"Why are locals more than happy to pay $500 for a Taylor Swift concert but not even $12 to watch a movie by a local filmmaker." part 1

During this recent talk "Conversations on Storytelling in Singapore" a question raised struck a chord.

"Why are locals more than happy to pay $500 for a Taylor Swift concert but not even $12 to watch a movie by a local filmmaker."

These are accomplished film makers that entered/won prestigious film awards and have fought + struggled to get their film made but yet no one here is interested to watch in the cinema while "How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies" and "Deadpool/Wolverine" made bank at the local box office. 

And over the decades, I have heard similar questions and you might have heard several different explanations so this question finally triggered me to finish this post that has been simmering in the back of my head for over a 3 years or so. I was curious + invested enough to go on a bit of a dive into the reason behind the distaste a lot of us have for local media and also their consequences.

So for me, it boils down to 3 fundamental and related issues.

1. ) Cynicism - A distrust and lack of empathy for locally produced content which leads to

2.) Lack of Budget - Perceived inferior quality of local shows. 

Resulting in

3.) Cultural Cringe- A deep rooted prejudice against all things local.

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1.) Cynicism.

I feel that after decades of parents convincing their kids to take up careers that values monetary values over all others, we have a society that do not understand and therefore care for the value art to society. Not its monetary value but its ability for us to appreciate and understand the world around us. Not just its physical and aesthetic attributes but also our emotional understanding, fulfilment as human beings and in the words of Kit Chan, "Where I belong".

If a huge percentage of society cannot appreciate or undervalue its own art, why would they trust that the quality of artwork (including shows/movies) coming out of artists locally? We are after all a pragmatic society. Even a minister flew to LA and paid Taylor Swift millions so that Singapore is the exclusive stop in South East Asia. (Brilliant business move, douchy neighbor move) That really says all you need about the perception of local arts in Singapore.

But I think the main contributing factor is actually more nuanced. Its OB markers and self censorship we have in society. There is a video that reasons better than I can. 

Essentially to me, state run TV station's primary function is to disperse and explain policies and promote social cohesion etc in the guise of entertainment. Not to question, not to offer counter perspectives or comparison. No nuances. All conflicts are surface levels or just the same old regurgitated over the last decades. So why as audience should we expect any difference in the cinema what we don't even watch for free at home? 

On top of that, as a producer if your show and movie is banned in Singapore, its money down the drain especially if the target audience is local. The financial risk is too high for a lot of companies to even tackle these topics. And with the rules being vague and obtuse, this means avoidance of hard to deal with or taboo issues. Which ironically are subjects that might make audience want to watch the show.

The solution is of course MORE VFX and virtual production! Who cares about better stories that resonate with audience when we can just throw a flying dragon and 4K resolution on the volume!

I sadly jest but it leads nicely to the 2nd issue.

2.) Lack of Budget.

If as a society, we do not appreciate art, how are we still able to create memorable shows in the 80s, 90s and up to the early 00s?

Like most things in Singapore, we have been importing expertise and manpower even before  colonialisation.  

A lot of Chinese TV shows in the 80s were created by Hong Kong writers and directors who have years of experiences over there. And the quality showed. There were also local apprentices who understudied them that gained experience and developed shows in the 90s.

Even the English sitcoms like Under One Roof and Phua Chu Kang and comics like Mr Kiasu had relatively huge success because the writers had time to actually refine their craft. 

This brings up 2 questions. 

a.) What afforded them the time to refine and work on their stories?

b.) Why if society did not have regards for arts care to watch these shows and make them a hit?

So here is the 1st one. 

a.) What afforded them the time to refine and work on their stories?

Short answer - Much bigger markets in the 80s and 90s before internet and Netflix that TCS can sell to. Their shows travel to China and regionally because their markets were not yet as developed and the quality of the shows showed compared to what they have. And with more market to sell to, they have more money to make better shows. Compared to the HK industry during that time we are ikan bilis to their shark. But once China opened up in the 00s and start making their own shows, the budget they had and the sheer volume of shows to make drained everyone there cutting off a huge revenue source. Regional countries that used to buy our shows also had their industry maturing.  

So talent drain and increasing cuts to budget are what we are now.   

b.) Why if society did not have regards for arts care to watch these shows and make them a hit?

