Animation

Thank you for this share. You keep finding these amazing articles Ashley Renee Smith

Very cool stuff Ashley Renee Smith. Some of the snippets from the Hungarian sample reel have such a classic feel to them. I'll have to hop on Hunimation.com and check that out!

Wow, this is awesome Ashley Renee Smith. I love how this community is getting exposed to international markets.

Ashley Renee Smith - to be candid, I honestly had no idea Hungary had this much involvement in the animation industry, let alone 111 years. I personally haven't worked with any Hungarian studios but I'm not opposed to doing some sort of collaboration in the future.

James Lagrimas Thanks for sharing!

Oh now, I'm very, very interested in some of these. I know quite a few amazing artists I could refer to this too.

Thanks for sharing, James!

Hey, James Lagrimas. I'd like to see Stop-motion Education.

I'd love to see something along the lines of bringing together a team of independent animators, writers, producers, etc. to build your own studio James Lagrimas.

This is really exciting news! and a huge step for digital storytelling. I’m looking forward to seeing how these stories evolve with such a strong creative partnership and reach audiences worldwide.

It really is huge. A great pipeline.

Mike Boas I love it Mike, when people talk about helping creatives, but really don’t know what it is to be…creative!

Geoff Hall -I stand strong on keeping AI out of this space . Like Maurice Vaughan said early on. Film is a craft. A beautiful craft, the entire process is amazing to watch unfold. The good moments, "just got my first client, nailed the lighting, pitched my first project" even the "I forgot to hit record after a 1 hour long interview on a corp client and died on the inside" moment, all of those moments are shared experiences amongst us. We can all go on social and watch a video that highlight some part of film and relate to it. With AI I feel like are enhance and highlighting the microwave mindset. Throw the prompt in and get something out. Where's the passion? The love? The late nights learning and practicing. Sure it helps with workflow and process however the process is to learn and master your craft.

Sounds like robbed creativity, Cyrus, if left up to AI. I've written my first animated script and currently looking for assistance/critique. Home grown...no AI.

My stance on AI in the creative industry is simple that it is very useful, and you have to decide how you want to use it, but I caution you to use it as a tool and not let it do the creative output itself, only let it assist you, so that you can be more productive in your creativity. :

Ways to use AI:1. Help you to ideate for writing, character designs, world design etc.

2. Help you to structure or reword things you might be challenged with.

3. Help you with supporting documents, like a treatment or logline etc.

4. VFX enhancement (See James Cameron's statements on the use of AI)

5. Organizing footage

6. Basic feedback

Ways NOT to use AI1. To write you script for you. Writing is a skill you develop, to convey your unique voice in telling a story. There is nothing new under the sun, but your unique voice brings unique flavor to an old story. When you give that up, eventually AI stories are all going to feel the same even if they are different. Similar to how the over adoption of script writing formulas now make everything on streaming platforms feel the same despite dramatically different genres.

2. To design characters for you. You can use it to develop references, maybe initial ideation, but the final character design must be your full-fledged design, which you craft with your mind and hands, that is not a direct copy of anyone's or anything's generated images. You are developing a skill that again, brings your unique flavor.

3. To rewrite your script. Even if you write and initial draft and then run it through AI, while the AI maintains most of your voice, it is going to alter it significantly. It will no longer be your voice and may lose its authenticity.

4. To edit videos for you. Editing is story telling. The editor is the final writer/director of a film and again, the unique voice/flavor is at stake if you let AI take over control.

5. To do your VFX from start to finish. Again, we don't want to eradicate human skill. James Cameron himself said he would never let AI write his stories, but he definitely sees use for it in VFX. I can too. There are some mundane tasks that I would rather my VFX team not waste their time one unless they are junior staff. I want my lead VFX artists to focus on the heavy stuff that requires very unique imagination, but some basic compositing or explosion enhancement, I would perhaps consider AI to assist. I am big on not replacing people, even if I hire them to use the AI in their work, I would never want to replace a human being with an AI tool itself. It must just be there to ensure my VFX artists can get their work done and go home at a reasonable hour to spend time with their family and get rest.

