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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000
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Acting in Animation: A BATS Workshop What actually took place, interspersed and illustrated by film clips, anecdotes and advice, were a series of group exercises designed to improve our powers of observation and memory and raise our awareness of the nature of movement and gesture. The workshop taught us to hone the inherent skills an animator must have and gave us ways to practice them. But beyond these practical issues the course imparted a principle. Sometimes the most useful thing that an educational experience can achieve is to undermine preconceived ideas that the participants bring to it. The workshop taught that there is more to being an animator than the skill of producing convincing movement. A command of animation techniques and practiced fluency with timing are without purpose if an animator does not understand the language of gestures and expressions that convey the inner life of a character and show what the character is thinking or feeling. The course taught that in addition to acquiring skills, an animator should learn to immerse himself in his characters as an actor would, and develop a series of distinctive gestures and plan the performance and arc of a character’s journey. In other words, we were taught to think differently. The Training Need The traditional talent sources for the industry -- the degree and post-graduate arts courses -- have primarily been in the business of teaching about content and developing directing talent rather than training in animation techniques. This has meant that one of the problems for the graduate seeking work, and for their prospective employers, is that students do not emerge from their courses with a skill level suitable for working studios. This has been recognized and a number of short, commercial courses have been developed through collaborations between universities and studios which provide intensive training in animation technique and produce, in the words of one course tutor, cannon fodder for the industry. Perhaps standing somewhere between these two poles, where technique and content meet, Barry Purves’ week-end seminar did not eschew practical matters while it talked about the animator’s art. It is a valuable way of introducing new students to how a thing should move and reminding more experienced practitioners why it should move. It is therefore an excellent way of augmenting existing skills and gaining essential insight. BATS plans to run more week-end courses in the future. In the meantime, Barry Purves is deep in pre-production on a new film, which will feature murder, mystery and music. Stephen Featherstone was born in London in 1965. He studied Fine Art at Middlesex University where he specialized in sculpture and, following his degree, spent time as an artist in residence and a studio assistant for the sculptor Eric Bainbridge. He took a post-graduate course in film and television at the University of Bristol and has since worked for various production companies including Aardman Animations. He is currently planning to take an M.A. in Animation. |
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