The Opening Credits of Gravity Falls

Abstract: This is a journey through the opening credits of Gravity Falls. In less than 40 seconds we get a rough idea about the story of the series, characters and many references about American culture and folklore, its past and present. Alex Hirsch, strongly influenced in his childhood by shows like The X-Files or The Simpsons, delivers his particular approach to the essence of the Eighties; a work of mystery and comedy with a large dose of autobiographical elements.

Key Words: Animation, comedy, folklore, the sublime, TV series.

Biography: Carolina Delamorclaz was born in 1988 in Albacete. Interested in arts, she took courses of Drawing and Comic. She studied Fine Arts at University of Cuenca. In that time she pursued a Script and Short Film Making Master and enrolled for a semester in the Solent University of Southampton, United Kingdom. When she finished her studies, she pursued a Research Master In Artistic and Visual Practices. She wrote her master dissertation about animation. Later, she started the PhD studies in this field. Also she has supplemented his educational background at The Animation Workshop (Denmark).

Contact: carolinadelamorclaz@gmail.com

Guerrilla Animation. Pequeños Dibujos Animados

Abstract: Last October premiered in Spain El rey de la Habana, the latest film by Agustí Villaronga. Its opening credits were created by PDA (Pequeños Dibujos Animados). Although the collective is mainly engaged with workshops for children worldwide, its leader Mario Torrecillas combines this task with other professional creations. Throughout the following writing, Mario himself reveals how came the process of designing and animating for these opening credits.

Key Words: PDA, opening credits, cinema, animation.

Biography: Mario Torrecillas was a taekwondo champion in the flyweight category. Then he developed thousands of jobs (advertising director, scriptwriter, comic, dance). He wrote for press and contributed to radio programs.He published three graphic novels: Santo Cristo (2009) and El hijo (2009) at Glénat editions, and Dream Team (2014) with Mondadori, currently pending its adaptation as a film. In 2008 he founded PDA (Pequeños dibujos animados), a project that consists in lots of fun while making animated shorts with children and not so youngsters.

Contact: info@pda-films.com

PDA Films

Carles Porta. 20 Years of ANIMAC’s Graphic Image

Abstract: ANIMAC celebrates 20 years old, and from the beginning, Carles Porta signed the festival’s graphic image. From an interview with the author, we dive into in the evolution of the festival and the challenges it brought to his work. Carles Porta, author of the amazing posters and bumpers for the festival, talks about this project that allowes him to reinvent himself at each edition.

Key Words: Carles Porta, Animac, festival, bumpers, graphic image.

Biography: Sara Alvarez Sarrat (Huesca 1973) is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts UPV. He worked at Tirannosaurus Productions and Truca Films. Doctor since 2002, she develops part of her research at the online magazine AWN, Los Angeles (USA). Her work has been presented at international conferences and published in books and specialized magazines (Animation Studies, Hispanic Research Journal). In 2011 she contributes to the publication Raoul Servais. Integral de cortometrajes, and one year later she curates the exhibition Surviving Life: Collages by the film by Jan Svankmajer, at UPV. In 2015 she obtains the Ramón Acín Grant in Visual Arts.

Contact: salvarez@dib.upv.es

Reports

Pablo Núñez. The Imagined Credits

Abstract: If you are someone who waits to read every feature film’s ending credits, if you are interested in these more than in films themselves, you have probably seen a trademark repeted in each Spanish production from 70’s to nowadays. We refer to Pablo Nuñez/Storyfilm, the responsible company for wrapping and introducing with style the film and certifying each professional involved. But Pablo Núñez is not only responsible for typing nearly 2.400 feature films, but he is a true Renaissance man at the audiovisual field, able to invent professions and to imprint the most absolute modernity in everything he has done. Pablo welcomed us at his house to talk about a whole life devoted to cinema.

Key Words: Moro studio, Storyfilm, credits, Spanish cinema, Fx, commercial.

Biography: Raúl González-Monaj teaches subjets related to animation at the Degree in Comunication Studies, Master in Communication Studies, and Master in animation UPV. Specialized in commercial preproduction, he has been involved professionally in nearly twenty animated TV series, in several feature films, as well as in various animated and live action ads. He has published in journals such as Secuencias. Revista de Historia del cine or CuCo. Cuadernos de cómic. Also, he is the author of the book Manual para la realización de storyboards.

