The Lost Thing based on a book by Shaun Tan

This post originally went up in September 2010 and was re-posted in January 2011. In January the news was that "The Lost Thing" has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Well it won.

The achievement deserves a re-posting of this article among the other things like a gold statuette.

Artworks is a good place to point one's ears. Today they talked about Shaun Tan. He is an illustrator and story teller.

Shaun Tan, like Tim Minchin (who voices the film) and author Tim Winton, are from Perth, Western Australia. So am I. So my ears get particularly crinkled when the limestone dust and salt is stirred in my soul. Shaun now lives in Melbourne.

The Artworks program reminded me of an email that I had from Michelle earlier in the year with reports of Australian animation success at the 2010 Annecy Festival. Animators will note that Michelle talks about Passion Pictures in the UK on her blog. They develop the Gorrilaz music video clips. They also co-produced "The Lost Thing" with Screen Australia.

There is an interesting post and link to a video interview on the Ozanimate site about Shaun and the success at Annecy.

Which brings us back to Shaun Tan and the film "The Lost Thing" animated by Leo Baker

• June 2010: Cristal Award for Best Short Film at the 34th Annecy International Animation Festival - the world's largest animation festival, in Annecy, France.
• June 2010: Best short animated film at the 57th Sydney International Film Festival
• August 2010: 'Best Short' (not best animated film!) award at the Melbourne International Film Festival
• February 2011: Academy Award, Best Animated Short

I'll hand it over to you to research some more. Second years may find it interesting how Shaun presents himself online with the design of his web site. How many EAPS did you count in that animation trailer?

The Illusionist - Sylvain Chomet

In November Brisbane animators were lucky enough to have Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist screen at the Brisbane International Film Festival. "A small, hand-crafted masterpiece." (Xan Brooks, The Guardian UK - click the link - Is 2D hand-drawn animation a dying art?)

A number of animators had been posting about the film with associated video clips (Michelle, Will). Cassie organised a sketchcrawl to the screening where Zade, Jack, Rachel, Cassie and I settled in to a wonderful animation film experience.

It was great to see animators, who I have met and by whom I had been tutored, named in the film credits.

(Gobelins Summer School 2009: Dripha, Liane-Cho and some big scary guy)

After the film, Rachel pointed me to Lian-Cho's blog where he posted some of his pencil tests (below). Thanks Rachel.

Running Out of Time? Animate the Eyes

The second years are in the final weeks of animation production. Actually they should be in animation post production now. But there is always time for a bit more polish and then a re-render.

At the start of semester the class spent some time looking at eye animation as part of facial animation. We studied blinks and eye darts in relation to a character appearing alive and thinking. We discussed the importance of eye shapes and eye brow shapes as recognisable forms of expression.

Importantly we discussed that audiences look at the eyes of our characters. They look for subtext in the eye animation, emotional triggers in the eye and eyebrow shapes. Audiences look to where characters look, which is important for the animation principle of staging (yes, I had to sneak an animation principle in there).

There is a post over on Pete Emslie's The Cartoon Cave blog that talks about eye direction. It also links to John K's blog post about character design, if anyone is into exploring. I found it via Alonso's Monotreme Dreams blog.

Pete writes, As it happens, I've just lectured about the design and function in drawing eyes as part of my Character Design class at Sheridan this past week, so I'd like to offer my thoughts on that subject in regard to this particular still from the Disney film...

But all that is just 'lkhqgfwqrfgygyiggcgfgkvsd' during the CRUNCH!

Hopefully there is a little voice in the animator's zombified brains tweeting, "Running out of time? Animate the eyes!"

Jacaranda sky paint and thunder storms

Jacaranda bloom and thunder storms herald the "crunch". The time of year leading up to handing in the final, major project.

Movie Trailer - A Major Project Option

This just in from Alice in 2nd year:

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The second year animators have been planning and animating their major projects for at least 10 weeks. The learning curve is as steep as the Y spline in a ball bounce. Some ideas for grand narratives are trimming down in the quest for good quality animation.

Today the animators researched some of the productions from other animation students (the northern hemisphere students present their work mid year). The results were eye popping and have to be shared. It was an excellent research session.

The clips below come from research done by Al.

When a narrative project is trimmed to the bare essentials it can still make a very satisfying "movie trailer". A movie trailer has the same amount of animation as a standard animation demo reel but carries the extra zing of context. In a movie trailer a character has a reason to run, jump, yawn, laugh, push, kick.

Here are some clips from some French animators. They were students but left school to pusue their project their own way. At school they would have worked in teams to produce the clips that run for under a minute. Check out the links from the clips on Vimeo to the planning blogs and check out the artwork and planning done by each animator.

I wonder, if in 2011, we might make the major projects in teams? See this post on Cartoon Brew.

What happens next year? Paris or pizza?

No matter where you plan to go or what you plan to do, keep animating, improving your skills, sketching your ideas and updating your reel.

Today in class some second years were outlining their plans for after they graduate.

The conversation took us down the path of further study. As compared to employment, work experience, or freeing your lance and chasing the festival circuit to build a reputation.

