The Motion Juste: BAF 08

Three animation producers took part in the panel discussion chaired by Professor Paul Wells (Animation Academy, Loughborough University) about producing animation.

They were Melanie Hani, independent producer and Programme Leader for Animation and Design at the University of Sunderland, Jo Allen, producer for Aardman Animation and Jackie Edwards, producer of “Frankenstein’s cat” TV series for children.

The producer’s tasks, as they explained, are listening to the production crew and the client, developing production systems that are both efficient and cost effective, solving problems, supporting creatively the director, developing a network of contacts, hiring the appropriate staff, seeking funding, considering tax efficiency, overseeing the development to postproduction, aiming to bring the film in on a budget and within the timescale and considering legal contracts.

The stages in their work are finding an idea and considering its merchandising opportunities, target audiences, output, technique, cost of production, uniqueness and attractiveness, then researching trends and the market, raising the necessary funds, commissioning the writers, securing the rights, organising and controlling the budget, staff and schedules, allocating resources and space, meeting with the directors and clients and making sure the finished production is on budget. Finally, they deliver the production to distributors, take it to festivals or try to make a second part if the production is a series.

Next that morning, Fernando Galrito, Portuguese director and lecturer, presented a series of Portuguese, award winning short films.

I noticed that they generally offered sensitive, mature storylines and issues and thoughtful approaches and I liked that. That’s probably because this view of life matches my character better than the comical, anecdotal visions raised by other productions. It does not mean at all that I don’t like these lighter stories, but I admit I usually tend to approach my own creation processes with a reflective attitude.

The ones I liked most were “Story of the Cat and the Moon”, by Pedro Serrazina, “Tragic story with a happy ending”, by Regina Pessoa, and Nuno Amorim’s “All steps”.

I already knew the two first, and I like their black and white 2D animation style. They both play with moving perspectives and cameras following the characters, which is some of the most difficult things to achieve in traditional animation, from my point of view. But they do that so smoothly that you feel there are actually cameras tracking the movement.

Their drawing styles are quite different. The story of the cat and the moon doesn’t have textures, though it uses light and shadow a lot and this camera movement to bring the objects and characters to life. The games of contrast between the black and the white figures create beautiful images as seducing as the off voice that poetically recounts the cat’s feelings in the first person.

Regina’s story, on the contrary, has texture and detail in its drawings, which look like engravings. She works the creases and volumes with black and white gradations and lines. It also has more characters and their designs are very particular.

What I liked about Nuno Amorim’s short was that is showed the making of the drawings, from first several quick black lines to the addition of some colour. Thus he represents how sketches from a past summer turn into a film of memories and nostalgia for the presence of the other. I’d like to see it again, but I haven’t been able to find it on the Internet, and the same happens with “Candide”, by Zepe (José Pedro Cavalheiro). I remember its original obese designs and how the character of the woman was always presented in oppressive short close-ups that never allowed to see her face.

To close this post about Portuguese animation, I want to leave a suggestion. If you haven’t seen yet José Miguel Ribeiro’s “A suspeita”, now is the time to do it. Click here!

The second day of the festival started with the Films for children selection. Amongst them was one of the few, if not the only one, Spanish short film of the festival, "Cuento de la C" ("The C tale"), by Carlos Navarro. Pitifully, I didn’t like it very much.

My favourite one was the 3D short “The Curse of Skull Rock”, by Ben Smith, about three pirates looking for a cursed treasure. The plot isn’t quite original, but the characters are well defined and animated. It takes every single detail into account, like the constant rolling of the boat on the water and enhancing its crew’s movements, and some funny ones, like the toilet sign or the handbreak.

The textures and lightning of the figures are very well done and elaborate, and the sea is convincingly recreated. The characters design is kind of cartoon-like, as the exaggeration of their movements, accordingly to the general spirit of the film.

