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2000 And Beyond: A Host of Possibilities and Changes
(Continued from page 4)
Ali Hosseini, Public & International Affairs
Director, Saba Animation, Iran
"The third millennium arrived at a time when a spectacular uproar
has surrounded the whole world. The majority of multimedia productions
are filled with violence. Meanwhile in the next century our world,
benefiting from intellectual development, will move toward emotional
maturity based on rationalism and ever-increasing self-consciousness
regarding equal rights and the proliferation of justice. The world
will orient itself toward right and fundamental values of societies.
"The Internet as the most precious technological innovation of
the century will reach its utmost efficiency in the development of
human intellect. The constructive friction of opinions will ultimately
lead to the dominance of reason and rationalism over human societies.
Naturally the Internet will seriously affect multimedia content.
"With the development of human intellect, in order to convey
complex ideas and compensate the feebleness of literature and words
to create common understanding among human beings, the great thinkers
of our time will have no choice but to choose animation as a form
of conveying complex concepts. This advantage will lead to spectacular
developments in animation.
"In the beginning of next decade broadcasters will opt for coproduction,
because animation is costly. This will lead to the creation of great
regional and international associations and organizations aiming at
coproduction.
"Soon we will witness the development of production tools that
will continue to decrease in their price. Using Internet capabilities
for online transmission of multimedia content will greatly enhance
the status and value of intellectuals and artists. The intellectuals
and creative people as small groups or as individuals will start producing
animation. This will be the manifestation of pure ideas and supreme
intellect developed in a free world.
"In the next century human societies will move toward consensus
and common attitudes. The ever-increasing progress is the result of
common respect and appreciation among different nations of the world.
Based on this fact the desire to learn and understand the different
cultures will flourish. Artists belonging to different countries and
walks of life will produce media content based on their very own cultural
and regional substructure. At Saba, we have experienced this fact.
The parts of our productions that benefit from Iranian identity and
aesthetics have been well received. Iranian animation films are developing
with increasing speed and will be created based on our traditional
folklore. There are so many Iranian stories blessed with great human
values in our literature and culture that they could be the subject
of thousands of films and TV series.
"In the end I would like to say a few words about sci-fi animation.
This type of animation will constitute a major part of future animation.
The trend will be to represent the mythical creatures that live in
our world. Their existence is as old as human beings and in the literature
and folklore of all nations you can experience these creatures. The
Muslims believe in these creatures too -- they are called jen and
deeve. Solomon the prophet used deeves for construction of the great
temple of Baitolmogadas (Jerusalem). Such beliefs should encourage
a lot of artists and animators to produce films of this kind. It's
funny but 24 years ago when I was a student in the college of chemistry
and physics at SUNY.SB instead of studying I was always thinking about
these creatures and their structure. Back then I thought these creatures
were very complex magnetic fields that are able to turn into different
shapes and forms. I even thought about using these creatures as magnetic
bottles in plasma physics.
"To conclude my comments I think based on the beliefs of different
nations many films will be made, and the only technology that could
possibly create these types of stories is animation. Also I believe
a great many animation films will be produced in relation to the worlds
after death."
Chuck Richardson, General Manager/Senior VP, Blue Sky Studios, Harrison,
New York, USA
"Avoiding the pitfalls of technology, cultivating talent, and accomplishing
useful tasks are three great challenges facing our industry in the future
just as they have in the past.
"CGI animation maintains a subtle bias believing in technological
solutions to creative problems. Creating a believable, thinking character
is difficult. The temptation of motion capture or procedural algorithms
to create such a character is inviting, especially in light of the serious
financial limitations of film companies and commercial clients. I think
it will prove a poor substitute and a dead end.
"The palpable future undoubtedly holds more sophisticated and easier
to use tools. They will, however, still require people to use them.
People are the talent, they create the worlds, environments, and characters
that float the stories and keep audiences coming back. We've had the
printing press for 500 years and word processors for 20, but still need
to cultivate the talent to use them -- our industry must learn how to
develop and nourish talent. (I don't know when or if we'll see technology
that will, at worst, mimic human intelligence and awareness, or at best,
duplicate it. If we end up creating an artificial intelligence capable
of creativity and originality -- a computerized Scheherezade for example,
its impact won't be specific to this industry, but upon humanity as
a whole.)
"Our third challenge is the visual presentation of information.
As more efficient means of communicating in four dimensions, via video,
film, television, the Internet, etc., evolve, the creative challenge
of how to impart complex and meaningful information visually instead
of through text will need to be addressed. In the same manner that Disney
artists moved from Mickey Mouse to theme parks and urban design, our
artists, writers, software authors, and systems people can and should
move out from TV spots and theatrical cartoons to become the teachers,
guides, and the information transmission experts of the future."
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Noel Price.
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Noel Price, Executive Producer, Southern Star Pacific, Sydney,
Australia
"For Southern Star Animation, the big issues are as they have
always been -- developing good ideas, getting them financed and producing
them as well and as cost-effectively as possible. In a world increasingly
dominated by a few major studios the necessity to ensure a plurality
of voices is more crucial than ever. Partnerships between small and
medium sized companies will continue to be an overriding imperative.
The ability to successfully achieve these will determine the future
-- not just for animation -- but for every form of film and television
storytelling (even allowing for the Internet). Finding partners who
share similar values on specific projects (not just on storytelling,
but on costs, financing, marketing and distribution) and who are globally
attuned will be the key to success for most of us."
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