Be creative. Sometimes it takes some thinking. Consider getting a job as a pizza delivery person, as long as you are delivering pizza to the animators at the studio at which you wish to work. There is an animator, in our very building at SBIT, who tells the tale of applying for a parking attendant job at a studio and eventually animating on a feature film.

Two animators are currently in the articulation process to the Griffith University animation course. Four others are looking at a further year of study. One animator has done an interstate research trip and met some people. One student expressed a wish to study at Ringling College in the USA.

Last week a first year animator was mapping out their student path and we gathered some information about links to the Queensland University of Technology animation course. In that discussion animators were encouraged to research a 'summer school' somewhere, with my preference being, arguably the best animation school in the world, besides the Southbank Institute of Technology, Gobelins in Paris (from personal experience).

One of the second year animators expressed an interest at studying at Gobelins. My first bit of advice is to start learning French. If an animator can produce a good reel of student work, they may get accepted to attend the Gobelins summer school, which happens in our long mid-year break. Summer in Paris. It needs some planning and saving. The summer school may lead further to an invitation to apply for the Gobelins animation course.

Here is Eric Riewer, head of international relations at Gobelins, talking about what makes a good student film (and the Gobelins school demonstrate annually that they know about that) and how animators are selected for the school.

Simplicity

The illustrations above are by Bryan Ballinger. Bryan has a university degree in illustration. He is also a professor of Digital Media Arts at Huntington University in Indiana USA. So the intro should actually read as Prof. Bryan Ballinger. Why is he drawing like that and what has it got to do with animation?

The more we study animation the more we understand that it takes a lot of work to make simplicity look good. Or does it?

It might just be a matter of practice. Well, yes, it is a matter of practice. A simple practise based in fun and free sketching. Simplicity, like animation, is learnt in the doing. Sometimes burdening a course of study with the term "hard work" too much, too often, sucks the fun out of things.

By setting our ruff feet firmly on a foundation of the 13 principles of animation, an animation student gets the secrets to making a simple character animate with Appeal (well, c'mon, if I'm going to be constantly juggling 13 Animation Principles, eventually I have to drop one... into a blog post).

The first years just handed in a 2D character animation. A few of them discovered the power of simplicity as an animation tool. The second years are wrestling with their major projects and some are learning that planning for simplicity in design may have allowed a bigger sleep budget in the production schedule.

The end result is that as animators we should get out our simplicity and exercise it.

Here is a blog post entitled "Exercising my Simplicity" on Breadwig that some of the drawing, sketching, illustrating animators may enjoy? (and the self assigned* non-drawers may find a spark of inspiration). Also check out bryanballinger.com .

I found Breadwig via Keith Lango's blog. The simplicity theme is inspired by Simon's Cat, Alexeev's Forest Trio, and Cameron Miyazaki's balls. *I believe everyone can draw.

Act It Out - Animation Preproduction Planning

In 2009 I made a post about "Acting It Out"! That post features a video clip of the great Ian Lacey passionately delivering a message to animation students. The message is still relevant (even though we have phones these days that drive your car and make morning coffee).

Actually I have a blog post label over on the side there called "planning". There is also one screaming "Act it Out". There is some interesting information under those links. Just for the 'hey' of it I'll say it again, planning. Hey!

Animators are a good looking bunch of bananas.

Animators act out an animation sequence to get ideas on timing (an animation principle), posing and a variety of acting choices.

But there is another reason why animation students should act it out. Have you ever seen an animator's brain explode? Sometimes it can be messy. Really messy. All that pressure builds up and BOUMPLATHFF! Hopefully just a little puff of steam comes out of the ears and the head bumps noisily on the desk. Sometimes it's a volcanic Vesuvius of ideas vomit. Not pretty. It happens to animators who think that animation is created at a computer.

Acting it out gets the animation out of the brain and into the body. Acting it out gets it out of the migraine and onto video reference tape. It gets it out of the brain where it is a swirling fog and into ruff marks on paper.

Stay pretty. Act it out.

This post is brought to you by the animation student who... 3 weeks into semester, 3 weeks into a new animation project, where we are: working through brainstorming; thumbnailing ideas; storyboarding; acting it out and collecting video reference; ruffing out sketches; recreating, critiquing and improving key, story telling, golden poses... after one of my lectures about animation being created in the planning, while looking longingly at a computer, asked, "Are we going to do some animation today?"

People, we are animating every day. I guess the beauty is that some of us don't realise it.

The clip below is an exercise in finding key poses from Acting It Out and taking video reference. The first years are animating some dialogue of Jack Black from the film "School of Rock". There are some ripper poses in this example. The animators have been AfterEffected to protect their identities from the paparazzi. With a bit of exaggeration (an animation principle), there is potential for some rockin' animation!

The teacher character's dialogue in this clip is anathema to the actual teaching of animation going on in class. It's text! We see through the skin of text to the core of subtext. It's an animator's superpower - animator's eyes! Narrative x-ray vision!

