Key Creative Roles on an Animated Short

 

What are the key creative roles on a short animated film? Or, simply put, what are the jobs that absolutely have to get done in order to finish the project?  Below are the key roles that we believe must be filled in order to achieve a successful outcome.

Why Animators Need Good Titles

artofthetitle.com

Part of making any short film is thinking about titles, and typography.  A good title sets the tone and style for the forthcoming film.

For all our students working on titles and title sequences for their short films, we recommend visiting theartofthetitle.com, a website dedicated entirely to the art and craft of movie titles.

Why Animators Should Record Audio First

Voice actors come first - then animation

One of the rules of animation film-making is that the audio comes first, plus sound effects (and music) - then you do the animation. 

The voice recording for the actors is done first, cut into the edit, and then the animators create their performance to match the dialogue.

Sometimes film-makers will try doing it the other way around, animating the characters first and then adding the voice-over, but this is almost always a mistake. The reason for this is that it is very hard to post-sync the dialogue.

The rule of animation film-making is always this: record your dialogue first, then do the animation.

Royalty-Free Music Licenses at Bensound

One question that animators often ask when making a short film, or compiling their demo reel, is where to get Royalty Free Music either for free or at low prices.

One very useful resource that we recommend at Bucks is Bensound. At Bensound.com you can download royalty free stock music for animation, YouTube and multimedia projects.

The Making of "Venom"

Venom

Troy Saliba, animation director at Double Negative, gave a talk in London earlier this year, to talk about his work on the blockbuster release: Venom.

Troy was my animation director on "Monster House", way back in 2005, so it was a pleasure for me to see him again, and welcome him to London, where he is now working for DNeg in Soho.

Troy's talk was a masterclass in how animators work alongside VFX artists on FX-heavy films, where the final result, with all the FX work added, can often look quite different to the animator's initial keyframe animation.

The result is that, on films like Venom, animation and FX are heavily interlaced, requiring careful collaboration between departments, and plenty of back-and-forth to get the right final result.

What Do Sales Agents Do, Exactly?

Sola Media - Sales Agents with a focus on animation

Any animator with dreams to bring their own project to the big screen will eventually need to understand the business of making and financing animated films. This includes the question of who, exactly, is going to sell your film for you. Are you going to do it yourself? Or are you going to bring in experts who know the business? Probably, you will do the latter. As part of our series on the business of animation, we take a look at what exactly a sales agent is and what they do.

Brad Bird Explains The Magic Circle

The Iron Giant

Many years ago I worked on The Iron Giant, a wonderful film and a priceless opportunity to work with one of the very best animation directors - the legendary Brad Bird.  I learned a great deal from him both as a director and an animator.  Brad's style of directing was always clear; he always knew what he wanted, and how to communicate it to the animators.  One of the cleanest and most useful concepts I learned from him was the importance of "The Magic Circle" - a simple rule of composition, and the animator's best friend in a tight spot. Here is how it works.

Sound designer Scott Benson Explains How to Mix a Movie in 72 Hours, and How Sound Designers can work with Animators at Bucks

Bucks sound design student Scott Benson just recently finished mixing and editing the sound on a feature film  - all done within 72 hours. We asked him how he managed to pull of what looks like an insurmountable task, and also how our animators can get the best out of collaborating with sound designers to make great films here at Bucks.

Bucks Lecturer Allen Stroud introduces Lave Revolution

Lave Revolution by Allen Stroud

Bucks lecturer Allen Stroud is a man of many talents. Among his many duties at Bucks, he teaches our first year animators Flash, the 2D animation software that can be used to create excellent animated films. He also has a number of media projects in development, including Lave Revolution, based on the pioneering early 1980s video game. We asked Allen to talk about his work inside and out of the university.

Calling all animators - the Animation Talent Award wants your submissions!

The Animation Talent Award 2013, a short film competition with a focus on combining animation with music, has just launched. It takes place this summer in Halle, Germany, and you have until June 2nd to submit a project "in concept".

Cartoon Movie - the place to pitch your animated film ideas

Cartoon Movie, like Cartoon Forum, should be on every animator's radar. It takes place in Lyon every March - in 2014 it will be held from 5-7 March. It is a huge pitch-fest for talent and business to get together and make independent animated feature films, and, like its cousin Cartoon Forum, you don't have to speak French - Cartoon Movie is bilingual and English is the main language spoken.

Cartoon Movie is the place to pitch your animated film idea. If you've got a concept for the next animated smash hit - this is the place to pitch it.

Cool new camera from MoVI - changing the face of cinematography

Here is an awesome new live action camera that gives smooth and steady results even though it is a hand-held device. This will make it even easier for low budget films to get results that traditionally only big budget movies can produce.

Motion Capture, Animation and Sports

Bucks Motion Capture Animators hard at work

Here at Bucks we're excited by the huge possibilities for animators to work with other departments, such as graphic design, drama, dance and sound design. In short, collaborations with other film-makers, to create truly excellent projects.

Calling All Animators! Bucks Sound Designers Want to Help You With Your Films!

Sound Design Studio

One of the best things about Bucks is how many departments we have specialising in different aspects of Film and TV production. One of the most interesting departments is sound design, where we have talented students working with state-of-the-art facilities to do excellent work.

How to Make an Animated Film

One of the biggest challenges for any animator is to tackle a short film project. Most working animators don't - they're usually too busy. But at the very best animation schools, students usually tackle a group film project - or possibly an ambitious solo project - in their graduation year. Short films are a ton of work and they present a huge variety of film-making challenges. So how, in practice, do you make an animated film?