These videos give such a great insight into how the studios work at Laika and into all the different departments involved.
Thursday, 12 February 2015
Coraline the making of
These videos give such a great insight into how the studios work at Laika and into all the different departments involved.
Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Animex: Big Hero 6
Zach Parrish. Head Animator.
They used Marvelous Designer for clothes simulation. This meant that you can layer clothes in a realistic way instead of creating only the parts of the clothes that can be seen.
The software used is Maya.
Baymax is based on baby penguins. The walk cycle resembles them closely.
Created each characters movements.
Describe it in a simple words. Create the movement of the character in a bouncy ball. Essence of the character.. use the bouncy ball to animate the character.
They used Marvelous Designer for clothes simulation. This meant that you can layer clothes in a realistic way instead of creating only the parts of the clothes that can be seen.
The software used is Maya.
Baymax is based on baby penguins. The walk cycle resembles them closely.
Created each characters movements.
Describe it in a simple words. Create the movement of the character in a bouncy ball. Essence of the character.. use the bouncy ball to animate the character.
Monday, 9 February 2015
Animex: MPC Film. Animating Groot.
Greg Fisher. Animation Supervisor.
60 Animators and over 700 members on the team.
MPC did first and third act. Framestore did second.
MPC did 857 shots for the film, 1305 shots were thrown away (omits)
Including 490 shots for the final battle:
-Aerial Battle
-Nova corp net
-Milano crash
-Groot Spores
-Yondu crash
-Rocket crash
-Groot cocoon
-Dark aster crash
-180 Rocket shots
-170 Groot shots
Also Peter Quill's abduction and Morag.
The largest shot contained 7000 explosions, average of 400 explosions per shot.
4 hour average render time per frame but the city took 6 hours per frame.
A key part of animating of animating Groot was making sure his eyes had life. His body is wooden so he didn't move as well as people.
The branches etc all move over each other, and all together. They don't squash and stretch, they move like wood would move.
They create empty space when weight goes on. Difficult to animate his feet as he doesn't have ankles or toes.
Working out whether Grood breathes. Subtle human style breathing. Chest rising and falling.
Face an eyes. Groot isn't very expressive. Subtle emotions shown in the eyes and not so much in the whole face. They needed the eyes to have a good range of movementm but he's made of wood.
Doesn't have a nose either, difficult to express emotions.
Groot doesnt understand a lot of human emotions so his expressions show what he thinks he should be feeling but he doesn't know how to do it right. He only really has a few basic emotions but he gains more emotions as the movie progresses.
They producer wanted Groot to be dead still when he stops moving but when CGI characters stop dead they don't look alive anymore. MPC had to find ways to subtley move him to keep him alive when he stops moving.. eyes and breathing.
Groot is mostly calm, gentle and zoned out apart from someone threatens his friends.
60 Animators and over 700 members on the team.
MPC did first and third act. Framestore did second.
MPC did 857 shots for the film, 1305 shots were thrown away (omits)
Including 490 shots for the final battle:
-Aerial Battle
-Nova corp net
-Milano crash
-Groot Spores
-Yondu crash
-Rocket crash
-Groot cocoon
-Dark aster crash
-180 Rocket shots
-170 Groot shots
Also Peter Quill's abduction and Morag.
The largest shot contained 7000 explosions, average of 400 explosions per shot.
4 hour average render time per frame but the city took 6 hours per frame.
A key part of animating of animating Groot was making sure his eyes had life. His body is wooden so he didn't move as well as people.
The branches etc all move over each other, and all together. They don't squash and stretch, they move like wood would move.
They create empty space when weight goes on. Difficult to animate his feet as he doesn't have ankles or toes.
Working out whether Grood breathes. Subtle human style breathing. Chest rising and falling.
Face an eyes. Groot isn't very expressive. Subtle emotions shown in the eyes and not so much in the whole face. They needed the eyes to have a good range of movementm but he's made of wood.
Doesn't have a nose either, difficult to express emotions.
Groot doesnt understand a lot of human emotions so his expressions show what he thinks he should be feeling but he doesn't know how to do it right. He only really has a few basic emotions but he gains more emotions as the movie progresses.
They producer wanted Groot to be dead still when he stops moving but when CGI characters stop dead they don't look alive anymore. MPC had to find ways to subtley move him to keep him alive when he stops moving.. eyes and breathing.
