K to 12 will be fully implemented to all high schools throughout the country by June 2016. Arts, Design and Animation is included in the tracks that a high school can offer to students.
Last April 20, 2016, the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines ( CCP ) in collaboration with the celebration of Design week by the Center for International Trade Exposition and Mission (CITEM) organized a 1 day Teachers seminar to orient and give an overview what is the scope of learning, lectures and outcome under the Arts, Design and Animation programs of the K to 12 specifically under the senior high school students (SHS) Grade 11 and 12. Venue is at Little Theater of CCP from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.
The seminar was for the Department of Education (DepEd) teachers who will be teaching the programs, high school administrators, school owners and other industry professionals who would like to be instructors, trainers or studio owners.
The program includes an overview of the the K to 12 focusing on the Arts, Design & Animation programs by Ms. Christine Graza-Magboo, Senior Curriculum specialist from DepEd. She discussed the rules and regulations on implementing the K to 12 programs and the need for teachers to check out updates for workshops and seminars for teachers at the Deped website. She also apologized for the slow process of Deped in uploading needed curriculum guides for the teachers and encourages formed groups thru social media for faster communication. Animation is under the techvoc track for Grade 11 – 12 and is currently being worked on by DepEd to be included also in the Arts & Design Track.
CCP’s Associate Artistic Director, Ms. Eva Marie Salvador discussed about CCPs active participation and support on the promotion of Arts under the K to 12 programs. CCP has many ongoing workshops concerning the arts under their program Sining Sa Eskwela (Arts in School).
Miguel del Rosario, current president of ACPI and also the moderator of the industry panel guests discussed about creative industry trends; what are the talents and skills being accepted at studios for work and employment. Work in the animation sector has grown since the 1980s and is now not only confined in television or films. With the arrival of the internet and the new softwares, more work – not only animation is available in the sector. With the current technology and the internet, it has expanded to other platforms like games, e-learning, motion graphics, mobile apps, real estate and visual effects to name a few.
Grace Dimaranan discussed about the skills needed inside a small to medium sized studio like Top Peg Animation. The artists/ animators are highly skilled in both traditional and digital drawing output and can transfer and do work whether for a TV series, commercial, AVP , game or film. In a small setup, there is no room to be a specialist but more on adjusting yourself to meet the demand of the work assigned to you. It pushes the artist to have a well- rounded knowledge of the full process rather than being confined in just one task or position. Grace also did a short lecture about the basic principles of animation, showed video samples and gave references to teachers on where to find useful tutorials for them to learn the correct process for animation. She also distributed actual production folders of “Jobert and the Crop Circle Warriors©” to all the 250+ attendees to better explain in detail the process in production on what a drawing goes through before it can be shown on TV. The rough drawings and the quality of clean up line art drawings inside the folder are the actual samples of what is the “industry standard” work output. Grace also explained the animation track ( Techvoc) for Grade 11 and 12, the number of hours required and what lectures will be taught in each grade level.
Marlyn Montano shared her knowledge on game apps and what they do at her company – Team App. It’s a combination of animation and programming. She also shared some works done in her studio but cannot disclose the name of clients due to the non-disclosure agreements she signed with clients. Games and apps are a rising demand in the industry to date. People are making their mobile phones their mobile office also.
Nestor Palabrica of TOEI Animation Phils. discussed about how backgrounds (BG) are made in production. He showed samples of backgrounds from rough sketch to final digital format. He explains that layout and coloring skills to be a BG artist for Japanese -style animation show is high. The realistic views and angles plus the final colors of a background determines the skill level of an artist.
Rene Misa of Central Luzon School of Digital Arts and Benjie Marasigan Jr. of College of St. Benilde talked about the preparation and expansion of the Universities and Techvoc schools in accepting Grade 11 and 12 students who are applying. Not all public high schools can open classrooms for Grade 11 and Grade 12. So high schools can now partner with Deped accredited Universities, Colleges and Techvoc training centers to have their senior high school students be transferred according to their desired chosen track.
Rene De Guzman of Tooncity, discusses about artist skills and where they actually grow and prosper. Not all artists who apply at Tooncity wants to be an animator. Some are skilled in layout, background coloring, 3D , concept design or digital painting to name a few. It is important to know and evaluate the artist’s skills every now and then. Sometimes, they are not productive on where they are assigned. He observed when an artist is given a chance to be part of other production process, they discover where they are most happy and more productive.
Lastly, Ramon Grajo of Team App demonstrated how to use Flash and Toonboom softwares for animation. He showed how the tools can be used in cut out animation and for different applications. There were many questions from the audience about the software but it was emphasized that its not the software that makes good animators or artists but the foundation skills in drawing and the knowledge of traditional animation that is most important. Software based knowledge can be learned in a few weeks to a few months but creative and drawing skills takes years to learn and master.
The program ended with special thanks to the audience, speakers and panel guests and the supporting organizations. Certificates of participation were given together with the feedback forms about the seminar.
From Left: Miguel Del Rosario (Tooncity & ACPI President), next 3 are teachers, Grace A. Dimaranan, Nestor Palabrica (TOEI Animation Phils.), Marilyn Montano (Team App), Ricky Orellana (Mowelfund)
Article by Grace A. Dimaranan; pictures and other samples from ACPI and Grace
Miracle Animation Studios Inc. 
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