Animation

Hi Cam Parkes - it's great to meet you here in the community. Congratulations on completed your post-grad work. I third what Emily said. I also recommend this upcoming Stage 32 webinar called TV ANIMATION 101. There's a Q&A with Brandon, a dedicated lounge where you can network with other creatives and I think you'll get a lot out of it: https://www.stage32.com/webinars/TV-Animation-101-How-a-Hit-Animated-Sho...

Emily J Thanks so much, Emily! I will send you that email shortly!

Karen "Kay" Ross thanks you for the insights, Karen! I've written scripts/outlines etc. in pre-school, tween, adult, etc. but focusing on one makes sense. I appreciate the advice!

Sam Sokolow Thank you, Sam! I will absolutely check out the webinar - I appreciate the link!

I suggest pitch everywhere you can get a foot in the door. I have heard good advice though which is to prep your pitch for your audience. One pitch doesn's serve all. Could it be a tv series.. could it be a film etc..

Looks really cool! Great timing, too, with the Animation Screenwriting Contest Final Deadline at the end of the month!

Me too. I can’t wait for this one…

Excited for this today!

Question: I’m developing a kids’ animated series - the target audience is girls, 6-11. It’s a sitcom with a strong musical component and a taste of some fun science. I’ve worked on pre-school shows, and my feeling is that a show for 6-11 should basically be an adult show in tone and attitude - with the obvious exception of steering clear of age-inappropriate subject matter, of course.

My question is this: would assembling a sitcom-style writers’ room under the direction of a showrunner be unusual for a kids’ show aimed at 6-11? Or is that already SOP (as opposed to one-off scripts) for a show for that age group?

Or is there another way to structure the writing team? Thanks in advance for your response!

Thank you everyone for tuning in!

This is so interesting! What strikes me is that we'll likely see more and more advancements in editing and animation that are geared toward the vertical format. I've had a lot of frustrations in the past over the fact that horizontal videos are no longer the norm on most widely used platforms. It's forced me to change my process for filming specific content and it makes it harder to edit older footage and post it for friends and family.

MIKE! So great to see you, my friend! I'm so used to seeing your profile pic as an animated character, it's nice to finally put a face to the name LOL

Oh, the link isn't working for me for some odd reason :-/

On the topic though, I think if you give AI your information to learn from and then use it for your own purposes, meaning you're not violating anyone else's copyright by doing so, then I see no harm in it. It's when the AI is being fed information that you do not have the right to that it becomes harmful.

Everything after that is just a wounded ego. Unhappy that AI can make something beautiful and engaging in less time than you could? Sorry shrug That's why we built machines. To do something we can already do, but faster.

Although, it's worth noting that the time it takes to collect resources, choose an AI, have it learn from those resources, and output is still a lengthy process just because of the research. Quality Control (or in this case, confirmation of rights and unity of vision) will always be done by a human, and so will always be a little slow.

Thats strange, Karen "Kay" Ross, it was working earlier this week. I wonder if he was forced to take down the content.

Interestingly, I recently had a similar thing happen with Xtreme Saga. We paid a freelance artist, who is excellent and I continue to work with for the art of each chapter, to draw the cover image. I personally wrote out a detailed description of what I wanted and then did several drafts with him based on notes from me and other producers on the project. At my original request, he produced the image in 1920x1080px. I always have him, and pretty much every artist I work with for these sorts of projects, produce art in this size.

Months later, our web team needed a version of the image in 1920x640. Without my knowledge, instead of cropping the image and resizing to that needed size, they scaled the full image down to fit into that size and then used an AI generator to add on to the edges of the image to fill in the blanks. When I found out, I was immediately against it. Not only had they not notified me about using AI to generate an image that my name would appear on without my consent, but they also used AI to add on to an artist's work that he was also getting named credit for without his consent, or even notification. Not only is this ethically terrible, but, in my opinion, it also opens the company up to a lawsuit over misrepresentation, false advertising, and potentially damages if that artist's reputation is tarnished by passing off AI art as his.

