill is knowing when it looks just right." As well as the visual awesomeness of their game they produced, of course.


Pages 126-131
Also in 2006, Bafta award-winning Suzie Templeton created a half-hour long animation adaption of Peter and the Wolf. The film has a strong visual ambience, as well as a strong orchestral soundtrack. Because the film was an adaptation of an original story, she was cautious at first about the project, but was quickly filled with creative desire. The film was made as a stop motion animation, with sculpture models yet the animatic was created in autodesk maya. This project was much larger than the others i have looked at, with a crew of almost 200 people, all speaking various different languages.

What i take away from studying how this animation was made is the visual style, the production design, and how everything fits into place. The characters and the environments match the dark, gritty style of the story perfectly.


Suggested Reading:

Beck, J. Animation Art. London: Flame Tree Publishing Co. 2004.
Beckerman, H. Animation; The Whole Story. New York: Allworth Press. 2004.
Brophy, P. (ed). Kaboom!: Explosive Animation from Japan and America. Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art. 1994.
Bryman, A. Disney and His Worlds. London and New York: Routledge. 1995.
Byrne, E. & McQuillan, M. Deconstructing Disney. London and Sterling: Pluto Press. 1999.
Canemaker, J. (ed). Storytelling in Animation. Los Angeles: AFI. 1988.
Hoffer, T. Animation: A Reference Guide. Westport, Conn: Greenwood. 1981.
Roberts, S. Character Animation in 3D. Boston & Oxford: Focal Press. 2004.
Segar, L. Creating Unforgettable Characters. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1990.

Web Links:

www.animationarchive.org
www.animateonline.org
www.pelleas.net/aniTOP
www.aec.at/en/index.asp
asfarastheeyecansee.blogspot.com
asita.net/
www.awn.com
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/animation
www.cartoonbrew.com
www.centerforvisualmusic.org/index.html
coldhardflash.com
www.dataisnature.com
www.directorsnotes.com
drawn.ca
www.experimenta.org
feed.stashmedia.tv
www.fousdanim.org
www.fpsmagazine.com/blog/index.php
hydrocephalicbunny.blogspot.com
infosthetics.com
www.iotacenter.org
www.isea-web.org/eng/index.html
www.iewub.com
www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/M/mesh
motionographer.com
www.neyral.it
www.neurastenia.blogger.com.br
www.nfb.ca/splash/splash.php
dekku.blogspot.com
www.sat.qc.ca
gertie.animationstudies.org
www.stopmotionanimation.com
animationpodcast.com
www.year01.com