The eDIT 9. Filmmakers Festival in Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 24-26, 2006, takes a look at the latest trends in animation in a variety of screenings, panels, presentations and workshops that are not only aimed at professionals, but also at anyone interested in the subject of animation.
The program Best of Festivals opens on Sept. 24 with some outstanding international animation screenings:
* Best of Animation World Network: AWN publisher Dan Sarto presents the most exciting animation film stories of 2006 from cartoon to 3D.
* onedotzero adventures in moving image: with its massive program, the London avant-garde digital film festival sets visual standards every year. The eDIT 9. Filmmakers Festival presents the best music videos from this years onedotzero festival, wow+flutter 2006.
* Future Film Festival 2006: the highlights of the renowned Italian festival and the best Internet films from bitfilm will be shown in a joint program.
Tickets for these three events cost 6 euros per screening, and are available at the box office of the CineStar Metropolis Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, Sept. 26 is animation day at the Filmmakers Festival: international speakers present an inside look at the techniques various aspects:
CARS, the latest animated feature from Disney/Pixar, will be the subject of a making-of presentation by Pixar effects supervisor Steve May, who offers exclusive insight into his way of working and the creative processes of feature animation.
Spaniard Carlos Grangel was responsible for the title figure and the other macabre puppet characters in TIM BURTONS CORPSE BRIDE. Grangel is one of the animation worlds leading creatives, and in this presentation uses CORPSE BRIDE to describe his way of working and emphasizes the possibilities of character development through design.
This years Festival Honors for outstanding achievement by filmmakers from all areas of the industry go to stop motion legend Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen will be interviewed in a Festival Honors salon titled Ray Harryhausen The Art and Science of Animation, in which he will talk about his creative life, animation and filmmaking in general.
MR. SCHWARTZ, MR. HAZEN & MR. HORLOCKER is an award-winning animated short film. The Tarantino-style story won second place at this years Cannes Film Festival in the category Cinéfondation. Author, director and animator Stefan Müller explains why he made his film the way he did.
Storytelling for Animators is the subject of Joseph Janeti, professor of screenwriting at the USC Film School / Animation division. Central to his presentation is the animators own specific access to storytelling the balancing act between unlimited imagination and comprehensible dramaturgy. Starting from prizewinning films from the U.S. and Europe, Janeti discusses the guidelines to successful storytelling in animation with other professionals. Topics include atmosphere and setting, trails, non-verbal action, goals and needs of characters, obstacles, decisions, conflict, premises and turning points.
Marketing and Exploitation Rights uses ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (ICE AGE II overseas) as an example, providing insight into the legal and economic aspects of an animated film on worldwide release. The benchmark production data will be discussed along with the importance and concrete realization of specific marketing and promotional measures. There will also be a discussion of the legal and financial basic condition relating, for example, to the inclusion of title music and film score, the compilation and exploitation of sound tracks and the exploitation of merchandising rights.
The panel Creation of Sports Computer Games takes a look at the rapid development in the quality of computer games in relation to programming and the latest possibilities of animation. EA Games shows the development of football games through several generations. Eyetronics explains the use of real scans in the production of baseball games. The latest trends and possibilities of animation in the area of mobile content are also part of this program.
AWN and VFXWORLD are special media sponsors and will be sponsoring eDward VII, a young filmmakers contest and awards that celebrates the work of talented artists under the age of 30. This years theme is Time Travel.
eDIT 9. Filmmaker's Festival is presented by the State of Hessen and the Office for Private Broadcasting in Hessen (LPR) in co-operation with the Visual Effects Society (VES). The complete program of eDIT 9.Filmmaker's Festival is online now at www.edit-ves.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
