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Where do you think mainstream animation and independent animation is heading towards today?
Just curious on your thoughts on the animation industry and independent animation - where is it headed? Do you foresee it getting better for independent animators to get there work out there on the net and/or mobile? As animation becomes more popular in the mainstream will there be more opportunities indie animator to create and produce their own works?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by PodComics Studios on -
We definitely see the video internet revolution helping independent animators very soon. It used to be the only way for people to see your shorts was to get into festivals. Not anymore. And we think communities online like Indie Animator will be good vehicles to raise awareness of the best independent animations out there.
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Permalink Reply by wholebit on
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I think the question is premature, however I do think it is headed in the right direction. Concerning certain projects, movies in the works. I don't really pay to much attention to the news these days it's hard to concentrate on what I'm doing if I'm too concerned with what the studios are doing.
Mainly people are concerned about formatting and whether blue ray will beat the hell out of HD. I don't care either way, by the time either one of them wins people will be seeing their animations on other poeple's websites or you tube or something... - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Johnie L. Tidwell, Jr. on -
Yes, Earworm Media definitely has the formula locked up!
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Hello fello animators!
Nice to see some banter on these boards no matter how breif. Anyway since you were here I'll just speak my mind a little.
First off good news bad news type thing. Disney has decided to start making animation traditionally and I noticed that this weekend Jetix showed a series of Disney films including Fox and Hound, Aristocats, Robin Hood, and Atlantis. I guess my favorite of these was Robin Hood although I am liking Atlantis more and more. If you didn't see the interview with animator Marlon West discussing it then nows a good time:
http://www.awntv.com/videos/fmx-08-west
The one thing that did dissapoint was the Tron or Tr2n preview from the Comicon. There's no link now because of course the pirated phone quality video someone made was taken down. It was less like a trailer and more like a peice of the film because usually they try to pack a lot of key action sequences into about 30 seconds to give you some idea of how they plan to save the world ect. It's hard for me to beleive that this was actually footage, but I guess Jeff Bridges WAS in it so...whala. You didn't hear it from me but the cycles now travel in arcs, veeeeery slooooowly. When one was destroyed I had no idea why, but probably the video game looked better, as is the case with Final Fantasy usually. It really DOES look like guys riding down the street on police cycles.
But, they are working on it so that is the good and the ugly; so here's the bad news, Paramount has backed out of the new Heavy Metal
animation. I don't know why as I was to upset to click on the link which I will provide for your entertainment.
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/07/david-fincher.html
Nonetheless, I haven't heard any news from the Conan or Dragonlance camps either. Sooooo, what does that mean. Thing is, they aren't really turning a profit on CG movies either so why not let the animators onto the computers now after so rudely sitting thier FAT-asses down all over the excuse of high technology...neither Beuwulf or Final Fantasy made more than was spent, and just try to find numbers for Transformers...I dare you!
Here's a character sheet submission cel I sent in for Heavy Metal.(attach)
I'm drooling to see how the new SW movie will do; even tho it's rendered in that 'hypnotize kids' 3D way...it is. - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Ron Cole on -
This question is what in the world of politics they call a 'softball' question because the answer is not only obvious but confidence boosting as well. The world of animation is in the best position it ever has been before! Access to a wide audience for all animators, both big time and basement productions. The strangle-hold of the studio execs has finally been broken and we animators are far more in control of the product and what comes of it now.
I'm a stop motion animator and 15-20 years ago computer animation was destined to replace everything I spent a lifetime learning to do and the career I built doing it but NOW the tables have turned. Access to the web and digital equipment has revitalized stop motion animation as well as the desire of the audience to see it.
The look of stop motion has changed forever, I now see so many different approaches to the art it's simply amazing! This outpouring of creativity has also bled onto the 'big screen' as well, doubtlessly as a reaction to what's happening in the independent film world. It used to be that the general public almost never saw the works of the independent film makers simply because there was no way for them to see it... but NOW they can easily access it and only want more.
Where will the world of animation go in the future? The answer is simple, EVERYWHERE! We stop motion animators in particular know all too well what it's like to hear the words 'extinct ' and 'obsolete' associated with the art we love so well, to see these new opportunities and avenues open up and a renewed interest and marketability for what we do is... just awesome!
