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Lafem Animation is happy to announce that one of our animated shorts, titled [color=Green]“National Cake Embezzlement”[/color] WON/copped the prestigious “SPECIAL MENTION” Award at the just-concluded AnimAfrik Film Festival in Ghana!!

Below’s the digital copy of the letter from the Festival Director informing Lafem Animation’s Director/CEO that our short film,  had won the prestigious Award. You can visit the Festival’s frontpage (http://www.animationafrica.org) to learn more about the award and event. Screenshots from the animation can also be viewed below. Enjoy!

@JeSoul: Thanx for the compliment. To answer your question, no, it's not a teaser. Animated shorts usually vary in length -- usually anywhere from as short as 10secs to 10mins maximum, provided it effectively tells a story -- however short. Film festivals routinely organize a sorta competition wherein they ask animators to send in very short animated films, ranging in lenght (usually no longer than between 7 - 10 mins, they then put the entries through a selection process where they screen and pick as many as 50 -100 of the best short animations (they can get as many as 800 to a thousand entries)  the best entries, compile them into a long showreel, award prizes in money or trophies, and then screen the films at theatres. The point/premise behind the whole initiative is usually to promote independent animation and networking amongst animation filmakers and small studios. An example of such a compilation, one in which my entry was critically acclaimed by the organizers, was the recently concluded TAIS (Toronto Animated Image Society) organized "Chicken Anijam" where animators were challenged to do a 10second animation which were compiled together and screened to a large audience of animation enthusiasts at the NFB Cinema in Toronto. The youtube link to that compilation is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3WcxJwuIWM . Hope that answers your question.

Hello all. Here's to inform everyone that Lafem Animation (a Lagos-based & registered 2-D/Classical Animation production company) just completed the first episodic installment of a series of animated short subjects titled the “Adventures of Alayo” -- the video can be viewed on youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLWrsfcMy0I and you can also learn more about our studio's other activities and films by visiting http://www.lafemanimation.

This humour-based series revolves around a character (Alayo) and his numerous adventures, and has already been shipped out to international film festivals across the world and INFACT has been selected for screening at film theatres in 3 international film festivals -- in spain and the u.s.a. Screenshots from the short-film are available below. Enjoy!

Lafem Animation just completed the first episodic installment of a series of animated short subjects titled the “Adventures of Alayo”. The humour-based series revolves around a character (Alayo) and his numerous adventures, and will be shipping out to international film festivals any moment. Screenshots from the short-film are available below. Enjoy!

Another email arrived in my inbox on the 16th of July, informing me that one of Lafem Animation’s shorts, titled “OFFICIALLY AFRICAN” will be screening at the KROK Animated Film Festival in the Ukraine, in early October, and inviting Lafem Animation to the screeening -- which interestingly will be held on a yacht.

@Ogaga4Luv: Those are TIGHT graphic images you've got there bro!

[b]@all:[/b]Thanx for the kind words. Just thot I'd share a bit of good and interesting news with everyone. I recently entered a 10-second animated competition organized by the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) -- click on the following link to view their recap of the screening of the animation entries (the entries you'd be viewing were originally screened at the NFB Cinema in Toronto, Canada on the 25th of June, 2009) http://tais.ca/chickenjam.html. Incidentally, I got an unusual mail from one of the organizers of the competition, expressing the judges' fondness for my animated 'Naija Chicken'  (as I titled it). The chicken animation can be viewed on youtube at : 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt7SzhWBfBI

Following is an excerpted portion of the article on the frontpage of the TAIS link I posted above (emphasis on the bolded):

"Animators were asked to create a ten second animation on the theme of "chickens". Here they all are, squished together like chicks in a coop!

