Studio Research: Kilogramme

Kilogramme is an animation studio based in Manchester, that produces a wide variety of both 2D and 3D animations for shorts, interstitials and adverts for both broadcasting and online.

There are a number of reasons I wanted to look into Kilogramme as a possible studio to work for, but I feel the biggest is that the studio appears to work on a wide range of projects that are all different and unique that explore a different technique or aesthetic every time. Even though the studio practices in both 2D and 3D animation, I feel that they do so equally and that their showreel is very diverse. 

They also work on a range of projects from shorts to adverts. Although I don't necessarily want to work on commercial work, I feel that this studio has a good balance between commercial and non-commercial, and I understand that working on commercial briefs also helps to 'pay the bills'.

The fact that this studio engages in such a variety of techniques, aesthetics and projects could play a huge role in why this animation studio is so successful. Due to them being able to create work of such a variety demonstrates that they are extremely flexible and are capable of curating a unique response to a brief. This has led to the company working with an extensive number of clients including Ben and Jerry's and CITV.
Personally, I believe that this studio is as successful as it is because it isn't afraid to explore a wide variety of techniques to create a response that is unique every single time. I also feel that they are achieving so much because they are capable of creating work for both commercial use and for non-commercial use, which I feel is important, as it demonstrates flexibility and adaptability.

After doing a little more research, I have come to understand that Kilogramme don't hire anyone in-house, as they are such a small studio, but rather collaborate with freelance artists for their projects. They also don't offer any internships, again because they are simply too small. However, although I won't be apply for a job or internship here, I do feel that it would be extremely beneficial for me to try and get a studio visit and build up a professional relationship with them.

Viewing Kilogramme's work has encouraged me to begin to think about experimenting in my own work and trying to learn new techniques and explore new aesthetics. Even if it doesn't work out, it may lead to me discovering something that does and all in all will boost my portfolio and showreel.

MAF 2016: The Red Turtle Preview

Whilst at MAF I was lucky enough to attend the preview for The Red Turtle (La Tortue Rouge) directed by Mihael Dudok De Wit. The story follows a man who is shipwrecked on this island and encounters a red turtle that is an inhabitant of the island. The beautiful tale tells of the milestones that humans experience throughout life, whilst raising questions of the mans sanity.



I found this film simply beautiful from the visuals down to the sound design and story. Although the film takes place in the same three areas of the environment, I found that I was experiencing something new every time we returned to the place we had left the scene before. I found the story to be extremely captivating and haunting by the end, as I found myself questioning the character's sanity and asking myself whether he'd imagined it all due to be lonely or whether it was real or not.

Overall I think that this film is one of the best animated feature lengths I've seen in a while and I feel fortunate to have seen it. Not only has it demonstrated what a good film looks like, but it has also opened my eyes to the fact that simplistic and minimalist animation can work just as well and tell a story just as compelling and captivating as other films. I will definitely consider what elements of my story for Extended Practice are essential and which bits may work better stripped down.

MAF 2016: The Making on Ethel and Ernest

The last masterclass that I attended at MAF this year was the making of Ethel and Ernest. Although all of the other masterclasses were interesting and I learnt a lot from them, this was the one I was looking forward to the most, as it is a film made in the programme I am currently learning and will be using for my Extended Practice. It is also a 2D film, so it held a soft spot for me from the start as 2D animation is my jam.

The talk was conducted by Roger Mainwood, Peter Dodd and Camilla Deakin from Lupus Films and they each spoke about different elements of the film, though there was a huge emphasis on the production of it, which I didn't mind as it was really interesting to see how they used the software and created the aesthetic that they did.



The film itself took 9 months to make and was aided by 309 character model sheets and 600 backgrounds, which were created by using CG elements to get the perspective right. This was actually quite interesting to learn, and is something I will consider for my own film. They also used TV Paint because they felt that it wasn't feasible to create the film on paper and believed it to be the best alternative.
In order to make the most of the software they created their own textures and brushes  and used alternating colour swatches to create colour that moved and boiled, as this created movement and texture. Overall I feel that they have create an aesthetic that works incredibly well with the theme of the film and portrays the mood, tone and atmosphere perfectly.