Resonance and engagement. Regardless of which country the shows were made, stories that are successful all have one thing in common. Audience have an emotional resonance to the characters and/or their dreams and fears. But writing good stories is a very time consuming skill that takes years of experience to be good. the uniqueness is the audience actually is engaged to the story, other will too. 

Again Taylor Swift is about female empowerment and that resonates to girls around the world. And the dads that have to fetch them to and from the concerts. 

Consequences.

Unfortunately the lack of budget over the years have hindered the quality of the scripts locally coming out and discourage the writers to come up with ideas that might be interesting to create since creating and developing a show is laborious work. The really good ones have either moved overseas (as some in the talk) or switched to more profitable careers.

Now imagine working and aspiring to create stories in this environment and mindset. Why bother to create engaging stories and characters that resonate if there is no money to make them? 

The long term implication of this have been that the writers do not get the chance to revise and improve on their scripts. So they are stuck in a circle of mediocrity or improving at a much slower pace. Hiring overseas experienced writers might help provided they understand the cultural context but then budget rears its ugly head again.

What about "new" media? Like local Youtube content creators? Over the last few years, there have been a growing number of channels. 

The nature of that eco system means that they have to fit a particular formula for the view count and/or for advertising/monetizing. With video length in the minutes instead of hours, and constantly pressured to come up with new content regularly to retain subscribers, the consequence is the type of content that can be produced is often vapid, click baity and predominately "listicles" in Singapore. 

Again this video illustrates rather well the issue and discontent with the local youtubers.

Now some of these creators have attempted to create narrative shorts and while applauding the effort for the production quality, the lack of craftsmanship in story development is evident but more importantly their initial target audience are not looking for that on youtube. And after a few shorts where the cost of shorts can mount up, most do revert back to the tried and tested because the motivation again is to get eyeballs for the moolah. With so little competition, there is very little incentive for originality. But there are more of them coming up with more substantial content compared to 3-4 years ago. Channels like OGS, Rice Media etc. 

3.) Cultural Cringe.

"This is a phenomenon particularly noticeable in our country, where we are quick to feel embarrassed (or make self-deprecating jokes) about almost anything made in Singapore."

And therefore not good enough for us.

This is a phenomenon that is not exclusive to Singapore .  
Here lies the dichotomy. The incessant need to be number 1 at everything. To be punching above our weight. Desperately yelling to the world, “Hey! Hey! Look at me.” 

We are so insecure in who we are that we are constantly seeking validation from others all the time And so we have been taught if it is not good enough for the world, its not good enough for us since we deserved the best. Because "Why would I want to support or see shows that are not worthy of my time"

Our environment have been replaced so quickly in the last few decades that it is unrecognisable with  very few anchors for locals to maintain a connection to. 

The result are local audiences conditioned with Hollywood superhero blockbusters skeptical, dismissive of local produced shows even if its won awards. 

Subconsciously, I believe we have been conditioned not to care. And this is with me being a non essential lecturer saying this. 

BUT here lies the silver lining. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies topped the local box office record. And a majority of the audiences were young people. (spoilers)

Audience will still spend money watch a movie that resonate with them. 

In an eventual follow up post, I will look at the consequences and effects it has on not just the audiences but our cultural landscapes and the near impossible solutions.   

"Share and comment below if you agree or disagree" 

Thanks.  
 

List of Content.

The blog is getting old and is a bit disorganised and I have not really updated it much the last few years since pretty much things that need to be said, have been said. But unfortunately the content written 5-8 years ago is still very relevant. (nothing really have changed) So I have list the important contents here so that it is easily accessible. Share to your friends or anyone that needs to know more before doing animation. I will update the posts and list when I have new stuff.

State of Industry.

Lucasfilm ILM Singapore shuts down
D Neg layoff.
Vfx Craziness.
Expectation of in a working overseas facilities.
How not to get pissed off at work.
Fixing it in post. 
Japanese Cg industry. 
Our "Dying" animation industry. 

Do you really want to step into the animation industry?
(part 1)
(part 2)
(part 3)
Planning for a a career in animation. 

