The Animation Options Blog

It was with sadness that I read today of the passing of Roy Disney.

The word “legend” is frequently used when speaking of the Disney clan, but what I’ll always remember about Roy is the personal. As a relatively young CG artist working the “Fantasia” sequel in 1995, it was a remarkable experience to have Roy suddenly pop into my office one day as I was modeling 3D characters for the film’s “Steadfast Tin Soldier” sequence. The shock of seeing the spitting image of Walt standing in my doorway was eased by Roy’s disarming, “Hello there, young fella! What are you working on?” Sitting next to Roy for 5 minutes, showing him my work (and silently praying to God that he wouldn’t hate it as the production coordinators paced nervously in the hallway) was indescribable. I’ll never forget Roy’s kindness, his gentle humor and his encouragement.

Roy truly cared for The Walt Disney Company as only a Disney could. His family touch will be truly missed.

R.I.P. Roy!

Animation Options has you covered from stem to stern at SIGGRAPH 2009 in Yokohama, with courses ranging from story development to production efficiencies…

Making its Japanese premiere is “What’s Your Story?”, a condensed version of the popular three-day story development course, Wednesday, December 16th from 9:00am-12:45pm:

What’s your story? Can you explain it in a sentence? If the central idea of your film is not clear to you, how can it be to your audience? Does your story pass the “who cares” test? And do you know that story is NOT king, but character IS?

This course examines the nuts and bolts of feature film storytelling in a straightforward, accessible manner for everyone seeking to improve the resonance of their movies on the international animation market. The way to the audience’s wallet is through the heart. Is your story stuck in the head?

The course explores story loglines, genres, hooks, and twists with an eye towards a compelling stage for an appealing hero. The story-outline section addresses the foundation of a strong and flexible story “spine” and then assembles the full skeleton. In the story-boarding section, the course reviews the process for laying out an entire feature film from beginning to end by applying tried-and-true structural beats. The course concludes with an interactive audience brainstorming session and a pitch of the resulting story by presenter Kevin Geiger.

Returning to SIGGRAPH Asia by special request is “Keeping Your Money On The Screen & Off The Floor”, Saturday, December 19th from 2:15pm-6:00pm:

The global animation industry is as competitive as ever, with merciless markets, unforgiving audiences and miniscule profit margins. Yet independent and major productions alike seem content to burn through money (and people) as though they have resources to spare. Amazingly, this waste is not only pervasive, it is accepted. Not only is this irresponsible, it is unsustainable. It is also easily addressed through clear-minded assessment and informed action.

This course squarely addresses common production motivations and pitfalls. It examines the human factors and organizational considerations that are the foundation of all production (dys)function. It proceeds to cover workflow considerations and strategies, the establishment (and erosion) of balance, common heuristic assumptions and errors, and the importance of clarity and adaptation within the studio environment. A series of “Golden Rules” for production segues into the characteristics of a balanced pipeline and an overview of a flexible and robust nonlinear production pipeline. Finally, asset management is reviewed with an eye towards organization, flexibility, and transparency.

The presentation concludes with a micro/macro view on the production paradigm and synergistic orchestration of these parts into a practical yet transcendent whole.

See you in Japan!