Rebekah Caputo

Rebekah Caputo is a puppeteer, theatre actress, creative arts project manager and workshop facilitator based in Leeds. A 2006 Total Theatre Award winning performer, Rebekah writes and performs original puppetry, working in shadow, rod, lip-syncing and object manipulation. She has ten years of experience in designing, coordinating and delivering performance-based activities to adults and children of all ages and abilities.

So far, we have had talks from filmmakers, VFX artists, game designers for this year's PPP module... but I don't think I would have expected to have such an interesting speaker pay us a visit. But it makes sense considering our practice as a puppeteer's work overlaps with character performance... and I must say, it is a rather nice change of pace.

So what is puppetry? 
It is for anything inanimate to appear alive, and not just your typical puppets (No, we are seriously talking about anything, even a plastic bag, that thing can grow a face if you put your mind to it).

And why puppets?
There is just something magical about them, the fact is, with puppetry, you can be anything and do anything, without being restricted by your human form

While Rebekah originally studied acting (Which she of course still incorporates into her present practice), she grew interested with the visual side of things, as compared to narrative based performances. It was the F aulty Optic theatre of Animation (Which has since ceased its working activities, with the two founding directors forming their own separate companies and shows) that opened the way to her new found passion, she saw "Fishclay Perspex", and that's when she knew what she wanted to do instead.

After splitting from the company that she had formed alongside her old college mates, it took her one to two years to learn how to make her own puppets, experimenting with various materials (Such as paper, clay, cloth, etc.) and learning how to effectively make each one more durable than the last, as well as giving them better joints to control them more effectively during performances. And during her first few puppets show, she was able to learn what it is the audience actually liked. In all, it really came down to constant experimentation to get where she presently is.

"Celebrate the darkness within!"

It is notable that Rebekah's has a considerably macabre inspired style to her works, and it is not surprising considering her main influences include the works of Faulty Optic, Pickled Image and Folded Feather. Other thing that influence and inspire her are simply people, as we come in all shapes and sizes, she enjoys watching all the interesting folks that walk by and they definitely give her an idea on how she should design and control her puppets for future projects. Various types of masks are also a huge source of inspiration for her as they tend to be an exaggeration of the human face... and then there are skeletons, though this is for the more technical side when she needs to figure out how to build the interior of each character, especially non-human ones.

Rebekah happens to be a part of Odd Doll and works alongside Kathleen Yore, together these two has collaborated with various folks on different projects. As adult puppetry doesn't really have that big a big audience, they had to do some more family-oriented performances, such as "The Worried Walrus".

She has also worked with performing arts company A Quiet Word to create a shadow puppet instillation of a dancer's (That she collaborated with) shadow for a special event, this dancer had photos taken of her shadows, which were then inverted and projected onto the walls. Rebekah also made various things for the dancer to wear so to create unique shapes for the shadows when she was taking photos of them, you could say it was an experimental sort of puppetry. It is just interesting to note that she never truly works alone when it comes to her practice, she tends to collaborate with all sorts of people, such as models and sound composers, whom she has worked with for her MA art show.

"Music is pivotal to puppetry."

I had a video, but it was too big to upload here...

Overall, I absolutely enjoyed this talk, it was wonderful seeing Rebekah's journey, learning all sorts of new things as she went along and experimenting with all kinds of puppetry instead of merely sticking to one type. It was fun seeing my classmates taking part in the little exercise at the end too, I would have taken part if I hadn't injured my knee the other day... but eh, it doesn't hurt to simply sit back and watch once in awhile...

And before it all finally came to an end, Rebekah shared with us a reading list if we wished to look further into puppets as well as mentioned "1927's Golem at the Young Vic", which I really wouldn't mind checking out if I had the chance.

Kath Shackleton

Last year I had the chance to attend a talk with animator Zane Whittingham (In a nice empty theatre with some of my classmates and with some of the other seniors from DFGA), who shared with us the variety of works he has done over the years. And this year, his lovely wife, Kath Shackleton, paid us a visit to talk about her role as a producer and project manager in this husband and wife tag team.

Whilst Zane normally stays in the studio to get the animations done, Kath is the one that heads out to submit pitches to various clients in hopes of getting their commission. She has to face the brutality of rejection most of the time, especially when these clients unsurprisingly wish to go with someone cheaper. But despite all of that, Kath just continued pushing until she got that commission!

"Fall down 7 times, get up 8 as they say."

With their office situated in the heart of Pennine Yorkshire (Hi Anna!), Fettle Animation takes commissions for all sorts of animation, from promotional films, to children's TV, to animated documentaries to animated music videos, which is no surprise considering that they have the versatile Zane Whittingham as their animation director.

"You are as good as anybody, no one is truly better than the other."

"It just happens to be price over quality, sometimes."

Fettle Animation was soon enough commissioned by BBC animate a series of poignant short films on interviews with people who experienced the horrific genocide first hand, as a way to educate the UK children on the Holocaust. Titled the "Children of the Holocaust", these shorts were created by Zane, Kath, as well as several trainees, thanks to funding from Kirkless Jobs Fund and Creative Skillset, with Paul Honey, providing the soundtrack.

