kilogramme have worked closely with Firestep (another company I looked at) and from looking at their website and there animations on Vimeo I'm liking there stuff!
There logo (top) dosnt do them any justice, they look real fun if you go on their website.....HERE!
Also, they worked on the doctor who animated serie. No client list is given but the BBC will be one of them also firtstep, Oxfordshire DAAT, Leadforce and French Colwell (which can be viewed below...second video)
This shows how diverse they are, style wise, which i like. And also it shows that they dont just do adverts, they also have fun which is shown in 'Christmas card' which wasn't created for anyone but themselves, and it actually got nominated for an award (big chips)
They strive for client satisfaction, but still, by understanding the brief they'll craft it into a decent idea and make somthing visually exciting, whether that be an illustration an animation ect..
They work fast, because there an advertising agency, but the look on some of the work they produce is really good.
I dont know if this is one person or if its a company, it says their a company but the name of the 'company' is a persons name so i'm a bit confused but i like what they do.
The company appealed to me because they specialize in classical 2D animation and flash animation, and to keep up to date, they mix their love for 2D animation to live action and also 3D work.
The company is based in Clitheroe which is just above use (manchester) in the northwest.
They have done work on a few children shows...
>Angelmouse - they were asked by a company called Silver Fox Films to do work on this cartoon. Mark Manson contributed these things...Story Boards...Animation Direction...Layouts...Animtion Design Keys (think that's the key frames, then some other company dose the inbetweens) and also Voice Overs.
They also did the art work for he followup books that came out for the cartoon.
>William's Wish Wellingtons - Mark Manson's was asked to do the inbetweens and line testings on the first series of the show. With the success of the first series, Mark Manson was asked to produce...Character Design...Layouts...Story Boards...Animation Direction...Inbetweens...animation and more
>Jumping Jupiter - Developed and made by the Mark Manson company, Jumping Jupiter is a pre-school cartoon series which they say isn't patronizing towards the target audience. Its looks really nice, and the style is nice and unique and stands out above things you might normally see.
Here's the style of Jumping Jupiter...
As well as the above, they also did storyboards for the cgi series of Magic Roundabout and also animation and storyboards for Snailsbury Tales
Lastly I want to talk about their illustration and character design work. As well as doing loads of animation for television shows, they also do alot of character designs for companies who want a character to promote their product or a company who wants characters designed for a book.
This is what they believe about character designs...
>Cartoon characters are instantly recognisable.
>Cartoon characters increase brand awareness.
>The design of a cartoon character can be easily targetted, let's say, a particular age group.
>Huge potential for humour - a primary method of communicating ideas.
>In comparison with the use of an actor, cartoon characters never age, have super-human abilities and will never demand a pay rise!
Here's some of their designs...
I really like this company, there doing 2D animation which i really take an interest in and also character design which i love and they don't keep to a certain style (which is shown by the pictures above). As well as this, there making their own shows like the Jumping Jupiter series whilst also working on other companies projects which they get commissioned to do.
One thing which puzzeled me about this company was it's name. I thought, at first, that this place was just a freelance worker (because the name of the company is a name) but then it says on the website "Mark Mason Animation is a British Cartoon Animation company" which lead me to believe that, like walt disney, its named after the person who founded the company.
I e-mailed them about this question because I was interested in their work and liked what they were doing. I also thought that seems as though we have to find some one in future to take portfolios to this would be a good place for me.
Well. Mark Mason got back to me with this to say...
"Over the years I’ve been a limited company and an individual, employing freelancers as and when the need arises.
Currently you can class me as a freelance animator."
I was hoping to find out Mark Mason was an animation company who employed animators , but ow well.
I've talked about Joanna Quinn who is....well she has a company now, but still dose freelance work.
I was reading about working as a freelancer on this website and, well, there's a lot of responsibility in it.
> managing you time
> managing your buget
> making lots of calls and get your self noticed
> negotiation skills
> know about legal stuff...contracts, the government etc.
Reading from the website
Being a freelancer you gotta be able to negotiate, don't give in to a price for a job which you think too little and you end up getting payed below what you are being asked to produce.