Choosing a local animation school and the problems. 
(part 1)
(part 2)
Conflict of interest for animation studios to run govt certified courses.
The greed and dangers of private animation schools and how it is affecting the industry. 
Dangers of animation short courses. 

Economics of Animation 
(part 1)
(part 2)

Cost of living and salary in animation in Singapore  (pay have not changed at all the last 5 years)
The animation student. 
Teaching Animation.
"Passion" and commitment. 
The mentality of the local student.
Thoughts on the local animation industry in Singapore - For the Students
Thank you for the shitty students. 
Art Advice from Joe Mad
Dealing with Failure.

List of animation and storytelling posts here

Lucasfilm ILM Singapore shuts down.

And just like that. its no more. 340+ jobs gone. This is a lot more than D Neg in 2016. And more importantly most of the local artists at ILM sg now are impacted more because some have young kids and HDB mortgages to pay. 

I am hoping this post will help those affected make sense of what is going on and figure out what to do. (Everything written here are my own opinion and views. Take it for what it is worth) 

Contrary to popular online rumors and logical speculations, it wasn't the end of government subsidies that caused them to shut down the Singapore branch. It should be already in plans for a few months for EDB, MDA to be aware of this. (unlike the D Neg situation) 

Rather the "economic factors" in CNA news article were actually true. 

They are same factors why LAS opened here in the 1st place 17-18 years ago. COST. 

A that time we were going to be cheaper than the States, UK and pretty anywhere else with good IP protection and highly educated workforce for the level and quality of work needed. And more importantly, we were not unionised. Heavy incentives/subsidies by EDB were thrown and they were here. 

But through the years, other countries offered more incentives and their animation/vfx economy developed and are cheaper than Sg. Plus more tax rebates offered. What kept ILM Sg going for so long was how competent the studio actually was. 

At the point of announcement, ILM sg was still according to various trusted sources, one of the better run vfx studios in the world, not just within ILM. A important factor for this is the experienced local core that has strong incentives to stay here plus competent supervisors that have been here for quite some time too. But that counts for little as the tax incentives in Sydney and manpower/rental cost in Mumbai were too attractive to pass up. The moment the Mumbai studio was announced, that was it. 

Cost of living in Singapore also made it very unattractive for foreign talent from US or Europe to come to Singapore. Aussies and kiwis left once Sydney studio opened or they realised how expansive it is here. Locals left too by the chance to go overseas. 

And it was very hard to replace them as Sg by now was just too far away and/or expansive to work in when there are so many other studios now all over the world while the local educational institutes were not equipping their students with competent enough skillsets or attitudes to start at a junior positions. Also there were not a lot of junior jobs available.  

The previously stopped Jedi training programs that were all govt funded by EDB but it was also stopped. Again economically it didn't make sense to use govt funds to train locals for a foreign company.

With the strikes happening in Hollywood, there were probably still shows to be done until next year, but easier to bite the bullet now.  

Is this the end of tentpole VFX in Sg? 

In a word, yes. 

Bottom line is Singapore cannot complete globally being a service provider in a VFX race to the bottom. That race will extend to games, tv and eventually real time, VR.  

Gut-wrenchingly are the surplus of extremely technical and highly skilled local artisans/technicians that have worked together for so long are going to be scattered. That amount of camaraderie and trust took years to build up and its going to be gone.  

But the media industry locally or regionally cannot hire them at their rates. Even if they set up a Singapore vfx studio, they are never going to compete against those in Canada and Europe purely based on location and time differences to bid for shows. And vs regional studios in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia they cannot compete on costs. 

More damningly, after 17 years there are no local producers or production managers inside there that have connections to film studios and executives to bid. So we don't even have a sit at the table.

Ideally EDB, MDA would invest in local studios to retain the talent in sg but I think that ship never left the port.  

There are still a smattering of animation studios here creating above the line work with most of the production work done in cheaper regional studios. So there will be still be work here. But it will change. 

What's next?

1. Take the severance package if you been there more than 5 years. and find another job overseas. This is probably the easiest. Those young enough or without too much attachment, leave. Do not transfer to Mumbai or Sydney unless you are financially strapped or only at the company for only a short time. 