Contact: raugonmo@har.upv.es

Jamie Caliri: Passion for Storytelling

Abstract: Jamie Caliri’s work is known by its quality and warmth. He’s a director best known for his opening credits and spots. He has won several awards, including an International Emmy Award and three Annie Awards. The following text reviews his work, stressing his evolution and main features.

Key Words: Animation, Jamie Caliri, Cut out, Title Desing, Stop motion, Annie Award, Emmy Award.

Biography: Ángeles López Izquierdo is Senior Lecturer at Universitat Politècnica de València, Department of Design; and PhD since 2006. She combines teaching and research, not only individually but also alongside the I+D+i group where she belongs: Animación: Arte e Industria. She has delivered paers at conferences, contributed to exhibitions and festivals, and also to several specialized books and magazines, as well as she has taken part at national and international exhibitions. As a multidisciplinary artist, her work combines animation, graphics and drawing.

Contact: maloiz@dib.upv.es

Profiles

Cocoe. The Graphic Conspiracy

Abstract: Cocoe is a studio formed by David Duprez and Gabriel Suchowolski, devoted to Motion Design for advertising and television. They have produced numerous bumpers for TV channels such as La Sexta or Boing, as well as commercials for Telefónica, Repsol, Ibercaja or Letras del Tesoro; they have even dared with animated graphics for the feature film Gabor (Sebastian Alfie, 2013). Their work focuses mainly on animation, developing research processes for most of his pieces, that combine animation with programming language.

Key Words: Motion Design, animation, advertising, television.

Biography: Sergio Rodríguez Valdunciel (Zamora, 1975). Bachelor of Fine Arts at Universidad de Salamanca. He comes in contact with cut-out animation at Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Toulouse thanks to the Erasmus students interchange program. From 2001 he makes commissioned works for Cartoon Network Spain. Later he moves to Valencia to work for Megatrix TV series (Antena3 TV) ToonF, Black Maria, Truca and Neptuno Films, a company with which he has worked intermittently for various TV series, producing digital animation. Since 2007 he works as a freelance in series, advertising and apps. Since 2010 he lectures Vector Animation at the Master in Animation Degree, UPV. Currently he tries to get enough time for his PhD research.

DVEIN. Breathing 3D

Abstract: DVEIN is a studio settled in Barcelona, which has created numerous opening credit for festivals, television branding, advertising and videoclips. In this interview, the group starts a journey through his professional career and tells the way they are work currently.

Key Words: DVEIN, motion design, 3D, opening credits.

Biography: Beatriz Herráiz Zornoza (Valencia, 1975), PHD in Fine Arts, lectures Communication Studies Degree and Faculty of Fine Arts in Valencia. Member of the Animation Research Group: Art and Industry. She has worked as Motion Designer at RTVV and UPVRTV. She has delivered papers at Congreso de Tipografía, at CONFIA and at the SAS International Annual Conferences. She has coordinated the international project Historias para compartir, at Conservatoire Balla Kouyate Fasséké Bamako (Mali). She has produced audiovisual design for theatrical plays such as Bonnie and Clyde (Galo Teatro Real), Consonants, Dot (Feten and MAX Award. Maduixa Theatre) and Harket Protocolo (PanicMap). She has curated the exhibition The Lost World of Jiří Barta (2014, Valencia).

Contact: beaherzo@doctor.upv.es

Exhibition Spaces

The Spanish animation in the International Showcase. Reports from Stuttgart and Annecy

Abstract: The Spanish animation has had an exceptional showcase in 2015: for the first time two of the biggest International animation festivals, the Trickfilm Festival Stuttgart, (Germany)and the veteran Festival International du Film d’Animation in Annecy (France), agreed to invite Spain for showing its production in animation. Adriana Navarro, Sara Álvarez and Beatriz Herraiz and tell us the highlights from both festivals.

Key Words: Spanish animation, Stuttgart, Annecy, MIFA, market, festival.

Biographies:

Sara Alvarez Sarrat (Huesca 1973) is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts UPV. He worked at Tirannosaurus Productions and Truca Films. Doctor since 2002, she develops part of her research at the online magazine AWN, Los Angeles (USA). Her work has been presented at international conferences and published in books and specialized magazines (Animation Studies, Hispanic Research Journal). In 2011 she contributes to the publication Raoul Servais. Integral de cortometrajes, and one year later she curates the exhibition Surviving Life: Collages by the film by Jan Svankmajer, at UPV. In 2015 she obtains the Ramón Acín Grant in Visual Arts.

