Get Moving.

Get Moving.

 

Experienced film animators are in demand. But what does it take to break into the business?
by Caitlin Sykes.
When student Jennifer Trollip graduated with her diploma in character animation at the end of last year, there was one job she had her eye on: if the makers of the animated TV series bro'Town decide to make a feature film, she'd like to help bring the boys from Morningside to the big screen. After all, she says, "they're New Zealand's answer to The Simpsons". Animated films are increasingly catching the eyes of audiences here and around the globe meaning there's likely to be more and more jobs in the future for aspiring animators like Jennifer.

 

Just take a look at the movie listings in your local paper and it becomes pretty clear how animation has taken off. From recent 3D animated flicks like Barnyard and snappy computer-generated trickery in live action films like I, Robot to documentaries with animated sequences, the art of bringing hand-drawn or digitally created characters and scenes to life on film is everywhere.

 

The first animated film was produced 100 years ago - well before the days of the computer and in an age when all images were drawn and coloured by hand. And that's the way the industry remained for decades. But the rise of computer technology in recent years has seen possibilities explode.

 

It was just 12 years ago that Pixar released the world's first completely computer-generated animated feature film, Toy Story. Ever-faster computer processing speeds and increasingly sophisticated software mean animation which once took months to complete can now be done in just a matter of days or even hours.

 

And with the groundbreaking work that's been done here it's not hard to see why Kiwi animators are attracting attention and helping lead the pack. Cath Fournier is general manager of the Freelance Animation School and has worked in the animation industry for 15 years.

 

She says there are more opportunities now than ever before for film animators in New Zealand, particularly as bigger film productions, with bigger budgets, come into the country following the success of films like King Kong. "Those productions have set a benchmark well above an international level so that gives the confidence to overseas companies or productions to know that the standard and quality can be achieved here," Cath says.
WHAT IS ANIMATION?

 

So if you've seen some of those films, and reckon you'd like to help make one yourself one day, where do you start? And how can you find out if you've got what it takes to be a film animator?

 

Well, first of all you've got to have a passion for - you guessed it - the movies and telling stories. Ask yourself: do you love watching movies and are you interested in how film makers tell their stories and produce their mind-blowing effects?

 

Animation is produced by running together a series of still images, essentially tricking the eye into thinking it's watching a moving image. But creating all those pictures is painstaking work, says Brent Chambers, owner of Flux Animation Studio, so you've got to love what you do. Flux recently produced two animated sequences for the hit documentary about climate change An Inconvenient Truth. While each sequence was only about three to four minutes long, the project took a couple of months to complete, Brent says.

 

"You've got to have tenacity and patience because animation takes an awful lot of time." Flux is currently developing a feature-length animated film about Opo, the legendary dolphin of Opononi, and Brent says it's typical for an animated feature film project to take six years to get to the screen. Phew!

 

Because making a film, particularly one that uses animation, is such a big task it takes a team of people to produce. Teamwork, therefore, is a big part of the film business and each person in an animation department will have to work in with others to do their job. If you like working in isolation, it may not be the job for you! Of course, visual and illustration skills are a must. While you don't necessarily need to be a great artist, says Brent, an animator is responsible for telling at least part of a story and needs to be able to do that through pictures.

 

Computer skills are also essential. Much of today's film animation is of the 3D computer-generated kind, but even the classical 2D hand-drawn style of animation (the kind you'd see on bro'Town) is at least partly produced using computers, and animators often spend long hours harnessing technology to help them do their job. Some useful school subjects to study are art, graphic design and ICT. But equally important, says Frances Valintine, general manager of Media Design School, are another couple of subjects: "Maths, because there's always a component of that in any form of computing," she says, "and English, because in animation you're storytelling. If you can articulate what you want to produce, not just in a storyboard format, but also in words, it sometimes makes the process easier."

 

COURSE OPTIONS

 

Just as the animation industry has exploded in recent years, so have your options when it comes to studying the subject. There are a number of animation programmes offered around the country, ranging from introductory weekend and evening courses to certifi cates and diplomas which can take a number of years to complete.

 

Media Design School, for example, has been teaching animation for about seven years and offers a one-year diploma in animation, which gives students a broad over view of the subject. That's followed by a one year graduate qualifi cation, where students can specialise in areas such as modelling or character animation and in using particular software, such as Maya and Studio Max.

