₦airaland Forum

Collage 2:

Collage 1:

Screenshots from the production footage of the Dreamworks 2D animated feature, "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron".

"There's nothing that takes the place of what happens when an artist, an animator, gives life to a character with a pencil on to a paper. There's nothing else like it in the world. It has so much emotion, so much personality. Computers can't do that. Not yet." --- Jefferey Katzenberg (Producer and Co-owner of Dreamworks SKG -- He jointly owns the studio with his partner Steven Spielberg )

Artboy: That's just like asking if other animation styles [like Stopmotion, Claymation, Cut-out] still stand a chance on the Big Screen. Ofcourse it does. Till today the Japanese are still making them. Disney's last major 2D hits were Tarzan and Mulan, and they were BIG hits! Warner Bros. "Iron Giant" by the famous director of 'the Incredibles', Brad Bird, was also a huge hit. Just that rite now the Big studios are still caught-up in the 3D-fad/craze. Not all 3d movies that've been released in the past 5yrs have been hits either. I can name tons that you prolly never heard about. But 2d is still flourishing the world over. The biggest selling movie in Japan last year was a 2D animated flick. So yeah, it's ever alive and flourishing.

@Graphikdon: YEah bro, the visuals and animation of RTE is as good as it gets, 2D-wise -- that and the 'Iron Giant' and 'Curious George' animated features look. Another Dreamworks 2D animated feature you might want to add to your collection is 'SPIRIT: Stalion of Cimaron'. Bro, the visuals and animation is just as good! Plus it's one of those flicks that highlights what a perfect/seemless blend of 2D and 3D looks like. Very entertaining movie! As an artist, I study the storyboard reel of the flick as a textbook of sorts, to help me hone my storyboarding skills, because boy! the leica/animatics/storyboard reel is MINDBLOWING! You can check it out in the special features section. The artist that boarded the screenplay has to be the best in the trade! I'm really trying VERY hard to become that good. The skill with which he boarded the camera-angles gave the scenes so much depth, it's incredible. Sinbad is another visually stunning Dreamworks flick, and I'm sure you'll love it if you loved RTE's visuals because I believe the same Dreamworks team worked on both flicks. Another 2D collector's item, IMO, is the 1980 Hayao Miyazaki directed "Lupin the 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro" feature anime. The storyline is so well-executed that I didn't want the movie to end! The animation isn't bad either and is very good on the eyes, even though it uses low-frame rates -- as is the norm with most Japanese animation (I recently came to realize/understand that the low-frame rate practice is the main reason why animes don't lip-sync properly, because if you're going to time any dialogue to animation, the mouth movement has to be done one 'ones' or the normal film 24fps rate). Speaking of Akira, it's been so long since I last saw that classic movie. I think its about time I rewatched it. Princess Mononoke is another Miyazaki classic; it's the first Miyazaki flick I saw and own.

@topetall: Awww! Thank you. That's very gratifying to know. It trips me whenever I meet females with a keen interest in animation. Keep representing!

As y'all know, I haven't updated these pages for quite sometime now, and that's because I've been extremely busy lately. Though I've been working on some new material that I expect to upload very very soon. Do stay tuned, folks.

Big thanx to Graphikdon (for alerting the forum) and the Moderator (for promptly dealing with the spam[er]). Una do well, guys.

Artboy:
Has any one seen the Supa Strikas cartoon ad? I like it and would like to know how it was done

Sounds interesting. I googled it and came up with the following article:


SUPA STRIKAS | GOOOAL!


Internet lines between Miramichi, Canada & Cape Town, South Africa just got a lot busier!

Cape Town’s Strika Entertainment and Miramichi’s Fatkat have just inked a deal that has both studios banding together to produce the new animated series “Supa Strikas” (13 x 22 minutes), based on Strika Entertainment’s popular comic book of the same name. The Supa Strikas comic book has a readership of 10,000,000 people across 14 countries, distributing in excess of 1.3 million comics every month… and those numbers are growing.

Supa Strikas have always been a successful and much loved club but things have just stepped up a gear. Supa Strikas have qualified to play in the world’s Super League, the ultimate prize for any soccer club and boyhood dream of any player.


Supa Strikas revolves around a talented young striker, Shakes, and his steady rise to the legendary No.10 position for the very team and number his late father held. Shakes must answer the questions left by his father’s legacy and ensure that he continues to deliver the one thing that matters most… Goals!

“We’re excited about banding together with our pals at Strika Entertainment, the comics are great and the translation of them to TV is going to be a lot of fun, you should see the first episode!” - Gene Fowler, CEO of Fatkat.

The production partnership has Strika Entertainment executing with Big Hug Productions on the scripts, while they handle the initial design, storyboards and post production processes. Dacapo Productions has been tapped for Sound Design and Fatkat follows up with design of characters, props, backgrounds, assembly and animation in both Flash and Maya.

“It’s very rewarding to finally see the Supa Strikas characters come alive on the small screen! We look forward to a very successful alliance with Fatkat!” -Oliver Power, Executive Producer of Supa Strikas.

The first full 22 minute episode will be available for screenings at Mip Junior and Mipcom in October 2007.

Lovies,

gene.