Managing you time is obiously a big thing, you want to have everything done for the deadline, not just because you want to get payed, but because you want the client to come back to you or pass on the word that this guy is prompt etc...
So making sure everythings done on time will hopefully mean clients will want your work again and also pass on the word which means your building up a list of clients who would come back to you and also give a good reference.
The website also mentions 'slow periods' which says that when clients aren't calling you for work you need to have money aside to get you through it...
My dad's friend who's the author is also an actor and has a job which involves going to schools and giving a group of kids revision tips etc..
So he may be working freelance but he also has a job (which it flexible) to bring in income. I was asked to do illustrations for 2 of his books (one which was a reissue and another new one) but him and the publishers havn't come to an agreement yet and one has even been canceled till further notice because the company/ publishers finding it hard to stay afloat! so for him he's having a slow period! but it dose help that his wife has a steady job, so he is able to have these periods of slow income because there is still money coming in. So being married/in a relationship helps!
So there's loads of things to take into account and it appeals to some people and not others .
Me, well, i dont know. I dont think i'm ready to manage my work and stay alive at the same time...also your working on your own and that dosn't appeal to me, i would rather be throwing round ideas in a group....but we are 2 years a way from being let loose so things might change.
People like Joanna Quinn and John Lasserter had very strong student films and got noticed and then decided what to do, John went to work for Disney from showing a strong portfolio and Joanna became a freelancer. Two student films, two separate ways.
I went for my hair cut a month ago (i've had it cut inbetween then, but the conversation was from early july)
The barber a go to owns the his shop, he doesn't work for anyone, and we were talking about holidays and where I was going and where he was going (just passing the time while he chops my hair to avoid that awkward silence) he was saying he's going away in September for a week and i said "a weeks too short, why not two weeks instead?" and he replayed "because when this place isn't open, I'm not making money"
To be a freelancer you have got to be motivated to work.
Another Manchester based company who also have a base in London. Red Vision are responsible for a few things for the BBC, one called 'ancient voices' which red vision claims was probably the first ever program to introduce realistic virtual characters (ancient voices was a series on the BBC in 1998)
Also for the BBC they did special effects for a program called 'Battlefield Britain' which won them a BAFTA in 2005 for visual effects.
As well as work for the BBC they have done (reading from the 'about' section on their website) work for Hiscox Insurance...heres the ad (they did the cats bit!.....
As well as making loads of cats run across the screen, they also made 'a huge crowd' for a T in the Park campaign, but from what I saw this year when i was there, they didn't have to make one!
Their latest thing on their website which they have produced was in 2006...nearly 4 years since they did anything???? who knows but in 2006 they did effects for a program called 'Ocean Odyssey'
Although, saying that they did that show called 'Headcases'....you know, the one with the celebrities with big heads on ITV 1.....might have lasted one season but i have no idea when it aired, just says 'Sunday 6th April 10pm'. Anyway here's a picture of Katie Price and Peter Andre...this should help date the program (if you read The Sun)!!
(Wikipedia says 2008)
I don't know what to think of this place, some of the stuff they've done, which can be vieved on their website....
They have a very fancy website, but whats the point of having a good web site if their work is crap. Luckily The Neighbourhood's work is also really really good, fresh and exciting!
They have loads of information about themselves on the website; what they believe in, like... big ideas, animation, architecture, good design. But they don't take themselves too seriously, they also believe in Random encounters and smiling... still relevant and adds humor!
Some of the stuff they do include...Product Visualization, motion graphics, 3D animation, directing film shoots, t.v stings, idents abd illustration.
They do a wide variety of things and being open to lots of different disciplines means their client list is pretty hefty.
Here are some of their clients...
Advertising & Design - TBWA, Publieis and Elmwood
Broadcast - BBC, CBBC, Five and The Mob
Architecture & Properties - Derwent London and Urban Splash
Brands - Nike, Sony Europe, ghd, Toyota and Visa
To see any of their videos like their show reel etc, you have to go to their website and navigate round it. I can't embed them here or send a link to them, just have to go to the website and find it...
