by Susan Kay Moses, Entertainment Specialist
Evolved not from Stem Cells, and they do not hold any DNA codes, nonetheless they have amplified the human form. For nearly 100 years, young and old alike have watched with curiosity and amazement as this form of cels produced figures, which often, defied human understanding. The genesis for these Cels comes from art, not science, still the scientific applications have become universal. Understanding the art of the animation "Cel" premises a certain foundation in its history. Predicting the future of animation is a daunting and far more complex task. Some of the hard core, old school animators and animation enthusiasts believe that the art form stands at risk of becoming digested by the emerging technologies and tools being used by modern computer gamers and technological geeks. A conversation with the new breed of animator paints the future as limitless with, perhaps, a potentially ominous twist. To them the future clutches all possibilities without the limitations of the labor intensive processes of hand animation.
From the day that Earl Hurd hatched his technique for transferring the animation artist's drawings onto a clear piece of celluloid, then photographing them in succession on a single painted background in 1914, creators, studios and marketers have been exploring new audiences and fresh, innovative presentations. Without question the most recognized, dominant artistic and commercial force in the history of animation has been the Walt Disney Studio. In 1928 the world was introduced to Mickey Mouse in "Steamboat Willie", from that day to the present others have remained eclipsed by the constantly swelling financial successes of Walt Disney.
The question explored here, concerns the future of animation, animation technology and the changes that the new technology will bring to the field. How will studios, marketing executives and sales staffs sell their animation products created beyond celluloid? As animation expands, creative marketing becomes germane. Admittedly it is possible that in some remote unexplored region of a third world country, there may exist a small population untouched by animation or its byproduct, but globally, the masses have seen the art form commercialized into a trade, touching nearly every aspect of each day.
Animation is increasingly becoming more popular as a mainstream entertainment medium. The once male dominated cartoon format is pushing itself into the female demographic, with strong feminine characters. More notable, however is the utilization of animation with fresh commercial applications. The educational, industrial, research, government and advertising applications are formidable. As end users respond favorably to the product, the outer limits of the craft seem pushed into an infinite, and previously unimaginable state.
Before his death, Walt Disney reflected on the future of animation, stating, " To think six years ahead even two or three-in this business of making animated cartoon features, it takes a calculated risk and much more than blind faith in the future of theatrical motion pictures. I see motion pictures as a family-founded institution closely related to the life and labor of millions of people. Entertainment such as our business provides has become a necessity, not a luxury. Curiously, it is the part which offers us the greatest reassurance about the future in the animation field." Disney's myopic understandings of the tentacled potential of animation are today but a blip on the big screen. His words limited animation to the Disney style of mass entertainment, while today, outside Burbank, California, rich markets as Denver are snatching up large pieces of the once tightly held, monopolized field.
In 1957, L'Association Internationale Du Film D'Animation, ("ASIFA"), was founded. The charter remains devoted to the encouragement and dissemination of filmed animation as an art and communication form. Today there are over 1700 members in 55 countries, with chapters in such unlikely places as Ulan, Baatar, Mongolia, Tehran and most recently, Denver, Colorado.
Edward Bakst, the Founding Chair of the newly created animation department at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, ("RMCAD") wasted no time after arriving in Denver a little more than a half year ago, initiating the establishment of the ASIFA-Colorado chapter. In the few months of existence, ASIFA-Colorado has offered its membership and the public 4 major animated events, presenting films not available outside of ASIFA. Since launching the Colorado Chapter, Denver has been host to such keynote speakers as Italian guest, Giannalberto Bendazzi, a renown scholar, historian, international juror, and author of "Cartoons, 100 Years of Cinema Animation"; Chris Robinson, Director of Ottawa International Film Festival; and Zbigniew Dowgiello, Poland's Master Computer Animation teacher.
Bakst, an eastern European immigrant, proudly addresses his roots from within the milieu of pure animation. He speaks of the artists in Europe as messengers of their society -- taking on the role of expressing history, politics and society through the visual medium -- because art is vague and left to interpretation. Before leaving his country in 1969, under Communist domination, he and his colleagues relied on the important role that animation played, of cautiously speaking and leading the people through the visual images and voices of their cartoons. He points to animation's ability to depart from physical laws, time and structure, with an additional ability to change the world and all who live in it to suit the artist's theme or message. This according to Bakst, fashions the animator as a breed of deity, wielding a god's power to create.