PS: With Big Show producing and Pat Proulx directing, this show is going to look amazing!!

culled from: http://fatkatanimation..com/2007/06/supa-strikas-goooal.html

@combrazor: Sorry my reply's coming a bit late, na work no gree me the time. How's 'beantown'? Bro, I agree with what you said about rotoscopy. Honestly, I was initially averse to the technique until I saw its effective execution and application in King Kong and Gullum [LOTR]. And like you, I equally find that I enjoy it best when used sparingly, as was done in the 'Superman' shorts. As the superman shorts suggest, I think it can be indeed be effectively and convincingly pulled-off when tweaked by animators, to tone down its overtly realistic tendency.

jemit:
but as far as i am concerned, 3d is it and is here to stay(till 4d comes along)

i don't think i will ever be a fan of 2d. don't get me wrong, i love the old walt disney cartoons etc but i so much prefer the 3d mediu of expression.

That's mighty fine, bro. The world's big enoff to accomodate us all.

why don't u guys come up wit some 2d flick.

I've got a few projects in the works as we speak.

combrazor: i'm a huge Warner Brothers junkie, i worship at the altar of Tex Avery and Bob Clampett![/b]

Bro, that makes two of us! Matter of fact, I learned animation by STUDYING Warner Bros. shorts, in 'slow-mo', frame-by-frame, while I observed the principles I was learning on display, especially Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck shorts from the Golden Age. And just like you, Bob Clampett and Tex Avery also happen to be my fav. directors, while my favourite Warner Bros. animators are Ken Harris and Bob McKimson -- Harris was a genius while Bob was in a league/class of his own. Each time I watch the Bugs Bunny short, "Falling Hare" [directed by Clampet and animated by McKimson], I find myself pausing the film, impulsively, from time to time, just to appreciate the out-of-this-world quality of McKimson's draftsmanship -- I don't think there was any other Warner Bros./Bugs Bunny animator [not even Harris] who could draw Bugs Bunny as good as Bob.

hey, a question for you: what do you know about rotoscopy?

Personally, I don't fancy it, mainly because the level of realism it portrays beats the whole purpose of animation, though I understand it can be a great learning tool. I think it has the tendency of looking VERY stiff when done without the animators altering it at all,  like in Polar Express and Final Fantasy. I know Disney and the Fleischer Bros. used a bit of it during the early days of animation development in America, but even they had to jettison the practice partly because it just wasn't good on the eyes [atleast to me it's not]. I'll rather just study live-action films, than actually trace over them frame-by-frame. I have the Fleischers' "Gulliver's Travels", and besides the rotoscoped characters, the animation was on-point, by the standards of the time. Ditto Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" -- though in this case it was handled much better and looked pretty decent. I recently learned that even my beloved "Superman" animated shorts from the Fleischers studios of old were rotocoped, though with the sort of flair and appeal that made it hard to notice. By contrast, in Polar Express the animators literally were told to TRACE (in a sense) the actions of the actors DIRECTLY as they were done without exaggerating or altering. If you do it that way why make it animated at all? Why not just shoot a live-action film?

However, it can look very good when the movements are altered and exaggerated by the animators, like in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies for Gollum and King Kong.

@combrazor: You should consider becoming an animator, bro. I'm highly impressed by your knowledge of the medium.  . I recently got my hands on some old 'Goofy' shorts by Disney, from the 'Golden age', and I tell you, the quality of the animation almost gave me an orgasm!  Classical animation, if you have the eyes to appreciate its unparalled quality, is sheer beauty and kicks ass. Btw, where are you located, bro?

@ Seun: 3D or CG animation technology can improve from here to heaven, but I still maintain that it can never replace the charm of classical 2D-style animation. Like I said in my earlier post, the story should be the deciding factor as to which style to go with. Sometimes I think you gotta be more than a mere casual observer or animation audience to grasp that 'koko'.

Like Seun said, 3D merely allows the computer to do more of the work, however, I'll be very quick to add that without a sound and solid grasp of 2D-based animation principles, any attempt at 3D animation will come out FLAT. And also, 3D animation isn't as easy, compared to 2D, as some folks would like to imagine -- it's just as labourious -- as the article I'll provide below will show.

Animation is basically about being able to successfully convey an illusion of BELIEVABLE movement -- not neccesarily 'realistic' but 'believable'. Therein lies the POWER and DYNAMISM of the medium relative/compared to Live-Action; with animation you can convincingly achieve movements that cannot be realistically projected or portrayed with live-action -- one can exaggerate/stretch/morph both living and inanimate things, infact anything, get away with it, give it an element of drama, and raise it to the height of entertainment. It might surprise some of you guys to know that virtually ALL the popular 3D animated movies were made by professional animators with SOLID 2D background -- if you doubt the veracity of that statement, you can throw any 3D animated movie title at me and I'll tell give you verifiable histories of its animation director(s). In other words, it's simply just not possible to do GOOD 3D without a good grasp of the principles that's made 2D to remain the most popular, most produced, and most bought form of animation till today -- regardless of how many hours one spends rendering and modeling 3D images.

IMO, there's just an enduring and universal charm and magic that 2D projects that can't be duplicated in 3D, not to mention that it gives the artist, as opposed to the computer, more control over their character; when I watch some of the breath-taking fight scenes from animes like Samurai Champloo, Rhonin Kenshin, Afro Samurai, Ninja Scroll, CowBoy Bebop,e .t.c. (it's a documented fact that Japanese animation studios don't care much for 3D, even though they blend it with 2D in some of their more recent animes -- e.g one can easily notice when they combine 2D foregrounds to 3D background)  it's hard for me to picture such scenes in 3D; my mind just won't accept it. Same goes for Disney's the Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, e.t.c.