The experience you have should be able to get you a work visa elsewhere. And come back for holidays and the durian/char kway teow cravings. There are a lot of Singaporeans all over the world working in this industry. I think given an opportunity a good percentage would like to be able to be back home. Truly. But not without starting over. But if you cannot, go.

2. Quit the industry. Short term pain is better than dragging out long term agony. If you are young enough, get into something similar laterally that you can adapt to. Take the severance package and learn blender, Unreal etc.. Heck even IT system admin. Healthcare is a growing sector locally. And pays relatively well. And do animation as a hobby or side hustle.

3. Expectation management. If you still do VFX work here, it will either be for TCS or for China movies/shows, regional work. There are still some companies doing good work, and others that still owe staff salaries. Do your due dilligence.

4. Take a risk. Open a boutique studio with a few colleagues. This is ridiculously hard even if you do not have mortgages and kids to feed. But secretly that is probably appealing to quite a few people. Everything is online now. There is no need to have a physical office. There is also cloud computing and render farms. The skillsets and workflow are just obstacles that can be overcome. Running a studio isn't for everyone. Or approach local studios to expand. You might know someone who needs animation. You never know. 

5. Animation globally as a tool is evolving so quickly. And the trends of traditional media have changed so much in the last decade and will continue to. And with AI coming in, who knows what is going to happen. Keep up to date, stay hungry.   

But for now, shed some tears, take stock, talk to friends, family and rest. Then keep your eyes open and take the next step forward. 

I leave you with Gregg Povovich's HOF speech. 

"All those wins and losses fade away, but those relationships stick with you forever."

I can't remember the shots I lit or the assets I textured. When I looked back, I only remember the people. 

Good luck everyone. Remember to eat some durian when you are stress, (this post is sponsored by the local neighborhood supplier) 

Producing for animation in Singapore

So my previous post about the state of our industry triggered quite a vigorous and in depth discussion in the facebook's comments section.

Which to me was bloody awesome. It covered quite a good range of topics and gave me lots to ponder and write about in future. Please have a read through because to me its all useful stuff and I do hope it can continue a conversation with other animators.

But one of the discussion tread I felt was really useful and interesting came from Harry and Henry Zhuang who runs Weaving Clouds, a local animation company.

And that is actually about

Producing Animation locally..
This topic came about from another comment that we need more producers.

I have screen captured their comments below with their permission and will credit them as co-writers of this piece since they literally wrote it. Lol.

________________________________________________________________________

" I have always wonder why animation schools isn't teaching students on producing for animation. I can understand that maybe companies are not really hiring animation producers, but i think its a crucial role. I think animation producers need to understand the labour involved in an animation production, and also understand the value of animation.

I think producer who are not trained in animation either learn it from books or from 'behind the scene' videos. Which can be dangerous because these books and videos are based on huge budget production which local production companies cannot afford the luxury - Unless they have a huge war chest. What we need are producers who are sensitive to the man hours involved in each stage, and be able to be creative in reducing workload or cut corners in animation production.

Take storyboarding as an example. An inexperience producer might be inspired by Pixar's storyboards and choose to insist in using an additional 2 weeks to clean up a storyboard that was already done. While his intention might be to be extra careful in managing the details, the rough storyboards were actually good enough for the animators to work on it. If the director is going to be working closely with the animators, was is really necessary to spend 2 weeks to clean up the storyboards?

Another example is script writing. A lot of film producers insist that script should be locked before commercing production. However, I don’t think that is the only way to do production. The animatics stage is the part where script get rewritten. Take Hayao Miyazaki’s work as an example. He usually do not have a final script when he starts productions. He just storyboards the entire film. Animatics is the stage where the creators get to see how images and dialogues work together. Wes Anderson also realize this unique aspect when he was directing Mr Fantastic Fox. He end up rewriting many times even after script is finalize.

This results in re-recording etc, which burn his budget.

There are a couple of items in the usual budget can be skipped or trim. For example, since the editing is already done in the animatics stage, do we still need an editor to edit the film? Or if the budget is low, hiring a concept artist can be a luxury - each time George Lucas flip the pages of concept art for starwars is $$$$ down the drain. I am not saying it is not important. But certain aspects of the pipeline production can be a luxury that most SEA production cannot afford. And the question is: Are the creators really exploring ideas or are they just procrastinating? I've seen and read animation production using up all their budget in just creating concept arts or trailer. These projects eventually got shelved. What a waste. If they have used that money to make the actual film instead, they might had finished it already.