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Permalink Reply by Vic Demise on -
I certainly don't think there's any danger of the animation industry dying out. There will always be new and creative people out there to keep the craft alive. As far as getting any "better", well, that's all a matter of opinion anyway, and In my opinion, often it makes no difference how "good" animation looks, so long as it's funny, or interesting. Consider one of my favorites, the "Venture Brothers"- There is nothing speacial about the overall look of the show, in fact it is designed to look like lousey Hanna-Barbera from the early 1970s ("Johnny Quest" anyone?), yet it is HYSTERICAL if you ask me. Or another not so good looking toon would be "Squidbillies". Face it, it's downright UGLY, but funny all the same. How bout "King Of The Hill"? I'm a big fan of "Deathnote" out of Japan, and like much anime, it's very minimal, yet there is a unique style all it's own that just works. Lips need not be in sync, so long as the words coming out of those lips are conveying an interesting story, and perhaps a bit of humor.
We live in an infinite universe, and that implies to me that there are infinite great cartoon ideas just waiting to be concieved of, and animated.
One last thought, and thid deals with CG. For the most part, I'm getting tired of it. "Wall-E" was cute and smart as anything, as were both "Madigascar" films, "Kung Fu Panda", and on and on, but I think the real brilliance of those films lies in the script, and the acting, for the most part. To my eyes, CG is just too sterile (I feel the same when CG is used in live action movies. Yes, it looks good, but the problem for me is that it looks too good and not real. Having said that, there will always be someone who will use the technology, in a new way that will bring about some unique results that will once again astound us all. Let's all hope. (Honestly, there's ALWAYS something new and different bering done, so I'm not worried)
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Permalink Reply by Ron Cole on
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Thank you Vic! I've been verbally beaten up over the years whenever I would suggest that CG alone will not be enough for the future of animation because it lacks the realness as a direct product of an individual artist. But in just the past couple of years more and more voices are starting to join that chorus. My end of animation is the small world of stop motion with puppets, and for too many years it looked as if stop motion was going extinct because CG had become so popular singing that song 'Anything you can do I can do better'. And stop motion animators were largely unemployed. All of the studios that used to dot the east coast (where I live) either went under or made the move over to CG production.
I love all kinds of animation and special effects work and have spent my career creating many different types of imagery for film and animation but, when CG came along I just had no interest in it... I need to work on real things with my hands. Well, now at long last it seems that the audience has tired of it and crave the tactile real look of real objects on screen, whether they are drawn or puppets or models or cut-out animation. People spend most of their time working with and playing with computer technology and are beaten over the heads with it on TV... they want to see something ELSE. Thank Goodness.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Stein on -
I agree with some of the comments that the internet has opened up the possibility for independent animators to be viewed by a global market, instead of the difficult path of trying to get screened at festivals. However, if you get viewed at a festival you have a few benefits - a captive audience of quite a substantial size, industry folk watching your film. Also there is a certain credibility that comes with being accepted into the limited schedule of a festival and being screened on a big screen. You compare that to being viewed on a website where you are one of thousands of filmmakers, it is very hard to fade into nothingness unless you are one of the brilliant artists - or you have some kind of 'popular' viral idea that appeals to the general public.
I'm not a brilliant animator. It is easy for my films to blend into the background noise of mediocrity on the internet. The term, 'little fish in a big pond' springs to mind. But, there have been a couple of 'little pond's' that I've paddled in and have received acclaim that wouldn't be deserved in a larger market. I won the moving film section in a cultural festival and have had a couple of animations on television. The reason why I succeeded in these instances is because there was limited competition.
Now, if I was to enter a film into an online competition, which I have, I achieve very little. Also, my films are screened on various internet sites, but they are largely ignored.
In short, I guess my prediction of the future of independent animated shorts is that the web will largely be the domain of small timers looking for a quick validation of their skills. Some people may be discovered this way, but I think the truly good animators will have to continue with the festival scene in order to receive the kind of credibility that leads anywhere.
I dream on one day completing an animation that I don't want to put on the web, because I think its too good for the internet - that it is something I want to save for the film festivals.
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Permalink Reply by Gene Vandervoort on -
As for CG, the novelty is pretty much gone. Pixar has the market cornered. I am a hand drawn animator, and I think that unless we step up the quality of aur work no matter where it is viewed especially on the internet, where I see mostly crap we are going to lose out completely. Low production quality, no story line or gag, increased use of graphic violence and profanity are killing our art.
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I agree Gene. There seems to be only one acceptable paradigm for CG these days as opposed to the days when fractals ruled the skies. I'd love to collaborate on something, but I think violence has its place at times!
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Permalink Reply by Gene Vandervoort on
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I agree to that as well, when it is there for a reason, or to make a point
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