Salford Media Festival 2013 - MediaCityUK

So yesterday I was up bright and early for an amazing day at MediaCityUK and Salford University! I was booked in for one talk in the morning and one in the afternoon, both related to animation. I was really excited for the days events and couldn't wait to get there; my 6am wake up didn't even phase me!

After a busy journey on the train and then the tram, we arrived at Media City. I have never been before and it was surreal to see all of the studios together in the square that you first get to. We had to run quick to catch the sign in because our train was delayed; we just made it and headed to the first talk.

The first talk was with Josh Weinstein; you may remember him from such TV programmes as The Simpsons and Futurama! (See what I did there? Troy Mcclure? No?). Anyway, he was a cool guy; very genuine and he just went through his whole journey to where he is today and the paths that he has taken as a writer for animation.

He comes from Washington D.C. and has always loved writing comedy, he got his big break when him and his partner wrote an episode for Marge Simpsons on The Simpsons. They get a luck chance because the writers on The Simpsons never want to write Marge because she is seen as a boring character. They made their way in to the show from their and haven't stopped since. Their first episode was part of season 4 called 'Marge gets a job'.

I made at least 4 pages of notes in this session but I won't bore you with the details of them because they are really just little things that I picked up on for my own interest. The talk was amazingly beneficial because I was able to have a clear insight in to what it takes to make an animated television series. Even though I am more interested in working in the film industry, it gave me the chance to see what animation production are like for television. I think from this it opened my mind to maybe working on television production.

From this morning session I took away a lot about never giving up on ideas; ideas are naturally made and original. If you come up with an idea and you don't really like it or people criticise it - don't just abandon it; come back to it, change it, just don't give up on it. I have a tendency to move on from one idea to the next, but in future I am going to make a note of things that I don't use and maybe improve them for later projects.

I also learned that I should write stories for myself, not an audience. When you begin to narrow down your story market without even starting it you have already narrowed your creativity by a huge amount. Josh Weinstein is a firm believer in creativity and he said that everything he makes he makes sure he likes it; no matter what anyone else thinks, if he likes it that's all that matters. This is how new and interesting things are produced when restraints on your creativity are not put in to place.

Over all this session was great for me, I always love listening to people who are actually in the industry because their knowledge is more than I could ever learn from books! It helped that Josh Weinstein was a lovely American chap!

In between the talks we had a long time to wait around, which in one aspect was annoying but we did fill the time well by having a nose around MediaCity! We walked around all the buildings and got in everywhere we could without getting shouted at (in this industry you have to be cheeky!).

MediaCity is not only an amazing place for Media but the location is beautiful and luckily the weather stayed dry so that we could walk around, go for something to eat and admire the view.

We even stumbled across the BBC breakfast studio! (This is just a set they have in the lobby, but don't tell anyone!).

In the afternoon after an enjoyable walk around (and nap; I was very tired from a busy week and the 6am start!) I went to another animation talk. This one was Weyers: Story and Vision in Animation. Justin Weyers is an Animation Producer and one of the founding members of Made Visual Studios. Again another fantastic speaker at this years Media Festival; he knew exactly what to say to instill confidence in everyone in the audience aspiring to pursue this as a career. He began with a very interesting presentation about his personal life and growing up in rural Australia! I related to a lot of what he was saying. For instance, he drew from his childhood experiences on the stage and growing up being involved in the theatre and said how that gave him a lot of confidence to be doing things like this today! I can empathise because I have been involved in dance, drama and singing since I was very young. I have built a lot of confidence from this training and it really does help me with public speaking and presentations.

He spoke of finding the joy and positive energy in everything we do; I really feel like he meant this because his happiness and energy really did fill the room. Everything we do is learning; meeting people, going places, doing things - it all contributes to who we are now and who we will be in the future. His theories were profound in that I found myself relating to everything he said and I was hooked! 

He eventually got on to the topic of 'A Liars Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman. This large scale animation project was fascinating to hear about because he got 14 animation studios together from all over the place to each create scenes for this animated film about one of the greatest comedians there was. Graham Chapman wrote the book 'A Liars Autobiography' before his death and so this was a hard process to go through because they had to use his narration from other things that he had recorded. They collected everything they possibly could of Grahams so that they could really feel what he was talking about in his book. Here is the trailer for the film.

He discussed the whole process from beginning to end of the making of the film and this was so wonderful to hear because he even spoke about the things that went wrong, and so on. I really was in the moment here because its not often you get to hear a company talk about their film making process.

Again I made a ridiculous amount of notes in this session and so won't repeat them on here; but a very funny and interested comment Weyers said just as we were finishing was:

'You know you've made it when its torrented'

This whole day was a wonderful experience, listening to industry experts was the highlight I think because it really gives you a clear sense of what happens in the world of animation. Seeing as we were in Salford University, I decided to collect some material about the courses that they do; of course the animation courses. I want to eventually do a Masters and so this might be the place for it! The people, the place and the university itself was inspirational and I can't wait to go back one day!