The other important quality an animation producer is their ability to understand the Value of animation. Animation has the freedom to do any imaginative story (Miyazaki’s way of seeing animation)



 and style (look and how the characters move too). Each type has their own audience and market. Producers who have a weak understanding for the medium for animation would push for projects that are not worth doing or monetise in the wrong way. Knowing the right distributor and broadcaster is key to making the business sustainable. This will allow them to raise funding without giving empty promises to investors."
________________________________________________________

I agree with everything they are saying and its really valuable insight that I hope producers that work with animation houses or even producers in post houses understand more.

My own opinion is that audiences have been used to a certain look and expectations of how animation should look and feel. And they are comparing it to Pixar or Disney or anime which is a shame because that is just undermining the power of animation. This was also discussed in the comments and I definitely will write about.

If you guys have a topic or something to contribute to a post, just let me know. Its always good to have differing opinions and view points.

Fuck that.. I am just glad if there is even a conversation at this point.

Where did it all go wrong with the singapore animation industry 2020

Its been almost 4 years since I posted about surviving our animation industry. And 9 years since I posted about our dying industry.

I think its time to do an update especially during this Wuhan virus pandemic.

What prompted this was a discussion on whatsapp with a friend about the rapid growth of the Malaysian animation industry. And more importantly success they are having despite the ongoing political turmoil. Their companies are developing and selling movies and TV shows as well as a service provider for many overseas shows and game titles too.

Then I turned and look at Singapore.....We had a 25 year head start and what locally produced movies we have? Sing to the dawn (made in batam) or Zodiac Race (5 guys made that movie. The rest were marketing and managers) ?

My friend said "I dun even think we have an industry. We have a fucking pond"

LOL. We had a few false dawns over last 25 years and especially after the big push around 15 years ago when Lucasfilm/ILM, Ubisoft  came and Dneg came and left , we are left with Lucasfilm, Ubisoft and a bunch of smaller companies.

So, what went wrong ?

1.)  Cost - We cannot compete on cost against other countries. Salary and rent is a the number one killer and this pandemic has exposed the frailties of the economic model that our country runs on. Especially in the creative line.

2.) Ecosystem and Infrastructure - For any industry to succeed, it needs both. But here, these are severely lacking even after all these years. From education to skill transference, we are severely lacking all of this.

I use rigging and coding as an example. A crucial and technical component in a production pipeline. But it is not taught at the polys to a level where they can be employed as a junior rigger or coder. Why ? Because there are no instructors or lecturers that has actually have experience with that.

So you have circle of students that cannot rig or code going into an industry that lacks that expertise that they will need to import. Those that actually managed to learn, leave because there are better opportunities overseas.

This means companies locally cannot invest in a pipeline that allows them to be more efficient since the cost of that is not worth it for the type of budget needed. Your whole company can be held ransom by the pipeline engineer because nothing will work without him.

Another example, if you quit or contract finish at ILM you either leave the country or work at the smaller shops but those smaller shops do not have the technical infrastructure or pay scale to afford you. Or not even your area of specialism. So you either take a pay cut or leave the country or just change career. Guess which one wins. This also means locals inside ILM are afraid to leave or speak out because the consequences can be huge.

And that is just the production side. If you are a freelancer, you have very little legal protection or knowledge against rouge amd unethical clients. Eg. request for free pitches and ideas with the IP belonging to them.

We are also not teaching storytelling in animation for diplomas. How do we cultivate an interest and develop IPs or stories without introducing them and getting them interested as they step into animation. Can you blame most of the ideas to be poorly developed. I am seeing this even in local TV shows.

Then there is a whole post here about the mindset and attitude of students. 

3.) Political Will - All the above is of course tied to our govt. Predominately EDB and MDA. And actually after so many attempts, I think they have given up on this industry and decided its not a growth industry. Compared to MDEC (Malaysia's version of MDA) who have people going out to overseas to tempt back Malaysians working in the big studios to come back and develop the industry.

Which obviously fucking sucks when the prime mover for this industry does not believe in it.