 

Teriu Lemon, programme director for digital media at WelTec, says because technology in the industry is changing so quickly, it's important students spend time in real workplaces, getting as much 'real life' experience as possible. In the last six months of WelTec's diploma in digital media design, for example, students choose a company they would like to work for and the school then tries to place them there. Twenty-one-year-old Jennifer Trollip, the aspiring animator we met at the beginning of this story, has just finished a three-year diploma at the Freelance Animation School.

 

The self-confessed SpongeBob SquarePants fan studied subjects including painting and photography at Macleans College in Auckland and says she's always loved doodling and drawing. During her fi rst year at Freelance she had lots of general drawing classes and learnt the basic principles of animation. In her second year she had the choice of specialising in 2D or 3D computer-generated animation, and chose 2D a look she prefers.

 

In her final year she had some work experience in advertising (which she says she'd also like to get a job in) and had to produce a two-minute piece of animation - from start to finish on her own.

 

Despite specialising in 2D, she still spent one day a week in the computer lab scanning her drawings and getting to grips with software packages: Toon Boom to colour her illustrations and After Effects to add effects. And there are other aspects of an animation student's life you might fi nd a bit surprising: Jennifer regularly drew naked models in life drawing classes, which give students an understanding of the human form, and had a pass to the zoo so she could practise drawing the animals.

 

SHOW YOUR WORK

 

The two-minute animation sequence Jennifer produced as part of her course formed a key part of what's called her showreel, a collection of work which those working the fi lm industry present to prospective employers.

 

A showreel is a basic tool for getting a job in animation, and it can take time and other experience in the animation industry to build it up to a stage where you can score work on a fi lm, says Media Design School's Frances Valintine. Jeremy McKenzie works as an animator at La Luna Studios, an animation company based in Warkworth, north of Auckland, which, among other projects, is producing a major theatrical 3D feature fi lm, called The Magic Shoes.

 

Jeremy says creating an original portfolio helps show prospective employers the direction you want to go in. His other advice for getting into the business? "After studying, the most important thing to do is build contacts," he says. "Most work will come from friends and people you know in the industry." Film animators can go anywhere, says Jeremy. And you only need to look at the huge list of credits that roll at the end of a film to see how many different jobs it takes to create a finished film.

 

Some of the different roles available in film animation include a previs artist, a person who puts together an animated storyboard of the fi lm; a character modeller, who creates an actual character in the film; a background artist, who creates the environment in which the character is placed; a special effects artist, who creates things like fi re or explosions; or a compositor, who puts together the different layers of the animation.

 

"Depending on the size of the studio," says Jeremy, "everyone has his or her job to do. In smaller studios you will be doing everything, whereas in the bigger studios you will specialise in one area." GET A JOB So while you might think you want to be a fi lm animator, getting a job in the industry is probably still a way off. Along with studying the right subjects at school, what are some other things you can do to help give you a head start?

 

Frances Valintine says after-school and holiday programmes and workshops teaching animation are becoming increasingly popular. There you can get a taste of the industry and try out some of the software animators use. "There are also a lot of lowend, downloadable animation programs that are free that people are starting to play and dabble with," Frances says. "That's a really good starting point, before any investment is made - apart from having a computer." (Check out links to some of these at the end of this story.)

 

And how about starting with the basics yourself. Get out a block of clay or your little brother's lego blocks, make your own character and get fi lming. There are lots of sites on the internet that will run you through some tips on how to make a short animation at home using your video camera. It's a great way to learn about the basics of everything from storyboarding to lighting for yourself.

 

And while you're at it, see if there are any short fi lm competitions in your area where you can enter your final, fabulous creation. Jennifer says it can also be useful to check out the open days and exhibitions at the different animation schools. Talk to some of the students and fi nd out what they're doing and where they plan to work once they finish.

 

But perhaps most important of all: get drawing. The more practice you get honing your skills and creating characters, the better your animation will be. Because who knows - if the boys from bro'Town one day decide to make the jump to the big screen they might just need your help, too.

 

Links

 

www.artofillusion.org
www.blender3d.com
www.anim8or.com

 

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