Groot is mostly calm, gentle and zoned out apart from someone threatens his friends.
Animex: Atomhawk. Imagining a world of Marvel.
Creating concept art for Guardian of the Galaxy.
Atomhawk concept art studio in Newcastle.
Did Concept art for Lord of the Rings, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy among other things.
Started at Midway Games before it went bankrupt. Worked on a lot of well known games.
Thor 2 was the first big movie. Guardians of the Galaxy was huge. They weren't to stick to normal references.
The best was to create good art is to do what you think will work. It is better to ask for forgiveness and not permission.
Quill's rocketship took a lot of work and hundreds of sketches. So much work went into it because it was almost a character. So much time is spent inside it.
They had to design all the spaceships with architectural designs so that the sets could be designed and built.
They also designed many of the scenes, including the prison.
They added extra colour everywhere.
Atomhawk concept art studio in Newcastle.
Did Concept art for Lord of the Rings, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy among other things.
Started at Midway Games before it went bankrupt. Worked on a lot of well known games.
Thor 2 was the first big movie. Guardians of the Galaxy was huge. They weren't to stick to normal references.
The best was to create good art is to do what you think will work. It is better to ask for forgiveness and not permission.
Quill's rocketship took a lot of work and hundreds of sketches. So much work went into it because it was almost a character. So much time is spent inside it.
They had to design all the spaceships with architectural designs so that the sets could be designed and built.
They also designed many of the scenes, including the prison.
They added extra colour everywhere.
Animex: Recruiters Panel
The Mill. -Mostly commercials, music promos and games. Based in London, L.A, Chicago and New York.
Framestore. -Film, VFX, Commercials. Based in London and L.A.
Industrial Light Magic. -New studio in London- Based in San Francisco. Soon to get internships for graduates.
MPC. -Film and Advertising. MPC Film are more specialised artists in particular areas, MPC advertising is more general artists, working in a variety of areas. Based in London, Bangalore, Montreal and Vancouver. Recruiting for 2D.
Double Negative. -VFX feature films etc. Based in London and Singapore.
Entry Level jobs?
Many entry level jobs= Runners.
To progress fastest, build relationships with the division you are aiming for within the company.
Some divisions recruit more junior artists more often. (The Mill)
Runners are hired based on strength of their showreels and trained based on their interests. (Framestore)
Runners feed straight into the production line. They hire junior artists straight out of school and they get a 3 month intensive training program. If you graduate from the program you are offered a job as a junior artist. (MPC)
How specialised should the showreels be?
Pretty specialised for the specific role/ division you are applying.
Don't put everything you've ever done on your showreel. If you don't particularly love something you've done, don't include it in your showreel because the chances are that if you don't love it, they won't love it either. QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY. Put your best work on.
Important skills.
ADAPTABLE. Be able to work on projects you don't particularly like.
TECHNICALLY MINDED. especially for compositing. Learn about all the technical things before you apply.
HAVE AN INTEREST IN TECHNICAL THINGS.
UNDERSTAND ANATOMY and rigging.
Have a want to learn.
ENTHUSIASM.
EAGERNESS.
Stay open in your ideas of what you want to do.
When you have a junior role or runner, be enthusiastic about your job and learn as much as you can.
Interviews.
Evidence of team work.
If you get an interview, be yourself. Be normal.
Good if you know where you want to end up. AMBITION.
Have a good knowledge of the software that the studio uses and demonstrate that you can use them in your showreel.
Mostly informal/ semi-informal interviews because the showreel/ portfolio is more important. They already know that they like your work, they just want to meet you and know your work well in a team.
Research where you are applying. Why are you applying? You've heard they treat staff well? You like they work they've done? Be Passionate.
Internships.
MPC. 8 week program. Accommodation in London paid for. Very competitive. Have a good showreel. One intern per department.
Framestore. Similar to MPC but with a chance to work on your own project evrey friday so you have a framestore approved project on your showreel.
The Mill. Internship opportunities all year round.
Framestore. -Film, VFX, Commercials. Based in London and L.A.
Industrial Light Magic. -New studio in London- Based in San Francisco. Soon to get internships for graduates.
MPC. -Film and Advertising. MPC Film are more specialised artists in particular areas, MPC advertising is more general artists, working in a variety of areas. Based in London, Bangalore, Montreal and Vancouver. Recruiting for 2D.
