Look and Learn: TV on Animation
(continued from page 1)
"It's difficult to get an exact handle
on the demographic," Cory-Wright confesses. "As it's on
late, I know it's not made up of kiddies. As it's on Channel 4,
it's fairly safe to say god-bothering Daily Mail readers
won't be watching as well. [The Daily Mail, one of Britain's
most conservative tabloids, runs an endless campaign against the
allegedly salacious channel.] The audience is perceived to be 18-34,
but I'm not so sure. We have had enthusiastic responses from a wide
variety of people, usually along the lines of 'Where can I see/buy
that film about...?'"
Dope Sheet is often breathlessly paced, using the disorienting
edits and eccentric angles favoured by 'youth TV,' for example,
in a whirlwind profile of six young British animators. "The
speed of the programme isn't as manic as MTV, but we keep a certain
pace to ensure the channel-surfer isn't threatened or bored with
any given piece, whether in the style being shown or the subject
itself. The presentation indicates another piece will be along soon
enough. It would be preferable to do longer profiles and run longer
clips, but the channel doesn't give us the time or resources. Interestingly
animation in clip form, with a great variety of styles and execution,
can also lead to an illusion of hectic pace. The eyebleed factor
of more experimental forms can be high."
The first season of Dope Sheet used a 'virtual' male host,
subsequently replaced by a voiceover. At a panel in last year's
Cardiff 'Vital' festival, he was by far the least popular element
with the audience. "The host, though I was quite fond of him,
wasn't a great success," Cory-Wright remembers. "He was
created in Virtual Puppeteering, which is not ideal for small budgets.
Animators disliked the relatively 'crude' style, and the loose sync
which sometimes occurred. I also think the character came across
as unsympathetic. The show now uses animated sequences as linking
devices. These give the programmes an overall 'animated' feel and
gives breaks to young animators, who also do the titles."
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Canada's SPLAT!
A more widely distributed TV series is SPLAT!, screened
in over 100 countries by broadcasters such as Discovery International,
Canal+ and Teletoon. Now planning its fourth season, plus a series
of one-hour 'SPLAT presents' specials, the series was created by
Stephen Price, executive producer of the Toronto-based Red Giant
Television Inc. Brash and lively (the opening image of two figures
sledgehammering a TV sets the tone), the series falls between Stay
Tooned and Dope Sheet in audience terms.
"I aim for the tone an animation lover would use explaining
stuff to his twelve year-old nephew," says Price. "From
the fan e-mails we get, I would say the most enthusiastic viewers
are between 9 and 29, with a core of 12 to 18. SPLAT! stories
must be accessible (not too technical), somehow related to people's
lives, and they have to be backed up by lots of technically good
animation."
SPLAT! aims to strike a balance between more and less mainstream
material, with Pixar, Coca Cola Polar Bears and Dancing Babies rubbing
shoulders with Frédéric
Back retrospectives and regular looks at the output of animation
schools. Like Dope Sheet, SPLAT! pays close attention
to students. "We love to profile student work because it provides
a link from the average kid who loves animation to the profession.
It is also the best place to find fresh, interesting and innovative
work. The kids are always pumped to get their films on television
and that enthusiasm is like a rush of adrenaline for me."
The show also finds space for five or six historic items a season,
although Price notes this has practical difficulties: "A lot
of the Golden Age guys are gone now and archival footage can be
expensive." Subjects covered include Chuck Jones, the early
years of Nelvana's Clive Smith (including extracts from Rock
and Rule), the Fleischers, and the lesser-known story of Hungarian
animator Fernc Rofusz, who was denied a visa to collect an Oscar
for his 1981 Oscar-winner The Fly. "Much of the time
we are saying, 'Hey, if you like animation you have to check out
this film/person,'" notes Price.
Despite the need to cram a lot of information into a short time-slot,
SPLAT! lets the content dictate the length and pace of the
story. "There are few rules. For instance, we've done two very
different stories on great animators in their seventies. The piece
on Frédéric Back was a very relaxed story. It was
anchored by a quiet interview with him and his dog in his sunny
backyard and backed up by his lyrical animation. But the story about
Myron Waldman (a Betty Boop animator from the Golden Age) was cut
to upbeat period music and was very energetic because this Brooklyn-born
guy is a real character.
"We wanted to make a show that experienced animators and the
general public could both enjoy," Price concludes. "SPLAT!
is not trying to change the world. All we do is show people how
amazing the world of animation is. If a kid is inspired to become
an animator because of it, fabulous. But the chance of a show like
ours affecting the taste of major networks and distributors is the
same as being hit by falling space junk."
Our thanks to Nick Cory-Wright and Stephen Price for their kind
help with this article.
Andrew Osmond is a freelance writer specialising in fantasy media
and animation.