They were commissioned by channel five to do an ident for 2010 Valentine's day which was only shown for that one day.
They also were asked by Manchester City Football Club to do a promotional video...on their website they have two videos (short clips) of a birds eye view of Manchester, which are really dull (because of are magnificent weather here) and it showed how they made it go from dull hazy view of Manchester, to a bright sunny one. The also added a bit of blue to the pictures because of the Football Club they were promoting.
I saw for the first time ever, the new Simpson's introduction, what they've done is touched up and brought the intro into the 21st century and made fit in with the newer episodes. Obviously most programs (like The Simpson's) are now done on computer apposed to hand drawn, but back in 1990, when people saw clouds part to reveal golden letters spelling out the name of the now famous program for the first time, all the animation would have been hand drawn.
The analogy below sort of sums up the new introduction.
I always liked this bit in the introduction when Maggie gets scanned by the cashier at the supermarket because of Marge's hair...
...the follow through is well timed and really smooth, its very exaggerated but looks right. So it uses the animation principles and as a result we get a very good seconds worth of animation.
Now lets see the new one, sorry about the poor quality...
Firestep was set up by two people; Steve Maher and Jon Doyle, they have both worked in the television industry for many years and also have both worked at Cosgrove Hall. Doyle worked on Danger Mouse and Count Duckular when at Cosgrove Hall and also directed and produced a kids t.v show called Foxbusters, which won a Bafta.
Both Doyle and Maher were big Doctor Who fans and set up Firestep in Manchester to make the animated spin off series from the revamped doctor who.
After the company was set up, Imposable Pictures (a company in London) made a deal with Firestep and now Firestep is a company of Imposable Pictures. Link
I read about them and firestep about two years ago in the M.E.N after there first T.V program came out called 'The Infinite Quest' which was the spin off of Doctor Who.
What interests me about the company is the two people who founded it, both came from good backgrounds in animation. They both worked at Cosgrove Hall as Director, Art Director and Producer at some points during their time there, then teamed up together to start a company because of a common interest.
The Firestep website doesn't specify any clients but the BBC has to be one of them
Came across these people when searching on Cartoon Brew to see if they have picked up on any talent in Manchester, and they had an article on this studio called MI.
They make 'outstanding imagery, animation and visual effects' and looking at their work, its pretty good stuff. Especially like there stuff which isn't really done for a client, like, they did this beach ball bouncing off their building (it was on the contact page so people knew what the building looked like)
They also did, during the recession, a short animation of an unemployed robot who was meant to be part of a production, but because of the recession it got canceled and now he roams the streets of Manchester looking for work...
There stuff they've done for clients like, 'The BBC, Distiller Records, Land Securities, Marketing Manchester' are good, but its these things i talked above are the ones which interest me the most.
I've looked at some of the jobs involved when working on a project, but i want understand the process of how things work, like, is it all done under one roof or are people and companies employed to do certain bits in the project? For bigger projects is it different?
I've emailed a studio called firestep who are based in Manchester, they did a television series which was a spin off to the doctor who series called 'Doctor Who - The Infinite Quest', so hopefully they will get back to me with some answers of how they work etc (they've got back to me in the past about work experience, but with no luck, but at least they got back to me which I thought was really nice of them)
_________________________________________________
Whilst waiting to hear from firestep i'll talk about someone...
Joanna Quinn is a pretty well known animator who's debut film 'Girls Night Out', made during university but not finished untill she had graduated and moved to Cardiff, racked up 3 awards at the Annecy film/ animation festival in 1987.
Since then she carry's on doing short films and also has a studio called Beryl Productions which works on adverts and also the short films. One advert which i've seen before which Beryl Productions did was the Charmin Adverts with the bear who whips his ares on the toilet paper, you know the one...
Joanna found her place in the world of moving image from having a very strong short film, with a unique style and character called Beryl (her production company has the same name if you've noticed) and from that kept on making short films, entering them into festivals and also started up a company to make adverts which brings in the money.
Here's a day in the life of Joanna Quinn...
