Set in the Unseen University of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, The Duel is a new animated short film being produced by the Animation Hub, a collaboration between staff and students of the Irish School of Animation (ISA) at Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE), staff and students of Trinity College Dublin’s Creative Arts, Technology and Culture (CATC) initiative and the Irish animation studio, Giant Creative.
With this new project, the Animation Hub intends to build on the global success of their first animated short, the multi-award winning, The Last Train.
The aim of the collaboration is to combine the skills and talents of students from both institutions and have them work with Giant Creative to create a high quality animated short, giving the students the chance to experience working on a high-end project in a professional environment.
World-renowned fantasy and science fiction novelist and Adjunct Professor of English at Trinity College Dublin, Sir Terry Pratchett is hands-on engaged with the production, working with Giant Creative on both character and story development. The team is blending fantasy and reality, with notable Irish landmarks set to cameo in the unreal environments of this animated adventure.
Talking about his engagement on the project, Professor Sir Terry Pratchett said “The Duel is something new from something old – Discworld is being borrowed by our students in the Animation Hub to produce a wholly new adventure – where some familiar elements from our world will appear, but not quite as we know them. It’s wonderful to see this type of project supported and made real – and we intend to have a lot of fun while we’re at it.”
Speaking together, the program leads from BFCE and TCD, Gareth Lee and David Lloyd, said “It’s great to have the next Animation Hub project up and running with the valued support of the Irish Film Board. It’s very exciting to have both Terry Pratchett and Giant Creative involved. ‘The Duel’ is a very ambitious project that will provide great scope for many of our students across a range of disciplines to gain valuable professional experience.”
Emma Scott, Production Executive with the Irish Film Board, added “The Animation Hub is an exciting partnership of students from two very important and creative institutions. We are delighted to support this initiative which provides students with excellent and very valuable experience working on high-end productions. We look forward to seeing all involved build on the success of last year’s very successful collaboration”.
The Duel is supported through funding from the Irish Film Board, Trinity College Dublin and Ballyfermot College of Further Education and will premier in early 2013, as part of the Tercentenary Celebrations of Trinity College’s Old Library.
Source: Animation Hub