Image used with permission (thanks, Kate!)

Not many people can say they turned Benicio Del Toro into a werewolf on a daily basis. In 2009 Alan Murphy worked on The Wolfman (now showing in cinemas), a horror movie set in Victorian England, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt.

Come and hear Alan talk about his experiences on The Wolfman, including how he constructed the Wolfman suit, facts about the makeup work and gore effects, what it was like to work in Victorian England every day, and the arduous process of transforming a man into a werewolf.

Alan Murphy has had an incredible career in animatronics, costuming, and puppetry. He has created accessories for Freddie Mercury and Dame Edna Everage, constructed costumes for Red Dwarf and props for Dr Who, and brought creatures and legends to life in movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Fifth Element, Braveheart, Babe, Withnail and I, and The Last Emperor.

WHEN: 7pm to 8.45pm, Thursday 4 March 2010

WHERE: eCentral East Perth Campus (Presentation Room, B201.1), 140 Royal St, East Perth (walking distance from Claisebrook train station)

FEE: Free for current WAnimate members, $5 for non-members.
Please bring exact cash payment as change will be limited.

HOW TO ATTEND: Please register your attendance by emailing wanimate@gmail.com (Unregistered guests are also welcome. However, as space is limited, preference will be given to registered attendees.)

Non-members can join WAnimate (the Western Australian Animation Association) on the night, the annual membership fee is $30.
You can also join WAnimate beforehand by e-mailing wanimate@gmail.com and requesting a membership form.

The web series that I’m helping to produce is looking for animators. Check out the ad here: http://gatestreethigh.blogspot.com/2010/01/animators-wanted.html

Who knows, there might be a story in this for someone, someday.

We had our graduation ceremony and screening in the FTI cinema on Friday night. It was crowded, noisy, and joyful; altogether, an outstanding evening.

This is the speech I gave on behalf of the animation students, and I meant every word of it.

“On the first day of this course, our training coordinator, the beautiful and formidable Fern Nicholson, sat us down in this cinema, and said, “Succeeding in this course is not just about getting your diploma. It is about what you do afterwards. It is about getting out there, seeking out opportunities, and forging your path. If you think that succeeding in this course means getting your diploma, and then going home to sit on the sofa, drinking orange soda, and waiting for an opportunity to fall into your lap, then THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU.”

Wow.

That is the kind of place that FTI is, and that is why we have grown to love this place, and why we have cherished every minute of our time here.

My class and I would like to thank our instructors, who led us, inspired us, and were so generous in sharing their incredible, vast amounts of knowledge with us. Tim Beeson, Stephen Grant, Phil Jeng Kane, Noah Norton, Wendi Graham, and Khrob Edmonds–thank you.

A special thank-you must go to our facilitator, Ebbie Williams. Like a mother, she cared for us. Like a father, she gave us wise counsel. And like the dear friend that she has become, she did not hesitate to give us a swift kick up the backside if we stopped believing in ourselves, and felt like we couldn’t go on.

To our partners and families, thank you for being so patient with us, and for simply loving us, and sticking with us, all the way through this very challenging year.

Finally, we would like to thank all the people involved with FTI, for welcoming us into your family. Thank you for making this one of the best places in Australia to learn the trade.

Have a wonderful evening, and the animation class of 2009 hope that you enjoy our films.”

Go away, butterflies!

A rough portrait (I sketch when I’m nervous). Tim has a kindly, bemused expression because, well, I suspect he was trying to be kind, and feeling slightly bemused as we fawned over him. There was no fat, startled dog-pretending-to-be-a-kangaroo sitting next to him. I just like to draw them.

Last weekend was eye-opening, unforgettable, and a little surreal.

I secured a last-minute place (hurrah for cancellations!) at a narrative comedy workshop taught by Tim Ferguson and arranged by the WA branch of the Australian Writers’ Guild. The people attending this course were a mix of early career film makers like myself (“early career” is a nice way of saying, “n00b!”), mid-career types with wild eyes and exhausted hair, and relaxed veterans of Perth TV, stage and film.

Tim definitely makes learning fun, and even threw in some interpretative dance for free. I will never forget your parting of the Red Sea, Tim. Where were you when I was trying to get my head around neural computation?

I’ve always wanted to write for comedy but grasping the “how” of it was always just out of reach. Comedy writing kept slipping through my fingers. It was Frodo Baggins to my Sauron.

Well, look who’s got your ring now, Frodo.

Naturally, this knowledge comes at a price. I watched an episode of “Extras” last night and my brain kept shouting, “Ooh! Look! Distortion! Positive negation! Misinterpretation! I see it all now, Ricky Gervais! You dunnit with mirrors!” and it took ten minutes to cajole Mr Brain into using his inside voice.

I went to this writing workshop with the intention of adding some je ne sais quoi to a couple of animation scripts I’ve been working on (oh, and by the way, the Japanese have discovered that you CAN polish a you-know-what, so nyah), but now I’ve gotten greedy.

I want more. I want to write for live-action too. I want to write for stand-up. TV! Movies!

Look out, world.

After much negotiation and minimal bloodshed, we settled on District 9.

Holy cow.

Neill Blomkamp, I salute you, superlative director and screenwriter. Oh, you’re an animator as well? Geez, no wonder the CG in the film is top-notch. And Sharlto Copley, who played Wikus Van de Merwe, ad-libbed most of his lines. Wow.

Love, friendship, loyalty, good vs. evil, parenthood, fishes out of water, racism, ignorance, fear–now that’s some impressive plate-spinning.

