D23: Day 1- The Golden Age of Disney Animation

In addition to attending SIGGRAPH, I was also lucky enough to go to a D23 weekend celebrating 75 years of Disney animation. I was really surprised to find that although many of the attendees were not necessarily a part of the animation industry, the presentations and lectures were detailed and informative especially to students of animation. It was at this conference that I found the most inspiration for my current Honours project and thesis.

Today started with lectures and presentations by animator Burny Mattinson and layout artist and film producer Joe Hale.

Hosted by the director of the Disney Archives, Becky Cline, this portion of the program looked at the golden age of Disney animation and the talents of the nine old men. Mattinson was an assistant animator under Marc Davis on Sleeping Beauty in 1959 and went on to become key animator on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too in 1974 then on to work on pretty much every major feature animation at the Walt Disney Studios since that time. Hale was instrumental on many films produced at Disney and is particularly known for bringing Andreas Deja to Disney during his time producing the Black Cauldron. His insight into the political workings of the studio and how the golden age contrasted with the dark ages (late 1970s to 80s) were of real interest.

Burny Mattinson

The lectures looked at the process in the early days of the studio, the constant input from Walt Disney and the development of animation as an art form moving from shorts to full length features.

Moving from Hyperion Studios to Burbank

Kind of Sums of the Walt Disney vision of HIS studio

3 of the 9 old men

3 of the 9 old men. Thanks to  http://1937fan.blogspot.com.au/ for the photo

3 of the 9 old men

SIGGRAPH: Day 6

I had an early morning shift today, 8am start in registration. Once this shift was over I found myself by chance near the main hall where there was a panel presentation and screening of Disney's new short, Paperman. The short will accompany the new film, Wreck it Ralph (more on this film later).

The really exciting thing about this new short is that it combines both 2D animation and CGI animation. Most people seem to believe that a film has to be one or the other and that 2D is the ancestor of CGI that will eventually see the end of traditional hand drawn animation. However a film such as Paperman challenges this theory with great success.

Booklet for Paperman

I have since seen the short twice (once during this presentation and then later at the D23 conference) and each time I love the look of it, especially the use of 2D over the top of CGI characters and backgrounds. Dare I say it, but the inclusion of hand drawn 2D animation over the top of the CGI seems to give the short a  greater sensibility, more heart; more authenticity. As a 2D animator, seeing a short film use this technique is especially exciting as it hints that studios are not simply throwing away 2D animation in favour of slick CGI.

The story is simple but it works and its focus is on character relationships that may be fleeting or may last a lifetime. I love the black and white palette with added noise to give a real old school look to the film that includes characters reminiscent in aesthetics to that of 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan. The matching of music to the animation (the director indicated that the music was matched after the animation) is yet another reconnection with old world animation. By the end of the short however, you forget all the technical marvels and may get a little catch in your throat or a tear in your eye.  

Booklet for Paperman

SIGGRAPH: Day 5

Had the morning free to check out the massive exhibition hall with over 1000 stalls dedicated to animation, computer animation education and technological advances in CGI film arts; Plus the job fair. Of course, given that it is SIGGRAPH, I lined up with countless others for my very own Renderman Teapot from Pixar. For full details about the history of the Renderman Teapot which grew from the Utah teapot, click here.

This year's teapot in honour of the cloud

It was great to be able to see many of the companies I'm familiar with such as Wacom, Autodesk and Toon Boom promoting new products and it was also good to see many new companies and their products and services.

Exhibition Halls before the rush

Wacom goodness

The job fair was awesome, although smaller than the rest of the exhibition, it was a fantastic opportunity to actually speak to studios and small production houses regarding their folio requirements, internship programs and where they felt was the greatest need for skill development. Here is the list of studios that were at the SIGGRAPH 2012 Job Fair, even though I'm not currently seeking a job it was a great chance to pick up cards and literature about each of the studios that I'm sure may come in handy in the near future.

The afternoon was spent on shift checking passes for the entrance to a research papers session. 

SIGGRAPH Day 5: D-Day

This afternoon after getting one of a limited number of folio review appointments with the Walt Disney Animation studios I was both nervous and excited. As a student studying in Australia we don't often get the opportunity to interact or hear from major studios and, if like me, that's where you want to head in your career then you grab any opportunity you can. Even though my folio was hastily put together and more than a little dodgy on my ipad, I felt that it was worth getting a folio review, not for the possibility of a job or internship but more for what I could learn from the experience and feedback.