Beatriz Herráiz Zornoza (Valencia, 1975), PHD in Fine Arts, lectures Communication Studies Degree and Faculty of Fine Arts in Valencia. Member of the Animation Research Group: Art and Industry. She has worked as Motion Designer at RTVV and UPVRTV. She has delivered papers at Congreso de Tipografía, at CONFIA and at the SAS International Annual Conferences. She has coordinated the international project Historias para compartir, at Conservatoire Balla Kouyate Fasséké Bamako (Mali). She has produced audiovisual design for theatrical plays such as Bonnie and Clyde (Galo Teatro Real), Consonants, Dot (Feten and MAX Award. Maduixa Theatre) and Harket Protocolo (PanicMap). She has curated the exhibition The Lost World of Jiří Barta (2014, Valencia).

Adriana Navarro is a PhD Candidate from Universitat Politécnica de València. She was nominated to Goya Awards 2014 for her short film Vía Tango, also included in the showcase From Doodles to Pixels. Over a Hundred Years of Spanish Animation. She was production assistant in HollyShorts Film Festival (Hollywood) and she has distributed Valencian animated short films at CulturArts IVAC. Additionally, she has published papers in Portugal, Argentina and Spain and delivered proceedings at International Motion Festival Cyprus, CONFIA Illustration & Animation Conference and the Congress Arte e Cinema Avanca (Portugal). Nowadays she stays at the Sorbonne University (Paris).

Contact:
salvarez@dib.upv.es
beaherzo@doctor.upv.es
adrianabaradri@gmail.com

Production

Belli Ramírez, Production Manager in Animation Projects

Abstract: Belli Ramírez is a Production Director, Production Consultant and a teacher. Her professional experience began in 1992 at D’Ocon Films, as a production assistant. Later, from 1994-1999, Belli worked at Neptuno Films as a Production Manager. The company produced television series broadcasted worldwide. Her curiosity led her to join an international production in Australia at Animal Logic studios. There she worked on the film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, (Zack Snyder, 2010). She has co created, with some partners, the animation studio Able & Baker where they are developing several projects. Belli is a restless entrepreneur who has worked as a producer on very interesting projects. We value her opinion as a production expert on planning and organizing animated films. Also, her role as a teacher and lecturer provides a view on what the new generations who want a career in animation are demanding.

Key Words: Production, Consultant, Teacher, Animation, 3D, 2D.

Biography: Ignacio Meneu Oset holds a Degree in Fine Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts Universitat Politècnica de València, where he also got his Masters Degree in Artistic Production. He is a PhD candidate in Art: Production and Research, with the thesis entitled Methodological Guide for the Production of 3D Animation Shorts. He has worked professionally in animation since 1981. Ignacio has worked in series produced by Hanna-Barbera, Cosgrove Hall Films, and Disney. He has contributed to films for Amblin Entertainment and Dygra Films. He combines his profession with teaching animation in different schools. He is an associated lecturer at UPV.

Guest Writer

Why not Make it Move?

Abstract: The paper reviews the legacy of Saul Bass, seminal graphic artist in the history of communication and indisputable responsible for incorporating film design as relevant discipline, from its disappearance twenty years ago until today. Graphic visual language resources are analyzed and how they use have transcended graphics applied to media for print. It also emphasizes the contemporary design of title sequences of these two decades and how audiovisual languages of today have taken contributions from Bass. In this latest revision we try to avoid the big names, entering certain works that help us think about the great master’s legacy lives on.

Key Words: Film titles, Saul Bass, Motion Design, Dinamic Typography, Graphic Design History.

Biography: Julio Sanz Melguizo is a Bachelor in Fine Arts Universitat Politècnica de València. He holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) from the University of Castilla-La Mancha. He leads the Center for Image Research and Development (CIDI), UCLM, based in Cuenca. He has organized courses and workshops related to typography, editorial design, information design and identity. Member of the scientific committee of the International Congress of Typography in Valencia, he has taught and published lectures and communications in Spain, Bulgaria, Mexico and Argentina. He researches on legibility and dynamic typography, film titles and information design.

Contact: Julio.sanz@uclm.es

Animated Title Sequences in TV Series. An Overview

Abstract: Gemma Solana and Antonio Boneu are the authors of Uncredited, Diseño Gráfico y Títulos de Crédito, the first book on film credits in Spain. If in such publication they display the film history credits, in this text they proceed the same way with fiction and animation series, covering some of the major milestones in the history of this genre.

