Animation has the be realistic and believable in videogames
Thanks for the great feedback on the principles of animation blog and how to put together a killer showreel. Again I have been inundated with questions on the best universities/schools in Europe for teaching animation. (Later blog features will deal with USA & Canada & Asia).
For those reading this via our newletter I would encourage you to visit the blog site and watch some great student films.
This is a very subjective area. Whenever the question of what is the best is asked, it implies a ranking, with winners and losers. Hence subjectivity creeps in. This makes questions harder to answer. But I will oblige and try to give a steer for you to make a judgement.
Whilst not answering the question on which is the best…….I would like to draw your attention to 3 schools in Europe which are great benchmarks for animation tuition. The quality of animation coming from these schools is quite simply astonishing. When the likes of Pixar, ILM, Dreamworks, Sony Imageworks fly across from the USA to attract and recruit this talent, this clearly demonstrates the level this talent is rated in the world. EA shares this enthusiasm. Much of this talent is attracted into film but many are making a difference in gaming.
So, in no particular order, with no ranking involved, use the following 3 Animation Schools and the quality of output as a benchmark to judge against animation courses you want to study in Europe. These suggestions are purely through experience and our exposure to their teachers and work. You may feel there are better Animation schools and courses not mentioned in these three…hence the great thing about this blog, that you will tell me so.
Those 3 Schools are: Gobelins, Supinfocom & FilmAkademie. Why these 3? Well, it is generally considered that these are the schools whose graduating students are consistently turning out complete, outstanding narrative films. These “student films” could go head-to-head with any festival film, and, in fact, frequently are better than professionally made shorts from the big animated houses. What many Animation courses need to realise is that these schools not only teach cutting edge animation but encourage rich and engaging storylines to hook in the viewer. Stories are complex, interesting and well told and their artistry and utilisation of techniques and tools is awe inspiring.
Gobelins L’Ecole de L’Image (http://www.gobelins.fr/presentation-gb.htm)
Let’s start with Gobelins. Their students consistently create some of the strongest animation work in the world. So as basic overview….. Gobelins is funded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris. In 1975 Pierre Ayma founded the Cinéma Department of Animation, which is now the most recognised department of Gobelins. The school prides itself on being almost 90% taught by working professionals and constantly monitors real-world production pipelines to make sure that their graduates have the necessary skills to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation. (How cool and important is that, I hope some Universities are taking note who don’t do this!!!). During the three-year program, the students produce a wide range of work that remains influenced by a strong tradition of drawing while incorporating the latest digital tools. Again, emphasizing traditional skills are at the forefront! While learning CGI software, the students are also pushed to hone such classic animation techniques as acting and timing. This can be scene in their output. To ensure relevance, students, during holidays and breaks do internships at different production companies and studios. The students’ third year is devoted to not only classes, but also their senior thesis film, which is done in groups. They may use whatever techniques they would like.
So let’s get to the quality of their films. I could wax lyrical and post hundreds of examples but let’s start with a small number.
Look at this great short by Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier, Olivier Delabarre, Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, called Oktapodi. We talk of emotionally believable animated characters….this is a great example of how do draw emotion from viewers…how cute are these octopuses!
Alternatively take a look at Le Building by Pierre Perifel, Marco Nguyen, Olivier Staphylas, Remi Zaarour, Xavier Ramonede. Again, exquisite animation from a team that will be blessed by great careers.
Or Blind Spot by Par Johanna Bessiere, Cécile Dubois Herry, Simon Rouby, Nicolas Chauvelot, Olivier Clert, Yvon Jardel.
If you are interested in studying or finding out more details on Gobelins, please click on the link in the title bar.
Supinfocom (École SUPérieure d’INFOrmatique de COMmunication) (http://www.supinfocom.fr/)
Next up is Supinfocom in producing stunning narrative films. So again, basic overview is that it was founded in 1988 in Valenciennes and then expanded in 2000 to Arles. Yes this awesome school was only founded in 1988 and is already a world player! In terms of curricula structure…..The first two years of study are preparatory courses in design, art history, sculpture, 2D animation, color, perspective, etc. Then the students move onto three years of intensive 3D study, focusing on not only software, compositing and production, but also scripting and storyboards. The final year is spent working within a group to create a short CG film. In 2007, they expanded the program from four to five years.
Again, take a look at the quality of these films….both from a technical and narrative perspective….and what excites is the sheer variety of styles and stories.
So notable films for you to look at include: Marin by Bernard Alexandre, PagesPierre, Laurent Damien.
One of my personal favourites from Supinfocom is a short called ‘Overtime’ by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berland and Damien Ferrié.
The Baden-Württemberg Film Academy, located in Ludwigsburg, was founded in 1991 as a non-profit limited liability company. Today, it is one of the most renowned international film schools. Baden-Württemberg is one of the most affluent states in Germany. Founded in 1991 as a non-profit company. The project-oriented curriculum triggers learning by doing during all the different stages of a film and television production and thus makes studying at the Film Academy a unique experience. More than 300 highly qualified experts from the film and media business instruct the students and take care of their projects. About 250 films of all genres and formats with top rankings on international festivals are being produced every year by teams of students enrolled in scriptwriting, directing (documentary film, feature film, advertising film, and education and science film), cinematograhpy, editing, animation, series formats, interactive media, production, filmmusic / sound design, and production design.
Recent proof of the Film Academy’s successful philosophy of teaching are the Golden Leopard awarded to “Das Verlangen / The Longing” at the International Film Festival Locarno (2002), an Oscar nomination for “Das Rad / Rocks” in the category “Best Animated Short Film” (2003), the Student Oscar for “Nimmermeer / Nevermore” in the category “Best Foreign Film” (2007), and many more awards at film festivals at home and abroad. What is cool about FilmAkadmie is that not all films are CGI. They produce a number of different techniques from 2D to 3D to every combo in between and their films are frequently by one or two students, not large teams.
So let’s have a look at their output……Take a look at: Baerenbraut by Derek Roczen.
As mentioned above, perhaps best known from FilmAkademie is Das Rad by Chris Stenner, Arvid Uibel and Heidi Wittlinger.
This is a long piece but I hope you find it helpful.
Love to hear your views.
EArl
I am an Animation student. I wish my course had told me of these institutions. This is some of the finest student animation work I have ever seen.
This is a galaxy league above what we are doing in the UK.
Why are we so far behind?
Why dont our Institutions let us know of the likes of Gobelins et al, so we can compare work.
This leaves me very deflated and I feel deceived by my lecturers.
I am at the top of my animation course.
But my work is absolutely nowhere near this good.
We are well off the pace.
We seem to just focus on the basics of animation. These institutions seems to teach their students the art and importance of storytelling and expressing emotion through animation.
I wish I hadn’t started my course and applied to Gobelins.
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The state of animation courses in the UK is disgraceful. Trouble is that the universities trumpet their courses but they forget to tell us students about courses like these in Europe. All three of the insitutions you mention here are a country mile ahead of ANY course in the UK.
Thank you for publishing this information.
Whilst I wont benefit I have advised my younger brother on these instituions.
i got selected for the advanced course in film animation in Supinfocom, Pune india. and after seeing these works i am glad i chose this school over others. I did my diploma with a local animation house called MAAC and what i observed was all these local animation institutes just teach you the softwares and you’re done. but animation schools like supinfocom et al are different and in a very exciting and a promising way
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