6. Full feedback on a script. While I find AI feedback very useful, it does not replace a human being. I have heard people say "AI gives very basic feedback or unusable feedback. I have not seen that to be the case. I have seen it give just as good if not better feedback than feedback I have received from Coverfly, Stage32 and elsewhere. That's because it's not under pressure like a lot of screenplay reviewers are under to read hundreds of scripts a month and give feedback. HOWEVER, the AI can sometimes be too pandering if you ask it for feedback the wrong way, and it can sometimes be too harsh if you ask it to be harsh and sometimes it can be never ending. AI also is always going to be a bit behind on the trends and also behind on the instinct of predicting what will sell. Only someone close to the industry, who is behind those closed doors in the executive meeting know that "Slasher Romance" is going to be the big hit this summer and hence your scrip will sell faster if you focus on that. They know that while "Old Man Action" is hot right now, if your script is going to take 2 years to right, it's going to be a dead trend by then.

Right now, for example, I have been studying vertical micro series and the writing is very soapy and, in my opinion, very amateur. I believe AI and even many reviewers would probably mark you harshly for writing like that, however, if you specifically have your script reviewed by a person who specializes in that format will tell you that what seems to grab the audience are "Unassuming Heroes" or "Under Dog stories" with a lot of inner monologue and overly harsh antagonists. This is not to say traditional writing will not work in that space. I have seen a few with proper scripts, dialogue and actors, but I notice more often than not, they are capturing you with the audacity of the story and the characters. That trend may change, and it may become more traditional over time, but only a human can keep you abreast with those shifts in real time and may have inner insight of what those platforms will be looking for next. The AI is going to pretty much give advice based on what it knows has worked in the past.

Cyrus Sales I love this, Cyrus!

Yes, we are here to master our craft, not have AI do it for us. That to me is just lazy and lacks imagination and emotion.

Congrats! Looks cool!

Bob Harper Thank you!

Thanks for sharing the video, Kevin Jackson. I like the animation style of Vainglorious! It's a unique style!

Congratulations on publishing The Secret Sockciety, Daniel Ringenberg! Fantastic title! It's catchy.

Congratulations on publishing your book. I love the premise. I can even see a great tie in for merchandise. Selling socks that look like the characters.

You're welcome, Chase Carmichael. Hope they help!

Those are great ideas — keep going!

I wish you all the best in your creative journey.

Thank you, Meriem Bouziani. Same thing to you.

thank you very much Chase Carmichael

In addition to the education here on stage32, feel free to ask questions here or in the script writing lounge and check out the "Writer's Room" the do a free month trial https://www.stage32.com/writers-room

Wyman Brent Sounds like you’ve got some exciting projects in the works! ‘What the Mack?’ will be there when the time is right, and in the meantime, it’s awesome that you’re diving into these other creative passions.

Geoff Hall Absolutely! Happy to have you here. That’s incredible news! Congratulations on getting connected with the CEO. It sounds like a huge step forward. Your vision for the animation series is ambitious and exciting, and I love the idea of bringing local talent from each city to give the story its own unique flavor. It really seems like you’re off to an amazing start, and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

Daniel Danitto I'm learning and accepting this as well after several moments of burnouts and breakdowns. Sometimes the absolute best thing to do as a creative and human is pause and take a whole step back. Love this for you, what's your favorite thing to do when you take a pause? I personally have found walking to be the most relaxing and simple thing to add into my day. Sunlight recharges my soul lol.

Bob Harper congratulations on the film being in the festivals! What's your short about?

Thanks, Cyrus Sales ! I’m lucky to live by the sea, and sometimes early in the morning I just sit on a bench with a cup of coffee and let my thoughts drift. It’s the best way to clear my mind and find new inspiration.

Stage 32 has VFX Education, Kevin Jackson. www.stage32.com/education/search?term=VFX

Kevin Jackson, the best paid options are fxphd and Gnomon Workshop. The best free option is of course my own VFX classes (shameless plug): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtHy1xNYDiw&list=PLoeCfokv7t8_7Hdl7ZEwCO...

I'm looking forward to the Stranger Things animated series, Geoff Hall! I think they could make live-action Stranger Things shows/movies (prequel and spin-offs). And video games.

Dopeness!!! Can’t wait for this to drop guys!

Maurice Vaughan yeah, the video game would be amazing, Maurice.

Ra Shaan Grant absolutely, Ra Shaan! I’ve just got to see the last episode of season 4, so I know what’s going on!

A big open-world Stranger Things game, Geoff Hall. Like a Red Dead Redemption 2 version of Stranger Things.