I would definitely go to this festival again, I just wish there were more tickets for more classes available! But as the students there get priority I might have to become one of them to get the perks of such a great week!

Having MediaCity in the north really is a boost for our economy and our creativity - I can't wait for more fun adventures like today!

Speak Soon!

Queens of the Stone Age concert - Manchester Phones 4 You Arena

Last night I went to see one of my favourite bands ever; Queens of the Stone Age. I have been to see them before and they were amazing live so naturally I wanted to go again on this tour. We were standing and had a great view without getting too crushed near the front; and I had a blast with my friends. They mainly played their new album Like Clockwork and it was great; Josh Homme's voice is just unbelievable. 
The graphics and artwork that they used throughout the show was stunning, it matched the artwork on in the album vinyl and was really fitting for the songs and lyrics. Here are a few photographs of the gig.

I haven't been to a gig in a while so this was totally awesome; if I had the money I would follow them round on the tour because their music is some of the best around these days, considering the amount of poor tacky pop music everywhere.

Speak Soon!

Production Project - Impromptu Meeting about Lighting

This morning I had an off the cuff meeting with Ian and Mark about the lighting and other aspects of my final production project. It all started with a very messy diagram of my kitchen space where I am shooting the animation. Here is a photo of the drawing and then a proper digital diagram which is clearer.

The idea is that we will put a large blonde light outside the kitchen window in the conservatory to create daylight and a constant flat light so that it won't change during the day. This is mainly because shooting in winter creates a lot of shadows and also the daylight hours a lot less in the winter months. Now I just need to convince my mum and dad to let me have a huge industrial light in the conservatory...

The small dots on the bottom diagram are spotlights that we have in the kitchen so I will be able to use these as well to give the scene some reality as to what the kitchen actually looks like. We also have a light that is around where the word kitchen is, but I need to do some test shots to see if we actually need that light on.

I think I am only going to be using the surface in the kitchen that is from the oven and above on the diagram because I don't want to shoot the other end as the main light from the blonde will be lost. This also makes it easier for angles, etc and I won't have much moving to do.

From now, I am going to do test shots of the general light in the room throughout the day and see what settings I am going to need the camera on for the whole shoot. I am booking a 7D and tripod out this week for me to use and practice with and then I will report back with my findings to my tutors to see what the next step is.

We finally discussed things like saturation and whether I will have any dream sequence of flashbacks. Upping the saturation will give the whole film a surreal feeling and so I think I would like to do this to make it more cartoon-like. We referred to Amelia the film because that has this sort of dream world feel. I would also like to look at maybe using some black and white but that will happen in the post production.

Speak Soon!

Dissertation Meeting

Today I had a scheduled meeting about my dissertation development with my tutor Mark. I went in with some basic notes and also a list of books I am currently looking at. These are the books I have and also the books I need:

Animation: The Whole Story - Howard Beckerman
Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life - Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston

Art of Pixar: 25th Anniversary The Complete Colour Script - John Lasseter and Amid Amidi
The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company - David A. Price
To Infinity and Beyond: The Story of Pixar - Karen Paik
The Films of Pixar Animation Studios - James Clarke
The Animation Bible: A Guide to Everything - Maureen Furniss
The Alchemy of Animation - Don Hahn

Myself and Mark discussed the direction that I will be going in from chapter to chapter and what I want to prove throughout the whole dissertation. We talked about various chapters such as:

• Disneyfication impact on animation
• Rise of Pixar
• Technical developments and styles
• Other companies
• Specific film analysis
• Different aspects of animation
• Uncanny valley (animation that is 'too real')

I have now began a proper plan from this discussion and the meeting has really helped. We talked in depth about various for and against aspects of whether CGI or hand drawn animation and also that they might be on the same level.

We looked at an interesting angle that I had not yet thought about which was the underlying stories in the Disney films such as the references to War in Bambi. We also discussed Walt Disney himself and how animation and film was his love child and his passion but as he passed the company just because a money making machine; then Pixar brought the love back.

I am really interested in this subject area and I can't wait to get started if I am honest. This is something that I love to talk about and find so fascinating. The only thing I can hope is that I don't get too lost in it all and it ends up just being descriptive. I am going to steer far away from any historical accounts unless they are relevant to a point that I am making.

I will blog again about the plan that I am working on and my development,

Speak Soon!

Final Cut Pro Editing Workshop

Today I attended a voluntary workshop about using Final Cut Pro. I haven't had much experience at all with this software as I tend to use the Adobe package for editing so I thought this workshop would be beneficial.

I found using Final Cut surprisingly straight forward and easy; it is definitely a lot simpler than AVID media composer; it has a lot less going on on the screen as in buttons and widgets that you never use. Its simple layout and drag and drop system is great!

We practice using the software with various clips and sounds; I like editing when its something interesting that I need to edit and the footage was all about drag racing (which was kind of cool to watch as well as edit). I made a short intro for a documentary show that might be on television; it was a sort of montage of the clips going to very intense music that built up to the race start from clips of drivers putting on helmets, etc.

