Miracle Animation Studios | Miracle Animation Studios Inc.

AsiaPOP Comicon, Manila

17 09 2015

According to their brochure or web description – AsiaPOP Comicon (APCC) is an international pop culture convention themed around comics, film, toys and collectibles, animation, games, cosplay, superheroes and everything pop culture. The event will attract several internationally renowned artists, celebrities and pop icons to various pockets of Asia, starting with Manila (to be followed in Abu Dhabi, Korea and USA) and draw the attention of ardent fans. APCC will feature exhibitors from genres of pop culture and top studios from across the globe, to bring popular brands and exclusive content for the show. Focusing on delivering the ultimate fan experience, APCC aspires to bring geek culture mainstream and stand tall as a perfect launch pad to unveil new products and first look of movies for the Asia Pacific region providing a galore of potential opportunities for SMEs (small to medium size enterprises) in the entertainment business to reach out to big brands and the vibrant creative talent pool from APAC. While the event will serve as a mega licensing avenue for studios to establish direct access to potential clients through B2B networking, the larger purpose of the event will remain the outreach and communication for celebrities and brands with their fans and engage with them on a one-on-one basis.

The APCC is handled by Universal Events & Entertainment (UEE), a subsidiary of Al Ahli Holding Group is a premier and dynamic international events management company, headquartered in Singapore committed to be the forefront of pop culture/ comic con events globally. The passionate and dedicated team combined has over 4 decades of events management experience in the area of pop culture.

When I called Grace for other matters 2 days ago, she told me about the APCC. Although I heard about it early this year and was aware that it would be held this September, I was not aware that it would be held this week. So Grace emailed me the website of the event. The event would be held from September 17 to the 20th, but the 17th is only open to industry professionals for free. On the 18th to the 20th it will be open to the public with various ticket prices (child, one, two or three day passes). Since the event is for free on the 17th from 12 pm to 6 pm, I decided to take a look at it as it can open some connections and broaden my outlook for the pop culture industry. Grace, Alstaire and some other people from Top Peg Animation will also go on the 17th.

I arrived at the World Trade Centre Manila along Gil Puyat Avenue, extension corner Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard before 12:40 pm. There were not many people at the place as there were no celebrities, shows, contests, raffles and other activities for this day. There were some comic artists doing some sketches but other booths or exhibits were still empty and some were still fixing their displays. I can easily imagine the large area to be full of people in the succeeding 3 days, especially on weekends. This is the first time that an international comic convention is held in the country and lots of fans, collectors, enthusiasts, hobbyists and cosplayers will be there to be in this event. There was not much to do except take photos of the many exhibits and did some small talk to some exhibitors. I was also not able to interview the organiser of the event, as the public relations officials were not present. Grace and company arrived much later around 3:50 pm as the TESDA assessment personnel arrived late at Top Peg. I waited for them since I need to get some papers and see the the progress of the mobile game programming and after that I took a few photos of them also. I left around 4:30 pm as I need to take the taxi and MRT to avoid the heavy traffic after office hours.

None of the Top Peg people nor I will be present in the succeeding days, as we expect the event to be full of people. Alstaire’s brother will be present on Saturday, so I will just ask for some of his pictures for this blog.

September 17, 2015

Whilce Portacio – International Comic Artist & Writer

Whilce Portacio Inside the 4 Meter Tall Hulkbuster

The following are some pictures and a short essay from Alstaire last September 17, 2015 at AsiaPOP Comicon.

I saw Whilce Portacio talking with some people. Luis and I are comic collectors and I collected his title ‘Wetworks’ way back in college, so we really wanted to get his autograph. We went to one of the booths where they were selling Whilce’s old titles…Luis bought ‘X-factor’ comic while I bought ‘Stone’ number 1 comic for P200. We went back and waited for Whilce to finish talking to a guy who was marketing bags. Another guy (a 3D artist) cut in between us and he asked Whilce if was interested in having his characters sculpted in 3D. Whilce told him that he was interested in turning his characters into toys, and if he can add articulation to the 3D designs, then he should leave his number to his assistant. This gave me the idea to talk to him first before having his autograph.

