Author: Conor Westpfel

Where would I to work?

The Animation industry is growing throughout the world and there are studios dedicated to just animation in every corner of the globe. The USA and Japan are the leading countries with the most studios and therefore more opportunities for work, but the UK is the place that I would most like to work. The UK’s rich diversity, history and humour often come through in creations made here.

The UK’s contribution to animation has been award winning in a several areas such as children’s programming, feature films and the video game industry. In recent years there had been concerns for the industry in the UK, especially following Brexit where EU funding for creative industries was lost, but from January 2024 UK animated film productions were given increased tax relief in a hope to boost the industry.  

The UK government have also discussed investment into the industry, namely the UK games industry, as part of their levelling up schemes, so this does give me faith that animation in the UK can continue to on its trajectory of creating award winning features and this is what attracts me to the UK as a country I would like to work.

Within the UK, Scotland has number production companies which focus on creating animation content and Animation Scotland is an industry-led body created to showcase the Scottish animation industry. Having a body like this to help push Scotland’s position in the animation industry across the different areas does attract me to Scotland as a place to work.Interference Pattern is an example of a creative content studio in Scotland. Founded in 2008 in Edinburgh, they create 2D and 3D animation for television, commercials, games and film, so there is a wide range of productions to work on.

Galaxy Fight Club (2022) is a cross-platform fighting game created by Interference Pattern Ltd

In 2017, Interference Pattern co-founded Move Summit which is an annual three-day conference which takes place in Scotland. Move Summit is an opportunity to put Scottish animation at the forefront and these types of incentives make Scotland a place to consider working in.

Which area of the industry would I be interested in working in?

Prior to starting on the MA Character Animation course, the game industry was not an area I had considered working in, even though some of my favourite animated characters, such Mario Bros and Sonic the Hedgehog had originated from this industry.

Having researched pursuing a career in the gaming industry as an animator, I’ve become aware the role would require collaborating within large teams which range from Development, Production and Design. So, understanding where I would fit in the process, I would need a better understanding of other roles within the team, for example, the different types of programming required for gaming. The Engine Programmer figures out how to create the best engine for a particular game, the Physics Programmer creates software that forms the basis of movement like crashes and collisions, or the Network Programmer makes it possible for gamers to play with each other. All these positions will decide on the type animation required for the game.

Another area I would need to know, is the different types of software used within the industry; there are several design software for beginners such as GameMaker and Godot Engine, but also more industry used ones such as Unreal Engine and Unity.

A role within the industry would require me to understand the technical and user characteristics of different platforms that games are played on. By knowing the different platforms, is to know who the games are being developed for. So, for example, games played on consoles are generally longer and require a high skill level, so these are aimed more for children and young adults who have more time. Handheld devices are usually quick easy games so they can be aimed at all ages. Virtual Reality games have an immersive requirement to them. So, understanding the audience the game is aimed at would be an important part of the role.

Have researched the games industry, it appears to be at a crossroads in 2024. During the pandemic, there was a peak in video game usage, and this gave the industry a surge of investment. However, since then, the number of gamers are dropping, with less people are buying games, so investment into the industry is slowing down. But what makes me confidant about the industry, is that games industry executives are aware that they have to make changes to their practices to ensure profits can still be made and there is still a big audience for gaming.

Roles which interest me

Clean Up Artist

The 2D animation process is made up of three main stages. Pre-production is where the idea comes from, so this could be characters, storyline and the overall vision. Then production, where characters and the story are bought to life. Then post-production is where all the part are bought together and finalised.

Since starting the MA Character Animation, the role of a clean-up artist is something that has interested me. A Clean up Artist’s role falls in the post-production stage and is to refine roughly drawn sketches, so they get to polished line drawings.

Since starting the course, this I’ve enjoyed the clean-up process because it requires a lot of focus and patience which is something I am good at. My main issue is speed, I will need to ensure I work at a faster pace then what I currently am because following the clean-up process, the animations are handed over to someone to colour, so like an assembly line, the work needs to be ready for the next person to do their part to ensure deadlines are met.

There are different types of clean up methods; this first being hand drawn. So, this would involve using pencil and thin paper to trace the rough sketches using cleaner lines or you can use a lightbox to aid the process for this method. The other method is using a software such as Adobe Illustrator or Toon Boom Harmony. To succeed as a Clean-up Artist, I would need to arm myself with as many ways in which to do the role, so I feel I would need to practice both the traditional method of hand-drawing and the software processes.