I think it is safe now to say their strategy sucked ass. There were so many issues that went wrong. But essentially their highest priority was controlling and regulating the media landscape in Singapore and the people running it did not have the industry experience and knowledge nor were they invested to make sure it succeed. It was a box to tick.

Its like we tried, didn't work. Move on. The issue is if you ask a sheep to a pluck a banana, it will never work. But hiring a monkey would disrupt the status quo because everyone else is a sheep.

So what are the solutions?

You. Or more accurately, us. All of us. Keep creating. Its hard. Fucking hard. To be developing stories, learning to be better artists while worrying about money. Worrying if this career is the right one. Worrying about your future. Its a fucking lonely fight against seemingly impossible odds.

But then again, so is everyone else. Not just here. But everywhere else. Like in Nigeria

Problem we have is we use all these obstacles as excuses instead of motivation. What you need is a support network. Support from peers, from each other, other people locally. Create your own group with friends and peers.

The internet is a valuable resource not just for cats and memes. Tutorials and artists are all great resources. Do it not for the company but think of it as investing in yourself.

ILM Sg have proven it is entirely possible. It is compromised of a huge number of local talent that has proven that given the right opportunities and time, they can compete against pretty much anyone in the market.

The other thing you can do and probably the MOST important thing, Vote for change. Because obviously how we were going isn't working. Not just in animation but the whole country as a whole.

Vote for a change in our govt that hopefully recognise animation not just as an economic driver but also as an art form and part of the creative industry that should be given more focus to create and promote work as reflection of society and us as a people.

Or you can just chug away in a zombified industry just waiting for the double tap.

Starting Point - Hayao Miyazaki - On Creating Animation - Nostalgia for a Lost World. (Book Breakdown and Summary)

Re-reading this book and I want to note down what I feel are significant and useful points that I feel I need help with my storytelling journey. Going through this by chapters.

On Creating Animation - Nostalgia for a Lost World

What Animation is to me

"Whatever I want to create". Something that can't be done with other medium. Build a truly unique imaginary world and creating a complete drama with characters I like.

Wanting one's own world

Young people in many ways are very oppressed. Eg. attracted to opposite sex but have to study hard.
To escape from depressing situation, they often find themselves wishing they could live in a world of their own that is truly theirs. A yearning of a lost world that is free from the constraints and to do all sorts of things.

Nostalgia is something that all of us as we get older increases in breadth/depth. It is one of the fundamental starting points for most people in creating animation.

To be born at a present instant means certain opportunities and possibilities are lost including born in other ages. The yearning for other, lost possibilities is also another major motivator.

Most people fell unfilled by something in their lives. When they attracted to heroes in a tragedy, its a surrogate emotion for something they feel they have lost. Like a surrogate girlfriend when I had none.

I think we can achieve a type of satisfaction by substituting something for this unfulfilled portion of our lives and as we age, the ways we seek it will probably change as is the normal pattern of things. .

If I were to create it...

Depict all characters, even the other characters with nuance. Animated movies won't come to life unless animators pour their heart and soul into their work. Even if we do that, in this industry we never expect commensurate rewards or treatment.

For us the ultimate dream is to create works and have as many people as possible view them.
   
At the Core, there must be a sense of realism...

In modern Society, humans have become slave to machine-so much so that machines currently hold the keys to our collective fate. But in anime by contrast, humans control and operate the machines. Yet, despite the fact that anime has been granted the ability to show things this way, most works don't really take advantage of it.

Everyone is attracted to Power and Strength. I don't like protagonist pilot machine that he couldn't create on his own, battles enemy and boosts about it after. I hate it. He should struggle to build his own machine, fix it when broken down, and have to operate it himself.

People were able to identify with heroes and enjoy imagining themselves as superheroes. But even if only one person operate a specific machine, that machine required multiple designers and mechanics to reach a point of being operational. In a world of fiction, I believe we need to depict this to give it a sense of reality. I despise shows that fail to do so.

Anime may depict fictional World But at its core, it must have a certain realism. The animator must fabricate a lie that seems to real that the audience will believe the world depicted can exist. 