Like Brad Bird, the famous director of such Pixar hits like the 'Iron Giant' (2D), 'The Incredibles' (3D) and the recent 'Ratatoulle' (3D -- very very very good and entertaining movie) said in a recent interview, a director's decision to use either 2d or 3d should boil down to the story.

In the long-term, I intend to delve into 3D animation, but that'll be after I've exhausted the many, many, many, many, many, and plenty, plenty, plenty   2D story ideas in my head.






Now on to the excerpts from the article I mentioned earlier -- it's concerns what the major u.s animation producers have to say about 2D and 3D animation, and can be read in it's entirety by visiting http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=4749

Toon Producers Talk Shop

Friday, November 18, 2005
By: Ryan Ball

The Producers’ Guild of America’s New Media Council assembled an impressive roster of producers and production execs from leading studios for Thursday night’s panel discussion titled “Animation Producers: New Skill to Draw From.” Held at the Sony Imageworks Theater in Culver City, Calif., this latest in a series of informative and entertaining PGA events tackled a number of hot-button issues while addressing the finer points of producing 2D and 3D animation for television and film.

Moderated by Sony Pictures Animation producer Michelle Murdocca (Open Season), the discussion included Walt Disney Feature Animation VP of production Carolyn Soper, DreamWorks Animation producer Mark Swift (Shark Tale), Mike Young Prods. co-founder and partner Mike Young (Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, Pet Alien), The Jim Henson Co. new media producer Bret Nelson and XLT CEO David Koenig (producer of Bratz, Lil' Bratz, Build A Bear Workshop DVDs).

A main focus of the evening was why producers decide to use 3D over 2D, or vice versa. Swift, who was part of DreamWorks’ shift from 2D to 3D, mentioned that one of the major benefits of 3D animation is the lack of what’s called “line mileage.” He explained that in the world of hand-drawn 2D, the more lines a character has, the longer it takes to animate and the more money it costs. “We realized that with 3D, we could make the characters as detailed as we wanted,” he remarked. However, Henson’s Nelson was quick to point out that “render is the killer on the CG side.”

To work around the slowdowns and equipment woes related to rendering, Nelson and his team are taking a fairly novel approach to 3D animation production. A new animated series they’re producing is being shot like a three-camera live-action sitcom. Using the patented Henson Digital Performance Studio, puppeteers animated characters in real-time. The footage is then edited and only the parts that are going to make the final cut are rendered.

The general consensus held that there are very little cost differences between producing 3D and 2D on the film side, while Nelson noted that 3D is more expensive for television. In regards to CG animation budgets, Disney’s Soper said the most frustrating thing is the “lack of exactness in determining what something is going to cost,” indicating that whatever’s on paper before the production starts is merely a guess because they’re developing the films as they’re in production. She adds, “There’s a constant balance and trade-off in dealing with the [production] as a whole and managing the complexity of the individual parts.”

Mike Young said a major difference between TV and film is that TV producers are more like directors and often have an artistic background because they deal heavily with storyboards. He revealed that his studio is even developing a secret system to augment the storyboards in order to better communicate ideas to off-shore animators. “How does an animator India know how a spoiled California girl is supposed to act?” he asked, adding that their proprietary solution will help keep things from being lost in translation. Young also commented that creator-driven shows, such as Steve Hillenbrand’s SpongeBob SquarePants, are always better and that studio features need to have more of a central creative voice.

@ajadrage: My man, I'll try and break down the process of 2d animation in layman's terms, perhaps that'll help you better understand why it costs so much to produce, as well as why there's a dearth of such production going on in naija and much of africa today -- with the exception of south africa and Senegal, of course.

I've found that a lot of regular folks are unaware of, and underestimate, the sort of hard-work and level of [specialized] skill that's required to make 2d animation -- a famous animator once remarked, instructively, that being able to draw very well doesn't automatically mean that one will be able to animate, because animation demands a specialized skill and technique that's painstaking to learn. 2d animation, otherwise known as Traditional or Classical animation, in this case is for the most part HAND-DRAWN. Back in the day, before the advent of the computer as we know it, it was extremely cumbersome and expensive to make 2d animation due to the intricacy and consequent inaccessibility of the technology that's required for its production. But today with super-fast computers it's much easier and less expensive to produce.

Peep this. You'd require 24 drawings [or frames] to produce just one second of animation. Multiply that by 60, and you'd have 1,440 drawings to achieve 60seconds [or 1 minute]] of animation. Did you get that? That's 1,440 frames of individual drawings for just one minute of animation. The drawings still gotta be timed, cleaned-up from their initial rough state, painted digitally or otherwise, composited, edited, e.t.c. All that'll require a lot of time.

I'm an animator myself, and the highest number of drawings I can make in a day is 300, and bro, IT AIN'T FUN! Click on the following link to view the youtube pencil-test clip of a 28 second animation exercise I did late last year to hone my skillz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rtgMlIsD1A. I did that in two days, and it gulped a total of 600 individual drawings, which had to be scanned one-by-one into computer, before I set the timing. Mind you, those are just rough drawings that haven't been cleaned-up yet. Clean-up is a meticulous and time-consuming process by itself -- most big studios have a special clean-up department manned with a couple of artists who do just that; meticulously clean-up rough drawings. Then, after that you gotta paint/color each frame/drawing individually. Imagine that you have a 5minute short subject animation, that'll translate to 7,200 individual drawings/frames that'll have to be digitally painted! It's standard practice for most hollywood and japanese studios to sub-contract/outsource some of these tasks to other studios in order to save time and money. Which is why the average japanese and american animated feature takes YEARS to complete -- and on average involve hundreds of artists and specialists.