For my final production project I won't be using Final Cut simply because it isn't the best software to use for Stop Motion. I will most probably use After Effects or something like iStop Motion for this project; however this workshop introduced me to a software that I would like to use in the future when editing other films that I might make. 

This session also made me realise how much I would love a Mac at home and I will be looking in to this in the near future; I have used them a lot before and so I think that having one would make editing a lot easier at home.

Speak Soon!

Production Project - Proposal Mark and Feedback

Today I received feedback for the production project proposal task and I very pleased with my result. I got 75 which is a solid 1st and I really worked hard on the proposal so it obviously has paid off. We all got an email with the mark and the feedback; here is my feedback:

Stevie Lennon - 75

This is an intriguing idea and reflects some thought, research and development of an idea – The story of what happens when the kitchen utensils come to life still needs developing / scripting in more detail

This will need to be carefully scripted – I would also recommend that you have a period of experimentation with techniques – so that you can get the aesthetics right before you begin – but also so that you can plan realistically – stop motion is extremely time consuming – I think you will find 8-10 minutes too ambitious – but experiment and see. This is an ambitious piece and getting the story and the aesthetics right at the outset is key – don’t be tempted to start until you’re ready.

You have produced a well considered schedule and risk analysis – (good idea to do this as a table – easy to read).

If you would like to discuss this feedback please email me to arrange a tutorial.


I had a great meeting with Ian about the project last week and so we hit on some of these points made in what I could improve on. I think that now I have done this proposal I am on the right track with where I want to go with this project. The proposal task really helped me think about the development process and what order I would like to do things in. You can see my proposal in one of my previous blogs!

Speak Soon!

Production Project - Development - Object Study

So today I decided to study all of the objects in my kitchen that I could possibly use for my animation. I got everything out that I think would be usable and left the things that were too big, didn't move a lot, didn't have 'character' as such as well as those that didn't stand up.

Here are the photograph studies of them with a description of their movements that could be helpful when animating.

Clear bottle stopper

• Stands up, slightly unbalanced
• Can turn easily
• Lies down for a different angle or story purpose
• Could be looking for the wine bottle he is supposed to be on top of
• Lighting could be a problem (see through)

2 yellow bottle stoppers

• A bit wobbly standing up (should be okay)
• Could be a couple because they are a matching pair
• Yellow (bright colour - different from general silver utensils)

2 red and white teacups

• Small and easy to move around
• Can be lay down if needed
• Could be a couple, or twins
• 'Posh' characters - expensive looking

2 Chinese soup spoons

• Blue and white porcelain spoons
• 'Siamese twins'?
• Don't have a lot of mobility
• Could just use as background characters
• Something different to use, wouldn't expect them

 A kettle

• Chrome and sleek looking
• Lid can open and close like a mouth
• On and off bottom can also move
• Bulky but could be a manly utensil (father figure)
• Can have it 'boiling' when angry

Can opener

• Lots of maneuverability but doesn't stand (could find a way)
• Handles look a lot like legs (would walk like a cowboy)
• Could be an intruder to the kitchen (borrowed item doesn't belong)

Masher

• Stands alone, very tall
• Not a lot of maneuverability but can wobble and turn
• Could be stupid lanky one (wrong place wrong time)
• Could be running joke that he doesn't fit in the frame

Cheese grater

• Silver 4 sided grater with various holes
• One side looks a lot like a face (sideways smile)
• No bendable parts but can move around well
• Other utensils could be scared in case he cuts them

Yellow bowl

• Has a face anyway so it could be a strange expressionless character
• Looks like a child so would have a young mind
• Another background character maybe?
• Pleasant - the village idiot

Sugar, tea and coffee pots

• Lids lift up all different ways and can be removed
• All 3 are the exact same - could be a group of singers
• Red and glossy (look great on camera)
• If one is knocked over the contents can spill out (death/injury)
• Lids make a popping sound when opened

 Bottle opener

• Looks a lot like a person anyway (head, arms, etc)
• Has a lot of movement but not so steady standing
• Can fully turn and lift the handles up and down (excitement)
• Could be the erratic character with lots of energy

Salt and pepper mills

• Could be a couple
• Not much movement but they are electric so sound would be good
• They light up when 'turned on'
• Tall figures so they are larger than most utensils
• Main story?

 These are all the things I could find that I might be able to use but this coming week I am going to go prop shopping to find some objects that I might be able to bring to life. I am not starting the script until I have chosen all of the objects that I am going to use because I can then work the script around them.

I am going to look at starting the accompanying website this week so that I have the platform ready for the animations to go on, I am going to research other animations as well to get some ideas about what story lines to go with and maybe even some object ideas too.

I need to figure out soon what I am going to record all of the sound effects on because they are going to be a main feature in the animations. I have used the edirol before but wasn't very impressed so may need to find something else.

Speak Soon!