When my turn came, I told him that we were animators and if he was interested in having his works turn into animation. I also told him of the animated trailer we did for a graphic novel. He said he was interested but he wanted to know the capabilities of the Filipino animators. He asked if we could do a Hayao Miyasaki like backgrounds for animation. He said he has a partnership that they would announce next day, and this partnership is with Erik Matti, a Filipino director whose specialty were horror films. Because Whilce has stories about Philippine monsters that he wanted to do in film and that it may translate well also into animation. He really wants to promote Filipino talent but he first wants to see what we are capable of. I told him I can show what projects we have already done and I also said we are into games too. He was really interested but he said he didn’t have the time to visit our studio because he was leaving on the 2th but he might drop by when he comes back in November. After our talk, I asked him for his autograph and I said we will be looking forward to his visit.

Alstaire with Whilce Portacio

September 19,2015

The following are some pictures of celebrities and some events on September 19 by the brother of Alstaire – Alvin Sarthou. He was there from 9 am to 8 pm as he waited to take pictures of some of the celebrities. I’m very grateful that Alvin allowed his pictures to be used in this blog.

September 19, 9 am – Waiting Outside the World Trade Center

Alvin Algernon Sarthou of Toon City

With Prop and Costume Maker – Bill Doran

Colton Hayes of Arrow TV Series

Paul Bettany

Nathalie Emmanuels – Fast & Furious 7 & Game of Thrones

International Cosplayer – Vampybitme

Actress, Model – Lee Anna Vamp and Cosplayer – Monika Lee

Philippine International Cosplayer – Alodia Gosengfiao

International Cosplayers

Dei Sarthou with Actress/Model Allison Harvard

International Cosplayers Panel

Comic Artist Panel

Magnetic Levitating Figure

Car With Artist Doodles

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Categories : Animation, Anime, Crop Circles, Jobert, Jobert Animation, Jobert Anime, Jobert Cartoon, Miracle Animation Studios, Pinoy Animation, Pinoy Anime, Uncategorized

Dennis E. Sebastian – 3D Animator & Producer Story

11 09 2015

Last September 7, 2015, Dennis was invited by Grace to give a talk at Top Peg Animation Studios for the staff and students about his experience as an independent 3D animator and producer. The talk was from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm and its about the story behind his creation Kaleh & Mbaki, the 3D Animation Pipeline.

Dennis is a 3D animator and a professor at the College of St. Benilde. He is an architectural graduate and a practising architect before he became a 3D animator. He says he didn’t stay long being an architect because his creative juices weren’t fully utilized in the firm. These days the architectural firms with large projects are the ones credited unlike before the individual architect was also recognized.

After his brief stint being an architect, he applied at ImaginAsia in the year 2000 at Mandaluyong City. He remembers at that time they were using very expensive equipments that were also used in Hollywood films such as Jurassic Park. Back then they would work on commercials and other video presentations but he was still searching for projects that he could be proud of. After sometime, the studio closed and he worked on the 3D movie Hoodwinked, which was voiced by Anne Hathaway and other celebrities. This was a great opportunity for him to learn and be part of a full length animated film. Despite his work, he still wanted to create his own project and this was when he began his work on Kaleh & Mbaki.

Dennis had a fiancé of 3 years, and they had a dream of migrating to the US one day. Their plan was if either of them flies there first, he or she would help the other one to follow. When an opportunity came for his fiancé to go to the US, he stayed behind. While still working here, he decided to start on his short film. He needed time to work on the project, but his work didn’t allow him any. So he quit his job, but he needed money to survive and finance his project. So he tried to work but quit again in other firms. Then in the middle of his project, his fiancé broke up with him. Heart broken but not deterred, he now thought he had more time for his project, which showed him where his passion really was.

He showed us the short about a shaman – Mbaki and his hornbill friend – Kaleh. The story starts with Mbaki carving a drawing in stone. When Kaleh goes to him asking for fruits, Mbaki gestures him to wait as he was still busy. As Kaleh walks away he then threw a stone towards Mbaki, which angered him. Kaleh acted as if he didn’t do anything. As soon as Mbaki finished his work and was to say something to Kaleh; Kaleh threw a spider at Mbaki which scared Mbaki and made him grab his jungle bolo. Seething with anger, Mbaki pointed his bolo at Kaleh. Kaleh thought he was going to be killed by Mbaki and he lost consciousness. Kaleh woke up beside a basket of fruits that Mbaki prepared for him. Kaleh approached Mbaki and shared him some of the fruits and Mbaki thanked him. When Mbaki was about to grab another fruit, Kaleh quickly got the basket and turned away. But Mbaki had a basket of fruits bigger than what he gave Kaleh which made him smile.