Thankfully, they hadn't published the image before I got to see it, so I immediately had it replaced with a cropped version of the original that I created myself. I think it's a problem to use AI like this without the consent of the people who created/own the rights to a work. And I definitely think that it needs to be stated clearly to audiences when this sort of thing happens; and the original non-AI generated images should be shared alongside these sorts of things so that people can still be aware of the original artwork and the artists who created it.

Thank you for sharing, Mike Boas!

I'm really liking the upgrades!

Agree. The upgrades rock. Thanks for sharing, Mike Boas!

This is why I've been taking webinars on producing internationally. Just had this feeling...

Mike Boas “The studio’s release slate this year is heavy on sequels and established brands -…” perhaps this phenomenon of old IP could be called “In the Cinema, no one can hear you Scream.” Because sooner or later the last breath of old IP has to happen.

Richard "RB" Botto why is this fear apparent in the States and not elsewhere on the planet, RB? What is it about the US market that makes them so fearful?

Because the people at the top are risk adverse. They don't want to lose their jobs for choosing original projects that bomb.

The problem with being so risk-averse and not bothering to create new franchises, is that viewers--myself, included--lose interest as the quality of scripts diminishes. Lately, most of the current animation I view is either anime or whatever I come across on Newgrounds. The one Hollywood-based exception was "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"--and I might have even skipped that, too, if not for a recommendation from the Critical Drinker. (The script for that movie was surprisingly quite good. These days, I don't expect good writing in mainstream Hollywood projects, so am pleasantly surprised when there is good writing.)

Just to clarify, the second statement from Naito contradicted the first from Robbins… “Asked to expand on on Robbins’ comments a day later, Naito told Variety: ‘We are absolutely committed to making original animated films and are in development on a handful of projects.’ “ While good to hear, this does underline that Paramount doesn’t have a consistent message when talking to the press.

Nick Waters, I'm sure I speak for others; and as I have watched the site grow, your track record speaks for itself. Thank you for the invitation to reach out directly, I'm honored.

This year marks our twentieth year in business and during that time have had the pleasure to partner and are proud of our commitment to the One World Beat Festival (2004 - 2006) and to the Daniel Pearl Music Day Festival (2004 - 2007). For One World Beat we set up an audio-cast (before streaming, lol) that included percussionist Pete Lockett along with local artists and myself from our area. For Daniel Pearl World Music Days we set up a local show and also procured a proclamation from the Governor of the state that we passed along to Ruth and Judea at the foundation. More recently, I had the pleasure of working with Slater Brothers Entertainment on the FilmFreeway site in charge of screening their international film festival, HNYIFF. I'm a big fan of giving back to the community that has given so much in return. At the moment the goal is to onboard to Stage 32 the animators that I'm in contact with, especially the students who would benefit greatly from this site and the Animation Lounge with career advice and educational services that are offered. Perhaps in the future we could discuss a similar collaboration that could involve the Education Team, the Animation Lounge members and the Stage 32 site?

Geoff Hall, thank you for reaching out. You are in the right place! I see from your later post that you are well on your way to getting your questions answered. Make sure you also post in the Jobs Section that you are looking for Freelance Animators and add a picture from your Lookbook if you can. Include your logline and add the keywords Anime, Satoshi Kon and Mamoru Oshii. Do what I did, and ask to see their work or send a link. Good luck, and keep me (and the Animation Lounge) posted on your progress!

Thanks, James Wunderlich. I like to interactive with people in the different Lounges. Even though I'm not heavily involved in Animation, producing, etc., I like to learn about them in the Lounges. Knowing about these things helps me as a screenwriter.

I'm so glad that you've had such a great experience here, James Wunderlich!

Thanks for the connection request, Ashley Renee Smith. I'm looking forward to more great experiences here on stage 32!

Afua Richardson was one of the artists.who did artwork for the film. I will ask if she'll let me post some of her work here.

This is seriously cool. The movie was such a visual feast. Thank you for sharing!

This is so neat, thank you for sharing!

That would be so neat, Elaine Haygood!

