MACHINEMA BOLDLY GOES...

Even machinema films can seek out new life as shown by Geoffry James' computer generated creation Borg War, now playing on machinema.com. According to Animation Magazine:

"Making the movie only cost $200 in software and the time I would have normally spent playing video games," says James, who directed and produced Borg War using visual assets and sound clips from various Star Trek video games. The film was nominated for the Best Series and Technical Achievement awards last year by the Academy for Machinima Arts and Sciences (AMAS), and is currently featured in the exhibit "Star Trek: 40 Years of Fandom" at New York City's Museum of the Moving Image.

Talk about getting noticed. Some will surely say that, similar to fan films like Star Wars: Revelation, using a major property on which to base such a film does more than half the work of getting a large audience, and this cannot be overlooked. Fan fiction is certanly popular on the net and is far more widely read than original stories by unknown writers. Still, Borg War saw more downloads in a single month than the very well established Red vs. Blue, a hugely popular machinema series based on the Halo engine, and which has been around a long time.

So will a day ever come when a machinema film makes money? Maybe, but such films have already gained noteriety enough to get game industry jobs for some of their creators. Apparently, firms like Atari have even hired machinema artists to cut promotional material for them. I guess it goes to show that great work rarely goes unnoticed.

WANNA BE ON TV?

I remember I posted sometime ago where a producer from MIPCOM was quoted as saying something to the effect that the chance of an indie getting their project broadcast on TV was slim to none. A look at how animation on TV in America has shaped up will make the reason for this clear.

Aside from feature animation most of the cartoon world existed as short films which ran before feature presentations at the cinema. Back then, the moving going crowd was a grown up audience and so these shorts were often aimed at them.

As television began to take over, these shorts found themselves playing to a new market of youth on Saturday mornings. As the big three networks (yes I am old enough to remember when there were only three networks) realized this market's potential, the mid 1960's saw new and original animated content being produced for Saturday mornings. This was a golden age which led to such greats as Space Ghost, Scooby-Doo, Superman, Batman and Underdog and studios like Hanna Barbara and Filmation became known names in animation.

The first big wrench in this system came from parents groups in the 1970's who objected to violence in cartoons. Before long the networks were bending to the desires of such groups and cartoons were toned down more and more. Slapstick humor replaced some of the great action shows of the age. Then came the rise of the syndicated shows of the 1980's. Since syndicated shows were sold directly to local stations, they didn't have to follow those outmoded network rules. In shows like The Transformers, G.I. Joe, Galaxy Rangers, Robotech and Voltron, the action returned to animated television.

In the 1990's Saturday morning saw a new boom with newcomers FOX and the WB on the network scene. Even this was not to last though, for when the government enacted the Children's Television Act requiring broadcasters to air three hours of education programming for children, this gave the cable networks, exempt from the rule the upper hand they still hold today where Cartoon Network and Nick rule the animation world.

Today many networks no longer deal with the business of programming their animation blocks. ABC, owned by Disney, simply shows Disney created products in their Saturday morning block. Likewise, the Viacom owned CBS network shows Viacom owned Nickelodeon toons in their block. FOX handed their block to 4Kids Entertainment and CW shows Kids WB programming.


The point is the programming blocks are controlled by companies that produce or own content they want shown in those spaces. Doesn't exactly leave room for an indie to sell a program to a network. In fact, it makes it absolutely impossible because the network doesn't even handle the programming. Most of the cable channels completely own what they show, such as Nick's Avatar: The Last Airbender or Cartoon Network's many Adult Swim titles. SO where does that leave the indie wanting to be on TV?

SKYLAND ON iTUNES

Nickelodeon is joining the popular club with their imported toon Skyland now appearing on Apple's iTunes video download service. I think the big guys are seeing where the future is. People want their content whenever, wherever and however they want it, even on the go. Those who try to stick them in front of a TV, with few exceptions such as prime time hours, will likely find their numbers dropping off considerably as digital downloads and mobile viewing grow in popularity.

ASIA IS HAPPENING!

The Asian animation industry is really happening. Of course we immediately think of the growth of anime, but I am talking about a major surge in places like Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, China and India. The biggest reason for this is that the governemnts in these nations realize the importance of animation to growing economies there and they are getting involved in a big way!

As Asian regions grow, improving living standards, as well as the rise in artistic skill standards and better technology in the animation industry, many are starting to create their own intellectual properties (IP), ranging from animated TV series and animated feature films, to today’s advanced videogame developments.