Double Negative. -VFX feature films etc. Based in London and Singapore.
Entry Level jobs?
Many entry level jobs= Runners.
To progress fastest, build relationships with the division you are aiming for within the company.
Some divisions recruit more junior artists more often. (The Mill)
Runners are hired based on strength of their showreels and trained based on their interests. (Framestore)
Runners feed straight into the production line. They hire junior artists straight out of school and they get a 3 month intensive training program. If you graduate from the program you are offered a job as a junior artist. (MPC)
How specialised should the showreels be?
Pretty specialised for the specific role/ division you are applying.
Don't put everything you've ever done on your showreel. If you don't particularly love something you've done, don't include it in your showreel because the chances are that if you don't love it, they won't love it either. QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY. Put your best work on.
Important skills.
ADAPTABLE. Be able to work on projects you don't particularly like.
TECHNICALLY MINDED. especially for compositing. Learn about all the technical things before you apply.
HAVE AN INTEREST IN TECHNICAL THINGS.
UNDERSTAND ANATOMY and rigging.
Have a want to learn.
ENTHUSIASM.
EAGERNESS.
Stay open in your ideas of what you want to do.
When you have a junior role or runner, be enthusiastic about your job and learn as much as you can.
Interviews.
Evidence of team work.
If you get an interview, be yourself. Be normal.
Good if you know where you want to end up. AMBITION.
Have a good knowledge of the software that the studio uses and demonstrate that you can use them in your showreel.
Mostly informal/ semi-informal interviews because the showreel/ portfolio is more important. They already know that they like your work, they just want to meet you and know your work well in a team.
Research where you are applying. Why are you applying? You've heard they treat staff well? You like they work they've done? Be Passionate.
Internships.
MPC. 8 week program. Accommodation in London paid for. Very competitive. Have a good showreel. One intern per department.
Framestore. Similar to MPC but with a chance to work on your own project evrey friday so you have a framestore approved project on your showreel.
The Mill. Internship opportunities all year round.
Animex: Method Studios.
Exodus: Gods and Kings. VFX Supervisor Simon Carr.
Worked on it from May to October 2014
162 shots worked on by Method Studios.
-80 triage shots (making the left eye look like the right eye)
Software used:
-CMM: 3dE internally; some sequences outsourced to Yannix.
-Ocula 3 and 4
-Maya/ Houdini/ Z-Brush/ Mari- 3D components and additions.
-Arnold
-Photoshop
-Nuke -Compositing.
Left eye camera is more yellow/green
Right eye is more magenta.
Flames and smoke are done in Houdini.
Worked on it from May to October 2014
162 shots worked on by Method Studios.
-80 triage shots (making the left eye look like the right eye)
Software used:
-CMM: 3dE internally; some sequences outsourced to Yannix.
-Ocula 3 and 4
-Maya/ Houdini/ Z-Brush/ Mari- 3D components and additions.
-Arnold
-Photoshop
-Nuke -Compositing.
Left eye camera is more yellow/green
Right eye is more magenta.
Flames and smoke are done in Houdini.
Animex: Feature Animation for Adults: Now is the Time
Ed Hooks. Author of Acting for Animators.
Now is the time that animation is changing. "Animation has been efficiently commercialised. Disney is at the front of that."
Ed Hooks believes that Dreamworks might not be around for much longer.
Animation has always been thought of as for children. Kids cartoons etc. Now animators are focussing more and more on adult animation themes. Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks spend upwards of $1.5 million per movie. They need to make 5 times what they spent on the movie in the box office. Dreamworks haven't made as much as they needed in the box office. They're in trouble.
Frozen cost $200 million.
Coraline cost $60 million.
Spirted away cost $30 million. The latter two are low budget movies.
You don't need to spend huge budgets on making a movie, the software and everything you need is more readily available for making a good movie in your own home.
A lot of the most exciting animations aren't coming from the USA.
Advice: Make sure your passport is up to date. Travel. Don't spend your life waiting for a job at Pixar. Animators should work like actors, and attach themselves to projects they like.
Look at what Walt Disney did, not what Disney is doing today. Today, Disney is a big corporate machine. Walt Disney in the 1930s made Snow White even when no one thought he should/ thought no one would watch it. Walt Disney didn't have anyone to follow. He was a pioneer. We don't have anyone to follow. WE are pioneers. Don't go to work at Disney if you want a career instead of a job.