With that background, I hope you can now understand why I might want to charge $2,500 per minute of animation -- which will basically cover the storyboarding, background, animation, clean-up, compositing, synchronization of animation to sound, editing, e.t.c. With the sorta budget you say you're willing to invest, at best I'd say you can squeeze out a 5-minute animated short, as I'm aware of a couple of independent animators, like Bill Plympton and Brian Lemay, who entirely fund and produce their own [award-winning] animation for about as much as you say you have [to spend] --$3,000.

@ajadrage: Obviously you're talking about 2d animation. It'll be difficult to give you an estimate of how much it'll cost to make a 2d feature of such length (did you say 130mins??), because even american and asian animated features don't stretch that long. I understand that in asia [south korea to be precise], where a lot of u.s and japanese animation are outsourced to, it costs roughly $3,000 usd to produce a minute of animation. I know it costs way more than that in the US and Japan, hence why a lot of their animation gets outsourced to a place like south korea to save costs -- animated commercials usually cost more than the per-minute estimate even though they run for less screen time. You can do a quick online search of how much it cost the major studios in japan and the u.s. to make their popular 2d animated flicks. The declared estimated cost of the Lion King (1994) by Disney was over $73million, Aladdin (1992) cost the studio $28million, Road to Eldorado (2000) cost Dreamworks SKG studios $95million -- and involved an estimated 500 artists about 4yrs from all around the world to bring the feature to life. One of the most expensive japanese animated features cost over $20million dollars, can't readily remember the name of the flick, but I think it was directed by ace animator Hayao Miyazaki [of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke fame]. The popular american Adult Swim animated series, The Boondocks, is animated in South Korea and produced by Sony Pictures for big bucks. So bro, whatever you have in mind, best believe it won't come cheap. Senegal's Pictoons studio charges about $2,500 per minute of animation and you can contact them for more enquiries.

You can also check out my animation-related threads for a more comprehensive idea of what animation entails:  https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-71864.0.html and https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-97684.0.html

Raymaod88: Impressive!! You have a very good sense of entertainment. Just keep at it bro, as I see you dropping some naija 'south-park' style animation in the foreseable future.

@Artboy: That's some straightup tight innovation rite there! See as you just 'pimped' that ride; sotay you give am 'blinging' rims and all. Nice one, mehn!

Aaron McGruder - The Boondocks Interview

By Troy Rogers

"It's a complicated show to do and it goes to three countries at certain points and if it's bad, it's really bad, so you have to get it right." The controversial animated series The Boondocks started out as a newspaper strip and quickly became the new star of Adult Swim. Debuting in 2006 to critical controversy, shocked gasps, and hilarious laughs, The Boondocks pushed the envelope through social comedy, racial parody, political accountability, and the writings of the show's creator, Aaron McGruder. Now that The Boondocks has finally returned to the airwaves, we dialed in Aaron McGruder to see what's in store for the second season of The Boondocks, what changes were made, and what controversies we can expect.

Aaron McGruder on the delay of the second season:

"It just took us longer to finish the show than we thought. It's animation and we wanted to get it right, so it took longer. Sorry it's not a longer answer. Production troubles would be a good way of putting it. It's a complicated show to do and it goes to three countries at certain points and if it's bad, it's really bad, so you have to get it right."

McGruder on his initial goal with the series:

"The goal was a job and to do the kind of humor that I wanted to see and I felt like it wasn't out there very much, which is kind of black political satire. I think when you go down that road and you do it with any success, shaking things up just comes with the territory. I don't think it really starts with the goal of shaking things up. I didn't expect the controversy, because I didn't expect the strip to end up being as big as it was as quickly as it happened. I think in order to start trouble, someone has to even know who you are and that kind of thing takes a long time in comics, even if you're incredibly lucky. So I think when the trouble started early that was a little bit of a surprise."

On the headlines surrounding the "N" word:

"I use the word a lot in the show because I'm a bad person, so I cannot in any way defend what I do [laughs]."

McGruder on the return of Samuel L. Jackson:

"Yeah, he's in it. We try to be really respectful to Sam and not put his name out there, you know. But we didn't promote it that way in the first season either. But yeah, he's in an episode this season."

On the changes from season one to season two:

"Here's how big of a change there was: When we finished the last script of the first season, none of us had actually seen the first episode come back from overseas yet. We wrote the entire season blind, essentially. None of us knew what the show looked like, so just knowing what the show is played a huge role in how we shaped season two. I think we got much better control over the animation, which really allows you to tell the story the proper way. When you're fighting with the animation, or the animation is controlling you, you're limited to what you can do. That was a big deal. We looked at season one and what worked and what didn't, and just tried to make it a better show all around. I do think the storytelling is much better, the pacing is much faster, and the show is much funnier. So all around I'm very pleased with it."