It was a long process getting the commission for "Children of the Holocaust", Kath previously worked with the National Media Museum on "Fragile Stories", a series of animated documentary shorts based on interviews with members of Bradford's Polish Community, and it was from there that she caught the attention of her next client.

"TV people do not innovate, they iterate, they avoid risks and always try to stay safe."

Needless to say, it wasn't as easy as that, while the client was indeed interested, Kath still had to make sure her pitch jumped out from the first page alone before she was able to get that commission, and when that was done... that was only just the beginning. Various people still needed to be brought in, especially when it came to their finances, which most of us in this area probably dread and will panic about the most (God, I really wish I still had my Principal of Accounts textbook...) for any project.

While I had the chance to watch an unfinished preview during Zane's talk and one during the Bradford Animation Festival, Kath happily allowed us to actually watch all of them during this talk. Needless to say, most of these shorts easily pulled at my heartstrings, especially as I thought about my own family when these brave souls recounted how they had lost their own during their nightmarish ordeal.

As mentioned before, several trainees were hired to work on this series, some did good work, some did better than others, while some just thought way too highly of themselves... Needless to say, it was an experience working with these newbies, and on the bright side, most of them were hard workers that did what they were hired to do. Regardless of how talented you are and how well you did in school, don't be a douche.

For such a project, Fettle Animation had to work with people  such as Lilian Black from the Holocaust Survivor Friendship Association, whose role is to double check on the accuracy of the historical facts that would be presented in these animations. A Sales Agent was hard to find, seeing many believed that animation doesn't sell in this day and age, but they got one soon enough.

Before the talk came to an end, we were given a few tips on how we should present our pitches to potential clients in the future. I honestly wished that we had been give a copy of that sheet that she showed us instead, but hey, just take what you can get, am I right? So anyway, the first things you should most definitely consider are:

1. What's your idea?
2. Write/Draw it down
3. Who is your target audience? (Remember what these people are like)
4. Who might be interested in paying you for it? (Eg, internet, commission through different channels)
5. Who do you want to pitch it to?
6. Did you do your homework?
7. Refine that idea
8. Summarise each point into one sentence if you can.

For the pitching process, what you write is absolutely minimal, think who your commissioner is this and persuade him/her that there is an audience for this product.

Ian Livingstone

Ian Livingstone CBE is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with his friend Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the popular and influential series of "Fighting Fantasy"roleplaying gamebooks and the author of many books within that series. He is also one of the co-founders of the prominent games company "Games Workshop".

Livingstone co-founded "Games Workshop" in early 1975 with flatmates John Peake and Steve Jackson. They started publishing a monthly newsletter tilted "Own and Weasel", and sent copies of the first issue to subscribers of the recently defunct fanzine "Albion", Brian Blume received one of these copies and so sent them a copy of the new game "Dungeons and Dragons" in return. Livingstone and Jackson felt that this game was more imaginative than anything being produced in the UK at the time, and so worked out an arrangement with Blume for an exclusive deal to sell "Dungeons and Dragons" in Europe.

In the late 1975, Livingstone and Jackson organised their first convention, the first "Games Day". While selling game products directly out of their flat, their landlord eventually evicted them after people kept coming to the property looking for a store that did not exist. But while they were living in a tiny trailer, the two were expanded "Games Workshop" from being a bedroom mail order company to a successful gaming manufacturer and retail chain, with the first store opening in Hammersmith in 1977.

Sadly in 1976, Peake, who had no interest in the new role-playing game industry, saw that "Games Workshop" was getting more involved with RPGs and decided to leave the company.

 

In 1980, Livingstone and Jackson began to develop the concept of the Fighting Fantasy game book series, the first volume of "Fighting Fantasy" was published by Puffin in 1982. While the two co-wrote the first book together in the series, the pair began writing subsequent books separately upon receiving instruction from publishers "Penguin" to write more books faster.

In the mid 1980s, Livingstone did some design work for video game publisher Domark, and in 1993, he returned to the company, this time as a major investor and board member. In 1995, Domark was acquired by the video technology company Eidos plc, which formed the major part of the newly created Eidos Interactive. In 2005, Eidos was taken over by SCi and Livingstone was the only former board member to be retained, taking on the role of product acquisition director.

Livingstone secured many of the company's major franchises, including "Tomb Raider" and "Hitman". He has especially been with the former series since the very beginning, proudly watching as it became the huge commercial success it is today.

More recently, the Livingstone Foundation is trying to gain permission from the government to build a publish school in Hammersmith that would specialise in teaching 800 students aged 11-18 STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. The idea emerged as Livingstone, then Life President of Eidos, launched the next Gen skills campaign, which successfully lobbied government to add computer science to the national curriculum. If the Livingstone School is approved, it should open next year and begin teaching kids not just how to use technology, but how to create with it as well!