Animations by:

Martin Sal, Alex Novitski, Ariel Villaverde, Camille Grandjean, Jesse Jind, Jonathan Amitay, John F. Weldon, Max Hall, Neil Lapointe, Daniel Epton, David Pagurek van Mossel, Jeff Tran, Fabian Dores Pais, Greg Parker, Mike Constable, Adam Fitzgerald, Hector Borboa, Janet Perlman, Joseph Troy, Lisa Murzin & Cesar Forero, Lorenzo West, Matt Hartwell, Michael Jessen, Michael Tallon, Mike Funt, Charles Wilson, Olanrewaju Oluwafemi, Nick Fox-Gieg, Onno Knuvers, Peter Giesbrecht, John F. Weldon, Raphael Rosenwald, Jonathan Cheeseman, Robert Shedlowich, Susan Justin, Tammy Dubinsky, and Madi Piller

Opening/closing animation sequence by Neil Lapointe. Voice work by Bryce Hallett.

Both the jury prize and the audience award prize went to Alex Novitski for his "Born To Be" chicken jam animation.

bA special shout out to Olanrewaju Oluwafemi, who sent their chicken jam in all the way from Lagos, Nigeria and to David Pagurek van Mossel, who was our youngest and only grade 7 participant!"

@AdamuW & Wham & co.: Gentlemen, I'm highly inspired by what your group's doing, big Kudos to you all for your efforts to 'up' the Naija Animation game in your neck of the woods. I'm planning a trip to Abuja for sometime in September and I'd really like to meet with you guys -- if possible -- to discuss ways I can contribute to your noble efforts. I tried searching for your email/phone contacts via this forum but was unsuccessful so I'm wondering if you guys can perhaps drop me your contact(s) via my email addy: lafemanimation@yahoo.com, or 0805-602-8559. Thanx in anticipation.

@ArtBoy & AdamuW: Thanx guys for your well-wishes. I'm hoping to attend atleast 5 of the Film Festivals for the screening of my animated short films (God-willing) for the novelty of the experience. I'm almost done animating another 4min-length short which I'm yet to title at this point. Will update this thread as soon as that's completed.

Lafem Animation (my registered 2-D Animation Production Company) has debuted online and can be accessed @ http://lafemanimation..

You can also view several Lafem Animation commerical works on youtube by simply entering "Lafem Animation" in the search field.

5 Animated Short subjects (including one commercial) from our stable will be appearing at 25 Film Festivals across the world this Fall. For more information, visit http://lafemanimation..

My latest animation:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1IgGqOMV74

@all: Thank you very much for your commendations and critiques. Truth is, I'm my own biggest critique, and I agree wholeheartedly with the criticisms herein. Matter of fact, I asked the client to allow me the opportunity to redo most of the animation and the difference is clear [like 7up]. I'll put up the edited version on youtube as soon as possible for your appraisal. Once again, thanks everyone. We live to learn.

Hi people. It's been a while since I last posted on this board and that's mainly because I've been busy with work as well as an animation gig I landed recently. About 2-months ago I was introduced to a naija music producer/record label owner based here in the US [Baltimore, Maryland] who wanted to make an animated music video to promote one of the up-and-coming acts on his label [a naija-based artist that goes by the name 'Toxic-man'], and propositioned me to make the video, in full-animation. Up to that point, I'd never done anything major, aside from my usual experimental pencil-tests that littered youtube and my laptop hard-drive, but I was willing to accept the challenge head-on and accepted the job -- considering, also, that I'd resolved to delve into animation full-time. So I figured why not do this to atleast get some experience under my belt and put all the knowledge I've acquired to practical use.

However, as I was to find out shortly afterward, I grossly underestimated the amount of work and effort such a task demanded, moreso for one single individual to take-on. As a [self-taught] 2D-animator of the traditional/classical genre of the medium, this meant that I had to draw almost every single frame of footage [at the rate of 20 frames-per-second] of the 4mins and 20second-length song (translating altogether to about 5,000frames/drawings], clean-up the drawing afterwards, digitize each of the drawings by scanning 'em into the computer, draw the backgrounds and repeat the same process, composite the foreground drawings onto the backgrounds, digitally color each drawing/frame one by one, synchronize the audio and the animation, compile and export the individual scenes into a video editor to piece 'em all together, and finally transfer/export the video onto mini-DV and vcd/dvd. Rest assured that I got paid for all that work, though I did give the man a discount sha, as na my first professional job be this and also because im give me the artistic freedom to do my thing. I had a deadline of two-months, max, to deliver the job, and boy did those two months breeze by so fast! Really, it was a lot work, a lot of serious hard-work, considering also that I did it all by myself and was simultaneously working my regular [full-time] 10hrs a day/5-days a week job! Sha, it was a very very enligthening experience for me, because I learned so much along the way, and will only get better.