KICKSTARTER. Find people that you want to work with, who's work inspires you. Not who you want to work for and trying to convince a company to hire you.
A good animation is art. "Big Hero 6 is a feature length commercial." "Art has something to say." "Art presents questions." "Art is hard, it puts things in your face."
Your showreel, coming out of animation school. Don't show the world what you think they want to see. Show them who you are and what you are giving them. Have something to say. Put your opinion into your animations.
Don't come out of the school and not feel like you belong in the animation world. Believe that you belong.
It doesn't start with your ability to draw, it starts with your ability to think. Have ideas then think of how you can get these ideas to other people. Know who you are and show the world who you are.
Don't hope to be an actor or an animator one day. You are an animator/ actor from the minute you want to do that.
The animation industry is in a state of transition today.
Is 3D replacing 2D? No. "I don't see the reason for animating something in 3D if you can do it in live action." Animation is for the magical, for the things that you cannot do in live action.
"Being an artist is risky but you're gonna die anyway." "There is no good reason to become an artist. If you care about feeding your family, become a lawyer or a doctor. Being an artist is enjoying life."
If someone asks if they have what it takes to be an artist or an actor, say no. If they are dissuaded then they should do something else. You become an artist because you have to. You have no choice.
Now is the time that animation is changing. "Animation has been efficiently commercialised. Disney is at the front of that."
Ed Hooks believes that Dreamworks might not be around for much longer.
Animation has always been thought of as for children. Kids cartoons etc. Now animators are focussing more and more on adult animation themes. Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks spend upwards of $1.5 million per movie. They need to make 5 times what they spent on the movie in the box office. Dreamworks haven't made as much as they needed in the box office. They're in trouble.
Frozen cost $200 million.
Coraline cost $60 million.
Spirted away cost $30 million. The latter two are low budget movies.
You don't need to spend huge budgets on making a movie, the software and everything you need is more readily available for making a good movie in your own home.
A lot of the most exciting animations aren't coming from the USA.
Advice: Make sure your passport is up to date. Travel. Don't spend your life waiting for a job at Pixar. Animators should work like actors, and attach themselves to projects they like.
Look at what Walt Disney did, not what Disney is doing today. Today, Disney is a big corporate machine. Walt Disney in the 1930s made Snow White even when no one thought he should/ thought no one would watch it. Walt Disney didn't have anyone to follow. He was a pioneer. We don't have anyone to follow. WE are pioneers. Don't go to work at Disney if you want a career instead of a job.
KICKSTARTER. Find people that you want to work with, who's work inspires you. Not who you want to work for and trying to convince a company to hire you.
A good animation is art. "Big Hero 6 is a feature length commercial." "Art has something to say." "Art presents questions." "Art is hard, it puts things in your face."
Your showreel, coming out of animation school. Don't show the world what you think they want to see. Show them who you are and what you are giving them. Have something to say. Put your opinion into your animations.
Don't come out of the school and not feel like you belong in the animation world. Believe that you belong.
It doesn't start with your ability to draw, it starts with your ability to think. Have ideas then think of how you can get these ideas to other people. Know who you are and show the world who you are.
Don't hope to be an actor or an animator one day. You are an animator/ actor from the minute you want to do that.
The animation industry is in a state of transition today.
Is 3D replacing 2D? No. "I don't see the reason for animating something in 3D if you can do it in live action." Animation is for the magical, for the things that you cannot do in live action.
"Being an artist is risky but you're gonna die anyway." "There is no good reason to become an artist. If you care about feeding your family, become a lawyer or a doctor. Being an artist is enjoying life."
If someone asks if they have what it takes to be an artist or an actor, say no. If they are dissuaded then they should do something else. You become an artist because you have to. You have no choice.
Friday, 6 February 2015
Making Norman
This timelapse/ animated video about the making of the Norman character in Paranorman is incredible. It gives a brief look into how the character is made, while still being detailed and indepth.
This video has made me realise that I am really really interested in making puppets for stop motion animations and Laika have really inspired me. I would definitely like to investigate making puppets for my 50 hours of developing a skill.
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Lee Hardcastle
Lee Hardcastle attended the Northern Film School in Leeds, and turned to animated film making when he struggled to get his ideas made into films as he had trouble socialising with the other people on his course. He started playing around with stop motion animation because it allowed him to create his short film ideas by himself on a low budget.