I don't think you can plan to what Joanna Quinn did, you can't be sure your short film will be a big success and that clients will be wanting your style for adverts. But I suppose that's what freelancers do. Freelancers get there name out there and wait for clients to want their style then build up a client base where you always have steady work, although steady work isn't really a known work in a freelancers dictionary!
Working for your self, for me, isn't what i would like to do, its too free. I would rather at this moment in time, work for a company and gradually gain more skills and move up...
So what I'm doing is identify the different disciplines within moving image from this website Skill Set to start to get an idea of whats out there in this big wide moving world of image. Starting with 2D computer, 3D, 2D drawn and Stop motion. Also things I've missed out or things that i think come under the title of moving image will also be included.
Development Director - From what I've been reading the director literary sees over everything heres a list...
> The design of the project
> storyboards
> layout
> animtion
> post-production
> schedule
> budget?!?!! (they have to sometimes manage how much money they can spend, never knew that, always thought some one followed them round bening a killjoy)
> casting
> sound
So really, anything that involves a creative decision.
Looking at how to become a director, it says that appropriate qualifications are needed, like graduating from an animation coarse or something creative, and from that work up the ranks. People look for good leadership skills and have a creative outlook.
Also the concept /original idea /vision, normally comes from the director in the first place.
Pre-Production Production Designer - this guy or gal is responcable for the look of the porject, he or she thinks through how things can be done keeping in mind the treatment, script and most importantly the directors origonal vision
They should be able to 'illustrate the narrative and enable the director to realize their vision'
In a way you need to be able to read the directors mind, go inside his or hers head and claw out the concept and get cracking on how it can be achieved, also keep in mind the budget of the project (money always seems to be a burden)
There is no real career path for becoming a production designer, the production designer could well be, if the project is bringing to life a book or comic, the author etc.
'Ideally, Production Designers will have worked their way through the Art Department, possibly starting as character or set designer and working their way up to Art Director.' so again, like the director, you work the way up the ranks (seems to be a trend here)
Storyboard Artist - We have done storyboards in class but will go threw it anyway. Storyboard artist brings the script and initial sketches together to tell the story, they work very closly with the script writer, produce, client and storyboard supervisor.
They will always have to, like Chris and Rick say, go back to them if something dosn't work or if the client isn't happy with something or if the script changes. so that's why they work closly with the script writer and client, so they can quickly go back the the drawing board (literary!) to make the sufficient changes.
Storyboard artists must be 'film literate', have good understanding of composition, layout ect. also they have to be able to work alone or in a team. Like i said before, depending on the project the drawing skills need to be good.
Also they need to be able to communicate the story to the director via presentation, so presentaional skills are needed.
Most storyboard artists did some sort of animation degree, because storyboarding is an essential part of the process, they might sway towards wanting to become a storyboard artist. or they can alternate from animator to storyboard artist.
So for storyboard artist its not just 'Work your way up', although from being a storyboard artist you could keep going.
Too much writing, heres a video...
Layout artist next...
Layout Artist - These guys will plan out the scenes, although I thought that was the storyboard artists job???
After looking at some other websites I've found a sentence from an article that helps out with what a layout artist dose...
'Gladstone gives an example of how the artist (in this case the layout artist), director, and art director work together. These individuals interpret the storyboard into the various sets, backgrounds and foregrounds for each shot of an animated film.'
So from this I'm guessing they look at the rough storyboards of a scene and bring it to life, give it a fitting background and colour ect.
The article goes on to talk about what a layout artist has to consider; Lighting, scope and the way the camera moves and even says that in the case of an animated film they can be seen as the cinematographer.
Yet again like the two of the past three job rolls, there is no specific career route to get into the layout department, unless you have an exceptional portfolio.
People who have worked on comic books or have had experience in illustration have a good chance of getting a job as a layout artist, the skill set website says,
'At the beginning of a project, Directors will often view illustrators' portfolios looking for a filmic style or an appropriate talent for composition and lighting.'
Production Animation Director - AD Could help recruit animators picking people who are right for the specific production and will leads the animation team which is chosen.