I think every would-be or will-be filmmaker should treat themselves to great movies on a regular basis. In the cinema, when possible, so that you can’t run away to grab a snack or check on the laundry. Just sit there and immerse yourself.

Watching amazing movies inspires me to keep going. I want to be part of this magic. I feel like all this hard work, all the sacrifices, they’re leading somewhere.

I just have to hang on to the ride for long enough.

Kate Vyvyan, a well-known animation writer and producer, chaired the meeting and kept the conversation flowing.

Also present were Adam, a doctor turned animator with some unusual ideas for a new animated TV series, and Geoff, a cartoonist with a dark sense of humour who was thinking of making his ‘toons into a short film. Adam treated us to a special viewing of the opening credits for his show, and Geoff passed around sheets and sheets of hilarious Gary Larson-esque cartoons.

I seized the moment and showed Kate, Adam and Geoff an idea that I had pitched for our Diploma of Animation final project, and received some excellent feedback, filling up a page with notes on how to increase my character’s appeal and engage the audience.

Kate also talked about what was going on in the animation industry, events that she had attended and would be attending (SPAA! MIPCOM!), and we also had a look at this month’s topic, adapting children’s books for animated film and television.

As usual, many heads are better than one and I found the writer’s group meeting encouraging and invigorating. It looks like I have another event to mark permanently on the calendar!

When: Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of every month, but it is best to check with Kate beforehand. You can contact Kate through WAnimate’s Wiki page at http://wanimate.pbworks.com/Animation+Writers+Group.

If you receive an invitation to the next meeting, do RSVP as soon as possible to confirm your attendance. Meetings are cancelled if there aren’t enough attendees.

Where: The Australian Writer’s Guild HQ, 196 Oxford St, Leederville.

We were each assigned an organisation to research and then presented our findings to the class, explaining how this organisation would be useful to people working in animation.

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ORGANISATION: Digital Labourers Federation (DLF)

WHO ARE THEY: A social group for anyone working with or interested in digital art. DLF members communicate via a mailing list.

HOW TO JOIN: Membership is open to anyone involved in creating images made with computer technology. Many DLF members work in film and television.

Go to http://dlf.org.au and click “If you want to join then click here and fill out your registration form.” You will be taken to a registration page which asks for your full name, company, contact details, website and occupation.

After you submit this form, and your registration has been approved, you will be sent three e-mails welcoming you to the different mailing lists: dlf-mailout, dlf-news and dlf-jobs.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU JOIN: You will receive lots and lots of e-mails and basically have a forum running in your inbox.

WHO LOOKS AFTER THE DLF: Kit Devine (an animation lecturer and 3D animator) and Grant Fraser (a professional photographer) manage membership for the mailing list, moderate the list (this includes booting out any trouble-makers), and keep e-mail headers consistent.

Kit and Grant are also active participants in the DLF mailing list; they post information about jobs, highlight interesting articles or news items, or just add their knowledge to the pool when questions are asked.

As in any Internet forum, there are also regular posters who work in the industry and are always happy to dispense advice.

MAILING LIST CONTENT AND MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:

• Content varies widely but ranges from people asking what everyone thought of Wolverine’s CG blades in the latest X-Men movie, to very specific discussions about how to get a certain texture in 3D Studio Max, product reviews, beginners asking for help, and advice regarding breaking into the industry.
• Kit and Grant also post information about jobs available locally, interstate and internationally, competitions, social events, new courses, and the latest animation news.
• A lot of people post links to their show reels and portfolios and ask other DLF members for constructive feedback, which usually given in large quantities and with excellent response time.

SOCIALISING THROUGH THE DLF:

• 26 May 2009 – Through the DLF mailing list, I found out about “Show Us Your Bits” (http://letsmakegames.org/2009/05/14/letsmakegamesorg-may-mixer-and-showcase/), a mixer night organised by “Let’s Make Games”, a support group for the Perth games industry. I met games development students and lecturers from Edith Cowan University, enjoyed the hospitality of the Brass Monkey,  and got to see Tim Beeson’s “Bacon Wings” game make a public debut.
• 28 May 2009 – Perth doesn’t have regular DLF meetings like the Eastern states, but cartoonist Mathew Hampton was enthusiastic enough to organise a Perth DLF drinks night at the 43 Below Bar. What a great night – Chris Toovey (an FTI alumnus) came, along with most of his co-workers from Last Pixel (http://lastpixel.com.au/). I had an entertaining and informative chat with them about how they entered the industry and what kind of work they were doing now. I also met Simon Boxer, who used to be a concept artist at Interzone and is now working freelance, and we had a very interesting discussion about the Perth games industry. It was a fantastic meeting of like-minded people who are all passionate about what they do, and I hope to be fortunate enough to work with them in the near future.

TIPS FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE DLF:

• Set up e-mail filters so that DLF messages are forwarded to a special folder where you can read them at your leisure. Within this folder, sort by subject so that you can read each thread in an uninterrupted manner.
• The sheer mass of mail you receive can become unwieldy very quickly, so archive and delete DLF mail ruthlessly, making sure you keep any gems that will be useful to you in the future.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. DLF posters are supportive, kind, and generous in sharing their knowledge. Kit and Grant run a tight ship!
• Take advantage of networking opportunities!

CONCLUSION:

• I strongly advise all animators to join the DLF mailing list, by doing so you will really have a finger on the pulse of Australian animation. In addition, joining will give you access to the knowledge and support of hundreds of Australian animators of all levels.
• The DLF is an invaluable support group for early career film makers and animators.