Johan Oettinger, Chris Randall, and Polish creative duo Kijek/Adamski are the key speakers of ANIMARKT Talks conference (October, 12th) – a part of ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum.
ANIMARKT Talks is a one-day conference and a great opportunity to learn more about the animation market. Last year the main subject of ANIMARKT Talks was ‘co-production’. This year, guests invited for ANIMARKT Talks will share their experience about the presence of stop motion animation in commercials, video games, and new ways of storytelling.
Stop motion animation – good for games, great for creative storytelling
Johan Oettinger, a self-taught prize-winning film director, will lead in Lodz two presentations about creative ways of using stop motion animation. In the first one, he will speak about the project Vokabulantis – a new game in stop motion. Vokabulantis is a puppet animation platformer about two kids, who have fallen in love. Karla and Kurt literally can’t get a word out, when they are around each other. Thus they are forced to save the deteriorating and adventurous world of language, Vokabulantis, before it’s too late. Otherwise, they will never be able to express their love for one another.
The main topic of the Johan’s second presentation will be the process from idea through development through production and release of LEGO® Classic Creative Storytelling campaign. In this project children stories were transformed into stop motion animation made of LEGO bricks. Johan, as a director of LEGO commercials, will show and explain why stop motion animation was perfect for this kind of campaign.
Stop motion in commercials – how to work with clients and agencies?
During ANIMARKT Talks Chris Randall, Creative Director for Second Home Studio, will speak about his experiences in work with agencies and clients in commercial projects. Second Home Studio has garnered multiple BAFTA and Royal Television Society awards in all styles of animation, with a reputation for innovative and striking stop motion work. From serious to silly, the studio’s repertoire engages all audiences and platforms for broadcast, commercial, online, corporate and educational purposes. The studio is currently developing a pre-school series which has been commissioned by CBeebies (BBC).
Then Creative Duo Kijek/Adamski, directors with vast experience in many techniques of filmmaking, will talk about stop motion animation in marketing communications. Kasia Kijek and Przemek Adamski are constantly evolving in search for the most adequate means of expression because, in their opinion, each project is different and requires disparate approach. The choice of right material and technique is integral part of the story hey tell each time. Simplicity and creativeness of the process are their main goals whether in live action or animation.
Stop motion animation – time to evolve?
ANIMARKT Talks will be also a chance to see a presentation of an innovative technology called SMODO which connects the classic puppet animation with the motion capture. Using SMODO, instead of with a puppet, the animator works with its armature equipped in colourful markers. A special marker tracking system brings the armature pose into a 3D software, in which the armature is merged with a digital puppet model. In effect, on the computer screen the animation artist can see the whole puppet, just like in classic animation. SMODO technology guarantees cost-reduction, post-production stage shortening, and simplifying the work on the filmset. SMODO is also an innovative education tool. The technology idea originated with Grzegorz Wacławek, film producer and creator of very successful Animoon studio.
Interesting part of ANIMARKT Talks programme will be a presentation of Łódź Film Commission which ensures comprehensive assistance to producers of feature, documentary and animated films, television programs, commercials, video clips and all other forms of audiovisual production – from searching for locations, to obtainment of permits and separation of urban space for the needs of film crews, to support in contacts with urban services and local media. It is also an operator of the Łódź Film Fund – the oldest regional film fund in Poland. Since 2007 nearly 70 movies have received co-financing within it. The films co-financed by the Fund include the Academy Award winning Ida directed by Paweł Pawlikowski as well as his latest film Cold War, the Oscar-nominated: In Darkness directed by Agnieszka Holland and In the Shadow directed by David Ondrícek or Roberta Grossman’s documentary Who Will Write Our History.
Where and when?
ANIMARKT Talks will take place on Friday, October 12th, in Lodz (Poland) a Conference Room of EC1 Lodz complex, located in the revitalised buildings of the power plant which commenced generating and transferring power in 1907. It served as the main heat and power plant for the residents of Łódź until 2000. Currently EC1 Lodz – City of Culture is a space open for various cultural and artistic activities. It became the home of the National Centre for Film Culture, the Łódź Film Commission and the Centre for Comics and Interactive Narration.
The entrance is free, but the registration is necessary (via event’s www.en.animarkt.pl).