On restarting The Boondocks comic strip:[/b]s

"I think the show played a big factor in me having to walk away from the strip, because I didn't want to do both badly. In the first season I tried to do both and it took a huge toll on me,  But yeah, I constantly play with the idea of coming back, not to the newspapers, but online. It's something I think could happen and whether it happens after the show or while the show is still running, it depends on how many hours I can go without sleep. I don't know. I can't meet the newspaper schedule. Seven days a week is too much and they don't let you go. They make you do all or nothing, so I can't meet that kind of deadline situation."

[b]On the freedom of television and how it influences the stories:

"Compared to the newspaper strip there's much greater freedom on TV. So there's the freedom of animation and having all of these people work for you, and there's the freedom of storytelling in animation that you can go way beyond the scope of what a strip can do. Then, in terms of just content, the newspapers are a very conservative and a sanitized medium. In terms of the expression of ideas, we're allowed a lot more range on television. The impact is kind of,  it just is what it is. The show is pretty different from the strip and I think at the end of the day, like many of the things we did last season, such as the MLK episode, would have been totally beyond the scope of the strip."

On Al Sharpton's response to the MLK episode and what controversial episodes are planned for season two:

"[laughs] There will be absolutely no controversial storylines this season. We went in a totally different direction with the show. Okay, well, Al came after the show and I'm a big supporter of Al, so I also went after the show. But unfortunately the whole second season, we had to write that and that's all written now and I feel terrible about it, because now it's coming on and I can't change it. Honestly, it depends on what you think is controversial. Some people thought the Martin Luther King episode was controversial. I didn't think so. There may be some episodes that people think are controversial if they're sensitive to that kind of thing, but for me,  I don't know, it's tough for me to say."

McGruder on the state of hip-hop:

"My feelings on hip-hop are that I wish it was just better. I don't look too much into what kind of words anyone is saying as much as the quality of the work. I think if you're an artist and you're putting out work that you believe in, I think that naturally solves a lot of the problems that we're talking about in terms of content of the music and all of that. Positive music can also suck, so for me it's all about good music, [and] creating good art. To me that's the most important thing. I get mad when I hear rappers who can't rap or producers who can't make beats, that's what frustrates me. I could care less that people are saying what they're going to say and I think it's really easy to scapegoat the youth to a certain extent and forget that this language has been a part of our community for a long time, way before rap music."

Aaron McGruder on the anime influences for the fight scenes:

"We looked at Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop to make this work for black comedy and it would be a remarkable thing. We didn't get anywhere close to where we wanted on the first season, but when you see the animation in the second season, it's a big step up and that gives you the freedom to pull off sequences that have some visual impact. We went in that direction because we felt we were able to pull it off. I was impressed with some of the fight sequences of season one and knowing how much we learned, I felt like we could really push that in the second season and we did and it worked out really well."

Hahahhahaha!! Oh boy! You try o . I'm highly impressed. Keep it up!

Below's news information on an afrikan CG animated feature in the works.

http://www.sunrisecorporation.net/african_tale.html

An African Tale

'An African Tale' is a CG animated feature scheduled for worldwide theatrical release in the second half of 2009. Pre-production is set to begin in March 2007, production will commence in January 2008, with post production starting in January 2009 for a completion date of April 2009.

The entire production will take place in Cape Town, South Africa with various voice, sound and post production elements being handled internationally. The project will consist of a healthy mix of very experienced, super talented international animators and designers as well as a number of super talented and super eager local South African talent!

Director's Comments
We asked writer/director Brent Dawes "What is 'An African Tale'?"

'Besides being Africa 's first theatrical CG animated feature it is a return and a home coming. A return to the days when story was king. And a home coming in that finally a movie about Africa will be told by those who know and love her most!

"An African Tale" is a story that speaks of the state of the human heart and offers hope even when it seems we are our own worst enemies.

It is an exciting time to be involved in a project like this. We are embarking on it at a time when the technology really can serve the story; it is a wonderful thing to have a vision which can be realistically brought to life in our chosen medium. It seems the industry is in a bit of a state at the moment unsure of what the audience really wants to see. Is it ground-breaking visuals? Is it big name voice artists? Is it quick, flashy, bouncy, stretchy characters? Is it zippy, choppy editing and impossible camera moves? In fact the industry has been in that state since it began, a state of "Who knows?!"

So instead of trying to guess what people want why don't we open our eyes to the fact that we are the people, we are the audience? Let us make a movie that we would want to sit down in a darkened room and give a couple of hours of our lives to watching. A movie that we can watch with our families that makes us laugh, makes us cry, makes us feel and finally makes us believe! And that's where you come in. We'll only pull it off with the super human effort of a group of like-minded individuals with the skill and passion to see it done. We go into this as the underdogs, but we're determined to take hold of it like Pit-bulls and not let go until this movie is all we believe it can be.

Producer's Comments
Phil Cunningham, producer of "An African Tale" adds;

'Our passion is story!! Africa is our birth place- a continent of beauty, tragedy and mystery. It captures your heart, seeps into your blood and inspires the imagination. A land of wide open savannahs, grand, sweeping skies, rich colors, earthy scents, thundering storms, the cry of a fish eagle, the night roar of a lion.

As a young boy I canoed the Zambezi time after time feeling the warm African sun on my back, the scent of rain on the breeze and watching the river banks slide slowly by. Hippos snorted and sprayed, crocodiles slid into the passing current and elephants plucked branches from the flood plain trees. I could feel it then and can feel it now, this is the most wonderful backdrop to tell an epic story.

