The Animation Options Blog

I’ll be at the fmx/09 conference this coming week in Stuttgart, hosting the “Focus on China” program and participating in the following presentations. Don’t miss the premiere of the “Road to Home” development teaser, in glorious HD resolution.

Tuesday, May 5th

“CULTURAL REVOLUTION, TAKE TWO” - 3pm, Meidinger Saal

When is a nation of more than 1.3 billion people a scrappy underdog? When it is China seeking to reclaim the animation legacy pioneered by the Wan Brothers in the early 20th century. Shanghaied by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and then crushed by the juggernaut of Japanese anime, Chinese animation has been reeling for decades in a punch-drunk, outsource-fueled haze of stifled creativity. Until now. A new generation of Chinese animation filmmakers - versed in influences from Chuck Jones to Tarkovsky - has entered the world stage, eager to reclaim lost creative territory with films that are in turn thrilling, hilarious, gorgeous and thoughtful.

“A LONG MARCH ON THE ROAD TO HOME” - 4pm, Meidinger Saal

Currently in development, “Road to Home” is China’s first environmentally-themed animated feature film. Set on the Qinghai plateau, the film portrays the unique cultural characteristics of Western China while addressing universal themes of identity and co-existence, taking the friendship of a young girl and a wolf cub as its throughline. Directed by Lijun Sun with creator Wen Feng from a screenplay by Yi Yan, “Road to Home” features painterly landscapes and engaging characters, and is representative of the new wave of original Chinese animated feature films.

Friday, May 8th

“THE BEIJING FILM ACADEMY PRESENTS…” - 2pm, Raum Mannheim

The Beijing Film Academy is a world-renowned institution of cinematic education with cutting-edge facilities, comprehensive specialties, distinguished faculty, and innovative research & production. The Animation School of the Academy was one of the first nationally-accredited Animation Teaching and Research Bases in mainland China, descending from an animation specialty program established in 1952. Animation School Associate Professor Wen Feng and Guest Professor Kevin Geiger will discuss the current focus and future directions of the school, with recent examples of student and faculty work.

Hope to see you there.

Kevin Geiger
Beijing

The 2008 National Senior Research Class in Animation Script Writing wrapped up today here at the Beijing Film Academy, and I was honored to be voted “Best Instructor” by the class of Chinese animation professionals.

See the Animation Options press page for additional info and pics.

I had the pleasure of inviting the illustrious, effusive and extremely generous Blake Snyder, author of the seminal screenwriting guide “Save the Cat”, to the Beijing Film Academy as a guest speaker for the 2008 National Senior Research Class in Animation Script Writing. Blake’s evening lecture and subsequent day class in story structure was quite illuminating for the assembled Chinese film industry professionals, who immediately took to his warm, interactive presentation style. In addition to getting Blake’s take on our animated feature “Road to Home”, we also enjoyed showing him the sights in and around Beijing (the Great Wall has become my new Disneyland as far as destinations for out-of-town guests is concerned). You can read more about it in Blake’s blog at www.blakesnyder.com

My own seminars in story development, storyboarding and pitching went very well. The highlight was our final session, in which I led the class in collectively working out an animated feature concept from scratch, and then pitched it back to them - filling in the blanks between beats as I went. It was a powerfully interactive demonstration of creative brainstorming, and a welcome scratch to my old improv itch.

I have been pleased to serve as the American co-host for the National Administration of Culture’s 2008 National Senior Research Class in Animation Script Writing, held at the Beijing Film Academy. Although my responsibilities have severely cut into my blogging time, it has been a remarkable experience. In addition to my seminars on story development, I delivered the following address at the opening ceremony:

Good morning. It is my great honor and pleasure to welcome you to the 2008 National Senior Research Class in Animation Script Writing, sponsored by the National Administration of Culture.

The Chinese animation industry is in a state of cultural inheritance and continual innovation. China is now the fastest growing animation market in the world, with rapid development in creative production capacity. The Chinese industry and market is prized by media giants here and abroad.

However, the Chinese animation industry faces a series of challenges, such as a shortage of professionals, limited financing channels, and a relative lack of original content. The most pressing challenge to be faced is how to write good scripts that appeal to global audiences while staying true to the rich history of Chinese culture.

Truly, the script is the heart and soul of the film. The quality of the script directly influences the success of the movie. Excellent scripts require not only inspiration, but also skill and structure. Accordingly, the National Administration of Culture is proud to present this exclusive series of animation screenwriting and story seminars at the Beijing Film Academy for our select group of conference attendees.

Each one of you is an experienced professional in your own right. At this conference, you have the benefit of sharing information from a notable group of speakers with backgrounds in film, animation, comics and games. The goals of these sessions are threefold:

• To improve the theoretical and practical abilities of Chinese animation and media professionals
• To apply successful development strategies and experiences from China and abroad
• To enhance and promote animation screenwriting, marketing and sales

There is a common human need for stories. Good stories fulfill human aspirations and the desire for resolution. In this regard, screenwriters are truly the architects of dreams. It is our hope that this conference will give today’s film architects the materials to engineer the dreams of tomorrow.

With this in mind, we wish you a productive and fruitful experience at the 2008 National Senior Research Class in Animation Script Writing.

An article on the event (in Chinese) may be found here.

Cheers,
Kevin Geiger

What in the world does the situation above have to do with production? Everything.

In addition to consulting and producing in Beijing, I’m currently teaching a class entitled “Inside Hollywood Animation Production” (you’ll have to forgive the cheesy title, but like “Kung Fu Panda”, it plays well here). During our first session, I had the students (a group of animation teachers) play a game that I learned at bang improv studio in Los Angeles. A group of 10-12 people stand shoulder-to-shoulder in a circle, and then join hands across the middle with two other people. The goal is simple, but seemingly impossible: untangle yourselves without letting go.

The first reaction is usually disbelieving laughter - especially when everyone is cinched in a tight knot. But gradually, the group begins to work together and figure things out. The teachers managed to completely untangle themselves within 10 minutes, to their great delight. Afterwards, I asked if anyone could see the relevance to production. “Teamwork” and “patience” were offered immediately. We also noted differences in personality: some participants took charge while others waited to follow orders, some kept their sense of humor while others grew frustrated. But the most important lesson was this: we are often faced with situations (such as filmmaking) which appear “impossible” - but with teamwork, insightful observation and cooperative action the “impossible” can indeed be made possible.

Cut to later in the week, as I was teaching the same section to a class of graduate students. Due to the size of the class, two groups of 10 competed against each other. Unlike the teachers, the graduate students did not wait to hear my instructions before grabbing hands willy-nilly. One group was free in under 5 minutes, while the other group (pictured above) was unable to completely untangle themselves. They were truly stuck, and after 20 minutes of suffering, I cut them loose. Another improv principle is to work with what you’re given, so I quickly amended my lesson on the fly. In addition to the observations shared with the teachers, I added this: sometimes, a situation appears impossible because it IS. The difference between success or failure, in games as in production, is usually in how you begin. A student correctly observed that if more than one person grabbed hands with a colleague too near to them, as opposed to across the middle of the circle, a true predicament could result. Even so, the “failed” group still managed to untangle themselves about 90% of the way. So even if you can’t get as far as you might hope, with faith and perseverance you can still get a lot farther along than you may think.

Something to think about as America celebrates a remarkable new president.