Not only this, but the attention to detail, particularly in movement also works incredibly well in making the characters feel real. Movement is something that the team focused on closely during the making of the film. One of the ways they made sure that the movements weren't cliched or cartoony was to study mannerisms of people in real life, as they believed this made them more natural, which in turn would keep an audiences attention and ensure that they stayed engaged.

Overall, I found the talk to be an eyeopener to the process that goes behind making a film and it has made me consider all of the elements I will need to explore when creating my own film for Extended Practice. Reflecting upon this, it may be wise to attempt to collaborate with more people, as there is a lot that goes into the making of a film other than animating and it may be worth my time investing in the help of others.
Not only this, but this talk has made me want to explore all of the possibilities I can gain from using TVPaint and to learn everything that I can achieve with the programme that will aid me and allow me to work to my full potential.

MAF 2016: Masterclass - Blue Zoo Hoodoo

During my second day at MAF I attended a masterclass by Blue Zoo, an animation company based in London that specialises in 3D animation but also dabbles in 2D as well, their most recent 2D animation on their website being their short for Dynamo's "Seeing is Believing" tour in August 2016.

Dynamo's Seeing is Believing Tour 2016

However, the talk I attended was all about their new VR game, Hoodoo. The talk focused on the concept behind the animation and how they went about designing the characters and the environment for the virtual world they intended it for. I was particularly interested in hearing about how they kept the story simple in order to allow a viewer to explore the world without missing vital parts of the story and how they ensured the viewer obtained the relevant information they needed to understand the story. As my Extended Practice will be focused on creating an engaging narrative, I wanted to use this talk as an opportunity to gain some inspiration before I started to lock in my narrative.

https://www.blue-zoo.co.uk/animation/hoodoo-vr-short/

They kept the story quite simple, having a few key elements that happened in order to make the story progress that they encouraged a viewer to focus on by leading the story that way whilst giving the viewer the freedom to look around and explore the environment. However, in order to stop the viewer from branching off down numerous different story lines, the developers kept the world relatively small with only a few areas to explore. Considering this is only a 15 minute game so far, I felt that there was so much to see and experience in such a small space. Unfortunately I couldn't have a go on the headset before the talk, as it would have made me feel really sick. Nonetheless, I found this to be extremely interesting and it is something I think I will keep my eye on, as although I am not a 3D animator, I find the idea of Virtual Reality to be quite interesting and I believe it is becoming more popular within the world of animation. 

They then went on to talk about how they made the short and how it took them quite a few years to get to this point, which isn't surprising. It was however interesting to hear how everything started from 2D concepts. Although I am not a designer of any sort, it's nice to know that 2D elements are still needed to make a 3D animation. 

MAF 2016: Films in Competition: Shorts 2

To end my first day at MAF I went to watch the second selection of short films in competition. I must admit, I didn't enjoy this selection as much as I did the first. Whilst there was a range of media used, as there was before, I found the majority of these films to be quite depressing or of a serious nature. Although I am not against animation being used for serious issues, in fact I feel that animation can be a very strong tool in depicting serious issues, as it can portray things that may be difficult to face otherwise, I just felt that the selection was quite saddening compared to the rest of the day, Perhaps if I had attended the screening on another day, I might not have felt that way.

Nevertheless, I did feel that there were a couple of animations that stood out to me and have stayed with me the last couple of months for entirely different reasons. The first animation that grabbed my attention was the Fox and the Whale.

 
1) Fox and the Whale by Robin Joseph

Although I found the story to be quite basic in the sense that it was a character searching for something, I enjoyed this film regardless. I thought that it was visually beautiful, which I felt was down to the amount of detail in the backgrounds within the film. In particular, I really enjoyed the scenes that took place within the forest, as I found the level of detail and use of colour within these shots to be absolutely amazing. However, this isn't what I have taken away from this film s inspiration for my own, it is the lighting use and the cross over between 2D and CGI. Firstly, I feel that the lighting within this film has been done really well, which is something that I need to seriously consider for my Extended Practice, as I want the environments to reflect the mood and tone of the story I am telling. Secondly, the merging of CGI and drawn animation appeals to me, as I am also looking to do this for my Extended Practice, so it is nice to see it done well as an example of how it can work.

