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2D or not 2D - what is your question?

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:24:19 +0100

Award-winning director, animator and author Tony White regularly answers student questions on animation in Imagine magazine. Here's his latest.

➔ Can you say something about ‘weight’ in animation? It is not dealt with much in books.
The creation of weight in animation is something that is a challenge to most animators. Weight is not an easy quality to define but there are essential, core rules and principles we can add to your animation which make everything you do more convincing.
There is not a lot of space to cover everything here but let us at least consider a few of them. Fig 01.

Submissions Now Open for The Great Animation Challenge 2010

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:33:17 +0100

This summer animators in Birmingham and beyond are being challenged to animate their own short to one of several comedy clips by established comics such as Joey Page, Markus Birdman and Ian Cognito.

The Great Animation Challenge, a yearly contest for up and coming animators run by Animation Forum West Midlands and Wolverhampton’s Flip Animation Festival, will be awarding an Apple or Adobe-accredited training course at NTI Birmingham (subject to AFWM being successful in its funding application) to the animator behind the best short.

SS Great Britain

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:19:24 +0100

A new animation tells the story of the salvage of Brunel's great ship, the SS Great Britain.The Incredible Journey is told in three parts - the salvage, the voyage on a pontoon across the Atlantic Ocean, and the triumphant Bristol homecoming.
The film, created by animators from The University of the West of England, will form the centrepiece of the vessel's 40th homecoming anniversary celebrations, which open on 17th July in Bristol.

Cartoon d'Or Shortlist

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:59:02 +0100

Five short films from France, UK, Norway, Sweden and Estonia, will compete for the Cartoon d'Or 2010, the pan-European award for the best animated short film of the year.

The finalists for this award were chosen among 29 prizewinning films from Europe's most prestigious animation festivals over the past year. Competition for the Cartoon d'Or is limited to winners of awards from one of these festivals.

The jury composed of directors Joanna Quinn (UK) and Géza M. Tóth (Hungary), and producer Valérie Schermann (France), have nominated the following films:

Academy: No Mo-Co

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:04:12 +0100

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have clarified their position on motion-capture, saying that it in itself does not constitute animation or make a film eligible for consideration in an Oscar animation category.

In a press release the Oscar management said:

"In the Animated Feature Film category, a sentence regarding motion capture was added to clarify the definition of an animated film. The language now reads: "An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of greater than 40 minutes, in which movement and characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique.

Workers Urged to Directly Shape Creative Media Industries

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:51:32 +0100

Employers and workers are being asked to help Skillset shape the future of the sector by taking part in the largest consultation of the Creative Media Industries.

The 2010 Creative Media Workforce and Employer Surveys will help Skillset to provide the most comprehensive profile of working life in the UK's Creative Media Industries. They will also provide an assessment of how the industry is faring in the current global economic climate.

Those taking part will be asked about their skills needs, experience of training and recruitment, future plans and working patterns. Findings will be used to directly inform Skillset’s ongoing work with the Creative Media Industries – and make sure they remain a world leader.

Holland Animation Film Festival Last Call for Entries

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:34:40 +0100

The Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF) has issued its final call for entries for its 2010 event. Deadline for entries is 15 July 2010. Deadline entries in competition features category is 1 August 2010.
Categories include: international competition for features, competition for European student films, competition shorts, commercials, music videos, educational and information films, station calls and leaders.

To apply and find out more see www.haff.nl.

Harryhausen Pledges His Life’s Work to the National Media Museum

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:30:18 +0100

On the day of Ray Harryhausen’s 90th birthday, at the official opening of the exhibition "Ray Harryhausen - Myths and Legends" at the London Film Museum, the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation has announced its intention to deposit the Collection of the life’s work of celebrated special effects animator Ray Harryhausen at the National Media Museum in Bradford, UK.

The Ray Harryhausen Collection contains most of the material connected with the conceptualisation and realisation of his films – such as drawings, paintings and storyboards, together with his animation models and the original moulds used to make them. Examples include the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts and the Medusa and the Kraken from Clash of the Titans. The Collection also includes rare work by the pioneer special effects designer Willis O’Brien (1886-1962), the creator of King Kong, with whom Harryhausen worked early in his career and who was a major influence.

Cartoon Forum 2010

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:18:51 +0100

Animation producers from across Europe will present their latest projects at the next edition of Cartoon Forum, the platform to boost the co-production and distribution of European animation for television that will celebrate its 21st edition from 14 to 17 September in Sopron, Hungary. This will be the first time that the event is held in a new EU country since its creation in 1990.