Eg, Depict a world from the viewpoint of a bug cannot be seen from the perspective of a human using a magnifying glass but of a world where grass becomes a tall tree and ground,water has a completely different character that we humans normally thinks of it having.

Gags and laughter. 

Most gags make fun of human stupidity. But that I feel its vicious. Instead it is when someone do their absolute best but lose focus and does something out of character or outside of normal routine.  Eg. a gently, proper princess attempts to rescue her lover from bandits by kicking them. It does not ruin our impression of her. But actually unveils her humanity and makes her come alive.

I really hate gag characters (comic relief). It is when we sense the character's humanity that we begin to  laugh.

Before speaking about the techniques of animation...

The most important thing when creating an animated work is knowing what you want to say with it. In other words, you have to have a theme. People always overlook theme and overemphasize on technique. Many examples of people with a high level of technique but only a fuzzy idea of what they want to say. Viewers are often befuddled after watching these films. Yet when people who know what they want to say make films with a low level of technique, we still greatly appreciate the films because there is really something to them.

When young, nearly all of us want to be taken seriously, as soon as possible. Perhaps because of this we tend to overemphasize on technique.

One of the things about drawing is that, if you put serious effort, you will become good at it, at least to a certain extent. But that's all the more reason to study a variety of things that interest you while you have time, before you enter the professional world, in order to develop and solidify such fundamentals as your own viewpoint and way of thinking.

If you do not do this, your life will be treated as just another disposable product... In the animation biz, most people spend a long time working at the bottom.... But the opportunity to demonstrate what you can do only come once in a while.....To endure something is obviously exhausting and agonizing. But at the same time, you must also continue to hold what you regard as important close to your heart and to nurture it. Should you ever relinquish what you truly hold dear, the only path left to you will be that of a pencil-pusher-type of animator who sense of self-worth is determined by the numerical amount of his earnings, or who cycles between joy and despair over the high and low ratings his work receives.

It is essential to watch as many animation classics as possible. And it is also essential to be interested in subjects that have traditions going back hundreds of years, and to broaden your own knowledge. In exerting yourself towards this end, you will find that you develop something truly all your own.

Now is really the time to study....

To draw a flying boat in flight in a truly original fashion, you will need to have read at least one book on the history of flying and to use your imagination to augment what you have read. Not only what they have previously seen on past TV anime shows. (they do not capture the realism)

Eg.. Igor Sikorsky who is known for having dined on board his 4-engine plane that he invented and flew over Russia. When an engine failed, he grabbed on to the struts of the wing and stood up from the cockpit with wind in his face to personally check on his engine. That is how I personally think Sikorsky symbolizes the way men really fly.

From this image of someone simply yearning to fly, a illustration appears. It does not come from imitating something seen long ago on a TV anime or from a plastic model kit. Not even flying in a modern passenger plane.

Once involved in the business of creating animation, the question invariably arises:"Why am I creating animation? What am I doing this for? Is it just to make a living?" To avoid this trap, Study and read.

Preparing for animation school.

Preparing for animation school.

There seems to be a misconception that you go into animation school to learn to draw. That is not true. You go into animation school to learn to animate. Anyone else telling you otherwise is trying to make money from you without actually telling you the truth.

That means you need to have sufficient ability to draw competently in order to animate. This includes anatomy, perspective, shape and form.

A lot of aspiring animation students are unclear about what that means. So here is a breakdown of the skill sets that you should know before coming on to the course.

- Draw from observation. Aka live drawing/sketching. Drawing what is in front of you. Draw your table, your room, the people on streets. Observe the space and measurement between objects and shapes. And put it to paper. Not Ipad. Paper. This will train your proportions and perspective. And builds confidence.

- Try drawing with a PEN only. Try to do some of these sketches/drawings with only a PEN. Not pencil. This is to prevent you from erasing and drawing over. It will also force you to make decisions about what to commit down on paper. You are learning to decide what line is important enough to put down on paper. And gives you confidence later down the road. Besides its gratifying seeing your drawings in ink.

- Draw quickly. Animation isn't a fine arts course. We don't spend 10 hours or 10 days over ONE drawing/painting.We draw hundreds of drawings over the same period of time. That is why we courage you to spend 5-10 minutes on each sketch. No more.

