BSA324, Funding pathways, 26 July, 2017

http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/
http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/funding/short-films/fresh-shorts
Apply for $10,000 Fresh Shorts Funding to start getting a name with them and a proven track record
Get a small crew together when applying for this, doesn't need a known producer.
They haven't funded many animations in the past because people haven't applied for animation funding.

SIT supports graduates by giving them funding in-kind (equipment, computer, render farm, interns, etc.)

Applying for $30,000 fund requires a known producer and there are ones in the area who will take on small projects for reduced fees.

Film proposals assessed by:

• filmmaking talent involved
• idea and strength of project
• director's voice
• quality of script
• point of difference
• ability to deliver project

This is all the kind of stuff we've got experience making up- gantt charts, proposal, storyboards, etc.

Speaker: Nick Garrett from NZFC (New Zealand Film Commission)  
We can also pay grants for more schooling in a specific area, like writing (did I hear that correctly?)
People who are shortlisted for funding, like the 10k 30k Fresh shorts, get taken on a development course (weekend), then a decision of yes or no is made.  No answers also come with feedback.
Not many people apply, so it's totally worth applying.
Call NZFC and ask questions about the application or process and remember there is room to NEGOTIATE.  What's on the website shouldn't be taken as complete gospel.
Interactive stories- games or films (like what Netflix is trialling) is a new funding scheme.  Money is available because not many people are doing it and it's new technology/interesting.
Hub in Auckland will be down on Halsey St. near Winyard Quarter for filmmakers to gather/work/interact with NZFC.
The same people get approved for funding over and over and over.  NZonAir is an example of this kind of funding thinking.

Good talk!  

BSA303, BSA324, kids get to choose their own path through the story, 25 July, 2017

Netflix Interactive Storytelling Lets Viewers Choose Their Tale

By: Laura McQuarrie - Jun 21, 2017
References: media.netflix

Netflix customers will soon be able to enjoy Netflix Interactive Storytelling as a new kind of experience that transforms viewers into directors of their own TV adventures.

This will be interesting for viewers and for content creators who will now have to make alternate endings and paths for their characters to take.  It seems to move viewers to the more active role that video game players take in deciding which directive to follow, or influence, the narrative.

Puss In Book: Trapped In An Epic Tale Trailer

Story choices can be selected on tv with the remote or directly on touch screens.

And for those that can't deal with the randomness of life, let alone choose your own adventures, full decision trees are available online so adults can help "guide" children in their choices to get to the end of the story.  

Buddy Thunderstruck:  The Maybe Pile is another title that Netflix is supporting in this format.

stop-mo from Stoopid Buddy Studios (Robot Chicken) and American Greetings Entertainment (Strawberry Shortcake)

It's an "experiment", according to Netflix, and is currently only available on "some modern smart TVs, game consoles, iOS devices, and Roku devices" but "won’t be available on the web, Apple TV, Chromecast, or Android devices".  So I won't be able to test it.  Boo!

Depending on your choices, Puss in Boots is 18 to 39 minutes long. 

(I watched the default choices version on Netflix for web viewers.  It was good! At 20 minutes long, I missed half of the possible storylines.  The whole viewing tree may be "released" on youtube at some point.)  

Fisher says her work began with one overarching question: what stories can we tell at Netflix that can’t be told elsewhere? “Netflix is an interactive device ecosystem,” she says. “We’re not beholden to terrestrial television. We’re not beholden to linear schedules.” 

Where will this all lead?  I read an analysis of women's underwear in the 20th century that said when children stopped being strapped into girdles and restrictive underwear they grew up to be adults who expected the same level of comfort.  Hence the revolution in cotton and stretch fabrics that led to the abandonment of heavy shapewear in the 60s and 70s.  If children today grow up getting to choose their own way through the story, they will one day be adults who will not be content to be force fed narratives like we are today.  Imagine watching a sprawling epic like Game of Thrones and getting to focus on only one character's storyline or skipping through tedious "character building" moments to only watch the battles?  

BSA306, Robot and scarecrow review, 17 July, 2017

Robot and Scarecrow

So boring.  BORING!  How is this even possible?  The CGI looks great, clearly a lot of time and effort was put into it, but the story is slow and surely could have come across in 7 minutes rather than 15.  

BSA303, library resources for animation, 24 July, 2017

BSA306, Animation shorts review, 24 July, 2017

I saw the live-action movie Train to Busan a few months ago and really liked it.  The focus was on a believable family drama unfolding in the chaos of the beginning of a zombie outbreak.  Themes of family, class, and nation were all explored and the VFX were excellent.

Seoul Station trailer
This is the animated prequel to the movie showing the zombie epidemic taking hold.

Figures in the crowd are outlined in white, like they're being backlit, which helps them stand out from the dark background and general lack of light.

Nice use of motion blur here on the foreground figures to show extreme speed while keeping focus on the figure in the background.  

The Red book (1994) by Janie Greiser, stop motion

The reviewer reckons this is about relearning a language and therefore having to relearn yourself.  Dunno, looks good, though. 

Dialogue-free, the sound of clanking and machinery working follows the woman around.

I love the shadows that are cast by these paper pieces.  I think that this effect could be faked in a 2D program by creating a light source and then selecting which objects cast shadows.  That could be an interesting way of giving Ashes to Gold more visual depth.

Voynich Manuscript Ted ED

Another nice little animation, this time done by Ted ED.  Is it stop motion and 2D animation, or fully 2D and lit to look like dimensional objects?  I love the puppets and their obvious joints.

BSA303, Spoon internship, 20-21 July, 2017

Thursday, 10-5.30, with half hour lunch

Watching Quentin today as he's editing in After Effects.  In the morning, a 60 second film for an anti-domestic violence campaign that will be played before a major sport effect is refined with the client.  The event manager says that they something called NZ clearing house to get their research data from the police He gave me contact details for their kid's team and I will be able to interview her regarding my research question and find out how they make this difficult topic easy for kids and adults to talk about.  In the afternoon, more ad work; new product packs and word changes to the ad plus a future project costing so they can give the client a quote.

Friday, 10:30-4.30, with half hour lunch

I made a logo for Spoon!  Based on what I've seen Quentin do and what I've done myself in After Effects, I brought footage from past Spoon projects into an assets folder specifically tied to the project and into a composition.  I trimmed out the extraneous bits and put the clips into order.  I separated the clips by time lapse and gently moving camerawork.  I made a "keyhole" cut out in Photoshop with an arbitrarily black background.  When it's imported into AE, it will sit on the top layer and the footage will play underneath it. Natalye liked the gently moving stuff and after tossing out two clips that didn't look good under the Spoon logo, I ordered them from white to blue to darkest green.  Natalye wanted the Spoon to "grow" in so I keyframed the end and beginning sizes on the timeline. I had to resize the canvas in photoshop because I couldn't quickly remember how to mask out the now too small sides in AE.  It's only a 6 second spot and may get clipped down some more before going into their showreel.  Hooray!  

This is a frame from the beginning that they may use on their print materials or on the "ident card" that they send to the tv stations at the beginning of their TVCs.
And here's a tutorial I found online based on the title sequence of "Dunkirk" by Christopher Nolan.  They show you how to do it directly in Premier Pro and Final Cut Pro X.
So that's 69 hours and 5 minutes (out of 100) done in Auckland!

BSA324, pitching advice, 8 July, 2017

Pitching a project