British animation will play a leading role at the event, reflecting the UK animation industry's current strong momentum and its influence on the rest of Europe. British companies presented 7 of the 63 projects selected (and 2 others in co-production), tying it with host country Hungary for second place behind France with 20 projects.

Dolby Acer Imagine Animation Comp

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:38:54 +0100

Imagine has joined forces with leading technology supplier Acer and audio experts Dolby to bring you an exciting prize competition for the summer.

Dolby and Acer have secured a track from the stunning new Faithless album ‘The Dance’, and they want you to develop a piece of inspired animation to illustrate a specially prepared segment of the track, which has also been remixed in Dolby 7.1 surround sound.

Submissions can be submitted in any style or technique of animation. They must not be longer than 30 seconds. The winner will be the animation which, in the opinion of the judges, provides the best interpretation of the Faithless track, and as your reward, you will pick up a stunning prize. This includes a fabulous new Acer Aspire Ethos high performance HD notebook which comes complete with Dolby Home Theater for a first class surround sound audio experience. Your animation will also be used by Acer and Dolby for demonstration purposes around Europe, while you will get your own exclusive red carpet screening to show off your animation to a VIP audience.

Impossible Kids starts production on Buzz & Tell

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:37:22 +0100

Impossible Kids has commenced production on its new pre-school show, Buzz & Tell, for CBeebies, and BBC Worldwide’s international CBeebies channels.

Described by shoe creator Jon Doyle, as, “a pre-school University Challenge with glove puppets,” Buzz & Tell is a madcap quiz show featuring a walrus, called Walter Flipstick, as the host and a cavalcade of contestants, including a mouse called Charles Cheese and an orangutan called Orange Bernard.

“We wanted to create a very funny and active show for pre-school viewers and realised that the quiz show format with its inherent audience participation would be perfect for the targeted age range,” says Doyle. “We’ve created ten wonderfully silly puppet characters and a quiz show host who will be filmed in a computer generated studio with all the lights, music and buzzes you’d associate with quiz shows through the years. The accent is on fun and giving children the chance to shout out the right answers.”

Annecy Awards

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:37:29 +0100

Fantastic Mr. Fox won the Best Feature and Audience Award at the 34th edition of the Annecy Animation Film Festival, which came to a close on Saturday.
Dominique Monfery's Eleanor's Secret, by France's Gaumont Alphanim, won a special distinction nod.
The Little Boy and the Beast from Germany's Jonannes Weiland and Uwe Heidschotter, won best TV production.
Annecy's special award for a TV series went to Michel Ocelot's Le Garcon qui ne mentait jamais, a fairy tale which using silhouette shadow animation and cut-out puppets, which forms part of the Ocelot's "Dragons and Princesses" skein, made for France's Canal Plus.

Onedotzero Call for Entries

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:04:06 +0100

onedotzero_adventures in motion is one of the longest-running, dedicated digital short film festivals in the world. Over fourteen years the programme has expanded to embrace a wide range of digital motion arts and is acclaimed by artists, audiences and creative industries alike for providing a platform to explore new ideas and innovation through curated compilation screenings, features, exhibitions, live av performances, club nights, presentations and panel discussions.

They are currently seeking innovative short films, installations, interactive work and live audiovisual performances to showcase at the BFI Southbank, London, UK, 10-14 November 2010. The five-day festival is the first stop on onedotzero's extensive worldwide network of events.

Thundercats Ho

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:36:33 +0100

Warner Bros. Animation has begun production on ThunderCats, an all-new animated series for Cartoon Network, based upon the 80s classic. The announcement was made by Sam Register, Executive Vice President at Warner Bros.

“In addition to being Warner Bros. Animation’s first anime series, ‘ThunderCats’ marks our most ambitious foray yet into fantasy,” said Register. “The realism and dynamic visual style we’ve achieved are sure to thrill viewers, and the cool weapons, vehicles and technology should help the show appeal to a diverse audience.”

Save UK Animation

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:11:53 +0100

Influential figures within UK animation have announced the formation of Save UK Animation, a campaign designed to lobby the new coalition government tax breaks similar to those already available to the film industry and to animation industries abroad.
This follows last week’s news that Wenlock and Mandeville, the mascots for the London 2012 Olympics, were produced in China.
Animators including Blue Zoo Productions, Chapman Entertainment, Nickelodeon UK, Aardman, and HIT entertainment, will launch Save UK Animation in order to lobby ahead of the coalition government's emergency budget on 22 June.