- Draw prolifically. In animation school, you will be drawing 8-10 hours a day. So you will need to get used to that. If not you will not last very long. Keep a sketchbook and draw in it. Draw everything.

- Learn to do perspective drawing. Google "perspective drawing". make it 2nd nature.

- Learn to draw gesture drawings and human anatomy. You are creating movement with drawings. And most of these drawings are characters and their poses to tell their mood and . So learn to draw gestures and human anatomy. Just follow these for a start.

How I Draw Anatomy Playlist.


- History of Art. It can be dry. But its very useful to learn about the history of arts. Of its evolution from medieval to modern times. And you will expand your visual library. I always find it interesting that before the 13th century, the concept of perspective was not even present in paintings. That is why all those paintings of the time looks flat. Food for thought.

- Take photographs. Not selfies. But photos of your environment and of people. It helps with composition and framing.

- Research. Your are doing animation. Devour all you can about the art form and the business of the industry. Be aware of what you are getting yourself into as a career and see if you really want to get into it. 

- Keep a sketchbook. Duh.

- Watch TV and movies. Keep your pop culture currency relevant.

 Used THIS as a bible.

- DRAW DRAW DRAW

Issues I had with The Last Jedi.

Was going to write a long detailed post of the LAst Jedi. BUt FUCK it. Fuck it up its ass. not worth the time and effort.
That said...My major saw point below.

Opinions are just that. Opinions. Balance with wish fulfillment and creating new stories with new characters. you don't say fuck you to the fans that grew up with these characters.
Luke should die. But how he went is not consistent with the powers of the Jedi. By having Luke go out the way he did, you are denying the 3 decades worth of fan hopes and theories. There is nothing portraying Luke as the disillusioned old samurai. In fact it is appropriate with what he has gone through. He is ashamed of almost killing his friend and sister's son. And never even had the courage to say he is sorry. And he needs to find the courage to do that and right this wrong.

Poe was a miscalculation. How can such a hot head be a admiral? He saw his teammates die and he is fine with that. Even if he "learnt" that lesson, the fact that he had no qualms of sacrificing his team is questionable of his character which does not gell with the Poe who cares so much for bb8. Shallow. This is so different from the Poe in TFA

Ackbar should be the one who did the suicide mission. Not someone who was introduced in this movie. Ackbar should not just die such a death.


P.S - NO going to spend another dime on star wars. NOt the movies and not the shitty toys they have coming out.

Big Problems and Small Issues I had with Star Wars Rogue One. Spoilers.

I wanted to like Rogue One. I really did. And I try to go in without reading spoilers or gossips and only watched the trailers released..

 But I left the cinema feeling hollow and unfulfilled. Twice. 

Was it a bad movie ala Transformers or Jurassic World? Hell No! Was it a decent movie worth spending to watch it twice? Yes. The 2nd time to actually get over the jarring CGness and to try and absorb the story. So.. was it great? No. 

It is a mediocre story covered with amazing sets and visual effects well executed . That is the problem.

Or as Nerdwriter1 puts it...

Its an amusement park ride. Not a movie.

That was what I felt like when watching Rogue one. A very well-executed amusement park ride. 

Reminder to self.

An interesting talk with a ex student today introduced a different perspective and an insight to the current frustration I am facing. Actually for the lasst few years.

I should not force people to do what they do not want. No matter how much I felt it is the case. I can voice my opinion and that is it. 

I should not feel responsible or frustrated for the inability for the students to not get job. They had a choice to come learn animation. Neither should I should not crush their dreams.If they want to do it, they will. If you invest or measure your success to the accomplishment of your students and they do not succeed, that becomes a burden on yourself and them..On yourself mentally and it takes its toil physically on you. . Besides that is just having low inferior complexity combined with a Messiah complex.  That is actually a very self-centre and selfish way of thinking. Scary shit. Everyone has to be responsible for what they going to do with their life and they should know best

Let Go. Teach the best that you can to the students.  Treat them with enthusiasm and positivity be happy for what you have. Anger and frustrations get you nowhere except more frustration. ENjoy the process. Look on the bright side. 

Really just be glad for what you have and not let worry dictate what you  do. INstead aim for what you want to do and focus on it. Take little chunks and trus the process..