 
2)Under The Apple Tree by Erik van Schaaik

The second film that stood out to me was Under The Apple Tree. However, I'm not sure that this film has stayed with me for all of the right reasons. Whilst I found the animation to be quite smooth and very well done, the story itself was extremely bizarre and over the top. Not to mention the characters spoke half in rhyme and half not, which only made me feel uncomfortable, however, in retrospect I feel that this may have been intentional, as the film itself has a very dark nature. Although I didn't personally enjoy this film, I found myself laughing and engage regardless, which demonstrates that you don't always have to enjoy something to be invested. By making me feel uncomfortable and making the story outrageous, this film has managed to stay in my mind.

MAF 2016: Masterclass - Phantom Boy

The next event I attended was the first Masterclass of the visit and it focused on the sound design of Phantom Boy. The film isn't one that I had heard of before, nor was the studio Folimage, so it was a good opportunity to peg another studio in my collection. Whilst it would have been really nice to hear more about the aesthetic choices of the film and how it was made and such, the talk was actually really interesting and extremely informative about the importance of sound design. I had attended a sound design talk before in the previous year with Jan Meinema, which I found to be of a huge help to future projects, however Loic Burkhardt went into much more detail about how sound can be used and I found the talk quite intriguing.

Burkhardt started his career with an assistant job, which he stayed in for the first 5-6 years before he moved up into industry. Whilst this sounded like a long time to be an assistant, he explained that this was his form of education, as he had zero experience when he started and that it was his drive to succeed and motivation to progress within industry. With this in mind it was actually quite comforting to hear, as it reminded me that it will take time to get to where I want, but with perseverance and a little patience I will make it.

From here Burkhardt moved on to talk about the sound design within the film. Loic believes that there is a huge difference between hearing and listening and it is up to the sound designer to make an audience listen rather than just hear. He illustrated how sound works and how different sounds have different uses by showing us clips from the film, first without sound and then with, so we would see a clear difference. The effectiveness of adding sounds and music was quite significant and very clear to see because of the stark contrast between no sound and sound, but it was the subtle differences in the rain sounds that made it really work for the scene, as they drew you in and made you feel as though you were really there. Within the scene shown to us, there were a number of different perspectives that the rain was heard from. Loic explained to us that when the perspective was from the characters point of view, the rain needed to sound harder to make it sound as though you are running through it yourself. However, when the camera is looking in on the character and the shot is wide, the rain should sound lighter, as you are higher up from the ground. It is different again when the character gets into the car, the rain changes to sound as though is it hitting a tin roof to simulate the effect of rain hitting a car. Although these are very subtle differences in sound, when listened to it is very clear how much they effect the overall viewing.

Loic also spoke about how effects of ambient and foley sounds. Unlike live action film, when you create an animation it is utterly silent, meaning that you have to create the sounds you want yourself which can often lead to the sounds sounding inauthentic and simulated. This however leaves sounds for animation open to the opportunity to be extremely adventurous and creative. Burkhardt explained that he has had to create a number of different sounds with objects that you wouldn't necessarily consider, but to no be afraid to experiment, as sounds are extremely important to telling a story, as they tell aspects of the story that are unseen.

Overall, I feel that I have taken a significant lesson away from this talk and I feel as though I understand the importance of sound on a level that will aid me in my future projects, especially Extended Practice, as I will be able to consider the sounds I use in my film and how they will tell my story.

MAF 2016: Films in Competition: Student 1

The next event I went to was Films in Competition: Student 1. I was really looking forward to this screening, as it would give me an idea of what other students, both from the UK and other countries, were creating and what the festival was expecting in terms of submissions.

Although I found this screening to be interesting, I must admit that it wasn't as good as the first screening I went to and there weren't as many animation that stuck with me this time around. Having said this however, there were a few that made me pay more attention than others.


1) The Wrong End of The Stick by Terri Matthews

The Wrong End of The Stick was by far the most interesting, bizarre and funny animation out of the collection in this screening. The story follows a man who has a secret that may not be so conventional, one that his wife finds out about and is distraught by. However, although the story was incredibly funny, for me it was the use of mixed media and animation that pulled me in.

The environments and objects are a mixture of live action and rotoscoped elements with the animation being rotoscoped, yet caricatured. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of rotoscoping, but this animation is a good example of how the technique can be used to aid in animation and help to make the movements realistic.
I really enjoyed this animation and I found the overall film to be very funny and nicely animated.