Create Every Day - Pascal Campion

Sarah M in 2nd year is attempting to post on her student blog as much as possible. Sketches, observations, comments, ruff animation tests. I'd like to think her blog posts, and any other animator attempting to improve by getting their work up, would be peppered with comments and constructive critiques from our animation course community.

I was watching this clip (below) and thought, "Gee, it would be great if all my students watched and listened to this inspirational artist."

Eyes ~ Derriman - "Pop!" ~ Annecy

Look at the eyes. Look at the eye-eees! Up there by Bernard Derriman^ , down there by spaghetti mixed with western*. "It's all in the eyes" (a link to an educational animation lecture... no, it is not one of mine... so go there and check it out!)



If eye darts could kill, that clip would be regarded as one of the biggest on-screen massacres in film making history!

Oh, and an animated music clip that brings together some themes bubbling through the animation studios recently.

Field trip to Annecy 2011 anyone?

*If the First Year Stop Mo' Crew are feeling left out, here is a special Spaghetti Western for you.

^(Thanks Michelle for your email trail to this clip)

Blake Rig - How to drive the hands

Animator's Question:

I am unable to animate Blake's hands intuitively using the mouse and instead am forced to use the attribute editor to get his fingers to move. It won't let me select his digits with the mouse.

Is it something to do with a mode he is put it? I think the modes are called "FK - IK" however I can't find a way to switch them or any reference to them in "How to Cheat in Maya".

Do you know how to change these modes and if it will achieve the desired effect?

Dragonboy The Movie

This 2010 masters thesis project/ short film is produced in association with the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The film web site: http://www.dragonboythemovie.com/

Of particular interest to second years would be to research the individual animators' web sites and how they present themselves to the industry. You can easily tell, as can potential employers, that these animators are strongly presenting themselves. Two of them use professional looking blogs (as we discussed in class this week).

Film found over on Avner Engel's online workbook. He is an Australian animator currently studying at AnimationMentor.

It is our first week back at animation school and the second years have been looking more closely at some eye animation. Check out the blinks and eye darts in this film. Note how they enhance the character interaction and the energy and emotion in the film.

Remember when watching any animation: "Once for entertainment, once for thinking, once for critiquing*, then start studying the detail." (*transfer thoughts to written words)

Animating to Music

Appealing character design. Appealing movement in cycles (because music is cyclic). Then hit those beats with some groovy poses. That is animating to music.



Undisputed best animation ever

22 minutes worth watching

I found this clip (and Vimeo channel) via an animation forum post at the 11 Second Club. It has information about getting into the animation industry.

Small Bird Flying Cycle - Don Bluth

I like this clip because Don talks about the animation principle of "Slow-In and Slow-Out", or as we may say in the studio, "Ease-In and Ease Out". He is talking about the spacing of the animation of the wings.

How about trying this 4 drawing cycle (on twos) and test it out with a line test or three?

Xray Vision - Annika Bergström

This is an interview with Annika Bergström, the Swedish animator who also wrote and performed the song*. Annika animated in Flash but had a mixed media approach that blended quite nicely (I thought) to create this narrative/music video.

Second years are working on their major project narratives and will have a music video assignment to work on in Jane's classes as well. I hope this clip may provide some inspiration.

Check out all the quiet moments that rely on 'camera movement' and 'idle' animation or FX cycles.

"It's just a little story describing one of life's lonely moments. There's a girl walking through an empty town, I think she's sort of isolated in her world. To her the real world just shines through in fast glimpses sometimes. There's not really a correct interpretation of it, it's a simple story."



* The second years are lucky they have music and audio students to work with.

Stop mOtion/ Time LApse Music Video

One of the first things students animate is 'the flight of a bumble bee'. The flight of the bumble bee is also a piece of orchestral music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1899).

I have noted with curiosity some 2nd years attempting musical composition on the eukalali. Music is a close relative to animation, with beats, timing, spacing, narrative and arcs.

It might be blurring the borders a bit here but I found this time lapse / stop mo' music clip quite interesting to watch as it also gives an insight into the film/music maker's process.

Listen carefully for the performer's motivation in the final part of the clip.

Toy Story 3 - Mid-year Animation Field Trip

To whet the taste buds for our animation field trip planned for Thursday...



I like the way Pixar include an animated short film with the feature film.

A comment about the feature film in the comments. Check it out after you see the film.

Inspire - How does your showreel compare?

I was at 2nd year Cassie's blog watching Joker and Batman dolls in some awesome stop mo' breakdance battles. Then I saw Bruce Lee fighting Ironman. So I researched the director/animator Patrick Boivin and found his Vimeo channel and 2009 showreel.

Getting a Flash AVI

When animating in Flash it can be sometimes frustrating, sometimes challenging, always interesting to try and export a good quality AVI (video clip).

Exporting an image sequence and then recombining the frames in post production software (VirtualDub, to build the AVI; Premiere or AfterEffects, to add the audio and editing) will produce the best result.

This animation tip may be handy for the second years animating in Flash.

Sometimes AVIs exported from Flash have unwanted junk pixels appear in the render. Exporting an image sequence is a way to beat this problem.