This is a great example of using 3D to plan your camera move, then animating your 2D character to match. I had a student do something similar with a chase scene. She wanted the camera to swoop around, go up and down through an alley, following a running dog. She blocked it out in 3D first.

Thank you for sharing the story of your journey with us, Terrence Sellers! It's great to remember that pivoting to a different path or medium, can sometimes be even better for your story and still create a way back to the original goal. I'm so happy that you found someone to believe in your project and help you share it with the world.

Good going! Get the story written in a form you feel proud of, and you'll have that to refer to in the future. It's valuable to show people that you finished something, in any form. You might consider making it an ebook, selling on Amazon Kindle or other marketplaces.

The premise looks super interesting Terrence Sellers . I get going from one medium to another. A few years back I had written a novel that a publisher preferred to publish as a graphic novel so we jumped on it. Then I went back and published the novel and recently a screenplay. Each medium is radically different than the other. A lot of work but I learned so much from each process. All the best on this project!

Mike Boas The long-term plan is that once the first novel is fully published that they will do a vanity printing so people can buy a printed copy of the book. Assuming that pans out, it will be used as a marketing push to build up hype for the second novel, which is already in the planning stages.

Sam Sokolow Brilliant timing, Sam. Thanks for your help. I have booked the webinar and will watch it live, to make the most of the Q&A. Cheers!

I'm not a animator, but if you need a storyboard artist or character designer I'll be willing to offer my talent to you for you.

Thanks Gregory. I shall bear that in mind. Where can I find your work?

Hey Geoff, from my design practice of cooperation with movie-makers, the next step after having an idea for the story and before the crowdfunding, they usually ordered from me the Bible of the project. The Bible is about 10 pages presentation with main characters described visually and textually, loglines, episodes outlines, possible team and other info for funders to feel the spirit of the visual story.

If you'd need a support with Bible, feel free to contact me.

I have links to my sites on my profile.

Welcome Gregory! We're pretty loose here. We're talking all aspects of animation, including writing, producing, drawing, etc. If you're doing "promotion" posts, try to keep that to your personal page. If you're looking for work or asking for help with projects, check out the job board section. Looking forward to seeing more from you!

Hey, Gregory Barone. Under the title in the Animation Lounge, it says, "Discuss, share content and offer advice or tips regarding technique, trends, software, advice, tips and all other pertinent issues related to animation."

Promotion can go in the Your Stage Lounge (www.stage32.com/lounge/promotion) and on Your Wall. You can, however, post your promotion in one of the other Lounges if your post starts a conversation that's helpful and educational to the community. Example: If you offer your talent in the Animation Lounge, you could start a discussion about drawing techniques within the same post.

Hi Gregory Barone - Mike and Maurice give some great guidance here.

It’s great to meet you here in the community! I’m the Director of Education here at Stage 32. If I can ever recommend any of our education for you or be of any help on your Stage 32 journey please reach out to me directly at edu@stage32.com.

Also, here is a link to the Stage 32 education landing page so you can check out all of the webinars, classes and labs that are at your fingertips as a community member: https://www.stage32.com/education

ok, thanks to you all who posted here.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it Ashley Renee Smith -- and thank you for the kind words. There are so many great little sound bytes in it that can apply to anyone's creative life.

Your uncle sounds like a cool dude! :-)

Laurie Ashbourne, he's very cool but struggles with social anxiety, so he's always been more comfortable with his computers and guitars.

Ashley Renee Smith perhaps he needs a socially adjusted niece to step in and be his marketing gal?

Laurie Ashbourne Hi Laurie, I love creative people like Randy. I’ll watch the documentary when I have a slot today. Thanks for sharing.

@Laurie Ashbourne, sorey for your loss. Randy sounds like he was a truly amazing individual.

And the fact that he loves the bass has a special.place in my heart as during my last years of high school, I had to transpose a TON of bass pieces in classical music as I used to.play baritone sax in Band and Orchestra.

Will definitely look for that documentary.

Hahaha, I'll give him my sister's number, @geoff.