Example of the clean -up process

I read a blog featuring professional Clean up Artist Todd Jacobsen, who has worked for small studios in Los Angeles and in this blog he explains how he started out and the work he has done over the years. When asked what part of his work did you find the most challenging? He writes ‘Cleanup is a detailed and laborious function. The cleanup and inbetweening process is really a constant operation of dividing and subdividing the rough animator’s delineation of action until the scene has been refined and reidentified with a single, clean line.’ So, I am prepared that as Clean up Artist the role will require a lot of coordination with the lead artist and understanding the project scope which will require a lot of back and forth with feedback, and the feedback won’t always be positive. However, I’m aware that I would be working on somebody else’s vision and ensuring their vision is coming through is part of the role.

Colour Artist

A Colour Artist’s role is in the post-production stage and follows on from a Clean-up Artist. A Colour Artist’s job is to give the characters their colours, so to make them come to life for the audience. This role requires an understanding of colour theory and visual eye, so to create aesthetically pleasing designs.

A term that came up a lot in my research for this role is ‘colour theory’ which is a study of how colour is used to create feelings or a reaction. Colour theory plays a big part in animation because it can decide the lighting, mood and emotion of a production to bring the vision to the audience. A colour script is tool first used by Pixar and is now used by many animation productions; it is like a storyboard that gives an overview of colour combinations that relate to each scene, considering the emotions that the scene is portraying. You play around with the colours, testing colours until it fits the scene.

In an interview about what a colour designer does, Jiny He, a Colour Designer for animations like ‘DuckTales’ and ‘Justice League Action’, they said “The story drives what I do. Everything we do supports the narrative.” This made me think about the input the Colour Artist needs in the pre-production and production stage of an animation production. Even though the actual colouring is done in the post-production stage, understanding what the central storyline is? What message does it want to convey? What audience is this production for? Is required for the role.

I have a BA in Fine Art: Painting, in which understanding colouring was a vital part of the process, so the skills I have from my degree could be applied to this role. I have supported some of my cohort with colouring their work and using TVPaint Animation software for these projects, so this has given me some experience in doing this role on somebody else’s vision. However, in future, I would need to consider the production as a whole to help support the colouring process.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Amidi, A (2011) Art of Pixar: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation, San Francisco,: Chronicle Books.

Animation Scotland (2024) animationscotland.com [Online] Available at: https://www.animationscotland.com (Accessed 23 October 2024).

Antimost (2022) What Is Animation Clean Up? How To Clean Up Animation? animost.com [Online] Available at: https://animost.com/tutorials/animation-clean-up/ (Accessed 23 November 2024).

CG Spectrum Institute (2024) Cleanup Artist (2D): The role, salary, software, and skills of a cleanup artist, cgspectrum.com [Online] Available at: https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/clean-up-artist (Accessed 23 November 2024).

Chalk, Andy (2024) The games industry is undergoing a ‘generational change,’ PC Gamer [Online] Available at: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-games-industry-is-undergoing-a-generational-change-says-epic-ceo-tim-sweeney-a-lot-of-games-are-released-with-high-budgets-and-theyre-not-selling/ (Accessed 29 November 2024).

Chua, S-L (2020) What does a colour designer do? An interview with Jiny He, ACMI [Online] Available at: https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/what-does-colour-designer-do-interview-jiny-he-ducktales-justice-league/ (Accessed 30 November 2024).

Comic Mint (2024) Types of Animation Art, comic-mint.com [Online] Available at: https://www.comic-mint.com/types-of-animation-art (Accessed 3 December 2024).

Godwin, Joe (2013) Why supporting UK animation matters, BBC News [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Faboutthebbc%2Fentries%2F2c73e88a-f19a-3d2d-999b-e30ae482db5c (Accessed 30 November 2024).

Gray, Maria. (2024) ‘Refining Your Animation: The Art of Clean Up’, Sophiekokogate [Online]. Available at: https://sophiekokogate.com/animation-clean-up/ (Accessed 10 November 2024).

Gurskiy, Kirill (2023) Major Trends In Gaming: An Investor’s Take, Forbes [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/09/11/major-trends-in-gaming-an-investors-take/ (Accessed 29 November 2024).

HM Treasury (2024) Ministers reveal new plans to boost animated film productions in UK, GOV.UK [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-reveal-new-plans-to-boost-animated-film-productions-in-uk (Accessed 23 October 2024).