Key Words: Opening credits, drama series, animated sequences, Motion Graphics

Biographies:

Gemma Solana was born in Lleida, 1966. She studied Graphic Design at the Massana School, Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, and Marketing Management at the School of Business Administration (EAE). She is a founding partner of Artimaña and creative responsible as graphic designer. Artimaña is a design studio specialized in branding and packaging with national and international awards (Laus) and (IF). She has experience in multiple brands such as Sephora, Revlon, Frigo, Magnum, Rexona, Dove, Peugeot, Finocam, Novartis, University of Barcelona, etc.

Antonio Boneu was born in Lleida, 1960. Graduated in Filmmaking at Sorbonne University. A Film Histor specialist y, he has taught filmmaking and TV in various public and private universities. He currently works as a writer, director, producer and director of development of TV formats. He co-authored with Gemma Solana the book Uncredited, Diseño Gráfico y Títulos de Crédito, (Index Book 2006), a pioneer book in the History of film credits.

Research

What are Motion Graphics?

Abstract: What exactly are ‘Motion Graphics’? Many people still aren’t entirely sure. Taken literally they are just graphics in motion, but they also mean much more than that. Motion graphics use incredibly expressive techniques and as a result are often found in advertising, corporate videos, credit sequences, etc. They can translate a complex idea into a clear message with just a few seconds of animation. At the same time they have a very particular, simple and stylish aesthetic. But, if any animation could match these characteristics, what is the difference between Motion Graphics and other types of animation? We will try to find the answer by looking through their evolution and the analysis of their main features.

Key Words: Animation, Audiovisual Graphics, Motion Design, Audiovisual Design.

Biography: Concha Alonso (Almería, 1984) is lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Universidad de Granada, where she graduated in 2008 and later she got her PhD in 2014. Within the broad spectrum of artistic disciplines she has been heavily drawn to animation, illustration, design and audiovisual art. These are all subjects that she is either teaching or has taught over the past five years working at Universidad de Granada.

Contact: alonsov@ugr.es

Animating film titles: from the pioneers to Saul Bass

Abstract: The emergence of Saul Bass in the design of title sequences in 1954 (Carmen Jones, Otto Preminger), and his dedication to this field until 1995 (Casino, Martin Scorsese), represented a period of experimentation and continuous change in motion graphics. During this period Bass designed the title sequences for fifty-three films, which allowed him to explore the various expressive possibilities the film medium offered him: live action images and animation, abstract and figurative images, static and moving text. However, his proposals always followed his «simple idea» concept. This paper first offers a journey from the origins of film industry, identifying the use of animation title sequences, and then focuses on the contributions made by Saul Bass in the use of animation.

Key Words: Design, title sequences, Saul Bass, animation.

Biography: Sara Blancas holds a Degree in Fine Arts (1997) and she is PhD in Fine Arts (2002), Universidad de Granada, Spain. Master Degree in Scenographic Design from Universidad Complutense, Madrid, in 2006. She was professor of Graphic Design and Scenographic Design in the Faculty of Fine Art at Universidad Complutense, Madrid, from 2004 to 2007. Since 2007 she teaches Drawing at the Faculty of Fine Art at Universidad de Granada. Additionally, since 2007 she has been a member of the researching group Hum. 731, Universidad de Granada.

Contact: sblancas@ugr.es

Videomapping Experiences in Contemporary Animation. Hybrid Forms and New Contexts

Abstract: What characterizes the expanded animation? What do the new techniques of contemporary videomapping animation? The displacement of the animation movie theaters to museums and galleries evidence overflows into new media and territories. It opens a new way to relate traditional animation, installation, video and digital media. This article comes from experimenting with moving image artists of the early avant-garde and the precinema, such as optical devices and other early visual media, up to the digital era and the videomapping. The dematerialization of the artwork, the theatrical staging and new narratives, all together they call for a redefinition of contemporary videomapping animation techniques from an interdisciplinary point of view, disciplinary and postdisciplinary.

Key Words: Expanded animation, experimental cinema, installation, videomapping.

Biography: Dolores Furió is a Media Artist. She works the audiovisual installation and the single-channel video. The dialogue with the space and the viewer is an integral part of her work. The undisputed focus of their work is the individual, the citizen, their social relations, conflicts and communication established between them; in short, the individual faced with the environment and its social, cultural and technological environment. Her work has been exhibited in Ofelias y Ulises. En torno al arte español contemporáneo, 49 Bienal de Venecia; Construcciones a escala real, Centre Sant Andreu, Barcelona; Geografías. Films de Dones, Drag Màgic, Barcelona. She is lecturer of experimental video and Motion Graphics at Universitat Politècnica de València.