We want to tell an epic story, a timeless story, yes a fun story but also one that energizes and inspires children and adults to dream big dreams. So Africa is our setting and digital animation is our paint brush. What a zenith! What a medium! It crosses the barriers of age, culture, race and religion more than any other! This project has captivated us, pulled us in, its like surfing, we don't make the waves, we just catch them and feel the thrill of the ride!! 'An African Tale' has started and we are paddling hard to catch the ride of our lives, join us!! , if you like surfing that is.'

@Wham: Thank you, bro. I look forward to meeting and holding it down with you, too. That's what it's all about -- doing big things for the 'green white green'.

The following article is a classic example of african ingenuity and creativity at its best and finest hour. I found it so inspiring because it underscores the possibilities that can be attained through dogged determination and persistence of vision. It's about Zimbabwean animators who succeeded, in the face of financial hardships and a lack of funding, in making a fantastic animated movie, titled "The Legend of The Sky Kingdom", FROM JUNK! Yes, you heard me, the entire movie was made out of JUNK/TRASH!

The film was animated using stop motion animation. The puppets and all of the sets were built from pieces of junk that the filmmakers found -- a necessity of the low budget as well as an artistic choice inspired by Africa's folk artists, who often turn things that others have thrown away into works of art. The filmmakers call this animation style "junkmation".

The filmmakers also spent two years custom-building a motion camera out of bicycle parts because they did not have the money to buy a professional one from the West.


Read the full article here: http://www.southafrica.info/what_happening/arts_entertainment/junkmation.htm


Turning junk into cinema magic

20 October 2003

South African film producer Anant Singh's company, Videovision Entertainment, has acquired the worldwide distribution rights to The Legend Of The Sky Kingdom that opened the Durban International Film Festival this month.

The Legend Of The Sky Kingdom, produced by Zimbabwe-based Philip and Jacqui Cunningham, is directed by Roger Hawkins.

The characters and sets featured in the film have been made exclusively from junk, giving birth to the world's newest animation style, dubbed "junkmation" by its creators, Sunrise Productions.

"We were thoroughly impressed with the ingenuity of The Legend Of The Sky Kingdom and its distinctive African flavour", said Singh. "The filmmakers have done an amazing job in not only creating a film that is characteristically African, but a film from which a new animation style has been created for the world."

Last month, Videovision presented The Legend Of The Sky Kingdom at prestigious festivals in North America. The film had its world premiere at the Montreal Film Festival, where it opened the African Horizons section.

Junkmation is inspired by the unique works of art created from junk in Africa, where skilled craftsmen transform pieces of junk into useful items, reports SA Film. Junk of any type – wood, metal, wire, tin, plastic, empty containers – find new life as objects of art and decoration and everyday use.

The film's producers tapped into this art form and brought it to life to create a world unlike any other, peopled by characters recreated from junk.

The Legend Of The Sky Kingdom is a magical tale that follows the journey of a group of children on their way to find the mythical sky kingdom.

Enslaved in an underground city, Blockhead, Squidge and Lucky stage a daring escape and begin a journey that sees them pursued by the evil emperor's hyenas as they travel through the Jungle of Despair and the Desert of Desolation.

"We are pleased to have Anant Singh and Videovision Entertainment handle the world distribution of The Legend of the Sky Kingdom, and we are thrilled to have the film selected for the Montreal World Film Festival", the Cunninghams told SA Film.

"As junkmation was our inspiration for the film, we remained true to its art form, we decided to tap into the creative source of the style - the street artists and vendors themselves. In so doing, we combined our technical and creative expertise with the raw talent and craftsmanship of these highly original and gifted artists.

"The approach we used in The Legend of the Sky Kingdom has never been attempted anywhere in the world before, and the results are truly radical."

Director Roger Hawkins told SA Film: "The whole ethos of our production was to 'use what you've got'. I realised that we did not have vast resources or big budgets, but what we did have was the incredible ingenuity of African street artists. This inspired us and made us realise that art can always find a form to express itself.

"The idea of making a movie out of nothing really appealed to me, and I think it fired our creativity and passion in a way that proved you don't need big money and experience - what matters is passion and determination.''

SouthAfrica.info reporter

zPixel:
I really don't understand what this thread is for Can someone explain

In layman's terms, it's about african animation. A repository, if you will, where animation enthusiasts can come to get information and learn about african strides and contributions to the animation medium. You can come here to access news on latest animation efforts and ongoing projects taking shape on the continent. I hope that helps.

I found a clip of the opening sequence of the aforementioned South-African 3D-animated series, Magic Cellar, on youtube, at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADJ0n_DqmO0&feature=related

Doesn't look bad at all!

@Grafikdon: as a 3D person/animator, what's your impression of the animation from the above youtube clip?

wham:
Man!!!!!!!! Lafem

What are u?

An Animation Researcher/Animator/Cartoonist/Producer/Motivator/Everything

You cool man!

I like your drive. You give me morale.

This posts are encouraging. I'm thinking of ideas to work on
a short 5mins 2D clip to address a prevailing ill in Nigeria

I have so much on my hands (other stuff). Its going to take time.

Are u into Animation full time? What do u do?

You've got it man!

