Getting Personal - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 74

I'm a professional musician and composer and think in terms of rhythm when I animate. The principles
of animation (key pose, overlapping action, in-betweens, ease-in and -out, etc.) are important, but I'm
so used to them that I tend be intuitive. Most important is performance, and not losing sight of what the
character is doing, and staying in character through the shot.
KD - My fi rst fi lm was Beneath for Onedotzero. Johnny Hardstaff, our mentor, scared me, pushing and
pushing my thinking process. My dad got me my fi rst single-frame camera, so crucial to getting a good
result. My mom's (and my family's) encouragement. Ernie Farino became a good friend, giving me valuable
insights on armatures and other things. Bob Arkwright gave me hands-on instruction in the mystery of
tapping holes; Jim Danforth was helpful (and inspirational) in his friendship, comments, hints, and sharing
some photos of his own marvellous armatures and sculptures; and Ray Harryhausen, whose work was the
fi rst inspiration, has been generous in his friendship and answering many not so easy questions.
DC - Practice …. The more you do the better you get … hopefully. Watch and analyse!! Working at
Elm Road Studios in Bristol gave me brilliant hands-on learning experience. College is academic and
theoretical and I wasn't lucky with inspirational tutors.
AW - I've had no formal training. At the beginning I watched the other animators at Semafor. We had
The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston at the studio. It was helpful to learn rules such as
squash and stretch. But mainly I discovered everything by myself.
SB - I read your rules religiously, Barry! I animate by instinct, but I've learnt to prepare beforehand -
checking puppets will reach what they're meant to, etc.
RH - Most of my training was at the brilliant BA (Hons) Film & Animation Course, at The Arts Institute at
Bournemouth. Peter Parr, the animation option leader, gave me so much advice and guidance. He praised
and criticised when necessary. I learned the basics of animation, and gained experience in directing.
I animate a lot by instinct - sometimes it feels so natural.
JC - I completed a three-year honour's degree in Media Production (Animation), but felt I'd learned little
that would actually get me a job. Once working I found my skills improved quickly. My fi rst boss, Taffy
Davies, taught me about the process of animating all day, every day. After an interview for MOMI animator
in residence in the early 90s Barry Purves took the time to speak to me and, though I was unsuccessful
with my application, encouraged me to keep in touch - we were both based in the north west. This contact
helped inspire me to keep trying. I worked for several years freelance animating and made two self-funded
shorts. Eventually I did a three-month training course at Cosgrove Hall Films, taught by Barry, which was
a wonderful 'retraining' opportunity. It was great to go right back to basics and we were encouraged to
study theatre, dance, fi lm and real life to draw inspiration. The course was just three students, and set in
a working studio. We were immersed in the studio environment and encouraged to work to a professional
standard and speed from day one. At the end of the training we all secured contracts.
I've received additional training in CG courtesy of Aardman Animations, Skillset and South West Screen,
that offered an opportunity to transfer model animation skills to CGI. A small contribution towards loss
of earnings was invaluable to a jobbing animator, making the retraining more affordable. Once we got to
grips with Maya the hardest thing was sitting down all day. I've spent a good portion of the last fi fteen
years standing. I enjoyed working on computers, liking that I could go back and alter timings or poses
easily - the downside being that shots never felt fi nished. It was a new way of working, creating key
frames then going back and fi lling in the action between. In model animation we plan a shot, knowing
roughly the action we want and the timings, but ultimately we work in a forward-moving sequence.