In contrast to Bakst, Dwight Prowty IV, of Foxton Labs, perceives the power as being able to control time. While Bakst brings the old world, traditions of animation to Denver, Prowty reigns over the ultimate new animation tool. Clearly if boys are measured by their toys, Prowty has conquered the throne. He looks almost regal, sporting an ascot and handmade suit, with his arachnoid fingers poised to take control of his superior beast, gingerly referred to as "Onyx". The Onyx 3000 is the quintessential tool for a forward thinking, futuristic creator. It is faster and more powerful than anything in its class, and it has almost unimaginable potential for expansion. Denver stands unopposed, as host city to Onyx, by anything else in the world.
Edward Bakst and his traditionally trained colleagues continue to work as purists, striving to bring life into their creations from the soul of their creators. He believes in working endless hours on each celluloid, carefully following the passion of story, while pushing the limits of mind, imagination and life itself. Bakst uses the lessons of history, the struggles and suffering of humanity to pull the life into his creations. The centerfold of his program at RMCAD, is to encourage the most impossible dreams and visions to be brought to life under the control of one individual. He believes that animation is the closest experience to giving birth. Beginning with creation, through the labor intensive process, he concludes with bringing an abstract life form to his work. When he arrived at RMCAD, from Columbia University, he was troubled by animation's drift from a visual art form, to one driven by a script, humor, and sounds trying to mimic life with a frightening reality. This to him, is at the core of eliminating the beauty and magic from the art. He sees the future as one that includes a collaboration of artists and animators, from around the globe, merging their philosophy and technical teaching.
Prowty however, postures that he can, with a few commands at his console, create a world more real, than the one in which we believe that we exist. His magic is not one limited to mystic and abstract whimsy. Mr. Prowty seems far more attracted to the power of his tool. His computer holds the power to which nothing short of life itself can compare. In 4D, real time animation, he can cause the audience to suspend all forms of their disbelief. Dwight sees the future of animation as one that will use more sophisticated tools to create product with unrivaled efficacy. To him the labor saving tools give way to better, creative thinking, they do not compromise the process.
Denver's animation community is not limited to a few fragmented neighborhoods. Outside the academic, and development arenas it is easy to find companies creating games, corporate product and entertainment fare. Arvada based Maximum Charisma Studios is locked onto its target of leading the next generation of on-line gaming. Their highly anticipated title, Fighting Legends, aims at a new genre of role-playing strategy. This progressive thinking developer boasts a desire to do things differently. They believe that to produce the products that gamers want, constant communication must be maintained with the players. The company has an open door policy, with an information web site and a team poised to answer any question, comment or request. Users are kept informed of all launch dates and progress reports at www.mcszone.com.
Game Designer & Artist, Brandon Gillam, draws from his life experience and CU, Boulder, degree in Philosophy, when he ponders the creative process. His very Zen/Buddist approach blends the fine art of creating with the use of tools to the fullest extent of their power. His role at Maximum Charisma includes the task of maintaining a high level of moral integrity in the actual game design, using intellect and knowledge, not fragging.
Maximum Charisma's Director of Development, Dale Lullo, and her team are banking on their marketing strategy to move them ahead of the pack in gaming. Their strategy is to design against the competition who are using super cool tools such as advanced motion capture. Maximum has abandoned tricks in favor of a return to simplicity of characters who don't demand that the user believes in them. Their gamble is that the user will be attracted to characters who know that they live in a game animation world where the player can apply his or her own imagination and knowledge to enhance the experience.
The partners at Digital Metropolis seem to have blended elements of cutting edge technology, and marketing ideas into their "coolest" company in Denver approach to multiple applications of animation. According to John Nimmo and Jerry Sexton, who have backgrounds in the evolution of state of the art technology from their military days in the late 1980's, using animation, their studio can create on time and deliver anywhere. Their clients are high tech, advertising and marketing firms with custom production requirements. They enjoy having the animation WOW factor in their product. Clients have found that they can rely on the creative control that animation offers in the end product. While 3D animation takes longer to produce and may not be as cost effective as certain in studio productions with actors and sets, animation created in one media can be pulled into another and modified without additional use of actors, sets, cameras and studio time.
Denver's Digital Metropolis is an interactive agency producing educational, training and marketing CD's, DVD's, Web sites, Video and Print product. The 5 year old privately owned company with only 14 employees has established a viable, global market from its base in Denver by keeping in touch with the changing demands of corporate and educational appetites. All production is done in house, and custom created for business to consumer and business to business services. They see a future in which all home appliances and home operations will be controlled from one central computer system using animation and graphics to guide the user easily through the commands. The future where animated food products can instruct the homemaker on food combining, menu planning, weight loss or muscle mass increase programs and party planning are within our grasp.