My guy, I'm highly gratified to know that you find this thread motivating! That's exactly one of the objectives I was gunning at when I came up with the idea. Am I into animation full-time, you ask? No, not yet. I currently work full-time in a non-related field/industry -- although I've intimated my G.M [I'm a manager myself] of my intention to quit my position in the next 6-8 months to jump-start/pursue my animation career, IN NAIJA! And he's given his blessings -- not that it mattered. As soon as the much-touted direct-flight route from ATL to naija opens in december, I'm going to purchase my one-way ticket back to las-gidi, straightup. I tell you, it's been a loongg time coming. 'Been planning, learning, and saving-up for it for the past 3yrs. And at this point I believe I have all the tools and knowledge [and add a tenacious/stubborn will to that ) that I need to setup my own outfit [studio], challenge myself, and hit the naija animation scene with a sledgehammer bang! The ideas jus dey flow, ideas I'm keeping under-wraps for now. I figured that, to be maximally productive, I'd definitely have to train people, prolly one at a time, to help out with the work-load, because I'll tell you rite now that ANIMATION IS A LOT OF WORK! If you're lazy, you might as well forget becoming one. I can complete a 5-minute length short in about a month-and-half, BY MYSELF. But imagine what can be achieved with the help of an army of fellow animators, layout, storyboard, and background artists? The sky'll be the limit. By God's grace sha, e go shele as I dey plan.

Animation is such a fantastic medium, and I can't see myself doing anything more exciting and challenging, because there's always something new to look forward to doing, new grounds to break, new styles to experiment, and one can only get better at it, heck! the opportunities abound. As one, I see myself as a CREATOR, of sorts. In the sense that, I can give life to inanimate things, and create a believable illusion of motion, to a height of entertainment. Your imagination is your only limitation when it comes to this craft, and every animator is unique because no two animators can approach a scene or execute an idea the same way, as each person's individuality and style will speak for itself in their work. What a unique craft it is!

Putting Africa on the Animation Map: The Story of Pictoon, Senegal

(I created a collage of images from the Pictoon which can viewed at the bottom of this post.)

“Unless we know how to sell our culture, others will sell it for us.” - Pierre Sauvalle, founder and co-director of Pictoon.

Africa’s traditional heritage is rich in storytelling. So it seems altogether fitting that the first animated film series to come out of the continent is about Kabongo the griot, a West African storyteller. Kabango strides through the countries of the world, his singing monkey Golo at his side, searching for a worthy pupil to whom he can pass on his art and skills. In each country he encounters misfortune and adventure, and through his storytelling reveals the magic in the myths and legends of the country’s past.

The 13-part cartoon series, the first to be entirely made in Africa, is the work of a small animation studio, Pictoon, based in Senegal’s capital Dakar. Broadcast on the Canal France International (CFI) satellite service in December, 2003, Kabongo was an instant hit. “It’s a magnificent series, very ambitious, and very African,” CFI’s programming director, Pierre Block de Freiberg, told TIME Europe Magazine.

Kabongo was the brain child of Pierre Sauvalle, who set up Pictoon in 1998 together with his co-director, Senegalese businesswoman Aïda Ndiaye. Mr. Sauvalle had worked for eight years in French production companies after graduating from the renowned animation school, Les Gobelins, in Paris. But he had always nursed the desire to return to Africa in order to start creating genuinely African productions. He engaged both African and French writers to work on the screenplay for Kabongo, but the storyboards, the animation, the colorization and the editing were all done by Pictoon in Dakar. Only post-production work (i.e. sound) was done in France.

With Kabongo, Pictoon has put Africa on the map of the animation industry and proved that Africa can produce seamless, high-quality cartoons. But that is just the start of Pictoon’s ambitions. While the company could earn more than enough by producing local television commercials to keep it in business, its real aim is to attract some of the US$75 billion global animation industry its way.

Home grown talent
Mr. Sauvalle and Mrs. Ndiaye are unfazed by the challenge. So far they have found solutions to every difficulty they have encountered, be it a shortage of qualified artists, the power outages, or the problems of obtaining computer equipment and software appropriate for their use and sturdy enough for their environment.


Young Senegalese artists receive cartoon animation training in Pictoon’s studio.
Unable to find trained cartoon artists, Mr. Sauvalle began training them himself. He set up a two-year drawing and computer-animation apprenticeship for promising young artists whom he talent-scouted locally. As the apprentices gain experience and master the necessary skills, they in turn teach new arrivals. During busy periods, Pictoon now employs up to 120 people, all of them trained on site.

“The art industry is really important to Africa because it creates an image of us.” – Pictoon co-director, Aïda Ndiaye.
Other problems that Pictoon could not resolve, they worked around. “You can put in all the surge protectors you like, but it doesn't change a thing,” says Mrs. Ndiaye, the company’s managing director. “Every year we have to replace the entire computer system.”

Competing globally
The wages paid to the art apprentices in Senegal, which is classified as one of the world’s least developed countries, allow Pictoon to compete on cost grounds with Asian countries, such as South Korea, to whom European and US. animation production firms currently outsource much of their artwork. Combining low costs with high quality – which Mr. Sauvalle notes has impressed animation professionals around the world – Pictoon is shaping up to be a serious competitor in the global marketplace.

But Pictoon does not want business at any cost. Its founders are determined to continue producing their own films in order to remain true to their cultural heritage. They plan to create more African cartoons, inspired from legends and stories that have been passed from father to son for generations. Such stories, they believe, hold a universal appeal. Following the success of Kabongo in France and across francophone Africa, Sauvalle is confident that the soon-to-be released English version will capture the world market.