Hyperallergic (2024) 25 Years of Pixar’s Vibrant, Emotional Color Palettes, hyperallergic.com [Online] Available at: https://hyperallergic.com/610771/the-art-of-pixar-chronicle-books/ (Accessed 3 December 2024).

Interface Pattern (2024) interfacepattern.com [Online] Available at: https://www.interferencepattern.com (Accessed 25 October 2024).

Jacobsen, Todd. (2009) ‘Cat Chat – Todd Jacobsen’, Unofficial Cats Don’t Dance [Online]. Available at: https://www.cdd4ever.com/CATCHAT/TJacobsen/TJacobsen.html (Accessed 10 November 2024).

Junn, Jihee. (2024) ‘From classroom to studio: How Mukpuddy’s Ryan Cooper made it in animation’, The Spinoff [Online]. Available at: https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/05-12-2024/from-classroom-to-studio-how-mukpuddys-ryan-cooper-made-it-in-animation?itm_source=spinoff-homepage-layouts&itm_medium=card-2 (Accessed 5 December 2024).

MacDonald, Keza (2024) Pushing Buttons: Is there even any point in making more powerful games consoles?  The Guardian [Online] Available at: https://amp.theguardian.com/games/2024/oct/23/is-there-even-any-point-in-making-more-powerful-games-consoles (Accessed 29 November 2024).

Richardson, Tim and Rodgers, Andrew (2024) Levelling up: Can the next government help the UK games industry?, BBC News [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cql82jdzlpno (Accessed 30 October 2024).

Richardson, Tom (2024) Why so many games are failing right now – and why others are breakout hits, BBC News [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czeg2p3wjy1o (Accessed 2 December 2024).

Saturation.io, Inc (2024) Film Crew Position: Animation Colorist, saturation.io [Online] Available at: https://saturation.io/film-crew-positions/animation-colorist (Accessed 3 December 2024).

Srauy, S (2024) Race, Culture and the Video Game Industry: A Vicious Circuit, London: Routledge Plc.

IMAGE REFERENCE

(Image 1) Galaxy Fight Club (2022). https://www.interferencepattern.com

(Image 2) Antimost (2022). https://animost.com/tutorials/animation-clean-up/

Out of all the components of Unit 1, this was the project I was most nervous about doing. Having to assist somebody I didn’t know and understand their vision for their project is a daunting task. I’m a visual person and struggle sometimes when things are being explained, so I often take my time digesting the information before producing, but for this project, I was aware that time was of the essence and I was making myself available to help, not hinder their project. 

We were allocated a year 2 student to assist, so I reached out to them via email. Unfortunately, after some back and forth we were not able to arrange the work experience, so I contacted my tutor and they were able to put me in contact with another student to assist. 

In my meeting with the year 2 student, they asked me to do the keyframing for three scenes. I was given the live-action videos to view, so I knew what movement was required for the character in that scene. Then using TV paint, I drew the characters making the movements. 

I completed the first scene and asked them if they were happy with the outcome. They confirmed I had done what they wanted and that they liked how I had translated the ‘walking style’. I offered to complete the two further scenes after my own submission deadline for unit one which was due the following day. 

I really enjoyed this experience because I got to see somebody else’s project and their vision. My main challenge was the tight timeline because I would have liked to spend more time supporting this project. I feel that I should have been more proactive in informing the tutor when my initial pairing fell through because that took up a lot of the time we were allocated for this project. So, this is a lesson I have learned from this project. However, I’m aware that challenging timelines will be a part of animation jobs, so this was a good takeaway from this experience. 

As somebody who recently completed a BA in Fine Art Painting, where all my creations had been still images, I was looking forward to creating moving images. One area, I really enjoyed was the silent movie body acting brief because I was able to use the skills, I had learned from creating still images of figures and apply them to this brief.

The brief was to create a moving image between 10 and 20 seconds long in the style of a silent movie. To contextualise the process, I started by watching silent movie scenes online and seeing a range of different body movements depending on the mood and situation. Then, answered the seven acting questions which ranged from the character’s name, temperament, and environment to get an idea of the character and situation I wanted to create.

I decided on a silhouette trying to get a jar of sweets from the top of a tall fridge and getting frustrated in their attempt to get the jar. At this stage, I wasn’t sure if I wanted this scene to be comical, in a Mr Bean style, or for it to be a more serious scene in the style of a training video.