2) Wildfire by Hugues Opter & Co.

The reason I enjoyed wildfire wasn't necessarily for the story but more for the visuals, particularly the textures in the backgrounds and sometimes the characters. Working with textures is something that I have always wanted to incorporate into my own work but sometimes struggle with ideas of how to do so and which materials to use. However, watching Wildfire has demonstrated to me that the use of mixed media can be to my advantage when it comes to creating texture within my own work, as when it is done right, it can help to create wonderful backgrounds that portray strong atmospheres.


3) Once Upon a Line by Alicja Jasina

The final animation of the screening, Once Upon a Line, was another animation that stood out to me because of the simplistic aesthetic of the piece and the way that the story was shown. Usually I struggle with repetitive animation, as I struggle to stay interested and feel as though I am watching the same thing over and over again. However, although this story was repetitive, it was done in a way that demonstrated the chaos and frustration felt by the character at having his life turned upside down. Overall, I found the animation to be quite funny and simple yet effective.

I have enjoyed watching these shorts and it has definitely given me an idea of what I should be aiming for when I think about my extended practice. It has also given me a few animations that will give me inspiration at a later date for future projects.

MAF 2016: Films in Competition: Shorts 1

To kick start MAF this year, I started the morning off with watching the first set of shorts under the category 'Films in Competition'. I thought that it would be a nice way to start the day off and give me an idea of what to expect for the next three days. I really enjoyed this years screening of shorts, as I felt that there was a wider range of animation techniques to be seen, including more 2D/traditional animation. Not only this, but this year I felt that there were a lot less animations based on morbid or serious topics and there were a lot more animations that just seemed silly and done for the fun of it, which was really encouraging to see.

1) Birdz by Emilien Davaud

Birdz is a short CGI film that depicts the struggle of surviving nature in a rather peculiar way. Like the title suggests the focus is on a birds but with a twist. Instead of the characters being birds, they are in fact humans that look and act like birds in all senses. However, other than the fact that this animation was a little bit silly, it doesn't actually appeal to me all that much. Being interested n 2D animation, it hasn't given me any inspiration for my own work and on the whole I found it quite disturbing to watch, but I feel that the uncomfortable feeling of it worked in its favour.

2) Of Shadows and Wings... by Elice Meng & Eleonora Marinoni

Of Shadows and Wings was the animation of the day for me. I absolutely adored this animation not only for its wonderful aesthetic but also because of its brilliant story. This animation is an excellent example of how emotion and story can be told with little use of speech, yet still be as effective, if not more than animations that focus on the delivery of speech rather than body language. Not only this, but the animation demonstrates how effective music and sound are when put together to create a strong sense of emotion and understanding for an audience.

Also, the film was also extremely beautiful to look at aesthetically and very well animated, which made it even more entertaining to watch. In particular I really liked the way that the environments depicted the mood and tone of the main character. The way that the animation starts off with very deep blues and greens to reveal a bright colourful ending to portray the characters sense of freedom and relief. Not only does this animation demonstrate effective storytelling through character body language and sound, but it also reminds me that colours are just as important and can tell huge parts of a story to an audience before a character has even been introduced.

This beautiful piece has definitely made me think about my extended practice and how I will approach colour and sound within my final film, as they will be important in helping me tell my story.

3) The Inverted Peak by The Brothers McLeod

As I had been to see The Brothers McLeod at the start of the month, it was nice to see The Inverted Peak, as they weren't allowed to show it to us at the talk because it had been submitted to festivals. The animation itself is amazing to watch and to listen to, as it bombards you with strange visuals and even stranger sounds, that make the whole experience quite bizarre but at the same time somewhat hypnotic and mesmerizing. The use of colour and mixed media demonstrate how animation can also take you into a world of abstract wonders to explore unusual or difficult themes, such as the quest for enlightenment and desire.

Not only this, but the animation demonstrates how sound can be used to make someone feel uncomfortable and create a particular mood or atmosphere, as I was definitely on edge throughout the whole film. I'm still 100% certain what exactly happens within the animation, but it definitely made me question things and think about what animation is a medium and how it can be used for more than storytelling and entertainment.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the opening films I saw whilst at MAF because they have given me the opportunity to see animations from places such the Netherlands and Mexico, which I wouldn't necessarily come across on my own. They have also provided me with a lot of insight for my extended practice and have given me the chance to think about and consider certain elements of my project that I may have otherwise neglected, such as colour use and the importance of sound and music.