AD is in charge of making sure everything works in sequence eg - one animators work fluently rolls in to the next shot which might be done by another animator, making sure the performance of the character stays the same and also the style of the character ect
On big projects there also in charge on keeping track of budget and making sure everything is done on time.
To Be an Animation Director you must have a good knowledge of animation and have had worked as an animator at some point. Must have good communication skills and be able to manage time well and budget.
Animation Directors are likely to have first-hand experience of most of the jobs within the department, from Runner to Inbetweener to Animator....so yet again to really become one, you need to work your way up!
Animator(2D drawn) - Animators bring to life the characters or whatever their animating following the design and brief given to them by the Director and Animation Director. Animators also need to be aware of the style of the production and also keep track of time and schedule.
Inbetweener (2D drawn) - Animators mostly do the key positions and work out the timing, then hand their work over to inbetweeners who will fill in the in between shots following what notes the animator has given them.
Working for a team in a production can be or is different to stuff you do at university, this website says the best thing to do is get work experience (yer, if anyone will take us)
Runners (2D Drawn) - Entry level job, wow, reading through it (i read it before writing anything) it sounds like i'll have to start learning how to make tea and coffee!
I'm gonna copy and paste this one because...
Runners provide support and backup wherever it might be required within the studio, but particularly at the request of the Production Office or Editing Department, and it can be very varied work. They check and, where possible, maintain studio equipment, including carrying out 'housekeeping', or office management duties, such as replacing batteries or light bulbs; fixing chairs; hanging pictures on walls; keeping track of materials and ordering new supplies; keeping the kitchen and other areas clean, tidy and well stocked; making tea or coffee, etc.
It has another paragraph but it ends with this....'but should also be watching and learning all the time.'
Keep on top of the tasks given and prioritize them.
No degree needed really, just look your best and have a smile on your face n' look enthusiastic. Although having a good portfolio and a degree of some sort will help your chances.
Being a runner lets you look first hand how a production company work in the real world, which is helpful, and also lets you decide what you think is best for you by looking at what jobs are available.
The above are taken from 2D drawn animation (from the skill set website), but the same will apply in what ever animation process the job requires, but with a few changes like for instance....
Animating hand draw, you don't need to keep up to date with the latest 3D software (although you might want to if your like to mix it round and do 3D as well, or you might want to move on to 3D after starting in 2D.)
Also, there maybe other jobs in 3D that might not be needed in 2D, like a modeler, who will build the models (characters or sets etc) in the computer for referencing the concept art and so on.
I renamed this to include film as well, because after doing research into film I realized things stay the same. The best place to start if your a graduate is a Runner and working your way up (no inbetweeners in it)
What I've learnt (how do you spell learnt???? learned? or learnt? or something totally different) from looking at jobs in animation and film is that you work your way up from the bottom, unless your a veteran and are going to another company, but to start off (which we will be doing in 2 years) being a Runner or a Inbetweener is the place to start, then find what you feels the right place for you in the company.
If you feel like you want a change, go to a different company or maybe start your own.....
I don't know when I got given all this information, I think it was after high school, going into college. What happened was we know someone who works with helping people find jobs (something like that anyway) and she took time to gather some websites and gave me some print outs of jobs in animation and such, which i thought was quite kind of her.
By now (three years on) I thought I'd lost the printouts and wouldn't be able to remember the websites address, but! I've found four peaces (is that the right spelling of peaces? or is that peace and love?) of paper next to my feet which were given to me by this person, and there 'quite' interesting one or two paragraphs in it which I'll scan in (will update this post with the scans) they seem pretty relevant at first glance.
As for the websites, I'd booked marked one of them! looking back at it now, well it seems useful. The website is called Skill Set and it has, well (the page that I've put a link to is titled 'Jobs in 3D computer animation') it gives you a list of jobs associated with 3D animation.
You can click on some of the jobs and it will tell you more about that specific roll, for example if you were to click on 'animator' or 'runner' it will give you an idea of what that jobs is all about. I will look at it in more detail and give some of the main jobs and ones that i find interesting myself.
