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.

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" 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."
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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.