ASFF: The Brothers McLeod - The Aesthetics of Animation: Combining Technology and Storytelling

At the start of November I decided to attend The Brothers McLeod talk at ASFF in York, as I felt that it would be beneficial to me as an animator and possibly my CoP work. The talk overall was very interesting and it was really nice to meet both Myles and Greg in person and listen to them talk about their process and their upcoming new short MARFA: An Animated Travelogue. However, I don't much feel that the talk was on 'Combining Technology and Storytelling' but more on storytelling and showcasing what they had done, why they had done and their new project. Despite this however, I still massively enjoyed the talk and I was really interested in hearing what they had to say about their work.

MARFA is an animated film about memory, more specifically about Greg's memory of visiting Marfa, Texas to see their film 365. In the beginning, Greg was going to animate the short in the style of 365, but felt that as the tests progressed, the lighting was off and he wasn't 'feeling it', so moved on to using traditional media such as watercolours and pencils, which he will be using for the final film. The drawing style itself will be in the style associated with The Brothers McLeod, a really quick, loose line that contains lots of energy and movement. When asked why Greg chooses to draw this way he simply answered that "when working on our own projects we like them to be natural and to 'find themselves'", which is something that can't be achieved when working for clients, as you need to be able to produce work quickly and to a standard that your client is happy with. This is something that has always played at the back of my mind when I've considered what it would be like to conduct freelance work, so it was nice to hear that even as professionals, The Brothers McLeod still enjoy creating their own work for fun and use commercial work as a way to fund their own personal projects. (The Brothers even have their own term for it; the Creative Feedback Loop).

They then went on to talk about how important it is to get a gag right in a story (if your story contains gags). When animating a gag, it is important to set the gag up correctly in order for it to be understood and funny. Greg suggests that having lots of white space around your character helps the gag to stand out and prevents the audience from getting distracted. He also pointed out that there has to be a point to a camera change, otherwise it is just pointless. Although he was focusing on gags at the time, I feel that the camera point is a very valid one and one that I will definitely take into consideration when I come to develop my extended practice piece.

In terms of animation aesthetics, the brothers spoke about how they believe that aesthetics are chosen based on personal preference and appeal, rather than a choice based on what is popular at the time or what an audience wants. Particularly for them, they choose to draw because that is where they started and they felt that they should stick to be good at one thing rather than trying to be good at everything, as it is important to enjoy what you are making. Greg personally chooses 2D simply because he likes to draw and he enjoys the energy of the line and the 'crapness' of the paper, the way it wrinkles and creases when you add water to it and the way the pencil smudges.

Overall, I had a really good afternoon and I enjoyed the talk. Although I feel that the talk was mostly about what they had done more than anything, I still feel that I have come away having gained knowledge as an animator. It was also really  nice to hear about their work and what they do and what they are working on in the future. I feel that the main thing I have taken away from this talk is that animation is not about technique, but about story and motivation, which are things I will thoroughly consider for my final film.

The Lifting Tower: Overall Experience

December the 1st marked the opening night for our projections as a part of Christmas in Leeds. The projection itself was wonderful to see and it was great to see our work up on the big building with the public attending.

Overall, I feel that I didn't enjoy this project as much as I thought I would, as I felt that I was doing it more because I felt I had to rather than because I wanted to. This definitely effected how I approached this project and it made me struggle to stay interested and motivated despite the fact that I was actually interested in the ideas and I liked the people I was working with.
This is something I feel that I need to work on, as I am aware that I won't always be working on a project that I necessarily want to. In order to do this, I feel that I need to find ways to stay motivated by giving myself attainable goals to work towards, such as completing 2 seconds of animating a day. This way I can focus on achieving that target rather than dwelling on the fact that I am doing something I don't really want to. It will also help me to not feel as overwhelmed by the workload I have. Time management also comes into it. If I had managed my time better and dedicated a certain amount of time to this project as well as CoP, I may have felt less overwhelmed.

For future projects I will definitely pay closer attention to my time organisation and I will work towards creating achievable goals for myself in order to reduce stress and keep me on track.

