Are young people looking at animation as a career? Yes, the animation industry is huge and there are loads of exciting career options within it. The games industry now rivals Hollywood in size, there are more TV channels needing content than ever before and web design features more and more animation. It's everywhere you look if you think about it: films, adverts, TV series, games, web, pop promos, not to mention reconstructions in documentaries, special effects and visitor attractions. 
Blobit by NSAD student Dan Upton |
For example, graduates of the animation course at Norwich School of Art & Design are working in careers as diverse as SFX on Lord Of The Rings to 3D character design for Sony Playstation and model animated kids' TV like Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder. Lots of them now work in the games industry doing anything from motion capture, to sound engineering to backgrounds. Then there are interactive multimedia, animatronics, TV adverts and pop promos... the list is endless. What do films like Finding Nemo do to people's awareness of animation? Do they help, or do they close people's minds to the different types of animation available? In the last century the dominant form of animation was the cartoon and I think many people do think of animation as either Disney or something for kids. The orthodox style created by Disney did ghettoise the art form for a long time. I think that is changing now, due to advances in technology, new styles and techniques, imaginative programming from broadcasters like Channel 4, BBC Three and an increasing trend in animation made for adults, such as 2D TV, Monkey Dust, Southpark. There have also been some surprise hits at the box office like the beautiful and hilarious Belle Ville Rendezvous, recently screened at Cinema City in Norwich. They are now showing the Japanese animation Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki which just broke all box office records in Japan. 
60 second love story by Brian Demoskoff (detail) |
Festivals help to open people up to all the other amazing stuff which we have no other opportunity to see. Festival Seminars Careers in Animation
Norwich School of Art & Design, 2.30pm
24th October Animation is a highly visible career option, which now reaches into the games, TV and film special effects worlds too. But what kind of jobs are out there? How do you get started? Can you make it as a freelancer? How is the industry changing with the influx of new technology, specifically in 3D animation? Can you make a living without up rooting and moving to London? Chaired by Saint John Walker. Speakers to include Chris Shepherd of Slinky Pictures, Keith Tutt & Hannah Giffard of Red Fox Productions, Ruth Fielding of Lupus Films, and a spokesperson from Electronic Arts. Animation & Interactivity
Norwich School of Art & Design, 2.30pm
25th October Interactivity gives a new dimension to animation, but who's pushing the boundaries artistically and commercially? With the advent of the Internet, DVD and Broadband, opportunities for new animated works that interactively engage with the potential audience or customer abound. But what does an interactive dimension really add to the animated form, or vice versa? Is interactive work just re-purposed linear pieces with the user-centred choice bolted on as an afterthought, or are real interactive skills needed by today's young animators? Chaired by Saint John Walker. Speakers to include Lars Christiansen of tv-animation, Denmark, Tim Child of Televirtual, Norwich and Mario Cavalli (TBC) Animation & Sound
Cinema City, 2pm
26th October Often barely recognised by the audience and yet often crucial to the impact of the finished piece, sound represents a hidden weapon in the animator's armoury. But sound doesn't always play second fiddle to the animation? Sound designers, musicians and animators have often collaborated in new and surprising ways, often changing the rules of engagement and production between sound and image. Can we redress the balance of a visually dominated culture within audio-visual pieces? How do you start creating sound for animation, and is it different from producing sound for film or video? Chaired by Saint John Walker. Speakers to include Clive Walley, Tom Simmons, Suzie Hanna and others TBC. For full details about the festival seminars, workshops and screenings visit the official festival website at www.filmartsnorwich.co.uk International Animation Festival 2003 » | 
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