Category - Events

Barry Purves

Oscar and BAFTA-nominated animation director Barry Purves will lead a two day discussion and celebration of puppets in all their many and varied forms, from the most basic rod puppets to stop motion animation figures.

The event entitled PASSION, PROCESS and PERFORMANCE takes place on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 February 2010 at the Norwich Puppet Theatre, in Norwich, UK.

Barry Purves will not only look at the different techniques, but also at why puppets, and the relationship between puppets and puppeteers, are such a fundamental element of all cultures throughout history. With the group he will try to answer ‘what are puppets?’ and ‘why do we need them?’

In the evening Barry will screen a selection of his own and some of his favourite films in full.

Barry has animated on and directed many series for television such as The Wind in the Willows, Rupert Bear, and most recently, Bob the Builder. He has worked in significant roles on such feature films as Mars Attacks and King Kong, and directed over 60 commercials and titles sequences, including a current campaign for Marketing Manchester.

Barry’s talk is based on discussions in his first book: “Stop Motion – passion, process, performance” which was released last year. Using animation as a catalyst, it looks at the creative process of many media. A second publication: “Animation Basics – Stop Motion”, will be released in early 2010 and will be aimed at students and first time animators.

You will find more details and booking information on the Norwich Puppet Theatre website.

Have you read Barry Purves’ book “Stop Motion – passion, process, performance”? If you have please share your thoughts on it in a comment to this post.

Animation Festivals website.

If you are a professional or student animator looking for a list of forthcoming animation festivals then the Animation Festivals Directory may be the answer. Their website is run by a small, but dedicated team, who aim to provide the International animation community with a constantly updated directory of festival listings. The website is completely free to use; their only request is that if you see a listing that is either out of date or incorrect, you let them know. That way the community constantly benefits.

Unless you have been in the animation industry for a number of years and built up your own database of festivals, there are very few places, if any, where you can find up to date festival listings all year round. The Animation Festivals Directory was born out of this need for a comprehensive directory of animation festivals around the world.

Whereas there are many film festivals out there, and it is not difficult to obtain a listing of these, it is a time consuming task finding out which ones accept animation. Students, producers, directors and others do not have the time or resources to search for the relevant festivals amongst all the others. Animation-festivals.com is a very specific online resource which aims to take this headache away.

Girls Night Out

The National Media Museum, Bradford, England are staging an exhibition entitled ‘Drawings that Move – The Art of Joanna Quinn‘. It started on 16 October 2009 and runs to February 28th 2010. It features art and graphic work from films produced by Joanna over the last 25 years.

The exhibition is an incredibly detailed and extensive view, not only of the artwork itself but of the processes involved in the production of an animated film from initial scripts, storyboards, character designs etc. through to completely finished films.
The show traces Joanna’s development from her early days as a Graphic Design student at Southgate College and Middlesex University through to the foundation of her company Beryl Productions. It also shows the events and artists that have had a major influence on the evolution of Joanna’s particularly distinctive drawing style and animation technique.

I first met Joanna Quinn at the Annecy Animation festival in 1987 where her first professional short film ‘Girls Night Out’ was awarded the 2nd Special Jury Prize for rhythm and editing.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for her film ‘Famous Fred’ in 1998.

Her distinctive drawing style came to the attention of advertising agencies and she has animated many commercials, including numerous adverts for Charmin toilet paper and also Whiskas cat food.

Joanna’s 2006 film ‘Dreams and Desires-Family Ties’ won 14 international prizes, including the 2006 Cartoon d’Or.

Girls Night Out, by Joanna Quinn.

Hiroshima City will host the 13th International Animation Festival HIROSHIMA 2010 from August 7th to 11th.

Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, said; “This festival of ‘Love and Peace’ will bring together the spirit of Hiroshima – the desire for lasting world peace – with the central aim of the Association Internationale du Film dAnimation (ASIFA). ASIFA was established with the goal of contributing to the peaceful coexistence of humankind through the art of animation, a form of communication that transcends national and linguistic boundaries. It is among the most significant international cultural events held in Hiroshima.

On August 6, peace-loving people from all over the world join the citizens of Hiroshima to pray for consolation and peace. I sincerely hope that the artists participating in HIROSHIMA 2010 will come to a deeper understanding of the atomic bombing and allow ‘the spirit of Hiroshima’ to offer inspiration for future works.”

Contact details; HIROSHIMA 2010 FESTIVAL OFFICE, 4-7 Kako-rnachi. NaIKa-Ku, Hiroshima 730-08 2 JAPAN.
Phone: +81 82 245 0245 Facsimile: +81 82 245 0246
Website: http://hiroanim.org