After the show, Dennis gave tips on how to start your own story. He says the story comes first. Originally, Kaleh was a dog and his story was much more elaborate which had another character – a quail. He created a storyboard which he posted on his wall. He showed a picture of the storyboard panels covering the wall behind his computer. He broke every scene down to the number of scenes and the duration of each scene, the number of characters, props and effects of the shots. He then started to do all the assets. After the story, do some research. For me (Alstaire), I didn’t notice the film looked Filipino, but when Dennis told us his research, it became clear. The shaman – Mbaki looked like a native statue, his texture and anatomy were wood like in character. He said the design was based on the Ifugao’s wood carvings. He then searched for an animal, other than a dog that was endemic in the Philippines. He wanted a Toucan bird, but these birds are only found in South America. He then found a similar local bird but of a different species called the hornbill. He had to change the design by incorporating 2 kinds of hornbill species to come up with a colorful design. He said the formula was FU – which he teaches his classes at St. Benilde. The F stands for familiarity and U for uniqueness. You should make your film familiar to draw audiences but at the same time make it unique.

It took him almost 4 years to finish the 5 minute short. He wasn’t happy with it though, as he originally wanted a longer story that had more drama, but because of lack of budget and time he had to change the story. He said in the original script, there was suppose to be a sacrifice, close to the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. Even though he wasn’t happy with the output, he entered it to different festivals and contests, where it got 8 recognitions here and abroad. He quoted Pixar director – Ronnie del Carmen who emphasize that you create then get feedback, then repeat. Although he was not satisfied with the story, at least he finished it and got some feedback and recognition for it. Rather than going back and correcting the animation to its original story, Dennis would rather make a new one. He is now creating a new project about the local tribe Aetas, but he now he has a small team to work on it.

Dennis recalled his days at ImaginAsia as he was starting in 3D animation. The computer that he was using at that time was a Silicon Graphics work station which cost about 1.2 million pesos. This was the same computer used at Pixar at that time. He then compared that machine to today’s laptop with the same power but more capability that only cost 35,000 pesos. So what is stopping us from creating our own Toy Story.

Article by Alstaire A. Sarthou

Photos by Grace A. Dimaranan

Jobert and the Crop Circle Warriors New Posters

7 09 2015

Jobert with Cyber Pulsar Guns with Neutron Discs Blasting Away Lamprey-like Aliens

A new art graduate from a nearby ASEAN country sent her portfolio to us last mid-June as she was applying for a position as a conceptual artist; unfortunately we have no job offers for her. But one of her digital paintings caught my eye, as it was rendered differently compared to the traditional style, as it was more colorful and emotional. I wanted to have the quick sketch of Jessalaine by Alstaire colored like her style, so that I could put the poster in the widget area of this website as something new and refreshing to look at. If the coloring is good, I will ask Alstaire to do quick sketches of the other characters and have it colored and placed it in the widget section also. I asked Alstaire to look for artists who can do it like what the new graduate did. After a few weeks, there were about 6 local artists at Top Peg Animation who tried but they did not follow what I asked for, they all did it in the traditional style, with some really ending up short of the quality I was expecting.

Jessalaine Quick Sketch

Traditional Digital Paint Style

I set the coloring project aside for the time being as I cannot find a local artist to do the job. Sometime in late August I even emailed back the new foreign graduate and asked her if she wants to do the job, how much is her fee and how do we pay her but I received no reply. Maybe in the future we’ll be able to find that artist who can do the work.

Since there was no artist for the poster, around mid-July, I was looking at posters or wall papers at deviant art as sample for our property. There were posters or wall papers that were conceptual and hyper realistic that could work for Jobert and the Crop Circle Warriors®, so I asked Alstaire if he knows some local artist who can do a job like the samples I showed him. One local artist known by Alstaire showed his portfolio and a sample sketch, but it was not the type of art I was looking for. Alstaire emailed a message to another local artist as his art was one of the handful of poster samples chosen as a guide but Alstaire received no reply.