The Lifting Tower: Last Minute Changes...

During our showcase of our work to peers, we were asked to create a series of small, fun, snappy animations rather than focus on narrative based shorts. Whilst I was fine with the idea, it was incredibly frustrating, as we had already spent so much time working on our ideas. Not only this, but we were told to do this with only a few days left.

At this point in the project I was losing a lot of motivation to work on it, as I wanted to focus on CoP and I was becoming a little overwhelmed with the workload. I had also only managed to produce one animation for the group, as I was struggling to keep up with Lauren and Greta, and because they were working so quickly, I was struggling to come up with ideas before they had made them.
This didn't bother me, as I was happy that our group had so much content to give for submission, but I did feel that I was letting my group down, despite the fact that I was keeping everyone organised and maintaining communication across the group.

I will attempt to create a few short animated clips to go with the groups other ones in the hopes that I can contribute more than I have done.

The Lifting Tower: Starting to Animate...

Once Jim had agreed with our ideas, we decided to split the animating between the three of us in order to manage workload. The first one I had been given was the Yeti hiding idea. I was happy to do this, as I thought that it would be quite simple to start animating with. However, we had decided to use After Effects, as this would allow for quick turnarounds, but the character animation would be done using the puppet pin tool within the program. This is a tool I have never used before, so I found it quite challenging at first and had to watch Lauren use it beforehand. She also set up a base Yeti to work with that had all of the pins in place already, so all that we needed to do was reset the character and begin animating something new with it once we were done.

Just before I began to animate, Jim had mentioned that he wanted to see an animatic to showcase what our ideas would look like, as he was worried that weren't going to be using the space effectively. So before I began, I created a quick animatic of the Yeti Hiding to send to him to give him an idea of what to expect.

Everyone seemed pleased with this, so I swiftly moved on to getting started with the animation. 

I found animating the yeti a lot more difficult than I anticipated and I couldn't figure out if this was because I was a little rusty, or because I wasn't as invested as I had been at the start. At this point in the project I was working quite slowly and I was struggling to keep up with the pace of both Lauren and Greta, which left me feeling as though I wasn't contributing enough to the workflow. 

However, having said this, I did manage to get my animation finished quite quickly despite feeling as though I was working too slow and I am happy with my outcome. The rest of the group also seem pleased with it, so I am happy to leave it an move on. 

The Lifting Tower: Moving Forward

During the last briefing, we were told that we would be getting split into new groups to include the illustrators within the project due to numbers and the fact that we weren't mingling with the illustrators enough. This is a decision that was fine by me, as it meant that I would be given an opportunity to work on my collaboration skills.
With this in mind, Lauren and I split from Katy and James and paired up with Tom Dogett from illustration, with Greta joining the group a little later on. James and Katy wanted to keep the ideas we had from our group, so we agreed that we would use Tom's ideas and simply animate them, partly because we were fine with just animating and partly because it meant that we wouldn't have to generate new ideas. Overall, I found Tom's ideas really interesting and I am looking forward to working with the characters he has given us.

Tom's Yeti Design

As a group we went through Tom's ideas and what he would like to achieve for this project. Tom wanted his characters to be part of a narrative, that could work well together or split up, so we discussed what these narratives would involve and worked from there. Lauren and I put together some quick storyboards of what we found interesting and what we thought would be achievable to showcase them to Jim later on.

Storyboards

In our next briefing we got the chance to meet up with Jim to show him our ideas and discuss any changes that needed to be made or any issues that would arise from our ideas. However, Jim seemed really happy with our ideas and the only criticism he had wasn't really a criticism, but more a friendly reminder to use up all of the space that we were provided with. 

With that decided, we gave the project the official go ahead and distributed roles accordingly. Tom was the designer and asset maker, with Lauren, Greta and I being the animators.

The Lifting Tower: Submitted Ideas

Once everyone had created the concept work for the ideas, we were able to sit down together and begin story-boarding our ideas for submission. Katy then took it from here and created neater storyboards for the presentation boards, which I put together once Katy was finished.

Presentation Boards

As I'm not overly familiar with presentation boards and how to present them properly, I am pleased with our overall outcome. I feel that we have managed to create a nice amount of work in a very short time period with little hassle. It's been nice to work in a group again and get back into the flow of working.