Miracle Animation Studios Inc.

    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

     Last November 28, the Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI) had a Master Class session where the director of ‘Yellowbird’ – Mr. Christian de Vita was invited to speak about his film and experiences. The said class was held at SM Cinema 5 at the Mall of Asia from 1:00 to 6:00 pm. Admission was free for all ACPI members  who were invited.

     Many ACPI member companies and schools with their staff and students attended the event, where free popcorns and drinks were given. The event started about 30 minutes late, but we were entertained by Christian who was going around the theater telling jokes and sometimes acting with different voice projections. 

      Christian studied cinematography in Rome. He also studied animation and loves to read comics. He has worked with different animation studios doing television series and has travelled to Manila, Korea and China supervising some 2D series and feature films. He worked as a storyboard artist and director at Stockholm for ‘Happy Life’, went to London, worked for Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers where he honed his skills. Then he worked for other productions to do more storyboards. He was invited to different events, lectures and different festivals to act as one of the judges.

     With his vast experience, he pursued his passion for writing stories and creating original content. He found a friend who shared his passion -Paul Mckeown. Together they formed Mckeown-DeVita Productions with the goal of maintaining a higher creative input on their projects and produce concepts more aligned to their artistic sensibilities. Together they produce both original animation and live action projects.

  He was invited to work with Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2007. He was part of Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie as a member of a story artist team. The said film was nominated at the Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award. He then moved to work with TEAMTO Paris as a storyboard supervisor. After completing his contract, he then concentrated on directing his first full length 3D film – Yellowbird, with the voices of Dakota Fanning, Seth Green, Elliot Gould and Danny Glover.

     In the middle of his talk, Christian decided to show the film – Yellowbird, so we could ask him questions about it. The film was around 90 minutes long; it was a good film but not as spectacular in terms of 3D looks and movement as in some Pixar films but it has its own charm to it. He says the budget was a concern in making a 3D film and he needed to make cuts and major decisions on how the characters should move and talk, pace the film in a good way but still have a good storyline despite being under budget.

    Questions from the audience revolved around how long the film was produced, where did he get the funding, how did he find out what he wants to do with the storyboard, production problems and where did he get the inspiration for the concepts and designs.

     It took 5 years to get the financing and 2 years to produce the film. Financing was from different investors and grants from different festivals and organizations. Christian can’t explain much on the money side of things because he has a business partner who handles this. He is more passionate and detailed on the creative side of things.  He showed some of his work in progress from the film, concept art, background illustrations, 3D character models under development and line tests.  We learned a lot from his shared experiences and the struggles and challenges of making a full length 3d film. 

Article by Grace A. Dimaranan