I remember being shocked when I first heard that George Lucas was opening a studio in Singapore, but now I read that with the island's advanced infrastructure and communications systems its not a surprising move. Neighboring Malaysia is also attracting a lot of studio attention from the west. They say that labor costs in Asia could save studios anywhere from 15 - 60%. The governments there also invest alot into the animation industry to make it more attractive to foreign studios.

Over the last three years, Singapore’s animation industry has made strides in the international arena. Numerous local animation companies have benefited from the schemes and initiatives. For example, IV Lab signed a deal to co-produce a slate of animated TV series with Nelvana of Canada; Infinite Frameworks signed a deal to co-produce an animated feature with Mainframe (of Canada); Peach Blossom Media has entered into co-productions with U.S. and South Korean companies. With the assistance of these initiatives, many more animation companies are emerging in the country.

The governments give tax breaks and incentives for local animation production some even going as far as 1:1 investment fund matching for production beneficial to the market. They also offer rewards for productions and even invest in the creation of greater facilities for taking animation to the next level.

According to statistics from the Shenzhen Film & TV Animation Assoc., there are about 500 enterprises in Shenzhen that create and produce animation, with a working force of nearly 10,000 annually making several hundred million (RMB) worth of productions. In the future, the animation industry will be an important part of cultural industry and will eventually become the major industry of Shenzhen’s economy.

When you consider all this, when was the last time you found a person to talk to who took what you do seriously? Clearly animation is serious business and worth a lot. Why must we struggle?

PEOPLE STILL SAY IT!

I read a great quote today from veteran Mirage animator Paul Fierlinger, who has been doing his own films for decades. The quote relates to something we have heard a lot from artists like Makoto Shinkai and Timothy Albee about what is truly possible today. Before I get to that quote, though, I want to talk about why the quote is so important. Even after I and many others have done their own films, people don't believe.


Even after directly seeing something I have done, or what these others have done, people will say, "man it would be great if I could get some money together and get a crew going..." They have totally missed the point, and will continue to leave their dreams and ideas in the hands of others, others who have no desire to see it made. In a CGTalk thread about Anigeb, a guy called Switchblade327 wrote:

...He's incredibly inspiring and has managed to do what few here could; actually finish projects of this scope in a reasonable amount of time. But it raises the question: other then bragging rights, why would you want to?

He's clearly very talented and more importantly, extremely self-motivated. But just like the also talented Tim Albee, his work proves that no man is an island; nobody (or very few anybodies) is going to be great or even all that good at *every* aspect of film production.

As a result, one or more aspects, be it lighting/rendering/animation, modeling, storytelling, cinematography, etc ALWAYS suffers in projects like these. Maybe I could animate a whole short in handcuffs while starving myself and that would be a great "making of" story but the short probably wouldn't be so great when finished.

As a result of this thinking, the only road to this person ever seeing their projects come to life is major studio funding of millions and a large crew, without which they don't believe its possible. I say that if someone is not good at a particular aspect, then they can learn! What really is beyond our grasp? This is why the quote from veteran animator Paul Fierlinger is important. We have to see the process and the projects differently. Don't look at what those other guys are doing! Paul wrote:

Our art has now joined the ranks of writer/authors, painter/illustrators and sculptors and composers and housewife/husbands. There are no crews of writers, painters, sculptors, composers or homemakers to join and within whose ranks one could contribute as a specialists, unless you want to take into account private secretaries who take dictates from writers, computer specialists who service the needs of animators and cleaning crews who cater to the needs of homemakers. On the other hand we have the global economy to fit into; to make, all by ourselves, anything, anywhere, anytime for anyone. Who’s preparing students for this reality?

That's what I agree with. Makoto Shinkai said in his interview on the "Voices" DVD that the technology had brought anime into the same realm as manga, which can be done entirely by one person. It's anyone's choice to believe or not believe, even though more artists are doing it everyday, but its a shame if they really desire to make their own project, and won't even begin because of unbelief.

ALL THE SAME

I mean, all anime looks the same, right? That's what people keep telling me...

It really surprises me when someone who claims to be an artist makes a comment like, "All anime looks the same," or "Anime is a style," as though there is one look. I mean, artists are supposed to have an eye for visuals. Personally I can't help but think there is an air of racism attached to this idea. It makes me think this person would, if not for a bad reaction, say that all Chinese look alike.


Now don't get me wrong. I know that TV networks in the U.S. are constantly looking for the next Dragonball, so we do often get one type of show (usually a Shonen action anime) on TV in America. But let's be real. It take two minutes of Google research to see that this doesn't represent anime, and I would think anyone should do that research before making such an inane comment. No one would dare make a comment about any racial group or cultural practice before making sure they had their research in and all their facts straight. Of course, on the net, we must also consider that those who make such comments intend to piss off anime fans and artists who draw it.