My appointment slip, yes I kept it I am but a noob. 

My folio review was conducted by character designer and animator, Jin Kim. His work is absolutely exquisite and I tried desperately not to think about that as he flipped through my corny images and bright artwork. 

In my folio I had 3 main sections: Character, Backgrounds and Life Drawing. After looking through my work he gave me detailed advice on the good and not so good aspects of my folio. He also took the time to address individual pieces with advice and compliments. He was particularly pleased with my use of colour in composition and also thought my life drawing was very strong. We spoke for a while about what my plans were once I finished my honours year and we also spoke of my honours thesis. At point blank I asked him whether he thought I was wasting my time or whether I should try for a different career; I explained that living so far from many major studios made it difficult to know where the standard was in regards to studio work. 

He answered with a frankness that was reassuring and genuine. He thought that my work showed promise and that I had what it took to work in the industry, but he felt that I was not yet ready for feature animation. He asked me whether I had worked in the industry previously to which I answered, nope. Other studios and television animation would provide me with experience and practice; but no he did not think I was wasting my time. 

I cannot express what a daunting experience it was to have my work appraised and critiqued by a studio who were instrumental in inspiring me to become an artist and animator. Showing my work in a professional situation outside of university is also something that takes some getting used to; I find it difficult at times to not under play my work. But I am getting better at it, and I'm also getting better at pushing myself forward and having more confidence in my own abilities as an artist. The most valuable thing the review process has taught me that it is so important to specialise if you want to work in studios and that you must be able to articulate your desired role and its position in the larger context of the animation production pipeline. 

Concept Art:  Disney's Tangled. Jin Kim

SIGGRAPH: Day 4

One of the unexpected aspects of SIGGRAPH was the inclusion of a gallery that showcased artworks based upon technology either in process or aesthetics. I had a couple of shifts in the gallery which required me to talk to the artists about their pieces and then explain or demonstrate those pieces as attendees wandered through the gallery.

The first piece I demonstrated was a tactile artwork consisting of heat sensitive colour changing material. Designed to be a public art piece in places where people have to wait for a period of time, the idea was that as you held your hands over the material a series of web-like lines would trace across the fabric and connect with others who also had their hands on the material. There were heat pads under certain parts of the fabric to help heat retention and the artist explained there heat conducting elements sewn into the fabric itself. Artists are Eszter Ozsvald and Kart Ojavee and the work is entitled, Symbiosis O. To see it in action see the work on Vimeo here. 

My hand print

The second piece I worked with was a lovely juxtaposition to all the high tech gadgets and technology. Entitled 'Shadow-play' the artwork was essentially a large scale magic lantern that was wind powered and designed to tell the story of modernisation and urban living. The piece was very popular and I think people really enjoyed the simplistic appearance of the piece but appreciated the complexity that would have gone into such a throwback to animation history.

Wind powered turbine at the top

2 Layers both laser cut acrylic 

The projected image moved by the cogs

Even the light was wind powered

Artist information

During my gallery shift I took a short break and dashed into the exhibition hall (opened that morning) to pick up an appointment card to have my folio reviewed by Walt Disney Animation Studios as part of the job fair also included as part of the conference. 

My afternoon shift saw me on a help and directions desk for 4 hours. 

SIGGRAPH: Day 3

My shift today was supervising one of the many presentations and lectures that were scheduled for today. As siggraph is a computer and CGI centric conference, many of the panels and presentations were extremely specific and specialized well above my knowledge of technology- however as many of the presentations were research papers I found it an invaluable experience to see how research can be structured and analysed to present findings to a collection of industry peers.

Waiting for the Brave Panel to begin

After my shift I had organized to attend the Pixar Brave: From Pencils to Pixels panel wherein the directors,animators, riggers and art dept were to trace the development from their latest film from concept and research to final product. Each stage of production had a representative and this was the panel that provided me with the most relevant information regarding the use of place to progress narrative in addition to information regarding the role of the visual development department in the creation of a CGI film. 