So, here's the link to the youtube version of the hot and banging track from Toxic-Man featuring [another star-in-the-making] 'Bayo, produced by PinDown Records, animated entirely by yours truly, enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni_2pwrygws

This might help: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-71864.32.html#msg1476049

Combrazor: Bros, let's meet here: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-71864.128.html . Thanx.

Combrazor: Bros, let's meet here: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-71864.128.html . Thanx.

@Combrazor: I remember you commenting on your fondness for the Warner Bros shorts from the Golden Age, of which I'm equally a huge fan, on another thread in the Filmaking forum, and that got me thinking. I'm not sure how familiar you are with Disney shorts from the same era [considering how rare they are to come by, relative to the more ubiquitous Warner Bros shorts], but I recently got a hold of some Goofy shorts animated from between the early 40's and mid-50's and could not help drawing comparisons between the works of both studios around that period.

I happen to also own the first and second Volumes of the 5-Volume Warner Bros Golden Collection, a compendium which features some of the best animation ever produced by Warner Bros studios during that era, including interviews from animators, artists, and other professionals involved in the production of those gems. Interestingly, the Warner Bros artists [especially the animators] severally acknowledged the superiority of Disney's animators, technically, though they're also very quick to emphasize that their style and theme were a rebellion [of sorts] from what Disney had by then become typecasted and known for. They'd point out that their animation was geared more toward an adult audience, a sharp contrast from the more family-friendly/kiddies/clean-fun Disney style.

However, Warner Bros' animation was technically based on Disney's, as Walt Disney had by then [from the late 30's onwards, especially after the making and success of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'] established a firm tradition of churning out the most technically proficient animators. A lot of these 'Disney drop-outs' were later credited with having helped feed rival studios with the knowledge of the technical aspects of making things move the Disney way, while creating a unique/individual style and personality of their own.

Personally, as an animator, animation historian and enthusiast, I've come to agree, after much research and experience, that the Disney works from that era [early 40's to mid-50's], and even to this very day, are indeed the best. Warner Bros has also produced some great animators -- my favourite being Bob McKimson, boy! can that man make a drawing move or what??!! -- that include Chuck Jones, Ken Harris, e.t.c. However, hardly could any of them touch any of the Disney 'Greats' [also known as the 'Nine Old Men'; they were responsible for animating the classic disney features [as well as shorts] that built the studio's reputation] -- Milt Kahl [considered the greatest and most technically proficient animator that ever lived], Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Marc Davis, and Les Clark. I'm drawing my conclusions based on close scrutiny of their individual works, relative to those of rival animators from other studios. Most of the present-day animation pros learned their craft from these men and their students -- a la Brad Bird, Glen Keane, Richard Williams, Andres Deja, James Baxter, Sergio Pablos, Eric Goldberg, e.t.c.

I wanted to know, Mr. Combrazor, if you've had the chance to watch Disney short subjects and compared them to the Warner Bros shorts, and what your feelings are about both. I'm of the opinion that the Disney character 'Goofy' is the BEST funny Disney character ever created, and an animator's delight, because he's the most human-looking/moving funny disney character, and was fortunate enoff to have been animated, for the most part, by the great -- though unsung -- John Sibley [often condidered the '10th old man']. I'd recommend the following Goofy shorts titles as starters [all made between early '40s and mid-to-late '50s] -- you can start with "No Smoking", "Tiger Trouble", "Father's Day Off", "Hockey Homicide",  and "Father's Weekend". I believe some of 'em are available on YouTube, and usually run about 7-minutes in length. If possible, please check them out, compare the animation and entertainment value to the Warner shorts and tell me what you think. Thanx.