Registering intellectual property
Pictoon understands the value of its intellectual property and has registered Kabongo with the French collective management society, the Society of Authors and Composers of Dramatic Works. But Mr. Sauvalle is deeply concerned that the costs involved in protecting intellectual property are proportionally so much greater for developing countries. “The cost of registering creations and applying for patents is often simply beyond the means of creators from African countries,” he observes. He would like to see fees waived for the poorest countries like Senegal, so that creators could register their works for free, “just as a father registering the birth of his new child.”

Coming soon…
Soon to hit television screens is Pictoon’s next series, The Invincible Lions of Africa. With, again, a winning combination of good story-telling and wisdom, the series weaves moral messages through the adventures of its football-playing animal stars, while projecting a positive image of Africa. Pictoon fans eagerly await its arrival.

culled from: http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2005/05/article_0004.html

AFRICA ANIMATED! -- INITIATIVE FOR AFRICAN CARTOON PRODUCTION

Africa Animated!� a UNESCO led initiative to support the production of animated cartoons in Africa. This project has brought together the African artistic community and the audiovisual industry to create audiovisual media products made by Africans with African creativity, imagery, dialogue and music.

UNESCO through Africa Animated! has successfully conducted training workshops since 2004 and is currently launching a permanent Animation Training and Production Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

Phase I of the project consisted in the development of a ground-breaking intensive five-week training curriculum which has been put in practice to train 40 animators. It has also been used to produce 20 short animation films, some of them award winning in different Animation Festivals throughout the world.

Phase II is intended to strengthen the training component and provide job opportunities for Africa Animated! graduates through the launch of training, production and development activities.

Learn more about this initiative, here: http://www.africa-animated.org/

@Grafikdon: Broman, there's no way one can talk about naija animation without mentioning you. Without a doubt, I consider you a pioneer of naija-centric/themed animation -- as far as I know, your 'Chika' movie was the first successful naija attempt at an animated feature, and that right there is a big-deal in my book. Whenever you read this, I go like know if you go fit grant me an audience with you, as I'd love to interview you to share your experience and perspective on animation, as well your impressions on the state of animation in naija and africa as a whole.

The following are excerpts from a very informative article I found online about the South-African animation industry. You can read the full article at: http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=2127

Face of the Industry

Here’s a quick snapshot of a few studios. This is not a comprehensive guide but it gives you a sense of the variety and quality of talent in South Africa.

Wicked Pixels
Wicked Pixels is one of the more popular vfx and 3D animation studios in Cape Town. Founded in 1997, they have produced over 600 TV commercials and are now moving into TV series and film. Internationally, they’ve gained recognition, including a Gold Lion at Cannes for their work with clients like BMW, MTV, Smirnoff, Guinness, VW, Gauloises, Shell and Red Bull.

Most of their projects involve input from storyboarding to final delivery. They ‘re equally skilled at working out a complex visual effect shot as they are at character design. They have a good reputation and are worth considering for your next production.

www.wickedpixels.com/


Triggerfish Animation
Outside the masses of the many 3D production studios is Triggerfish, a talented stop motion and Flash-for-Broadcast animation house, also in Cape Town. Triggerfish Animation was formed in 1996 and has developed a reputation for producing quality animation, with over 150 titles to their credit. They’ve worked with Sesame Workshop since 1999 and over the last seven years, Triggerfish has become an integral part of the local animation industry.
“We produce animation because we love animation and in the end, I think that’s what makes good work,” says director Jacquie Trowell. “We have a personal desire to experiment, collaborate, and create.” That passion is part of everything Triggerfish creates. That’s why clients like Sesame Workshop keep coming back. Talented, enthusiastic, connected — Triggerfish is worth a look.

www.triggerfish.co.za


Astral Studios
In Johannesburg, Astral Studios has a wide variety of production skills for commercials, television productions, multimedia presentations, and websites. Irene Constantinides says, “We have seen the local industry rapidly improve in quality and complexity and we foresee that commercials and international work will continue to allow our creative team to push the leading edge of special effects.” She’s very enthusiastic about the future of the industry in South Africa.

“The new BMW 6 Series commercial On Your Mind is a excellent example of how a project reflects the way the South African creative industry is staking its claim on the world wide stage. Out of a number of top international companies, a South African agency, production company and director were chosen to execute the commercial,” she says. “Successes like these sends a message out there that South Africa is truly a significant player in the international field.”

www.astralstudios.co.za/

The Refinery
If you can’t find what you want in one of the smaller studios, you’re sure to get it at the Refinery. With offices in Johannesburg and in Cape Town, they are one of the largest post-production houses in the country. They offer a wide spectrum of services, including 3D animation and visual effects. They’re another a good example of the burgeoning advertising and film industry.

www.refinery.co.za/


The outside view of Astral Studios. © Astral Studios.


Future of the Industry

A lot of the hard work has already been done. Ad agencies and the film industry have helped develop a talented animation community in South Africa. The opportunities of the future are really for foreign producers to tap into this unique creative pool and the distinct cost-saving advantages.

As Craig Wessels says, “Cape Town is becoming the new Soho/Santa Monica — only more interesting, less expensive and without the attitude.” Indeed, South Africa has more than elephants. From 3D to Flash to stop frame, it’s worth considering for your next commercial, post-production or animated series.

Maybe you’ll even get to expense a trip to beautiful Cape Town, if you’re lucky.