I was thinking of making new realistic posters for Jobert and the Crop Circle Warriors® to push the conceptual boundaries of the property. The chosen artist was free to do his own interpretation of the faces and costumes for the characters in the series. I remembered that Alstaire talked about Anthro who worked with the Jobert and the Crop Circle Warriors® animation series years ago; and he contacted Alstaire out of the blue last year as was he itching to do some more action scenes in the Jobert series. I even wrote about this story somewhere in the earlier topics of this website. Anthro for a few years now is based in Dumaguete City. I was thinking Anthro might be the right guy for the job as he was motivated, he has the feel about the series and the characters compared to outside artists.

Alstaire contacted him, but it took Anthro many days before he replied and I was already thinking that he might not be interested in the project. But eventually he sent his portfolio and he reasoned out he was just busy with other projects. I was not really hopeful to get the type of poster I was looking for from Anthro, based on his portfolio his style was different and he admitted he cannot do the type of style that I wanted. After a few days, he sent his sample poster and his idea was to do 3 separate posters for the characters but he can combine all of it to make one poster. The preliminary sample sketches were okay for the budget but they were not exceptional. Alstaire and I agreed that he should do one action poster for Jobert first and the group poster later on as it was financially risky on my part if the first poster did not work out to my satisfaction.

Preliminary Proposed Posters

Alstaire was the intermediary to relay all my messages, as I don’t know Anthro personally. I told Alstaire that I wanted Jobert doing a B-twist or Butterfly twist while holding two guns. I really wanted the B-twist as I remembered the slow motion action scenes of the films GI Joe and Transformers 4 doing something like that move. Another condition was to put crop circle designs in the poster. It took awhile before Anthro submitted his first preliminary sketch, but it was just okay as it was not a B-twist move and the face just looks like one of my office personnel. After looking at a number of B-twist tutorials at Youtube, I was finally convinced that it was not the right image for the poster. While doing a B-twist, one cannot see the face properly and the position of the hands and legs were not proper for holding 2 guns. Alstaire also emailed me photos of a male and female model holding 2 guns with different action shots as an artist reference, but I could not find the action pose that I like. So I was satisfied with the action move drawn by Anthro.

First Preliminary Sketch

Office Personnel

After a day or two, Anthro emailed his partial rendering of the first approved sketch. What I noticed right away was the way he rendered the guns with crop circle designs on the sides which I did not notice and understand before. I was blown away with the creative thinking, this was an innovation that I never even thought of and never seen before, Alstaire had the same opinion and sentiment with me. The rendering of the crop circle power discs was almost the same with the quality of rendering of the other types of powers from some of the posters I have chosen as guides. I didn’t even care that there was no final rendering of the face. I was really excited for the poster to be finished, but I wanted some organic mecha monsters attacking him like a piranha or lamprey type of creatures being blasted away by Jobert. Alstaire relayed the message what I wanted, but I was really disappointed when the next rendering came. The face was a disaster as it looked like a male geisha and the robots were from the Jobert comic book and animation, it was not something new. So I relayed my disappointment and Anthro reasoned out that it was just a quick rendering but he admitted his difficulty. I also emailed Anthro directly suggesting a particular look for Jobert and the type of monster I like – I even emailed my own sketch of the monster as a suggestion. It was at this time, that I also emailed a foreign artist whose poster was the style I was looking for, just in case Anthro cannot deliver satisfactorily. I asked for a quotation for a commission artwork at par with the quality with a particular poster that he did and I was prepared to pay for a higher fee for the quality output but the said foreign artist never replied back.

Cyber Gun with Crop Circle Power

Disappointing Face Rendering

I was thinking that this was it, Anthro may not be able to deliver, but after a few days he emailed his new sketch to accommodate the monsters. I was again blown away with the new face, monster design and action move which I never expected. I was really excited for the poster to be finished, as I was very satisfied with the new sketches even though he did not follow my suggestions for the face and monster look. The poster needed only some minor corrections in the costume and the stance. With the new quality of work, I was motivated to think of new ideas for the other characters and 2 group posters. I was glad that the 2 artists did not reply back as their fees will surely be much higher and they may not be able to think of the crop circle gun concept. It was at this time that I also began thinking of a new name for the cyber gun and the crop circle power discs and after some research I came up with the name Cyber Pulsar Gun and Neutron Discs. After a few days I called Alstaire to incorporate the Neutron Discs design and the name of the Cyber Pulsar Gun in our animation series.