Youtube link to "No Smoking":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmjjHkxTItE

@Combrazor: Did you just reveal an interest in the Stop-motion animation style?!  Bro, that's like my second most-beloved animation style -- right behind traditional/classical animation, ofcourse! I intend to delve into the style in the near future. Have you seen Tim Burton's "The Corpse Bride"? I believe it ranks as perhaps the best animated feat achieved in recent times! If you ain't seen it, please do. And make sure you watch the 'making' of the film in the special features section of the dvd, and tell me if you aren't moved.

p.s: I'd hate to derail this thread but, I for like to talk more about animation with you, bros. Maybe we fit block on my 2d traditional/classical animation thread in the Graphics forum. What you say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylGQhQI9HGk


YouTube opening sequence of the 2D-animated adaptation of  the popular belgian comic book series, "The Adventures of Tin Tin" (ah! Nostalgia, wish I was a kid again ). I remember watching a few episodes some years back, and marvelled at the storytelling and animation. 'Trying to get my hands on the Box Set of the animated series. I think Amazon.com has 'em.

From the Vaults:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T4wvZiyWoA

-- Just like the preceding pencil-test clips, THIS RIGHT HERE IS ANOTHER AWESOME ANIMATION! Do check it out. Incidentally, the animator is based in Brazil. Hard to believe that it was animated 'Straight-Ahead'; meaning, the animator simply timed the dialogue and started animating without making any 'key' or 'breakdown' drawings. Wow!!! I've done something similar, but not on that scale. BEAUTIFUL! Beautiful I say!! The ACTING AND LIP-SYNC ARE PERFECTO! Not to mention that the style is refreshing. And it was done in FLASH.

Here are 2 other clips from the same animator:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5pKSQXhEAI&feature=related


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_jsyzbiBNY&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVveB-a9mvI

-- Another Beautifully animated 14-second pencil-test clip from the Disney Feature "Treasure Planet". Animator: Sergio Pablo. Eye-Candy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKuUaZ81xSU&feature=related

-- WONDERFULLY animated 21-second pencil-test clip by animator James Baxter, of himself dancing! He's one of the best animators around today, and is also one of my mentors.

Mine  . A 7-second pencil-test practice exercise.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy-sGcVdtDA

I'm still a 'work in progress', compared to the preceding animators. But I'm proud to say that I've gotten to a point where I can confidently animate ANY KIND OF WALK [or RUN], even with my eyes closed -- be it on 4's, 8's, 16's, 24's, or 32's  . Ken Harris once had these to say about 'WALKS' in an interview he granted years ago:

[b]"Well, a walk is the first thing to do;  I'll do other things too, but I wouldn't make a great production out of anything until you get pretty good at animating;  Walks are about the toughest thing to do right. Don't try to do dancing and all this theatrical stuff until they get the basic thing down right;  It's not easy;  After you've flipped a fellow's drawings to see what's going on - then it's easy to tell him what to do; But it's pretty hard to come right out and say how to start animation.  You've got to know what's in your mind;  You've got to be an actor, really, because that's what you're doing - you're sort of acting with a pencil.  You've got to learn to draw well enough to draw them - which is the hard part."

"Ask the average guy to do an animation test, and he'll try to make a big production of it.  He'll want to do a whole scene of a guy coming in and causing a fight, picking another guy up and throwing him out and all that sort of thing -- instead of just doing a walk, or something simple.  And then they get all lost in the timing and everything else. Then they get discouraged when you criticize them."[/b]


Hmmmm, true words of wisdom!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWYiYThlQH4&feature=related

-- BEAUTIFULLY ANIMATED 7-second pencil-test clip of Timon [of the "Timon and Pumba" Fame]. Animator: Marco Regina. One day sha, me sef go join the league of the(se) masters; I'm getting there, slowly but surely, I'm getting there .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMfbl19dcVw

-- A FANTASTIC 8-second pencil-test clip of a Dancing Bugs Bunny, animated by [late] Warner Bros. Master Animator, Ken Harris -- one of my mentors. Very fluid and smooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeee! It takes tremendous SKILL and YEARS of experience to get that good.

The next couple of posts will contain YouTube links to some of my favourite 2D pencil-tests -- including one from yours truly. Don't worry, they're extremely short clips.

The End.

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