Dads friend Steve (the guy who gave me the info about treatments ect) has these books out, his publisher is re-releasing one of his series in the isle of man. Their Re-Releasing his book called 'The Courageous Cat Club', there are two of them out at the moment. Their releasing them in the Isle of Man because Steve has some connection with the island (something on the lines of his family came from there, I'll check that) his books are either to do with the island, or have some relation to the island.
So because their re-releasing them, they might have had new illustrations for the books. Steve asked me if i would be interested? I said i'll think about it (not being able to draw cats....), so for 2 days i drew cats to see if i could. I looked at videos of cats, looked at cats on my road (not in a stalky way) just to get proportions right, see how they hold them selves ect......you think you know something well because you see them so often, you'd be surprised.
I also looked at how other people draw cats in a more cartoon style after looking at cats in a realistic form, I looked at 'Simon's Cat', 'Aristocats' etc.
I thought, Yer go on, mention me (non of this is/was for certain, he was just asking really) i though it would be good to do as an exercise because of having nothing to do over the summer, plus it would keep my drawing skills up to scratch.
There's five characters in the stories (there's also additional people ect) but i couldn't just go ahead and start developing them if i didn't know who they were, i could have read the books as i have copy's, but i didn't really want to see the illustrations that's already in there from the previous person in-case i get them lodged in my head and end up drawing like that and basing the characters round what I've seen, rather than how I imagine them.
The Publishers now talking with the original Illustrator, trying to strike a deal, so looks like my cats won't be used. :( Enjoyed Drawing them thought.
Will put them on hear sometime................12 weeks later, here's a blog I set up for them, there's only a few on there though (no one will see this, because its buried in piles of newer posts! mwhahahahaa!)
A good few weeks ago now I saw the unavailing of the 2012 mascots on 'the one show' , don't judge me! They started off by going to the streets and showing people different Mascots from other Olympic games past, and the result was that no one remembers any of them.
My dad can only remember one mascot (not even from the Olympic Games) which was 'World Cup Willie' from the 1966 world cup, people seem to remember that one because
1. England won
2. It was the first time the world cup had a mascot, which could have made it more memorable than others that followed.
So it wasn't a good start having no one know any mascots, but still they showed us what London 2012 will have and this is it...
Now I would love to point out all the bad bits and say how if people don't remember characters from other Olympic games why waist money making some for this one, we have a cool logo that's always changing and is interactive which stands as the main focal point of the games, why bring in something which hasn't worked in the past.
But to be honest they've done something which is kinda different, you got a nice little story to go with them, their not animals and there something personal to these games in London.
Here's a picture of them...there called Wenlock and Mandeville...
...They look a bit ugly! but then again, there different, so I cant complain really. They mentioned why they chose this design and how things relate to the games on 'the one show', all I can remember is that the bit above the eyes which has either a W (for Wenlock) or an M (for....yep, that's right...Mandeville) is suppose to represent the Black Cabs in London, which is pretty inventive (not too sure it needs it but...)
Also their names are something to do with where the Olympic games came from (because it originated from England, i think?)
So maybe people will remember them, still i doubt it but at leased we've tried!
Before I go i would also like to point out that people think the video and the mascots are part of a conspiracy (the 1st you tube video says it in the title), the 'All Seeing Eye' and all that (they talk about it in the comments on you tube)
and its quite interesting as well that (i think) this came out before the results of the election......and for some reason they went for two mascots and not one.......and one is Blue and the other an Orange/ Yellow..........i'll let you think about that one!
This is one of two of my all time favorite Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons. I like everything about it, from the different approach to the classic story (which was soooo hip at the time!...and still is in my eyes hahaha) the animation, the music (love the music) the style, and many many other things.
The backgrounds are so angular and stick to simple colours...look at how the light coming in from the door and window are conveyed, its just a block of lighter colour, no fade out to blend it in with the darker bit (which light normally dose.....unless its really strong, but still)
Doors aren't that shape!, neither are windows, so simple, even the round tables aren't round!