After he finished studying, he was on the dole for a year while trying to find a job in the industry and eventually managed to get a job as a runner at Scramble studios in Soho, London. Here he was able to experiment and learn how to use the VFX software, and made professional relationships including one with Tim Atkins, who still does a lot of audio on his short films. While he was working there, Lee still worked hard on his own work, writing comic books and scripts when he was unable to physically create films.
Entering competitions is one the most important and best things you can do as a freelance animator. They allow you to work on set briefs, get your work seen by more people who might then contact you for a piece of work they would like you to do, and they also present the opportunity to get paid for your work by winning the competition. It can be disheartening when you don't win or get any feedback on your submission, but when you get recognition for your work it is an amazing feeling.
Lee entered the Done in 60 seconds competition with his remake of Evil Dead. The 'Done in 60 Seconds' competition asks for people to remake classic films within the time limit of one minute. This short film was the first film made by Lee that got a lot of recognition, and went viral. He even got requests for interviews and people asking for him to create videos for them, so he started thinking about what made this so successful and decided to continue creating claymation videos. He the quit his job at Scramble and moved to the south of France to work at a cafe and write screenplays and enter competitions when the tourist season was over. This was when google got in contact with him and asked to put adverts on his youtube channel because of the success of his Evil Dead video, and that video earned him £50 in a short amount of time.
He started looking at other animation that were of a similar style to his, and came across 'Chainsaw Maid', which had a lot of views, so Lee made a sequel.
Lee doesn't consider himself an animator, despite the majority of his work in the last 10 years being done in a claymation style. He refers to himself as a film maker instead.
Being a successful freelancer is all about branding yourself. You need to brand yourself to get commissions and jobs in the creative industry.
This talk has taught me that being a freelance animator, especially if you are work in claymation in the UK where Aardman get most of the claymation commissions, is a challenge. It can be disheartening and a struggle to earn enough money to keep yourself a float and pay rent, but when you win competitions, and get approached to do work for big brands, it can be very rewarding and getting paid for doing something you enjoy is really exciting and makes it all worth it.
After he finished studying, he was on the dole for a year while trying to find a job in the industry and eventually managed to get a job as a runner at Scramble studios in Soho, London. Here he was able to experiment and learn how to use the VFX software, and made professional relationships including one with Tim Atkins, who still does a lot of audio on his short films. While he was working there, Lee still worked hard on his own work, writing comic books and scripts when he was unable to physically create films.
Entering competitions is one the most important and best things you can do as a freelance animator. They allow you to work on set briefs, get your work seen by more people who might then contact you for a piece of work they would like you to do, and they also present the opportunity to get paid for your work by winning the competition. It can be disheartening when you don't win or get any feedback on your submission, but when you get recognition for your work it is an amazing feeling.
He started looking at other animation that were of a similar style to his, and came across 'Chainsaw Maid', which had a lot of views, so Lee made a sequel.
He quickly learnt that the more videos he put on youtube, the more money he could make from them. He started making more videos that would get a lot of views on his youtube channel, and giving them names that would catch peoples attention and get more clicks.
This lead him to create 'Pingu's The Thing', which was massively successful until he got sued by the creators of Pingu and told to take it down. Then he created Claycat, a pingu-esque cat, and recreated his video of the Pingu/ The Thing mash-up with claycat. He then turned this into a series of claycat animations.
The ABCs of Death came around, with 26 directors creating a short film for each of the letters of the alphabet. There was a competition for the 26th director, who had to make a short film for a way to die with the letter T, and Lee Hardcastle won with T is for Toilet. Being included in a feature length film was his dream. T is for Toilet was so successful because Lee knew his limitations that came with his claymation style and he put a lot of effort into the set design and the story.
Lee doesn't consider himself an animator, despite the majority of his work in the last 10 years being done in a claymation style. He refers to himself as a film maker instead.
Being a successful freelancer is all about branding yourself. You need to brand yourself to get commissions and jobs in the creative industry.
This talk has taught me that being a freelance animator, especially if you are work in claymation in the UK where Aardman get most of the claymation commissions, is a challenge. It can be disheartening and a struggle to earn enough money to keep yourself a float and pay rent, but when you win competitions, and get approached to do work for big brands, it can be very rewarding and getting paid for doing something you enjoy is really exciting and makes it all worth it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)