BLOG 4 - Inspired by Manchester
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Why I decided to try to make a 5min short film so soon after taking up animation as a hobby
2015, a few months into my experimental animation project - my first puppet and first proper go at stop motion. Thanks to social media (my Facebook page mainly) I had a small audience and some kind words of encouragement to inspire me to keep going with my new found hobby - working on it in the evenings and at weekends, fitting it in around life and work. However, a couple of other inaugural events took place at the end of 2015 that inspired me to plan something bigger…
Manchester Animation Festival
In November 2015 I went to the first edition of the Manchester Animation Festival (MAF). Despite being a new festival, it was an amazing event, and its reputation has only increased year by year - it’s now the UK’s largest Animation Festival. There are lots of great film/animation festivals in the world but this one, in my home city of Manchester, is one of the best. Firstly it’s free to enter (I’ll talk about the financial cost and fierce competition of film festivals in a later blog). MAF also manages to balance an accessible local feel with a international outlook. It has great partnerships with manchester based (but internationally renowned) animation studios and people, as well as working with other local organisations, producers, and venues - building on the wonderful legacy and reputation of animation in Manchester. But, this is not just a local festival for local people, as the festival ‘invites the international community and the industries finest to delight in all things animated’ At the 2015 MAF I saw short films by students and professionals from across the globe. I heard inspirational talks from legends in the field and had insightful chats with strangers in queues. I loved it and I bounced home. Read more about MAF here
Meet the Puppet Masters
Alongside MAF is the ‘Meet the Puppet Masters’ conference by Waterside Arts and Creative Industries Trafford, which also began in 2015. Sale is a suburb of Manchester where I live, and the event’s proximity to my house felt even more accessible, relevant and inspirational to me and my new hobby. The Puppet Masters animation conference is ‘a fascinating line-up of renowned speakers from the worlds of puppetry, animation and character design. This event is a chance to hear from leading makers of internationally-renowned animation talk about their work and inspirations, alongside exhibitions and archive materials’. I was buzzing at the whole event. Read more about Creative Industries Trafford here
The first ‘Meet the Puppet Masters’ was held alongside an exhibition by MacKinnon and Saunders and had a Q&A with Peter Saunders. MacKinnon & Saunders are a company based in Greater Manchester and are puppet makers and producers of animation, offering a full production service for stop motion and 2D digital animation projects. M&S are legendary as one of the world’s leading puppet making companies, specialising in the design and construction of characters for television shows, feature films and commercials (Mars Attacks, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, Fantastic Mr Fox…). Read more about MacKinnon and Saunders here.
I didn’t know these animation events would be on when I began my animation project two months earlier, so when I found out about them it felt (I don’t believe in fate) “an especially timely and relevant opportunity”. So I went to these inaugural events with some business cards I printed from home, keen to network, soak up the vibes and get involved somehow. I orchestrated a meeting with Brian Cosgrove in a lift and gave him a card. I gave a card to Peter Saunders in a hallway... I wasn’t expecting anything from these encounters and it was a bit embarrassing, but it was all part of my Bitz project challenge- to make something and whatever the result, share it around. I also emailed and social-media’d relevant people to show them what I was up to. Why did I do this if I was embarrassed of my work..? Well…
…I previously talked about how when I challenge myself to create and share something with intended limitations, tight deadlines and without the real skills it is quite liberating, but you also invite self-deprecation and embarrassment. It’s a bit masochistic really. I felt silly sharing my experimental naive work with legends like Mr Cosgrove and Mr Saunders but I thought “You started this project James- now see it through. If you’re embarrassed about your work then maybe next time DO BETTER WORK”. This is generally how I motivate myself to keep working after disappointments.
I don’t have the original 2015 business cards left, but it was something like this…
I felt fired up, not by what I had made but what I could make in the future, so I naively decided to challenge myself to make a 5 min film to enter into 2016’s MAF (The next years festival). I wanted to make a film with a real story! And real sets and props! But still something lo-fi and experimental. I had admirable but poorly thought out ambitions…
Join me next week to find out about how I got on with my second puppet- The Hairwoof!’
Thanks for reading!
James
Update on my current work
*Model Making* My schedule is all about animation prep until christmas, when I will continue work on the Rox and Cora models. These two models are sold and will be sent to their new homes in the new year.
*Film Production* This week I have completed the photo-animatic, and keyed it to the Mory theme music/score. I’ve printed out the animatic images and made notes on timings and key moves. This process has highlighted some areas that need a bit of further research, prep and tests. I’ll need to have all the water and cloth movements planned quite well before I start animating proper, so I can focus as much as possible on the dog movements. I’ll be doing these tests for a few sessions next week. I may add these test films, notes and animatics to my next blog, meanwhile here is the storyboard for the film I am working on…
Mory’s drawn storyboard. I used this to make the photo animatic and plan the effects shots. There are a lot of little techniques I hope to learn and develop when making this film…
*Merchandise*
There are now 4 Connie badges left to pre-order. Like my other badges the sale of 25 of these will fund the production of the badges. After that they will be taken off sale till I make a film with the Connie puppet. This is the 5th in the set of ‘Whibbit Run’ metal and enamel badges an I’m really looking forward to getting them into production to complete the set!
I have put all the remaining Otto merchandise into an ‘Otto Supporters Pack’ (Limited edition Gold foil print, sheet music, badge, and pencil sketch). There are 7 available.
5 of the original Whibbit Supporters Pack are also still on sale (Bag, notebook, classic badge, stickers, pencil, print…)
There is only one of the Whibbit storyboards for the promo film left. These are hand drawn and are limited edition of 10 - So this is the last chance to get one!