Panellists included Colin Thompson (Technical Director); Tia Kratter (Art & Visual Development); Paul Mendoza (Animation); Claudia Chung (Simulation Supervisor) and Chris Burrows (Shade Lead). 

Brave Panel about to start

The main focus of the panel was to trace the journey of the film Brave from design to production via the process of art meeting technology. 

Art & Visual Development Team: Tia Kratter

-19 years at Pixar

-Brave took 6 years to make

-Team of 10 in the Art Department

-Initially Brave set in a snow storm, a lot of the early concept work based in winter snow. 

-Visual research for Brave, looked at Scottish folklore

-Goal to make the environment part of the story telling- language of the environment with the inclusion of repeating long slow curves and the creation of a stage or fish-bowl style shape for the character within the environment to show the density of the landscape in the Scottish Highlands, whilst being economical in the rendering time. 

-Weather key in demonstrating mood and atmosphere

-Visual concept and development for landscape and sets often done in any medium in which the artist feels most comfortable, this can include oil painting, sculpture or digital art. 

-Work from the big picture to the detail- to this end they will draw out a large structure for example a castle, then overlay with tracing paper all the details that would be included and can be changed as the story demands it. 

-Tia works predominantly with flat colour combinations for character design and character combined with the environment. She calls it glorified colouring book style. 

-Takes a year to nail down character design from sketch to colour to sculpt and then clothing design and details. 

-The art department will provide packets for each other department connected on the pipeline to outline the associated details of a particular aspect of the film. For example character clothing, or rocks- all the information regarding size, weight, colour, texture are included to give the other departments as much information as possible thus aiding in their part of the pipeline. 

Tia Kratter- Merida Concept Art www.pixartimes.com

SIGGRAPH Day 2

First day of the conference and although the exhibition halls had not yet been set up there was still a lot of activity and lots of attendees about. My first shift was helping to set up ETech, an area where experimental projects in the area of digital art, design and animation are available for demonstration and hands on interaction.

ETech Setup

My second shift of the day saw me working in the area of registration. Many of these jobs were pretty straight forward, but the value of the volunteer system was in the people that you met whilst working. Many business cards were shared, and although most of the student volunteers are only just starting out in their careers; the contact is invaluable as it lets you also see the standard in other parts of the world.

After my shifts were done I had booked a folio review through the SIGGRAPH organization. It was quite informal, but invaluable in having your work looked at. That's been one of the unexpected benefits of the conference thus far is that you learn quickly that showing your work is something that you have to get used to and that you can verbalize what role you would like to play in the industry. It's not enough to simply state that any job would be good. 

I found that most people were aiming for some kind of character centric position, obviously because it was SIGGRAPH there was a dominance of CGI animators over 2D. Modellers seemed to be the most popular position amongst the student volunteers. I found myself looking more towards layout and background creation- especially given my current honours project and this desire to move into background development and even concept art seemed to rare in the SIGGRAPH context, probably because of the technological focus.

My folio review was with character animator and texture artist from Nickelodeon (Laura Hohman) and it was seen by me as an opportunity to really get a sense of what major studios are looking for in folios. This process was incredibly useful and i really think it would be advantageous to offer a similar process as part of either undergrad or hons assessment. It was also validating to have your work looked at by someone in the industry and removed from the university context. Being a straight forward person I asked Laura if she believed I was wasting my time, being a student in Australia, away from the studio industry that I want to become a part of it can be difficult to gauge whether or not you have any semblance of ability. Thankfully she believed that I had some talent and could definitely work in the industry. Her perspective was honest and objective and she really gave me some excellent pointers. 

Laura's Tips

-Include a wide variety of styles

-Look to include 6-8 pieces

-Include 2-3 pages of life drawings- both studio and real life

-Given my interest in backgrounds, consider also the role of prop design, set design

-Laura prefers an physical folio as well as digital as she believes that you have more control over how the image looks in reproduction. 

-When including a particular piece rather than including all aspects of WIP choose certain points such as composition, colour value, roughs as thumbnails that surround the piece in addition to blurb of explanation. 

- Find TV shows and movies that inspire you and use them to influence your pieces in terms of style, colour and lighting. 

-Avoid showing too much, the more you show the greater the possibility that you may display your weaker work.