The long tentacles of animation do not cease with games and information. Foxton Lab's Onyx recently assisted the Lodo based Blake Street Studios with their "top secret" production. Producers, Brian McCulley and John Crockett zeroed in on the futuristic potential of computer animation when they developed and produced their recent tv pilot. In an effort to ride the crest of the wave and the public's growing enthusiasm for animation, the producers created a show wrapped around the power of the computer. With their sights on the horizon, the partners penned a nondisclosure agreement with Foxton, the show's cast, crew and studio to protect their idea prior to hitting the syndication marketplace in search of securing a sale.
McCulley gambled his corporate dice when he bank rolled the production, but he is convinced that the expanding marketplace for animation mirrors the timing of his release. All participants are mum on the concept and content of the show, while remaining exuberant about the technology. Being able to use the most advanced technology in the field has proven, to them, that the tools will become more and more pivotal in future entertainment, and media production.
Retail outlets, advertising agencies and product manufacturers have moved to take advantage of the changes in the animation marketplace. Females are making up greater ratios of core end users. In animation driven games, developers will continue to create formats that hold interesting female specific and cross gender themes. In the educational and scientific communities finding integrated animation woven into training materials promises to blanket their trades. While today a medical student can study a heart transplant procedure via an animated model, within a few short years, that same physician will be able to execute the procedure, using animated models, programmed to operate a robot.
The world of animation has opened far beyond Mickey, Minnie and the Walt's world. A share of that expansion has generated from within Denver. The growth of the industry has infused the academic, computer, Internet, research, communication and entertainment fields. The future appears wide open and the rewards to Denver's economy are already being harvested. No one has suggested a theme park or an assembly line production house to grind out mass marketed fluff, but if anyone is interested in quality animation, ASIFA-Colorado extends an open invitation to all visitors. Their schedule is impressive and membership is less than the cost of most haircuts. On May 17th Edward Bakst will present his own animated work, June 21st will showcase Borivoj and Vesna Dovnikovic, both are integral to animation in Zagreb, July 19th Mati Kutt the great Estonian animator will present the program and Nancy Beiman from the Savannah College of Art will present on Aug. 16th. For additional information, membership please contact Edward Bakst at: EBakst@RMCAD.edu or 303 753 6046 or the web site: www.asifa-colorado.org.
Foxton Labs and Maximum Charisma also have open door policies. The tour by Dwight Prowty is well worthwhile. Prowty can be reached at: dwight@prouty.com or visit him, with Onyx, at:www.foxlab.net. He is notably knowledgeable on the history of computer development, science, physics, animation, entertainment production and the communications industry. He is understandably proud of his technology and postured to assist in finding better and more aggressive applications for it's use.
The partners at Digital Metropolis also have a friendly and open attitude toward their business. Located at 2000 Arapahoe in Denver they are sitting in a great location for hard core creative thinking. Anyone should feel free to call them for a consultation or tour of the shop: 303 292 4692.
There is far more below the surface of this subject, but space and time limitations have dictated the perimeters of this overview. One thing has become quite obvious, there does not appear to be one lonely route to the perfect selling of the cel, and there are certainly a host of methods for the creation of animated product. The future holds the promise of exciting and mind boggling productions with applications stretching across gender, industry and continents. Most would agree that Denver has staked it's place at the stem of the cel.
Susan Kay Moses is an Entertainment Specialist with over 15 years of experience, working as an independent writer and consultant, on projects ranging from human interest stories to investigative profiles. Her consulting clientele includes professionals and businesses, generally in the arts and entertainment field with recurring, outside, marketing requirements. Prior to focusing on consulting and writing, Susan was the President and CFO of Grandma Moses Pictures, Ltd. where she produced the feature film MIDNIGHT CABARET, for Lorimar. She also developed and packaged an original slate of film projects including, AMORE MUSICA, a modern romance, THE SIDNEY STONE AFFAIR, an action adventure, ONCE UPON A STAR, an adventure comedy and BABYLUV, a television film for Aaron Spelling. In addition, Susan founded the Key Club Literary Society for the advancement of reading skills and literature comprehension working with young writer's on a series of specialty projects. She also includes coaching acting for the camera on her list of accomplishments. Susan's workshops have been based in New York, Philadelphia, LA, and most recently, in Denver. From June 1984 to May 1987, Susan was the President and CFO of Star World Productions, Inc., a Public Company in the motion picture development and distribution business. Susan may be reached at moses1@gte.net.
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