Introduction

The history of animation started long before the development of cinematography. Humans have probably attempted to depict motion as far back as the paleolithic period. Much later, shadow play and the magic lantern (since circa 1659) offered popular shows with projected images on a screen, moving as the result of manipulation by hand and/or minor mechanics. In 1833, the stroboscopic disc (better known as the phenakistiscope) introduced the stroboscopic principles of modern animation, which decades later would also provide the basis for cinematography. Between 1895 and 1920, during the rise of the cinematic industry, several different animation techniques were developed, including stop-motion with objects, puppets, clay or cutouts, and drawn or painted animation. Hand-drawn animation, mostly animation painted on cells, was the dominant technique throughout most of the 20th century and became known as traditional animation.

Around the turn of the millennium, computer animation became the dominant animation technique in most regions (while Japanese anime remains very popular). Computer animation is mostly associated with a three-dimensional appearance with detailed shading, although many different animation styles have been generated or simulated with computers. In practice, computer animation with a relatively two-dimensional appearance, stark outlines and less shading, will generally be considered "traditional animation". For instance, the first feature movie made on computers, without a camera, is The Rescuers Down Under (1990), but its style can hardly be distinguished from cel animation.

Source wikipedia

During Animation week we are delighted to have programmes curated by Abigail Addison and Nobuaki Doi. The week will also include works by Paul Bush, Astrid Goldsmith and David Shrigley.

PROGRAMME 3 Curated by Abigail Addison PROGRAMME 4  Curated by Nobuaki Doi and Abigail Addison PROGRAMME 5 Paul Bush

PROGRAMME 6 Astrid Goldsmith PROGRAMME 7 David Shrigley

PROGRAMME 3 Curated by Abigail Addison

Animate Projects presents…

Experience reimagined histories, compelling documentaries and curious visions of our future. Director Abigail Addison will present a selection of Animate’s productions which feature a range of animation techniques, including stop motion, collage, charcoal, digital, ink and paint. 

Z, Alan Warburton (2012) Shift, Max Hattler (2012) Regarding Gardens, Carolina Melis (2012) We Are Not Amused, Vicki Bennett (2013) Tiny People Tribe, Motomichi Nakamura (2013) Sleepless, Ellie Land (2016) Immunecraft, Eric Schockmel (2016) The Foundling, Leo Crane (2018) 144 Units, Ian Gouldstone (2018) Hold Tight, Jessica Ashman (2018) I’m OK, Elizabeth Hobbs (2018)   Bloomers, Samantha Moore (2019)

Animate Projects works at the intersection of film, art and animation. Led by producers/curators Abigail Addison (Folkestone) and Gary Thomas (Derby), they have worked with more than 150 artists and animators to produce award-winning experimental moving image work since 2007.

Programme 4 Japanese animation auteurs

curated by Nobuaki Doi and Abigail Addison

Experience work by four artist animators who have all won the Japan Grand Prix at New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, the only animation festival held inside an airport terminal building that is directed by curator and critic Nobuaki Doi.

Zdravstvuite!, Yoko Yuki, 2015, 6 mins Wandering Mouse, Nohara Tsukiji, 2019, 6 mins  Self-Honest Me, Kazuki Sekiguchi, 2017, 5 mins Autumn from Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons', Atsushi Wada, 2018, 11 mins

This programme will be screened live at 3 pm on 13 June 2020.

PROGRAMME 5 Paul Bush

Paul Bush

'What is so extraordinary about this body of work is the passionate clarity of the ideas that fuel it and the formal precision of the narrative and cinematographic structures which allow the viewer in.' Leslie Dick

'Paul Bush is part scavenger, part inventor. Nothing is out of bounds and everything is worth trying. This is what makes Bush's work so welcoming; you never know what you are in for but you know it will be smart, funny, provocative and unique.' Chris Robinson

'The secret preoccupation of these films, finally, is beauty. It may be the case that the film-maker, in focusing so relentlessly on issues of time, narrative, history, the intersection of the graphic and the cinematic, and the question of clarity of presentation, doesn't himself see it but the viewer does. As if beauty were a necessary by-product of these investigations, beyond the intention of the artist, yet an inevitable result of his rigorous control and passionate pursuit of meaning.' Leslie Dick

Programme 6 Animation

Astrid Goldsmith

Based in Folkestone in Kent, Mock Duck Studios was set up by animation director Astrid Goldsmith in 2012, after a decade of industry experience as a model maker for film and TV. While making puppets and props for clients including Duracell; Ford Fiesta; Chivas Regal; Leeds Castle; Hammer & Tongs (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy); and a weird commission for the boyband Blue, Astrid completed her debut short film Squirrel Island in 2016. Squirrel Island went on to compete at many top international film festivals (including Clermont-Ferrand, Tampere, LSFF, Aesthetica, and Warsaw Film Festival), and won several prizes for Best Film.

Since then, she has animated a Channel 4 Random Acts film, made a 2-minute monster movie, and created a belligerent stop-motion troll for the Nike ‘Never Ask’ campaign. In 2018, Astrid was selected for the prestigious BFI / BBC4 Animation 2018 talent scheme, designed to find and support the UK’s most exciting emerging animators. Her commissioned film, Quarantine, had its premiere at the BFI Southbank in November, was broadcast on BBC4 in December, and is now available to watch for free on BFI Player (UK only). In February 2019, Astrid was nominated for the Debut Director Award for Quarantine at the Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voice Awards.

Astrid is currently making her new film, Red Rover – a colonial monster movie set on Mars -which was awarded BFI Network funding in April 2019.

If you would like further information, please get in touch: info@mockduck.co.uk

Programme 7 Animation

David Shrigley

David Shrigley finds meaning in snippets of text and overheard conversations. His crude and cartoonish ink drawings, usually exhibited salon-style, recall pages from the sketchbook of a cheeky adolescent. Tackling serious issues, such as unemployment and child welfare, as well as more absurd subjects, including sexual fantasies about a squirrel, his fragmented narratives can be both poignant and funny. In a 2011 exhibition, Shrigley included a dead stuffed kitten that stood on its hind legs carrying a hand-lettered protest sign that read, “I’M DEAD.”