I sketched a background scene which was a kitchen with the fridge in the centre and then I filmed myself acting out the scene. Part of this process was to stand in one spot, without walking around, so my body movements would be more animated in one space.

I followed this up by creating storyboards for each frame of the scene because I had to consider the length of the outcome and ensure all elements were included so the outcome made sense to the viewer.

The final part of this process was to develop the project, so using TV Paint software and the sketches, live-action video, and storyboards I had created were used to facilitate the outcome.

My journey in creating the silent movie challenged me to look beyond the static silhouette, I was so used to creating in fine art and instead, breaking down the body parts and focusing on each part individually to create believable movements.

The television set had been in development since the late 1920s, but it wasn’t until the late 1950’s and early 1960’s that it became a staple in most households and with the popularity of television, the film companies needed to produce programming for the TV schedule.

Prior to television, cartoons were often shown in cinemas before a main feature, giving media companies more time to create these productions, but with the need to provide content for television, came the need to speed up the production and as a result Limited Animation became a constant part of television since its inception in the 1950’s.

At the turn of the 20th century, the popularity of the cinema started and animated shorts would be shown in what became known as ‘traditional animation’, a technique where each frame is drawn by hand with each drawing is slightly different to the previous one, thereby creating a sequence. For these animated shorts the frames would range from 16 to 22 frames per second, therefore it was a labour-intensive process to create these productions which meant a lot of time and finance was required.

Limited Animation is a process that makes use of techniques to limit the labour required to produce animation so that not every frame has to be drawn individually. This technique uses fewer drawings by reducing the number of images required per second by re-using drawings, and putting different parts of a character, like the head or arms, layered onto the drawing so that only the part of the body moving needed to be animated for each scene. Take an example of a character drinking, most of the body remains the same while the arm is redrawn to show up and down motion with the cup moving towards their mouth.

Another example used in limited animation is reusing walk cycles. This is where a character is walking and a standard 8-frame walk cycle has been created, instead of drawing several frames, the 8-frame walk cycle walk is repeated over.

In traditional animation the scenes are depicted with a smooth gliding movement and more detailed in comparison limited animation where the visuals appear stiffer and more lifeless with fewer details.

Animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera who had previously worked together at MGM set up Hanna-Barbera animation studios which had a lot of success with animated sitcoms through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The studio relied on limited animation in these productions to keep up with the speed of the tv schedules. Barbera said in 1988 ‘Instead of the 25,000 to 40,000 drawings we used in a Tom and Jerry short, we were able to make a cartoon with 1,200 to 1,800 drawings’.

The use of limited animation slowly declined through the 1990’s, with computer-generated imagery (CGI) became heavily relied on to increase the style, duration, and content of animation on a smaller budget. However, limited animation is still used in productions with one of the most common being the Anime medium. However, I feel the reason for still using limited animation in some productions isn’t a question of budget, but more for the stilted movement and minimalism that the technique brings, and audiences still appreciate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amyus, A (2019) Duality of American and Japanese Animation, The Artifice [Online] Available at: https://the-artifice.com/american-japanese-animation/ (Accessed 30 January 2024).

Anthony, A (2013) A history of television, the technology that seduced the world – and me The Guardian [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/sep/07/history-television-seduced-the-world (Accessed 13 February 2024).

Barrier M (1999) Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bendazzi, C (1994) Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation, Indiana: Indiana University Press.

Leer, M (2023) How Hanna-Barbera revolutionized animation, History Defined, [Online] Available at: https://www.historydefined.net/how-hanna-barbera-revolutionized-animation/ (Accessed 12 February 2024).

Solomon, C (1988) Governors Award Goes to Hanna-Barbera The LA Times [Online] Available at: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-29-ca-800-story.html (Accessed 9 February 2024).

The National Science and Media Museum (2020) A very Short History of Cinema, kollwitz.de [Online] Available at: https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/very-short-history-of-cinema (Accessed 30 January 2024).

IMAGE REFERENCE

Image 1: Sullivan, Pat and Messmer, Otto “Felix the Cat at the North Pole (1920)” Traditional Animation.

Image 2: Hanna-Barbera Productions “The Flintstones (1960)” Limited Animation.

Image 3: Walt Disney Pictures ” Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)” Traditional Animation.

Image 4: Hanna-Barbera Productions “Top Cat (1961)” Limited Animation.