New Sketch for the Jobert Poster

Lamprey-Like Alien Monsters

After more than a week, the poster was still a work in progress. When the special effects were added, I cannot see the second hand, Anthro suggested the Neutron Discs only appear when the Cyber Pulsar Gun is used, the other gun was used awhile ago. I suggested to Alstaire that I wanted the other gun to have the Neutron Discs also, as I wanted to see the hand and I wanted more action.

As an independent producer, I found it very hard to look for freelance artists who are willing and able to do the job. Most of the artist we inquire from will not reply back for whatever reason. I guess they are overwhelmed with the many inquiries from people like me looking for the best price, they are too busy with other jobs commissioned or they don’t have any interest for the project. The ones who are interested in the project have a different skill set from what I’m looking for. Even with artists who I have some contact with, sometimes there is no reply to my emails, for whatever reason. I just have to learn to take the no replies professionally and not to take it personally and be relentless in looking for the people who can finish the work. From my previous experience with artists in our first poster, not much has changed with dealing with the artists, even if we agree on the price, sometimes the level of skill, commitment and professionalism is not there, and this creates a lot of problems. At first I was hesitant to put up any down payment as the artist might just change his mind or the level of skill is not there, so the work might not be finished. Grace helped me by giving a sample contract before the poster was to be done, but I left it at that. I only used the contract after the Jobert poster was done to assure some protection in terms of commitment to finish the other character posters.

The whole exercise of commissioning conceptual art was very fruitful. It achieved the objective of enhancing the property through new images and concepts which was directly applied to our current animation project which I have not foreseen. There was no way for me to know that commissioning a digital paint work for a quick sketch can lead to new concepts that could be used. Even in our mobile game, I was able to think of new powers for Jobert indirectly related to the conceptual art poster.

Jobert with Cyber Pulsar Gun

Tany with Cyber Pulsar Shield

Jessalaine with Cyber Pulsar Boomerang

For future projects, if there are any; such as new animation, games and films, the conceptual artwork has opened doors where we can apply new concepts that I already thought of to enhance the property further. I may commission for more poster art works as Jobert and the Crop Circle Warriors® property has so many angles and areas for growth and improvement visually which somehow helps with the creation of new story lines. As of late November 2015, I commissioned 3D models of Jobert and the lamprey alien with rigging for a proof of concept video scheduled to be online sometime first quarter 2016.

The rest of the other posters for the other characters and group will be added in this blog later on as Anthro is busy working on some animation work for our mobile game. Anthro had some problems with his other clients that affected the delivery of the posters, but as of late December 2015, the final Jessalaine poster still needed some corrections.

Tany with Cyber Pulsar Discs (Final)

The Tany poster had many iterations before the final one because we were not sure of the concepts, the weapons, monster, look of Tany etc. Alstaire guided Anthro with some of the corrections. Some of the drafts and corrections are shown below.

Suggestion of Alstaire

Just like the poster for Tany, the poster for Jessalaine had many iterations, because we were not sure of the concept, the look, weapons, monster, etc. Although there are many sketches, these are just quick sketches and it didn’t take too much time to do them.

Jessalaine with Cyber Pulsar Boomerang (Final)

Shown below are some of the drafts or iterations for the Jessaliane Poster.

Rejected Outright as the Character Does not Have Jet Boosters

Basis for the Succeeding Drafts

Alstaire’s Suggestion 1

Alstaire’s Suggestion 2

For the group poster, Anthro agreed to do it but it may take awhile since he is busy with other contracts. From time to time there are on-the-job trainees (OJT) at Top Peg Animation; as of early January 2016, one student – Sean Manoloto is interested in conceptual work so he was asked to do a quick group poster of the characters among other things. He came up with the characters with glass helmets on. It was very refreshing to see the characters of the property drawn with a different perspective, presentation and technique, so I’m always grateful for the OJTs.