The next screening was about commercials and TV series. I’ve seen the Sony Bravia spot many times but I still love it every time I watch it. The delicacy of the plasticine figures invading the streets of Manhattan makes you forget about the amazing fact that this master piece of commercials became real thanks to 40 animators working with 200 bunnies made of 2.5 tones of plasticine and repositioning them in 2 minutes to shot frame after frame.

As must-see as the final commercial is the making of it, which you can see here.

And there are other Sony Bravia beautiful spots you should see, like the one with the bouncing balls or the paint explosions.

The Creation Museum commercial was also nice. I think it’s done digitally imitating the cut-out technique. I especially love the design of the tree of Eden and the general colour of the spot.

In my opinion, the Student Films selection was one of the best screenings. I had seen it on the first day at the festival and I was delighted to be able to enjoy it again on the third day since there weren’t other projections at that same time.

My favourite ones were two French productions: “Sur le fil” (Razor edge), by Benjamin Dupoy, and "Seconde classe”, by Boris Belghiti.

Benjamin Dupoy shows how an inmate escapes from prison thanks to a very handy spider, and the action is greatly backed up by a song composed by the same Benjamin.

I love how “Sur le fil” plays with the thin, simple, flexible lines, which have so much power they create spaces and perspectives with just a few strokes. They also suggest light when turning from black to white when the character walks from the shadows into the light. They keep transforming themselves, creating transitions inside the same scene, and they are often related to the sound of the guitar; for instance, when the spider pinches its thread, the guitar plucks, or when the prisoner slides down the thread rope, the instrument slides too.
The backgrounds are clear and geometric, coloured with watercolours, I guess, so they aren’t too flat, and they represent the shadows and lights in a very simple still effective way.
Finally, the lively rhythm of the song goes along very well with the one of the animation.

“Seconde classe” is a 2D story about a man travelling by train who desperately wants to get some sleep but… what about the typical passenger who talks hysterically on the mobile phone? That hyperactive child running up and down the aisles? Not to mention the fat guy sitting next to you and occupying half your seat. Obviously, anyone would eventually lose their cool…
I really liked this short film partly because of how it turns a common annoying situation into a funny one. The characters design is exaggerated and fun, getting on very well with the story’s sense of humour. The backgrounds are elaborate and the artist has successfully used varied shots that emphasize the humour and exaggeration of the situations.

Later that day I went to the Short, short films and music videos projection. The music video I liked most was “La chambre renversée”, for a song by the French Julien Ribot. Besides liking the song I enjoyed the 2D simplistic animation, which was sometimes just based on black lines over a white background and then some subdued colour was added, probably crayons. I found the colouring especially nice on the fishes and birds. Also, the design of some of these magical creatures reminded me of Hayao Miyazaki’s designs for some of his films, like the kodamas from “Mononoke Hime” or the kaonashi from “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (“Spirited Away”).

On the other hand, though, I think it sometimes made excessive use of the long shots and the parallel camera. Using more varied and playful shots would have made a good contribution to the dreamlike atmosphere of the character’s odyssey.

A very important fact to appreciate in this kind of productions is the interrelation between the music and the video, and the animator took this sensibly into account, for instance, in the moment when the music becomes a bit muted and delicate piano chords dominate the theme. Then the character is made to fall into the sea, so the sounds are hollow and distorted.

I also liked One Eskimo’s music video for “Hometime”, though not quite because of its animation but for the ambience created between the song and the simple, soft colours and characters design.

From the Short, short films I remember I liked “The Weatherman”, by Will Becher, from the UK. It is made with clay animation and shows a weatherman’s life and the mishaps he suffers when his weather machine breaks down. It was enjoyable and nicely backed up with Ennio Morricone’s theme from “My name is Nobody”.

From 12th to 15th November 2008 I attended the 15th Bradford Animation Festival, which I enjoyed a lot. I will dedicate the first posts of my Personal Development Planning to write a review of what I’ve seen, felt and thought about the screenings.