Contact: dofuvi@esc.upv.es

McLaren’s Closet: Expression and Hiding of Homosexual Desire in Norman McLaren’s Filmography, Through the Reinvention of the Body and Space

Abstract: Norman McLaren’s homosexuality has not been taken into account in readings of his work, which is often characterized as abstract and highlighted for its technical value. We propose to bring his sexual orientation to the foreground, outing his work from the episthemological closet where it remains cornered. We will use the surreal Love on the Wing as an entry to that hidden and codified in order to thus interpret the birds that appear in his films as representations of the author’s homosexual desire, as well as all the flying and mutating elements, which participate in a dialogue among his surreal, abstract, and even realist works. We shall see how after the censorship of Love on the Wing, McLaren could have wanted to make this sexual code more difficult to read and how this tension and ambivalence created a fluid, fragmented, very queer body and space as far as the meaning that the new phenomenologies and theories of space and body are giving us.

Key Words: Norman McLaren, homosexuality, graphic symbol, double meaning, closet, queer.

Biography: Emilio Martí López (Valencia, 1978) is an animator, artist and art therapist. He works in the field of the curative capacities of animation and studies, as well, the collaborative opportunities of art and the animated drawing in society, ellaborating this theme in public education, with refugees or with patients with mental disease. Among his films and collaborations are Desanimado (2010), Aporue (2015) o Haití-Tablo A (2015). His article «Homosexualidad, infancia y animación», published in the journal Con A de Animación, analyzes other aspects of the cartoon as it relates to sexuality.

Contact: hermes2078@gmail.com

Redefining an Animation School

Abstract: The Animation Department at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) was founded in the 90’s based on the pedagogical idea of the auteur model that Dan McLaughlin used successfully at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA): one student, one film. In 2007, a curricular innovation redefined its pedagogical approach. A new approach promoted critical thinking for purposes of development and conceptualization, promoted teamwork and diversity in student projects. An intense program based on the analytic virtues of observational drawing supported all of these. The change elevated the value of production but most importantly it unleashed an unexpected social and artistic dynamic change that affected the program as a whole. This school’s redefinition has contributed to educate several generations of artists tolerant to diversity and enthusiastic about collaboration.

Key Words: Critical thinking, diversity, logical sequences, creativity, collaboration, animation school, observational drawing.

Biography: José García Moreno (México, 1961) studied animated film in Prague and worked as an apprentice at the Studios Bratři v triku, (Brothers in Trick) where he directed his first professional film under the historical Czech brand. He moved to the US as a Fulbright Scholar to study animation at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation grant and has been nominated to the Ariel by the Mexican Film Academy. His observations on storytelling were recently published by the National University in Mexico (UNAM). He has served as jury for the Norman McLaren-Evelyn Lambart Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts Award (Fonca-Conaculta) in Mexico. He is an associate at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and has served as chair of the animation department.

Contact: Jose.GarciaMoreno@lmu.edu

The Coproduction Process of Basque Animated Feature

Abstract: The Animation of the Basque Autonomous Country, although it has not been recognized neither by the Academia nor by the industrial environment, is one of the biggest cinematographic exponent of the territory. With 40 features released between 1985 and 2014, the collaborations of the film production companies have been increasing. During the first decade, there are only examples of totally Basque productions. After the second decade, the co-productions between Basque and Spanish enterprises have grown, and in the last years we also found international co-productions. As the varieties of co-productions raised, the plots of some films still showed a local setting with stories about universal values. At the same time, we found some films that get close to the terror genre. In the last decade, there has been also time to experiment with animation techniques. We found examples of films made by Flash and stop-motion techniques. All these considerations are exposed in the following paper, in which the type of production, plots and techniques join to identify the main tendencies of the industry in the last decade.

Key Words: Animation, Basque Film, coproductions, feature films.

Biography: Maitane Junguitu Dronda has a Bachelor Degree in Audiovisual Communication and a Master in Social Communication both by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She is now carrying out her doctoral thesis about the animation feature industry in the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain), including narrative and thematic analysis of the works. She has completed two research stays at University of Reno (Nevada) and at University of Stirling in order to study the animation in small nations. She has conducted her work as researcher of the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertisement of the UPV/EHU.

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Abstracts. English Information 2011