ANIMARKT Talks programme – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12TH
10:30 - 11:00 SMODO – future of animation
11:15 - 11:35 Łódź Film Commission – presentation
11:50 - 12:30 Vokabulantis – new game in stop motion
12:35 - 13:05 Second Home Studio – how to work with clients and agencies?
13:20 - 14:00 LEGO® Classic – creative storytelling – case study
14:15 - 15:00 Stop motion animation in marketing communications
The Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) recommended the film Winter Flies to be nominated for the Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film was directed by Olmo Omerzu and produced by Jiří Konečný (endorfilm). The academics were choosing from 21 Czech features and documentaries that had been nominated by the producers of the films themselves.
The voting, in which the academics have chosen the film representing Czech cinema in the competition for the Oscars, took place from 1st to 12th September 2018. Together with Winter Flies, there were several other films among the highly valued ones including Domestique, Jan Palach, Toman or The Smiles of Sad Men.
Winter Flies, a Czech-Slovenian-Polish-Slovak co-production directed by Olmo Omerzu, which recently premiered at Toronto IFF, is a road movie about friendship, adventure and great freedom. The story is about two boys who are not fifteen yet and they travel across the whole republic in a stolen car. The aim of their running away is the feeling of being free and a desire to experience something special. The film received the award for Best Director in the Official Selection - Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival earlier this summer.Olmo Omerzu was born in the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. He was only thirteen years old when he shot his first short film called Almir (1998). In 2004, he decided to move to the Czech Republic and study there. He graduated from Film Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and in 2012 he made his debut film called A Night Too Young, selected for Berlinale's Forum, for which he was recognized as the Discovery of the Year at the Czech Film Critics’ Awards. Following the success of A Night Too Young, he wrote and directed his second feature Family Film (2015), which world-premiered at San Sebastian IFF and received the Award for Best Artistic Contribution at Tokyo IFF, two Czech Film Critics’ Awards, and a number of other awards.
All three Olmo Omerzu's films including Winter Flies were produced by Czech producer Jiří Konečný and his production company endorfilm. Jiří Konečný is one of the most active Czech film producers, who worked on more than 20 features and documentaries including Czech minority co-productions "I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians", Little Harbour, Out or Aferim!.
Winter Flies will get a chance to represent the Czech cinema at the already 91st awards of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will take place on24th February 2019 in Los Angeles. The nominations for the Oscars will be announced on22nd January 2019.
CLUJ-NAPOCA: The Heiresses by Marcelo Martinessi was awarded the Transilvania Trophy at the 17th edition of Transilvania IFF. The festival took place from 25 May to 3 June 2018.
BERLIN: This year at the 68th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival actor Willem Dafoe received the Honourary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement. After navigating a red carpet which was thronged with fans Willem Dafoe received the award from the Berlinale President Dieter Kosslick, who reminded the audience that the actor has already participated in the festival several times, and in 2007 he was a member of the jury. The actor confessed his love for the Berlin Film Festival and stressed that the award for his life’s work does not mean that he is going to retire.
BERLIN: FNE has teamed up with FIPRESCI critics attending the Berlin Film Festival to rate the films in the Main Competition, Panorana and Forum giving the films 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. 5 is the best and 1 is the worst. The ratings give an overview of critics opinions from a large number of countries and provide insights to what critics in many different countries think about the programme.
BERLIN: FNE has teamed up with FIPRESCI critics attending the Berlin Film Festival to rate the films in the Main Competition, Panorana and Forum giving the films 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. 5 is the best and 1 is the worst. The ratings give an overview of critics opinions from a large number of countries and provide insights to what critics in many different countries think about the programme.
BERLIN: FNE has teamed up with FIPRESCI critics attending the Berlin Film Festival to rate the films in the Main Competition, Panorana and Forum giving the films 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. 5 is the best and 1 is the worst. The ratings give an overview of critics opinions from a large number of countries and provide insights to what critics in many different countries think about the programme.
BERLIN: FNE has teamed up with FIPRESCI critics attending the Berlin Film Festival to rate the films in the Main Competition, Panorana and Forum giving the films 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. 5 is the best and 1 is the worst. The ratings give an overview of critics opinions from a large number of countries and provide insights to what critics in many different countries think about the programme.