Livingstone wants to teach computer science to the next generation in a different way. He wants to move away from what he calls the "Victoria broadcast model of talk and chalk" to "actual learning". This, he says, is essential to the UK's economy, digital future and, hopefully, the video game industry. "We're educating children for jobs that don't even exist today".

Despite the fatigue I was experiencing that day as I rushed to meet a deadline for a certain school module (Same old, same old...), I really did find myself enjoying this talk and frankly found it to be rather different to the past ones I had attended. I thought it was a splendid idea that he is planning to open a school for children that teaches computer science, and I suppose I envy those children once they get the chance to enrol there.

Honestly all I really knew about Ian Livingstone before I attended this talk was his involvement with the "Tomb Raider" series, but it is pretty amazing to know how much he has contributed to the game industry over the last few decades, I am even tempted to pick up a few of those "Fighting Fantasy" books now.

James G. Wall

James G. Wall is freelancing film maker and a recent graduate from (From 2010 to be exact) Leeds College of Art. "The Truth About Romance" came out in 2013 on Youtube and was his debut feature film (After having worked on a number of short films back during his college years), it was shot over 14 days in July 2012 under a budget of only 250 sterlings.

It probably doesn't sound like much when you hear that a film was made under such a small budget in such a short period of time, but imagine that this was your first ever feature film and that you aren't actually a big name to anyone around you. Imagine how difficult it is to get an entire cast and crew to work with you until the end unless you have some decent enough connections. Image that you are still a small timer and that most people just won't even spare you any attention. Just... imagine if you had started it all on your own.

While we probably could do most of the voice acting for our own animations (If we are good enough). When it comes to films, different actors and actresses are most definitely needed. It just really helped that James already knew a fairly decent network of people to work alongside him on this project, as well as other people that specialise in other areas, such as camera work.

Promoting his film was another incredibly stressful and tiring process, which James did not let up on. When he had held his first fundraiser (Obviously for such things as travelling costs and equipment), luck was unfortunately not on his side as a bid deal charity had came out at exactly the same time, and so he had to try again a little while later when his first time failed.

Not surprisingly (Up to this point), social media played an incredibly big part, it was also through there that he had received a surprising amount of support and promoting from folks he didn't know (Even through Instagram), as compared to people he knew in real life... that unfortunately didn't give him the faith and support he really needed for such a project. 

James never stopped promoting his film, making sure that he would reach every single person he knew in life, spending late nights just emailing folks and kindly asking if they could do some preview reviews of his film (That they will of course post on their own blogs, or whatever social media they happen to use the most) too as a another way to spread the word and generate interest.

During filming, there were many issues that he and his crew had many issues to deal with, such as locations, bad weather, or even worse, when one of his actors or actresses decide to pull out at the last minute due to better offers. But despite all of that, despite how he probably groaned a little in dismay each morning he woke up after a short period of rest, James had admitted that it had probably been the best time of his life, seeing that this was after all what he had trained himself to do, and isn't that one of the most important things to remember when we push ourselves to the brink of insanity working on such huge projects? To remember that we really loved it in the first place?

While James makes more money freelancing than he did when he use to work full time, it still wasn't as easy as that from the beginning, before he could actually leave his previous job, he first had to make sure that his freelancing career would actually kick off, that there were enough folks that would like him to hire him on a more regular basis.

All in all, social media is once again known to create the biggest impact when one wishes to get themselves into their desired industry. One needs to get as many connections as possible, have a professional side to them (Especially when it comes to the social medias they reach out form), and relentlessly work away at promoting themselves.

Of course, you must also remember not to act like an overconfident douche who thinks he is better than everyone, and be courteous and respectful to everyone (Especially the professionals). It will take a lot of hard work, but it will be worth it in the end

Cannon Busters Kickstarter

I have probably mentioned this way too many times during my short time here, but I have always looked up to LeSean Thomas and saw him as a role model for when I had begun my studies in Animation. And so I was absolutely ecstatic to hear that there was a Kickstarter to create an animated version of one of his passion projects, "The Cannon Busters".

"The Cannon Busters" follows the adventures and exploits of S.A.M, a high-end, royal-class friendship droid who is joined by a quirky, discarded maintenance robot and a brash, deadly fugitive. Together, the trio embark on an unforgettable journey in a fantastic and dangerous world in search of S.A.M's best friend, the heir to a powerful kingdom under siege.

Over the past few weeks, I have seen so many big names coming in to work on this project, be they writers, animators, concept artists, voice actors... as well as folks like Peter Chung, creator of "Aeon Flux" spreading the good word. It is also recently that Eric Calderon, a writer and co-producer of "Afro Samurai" has joined as a writer for this pilot.

While my knowledge of Kickstarter remains limited, when it comes to animators or anyone in the design industry, the global crowd funding platform in a way truly helps to motivate deserving folks to bring their creative projects to life. I know the Kickstarter with the potato salad might have turned off a lot of people, but we can't forget about other amazing projects, such as Aardman's "Morph", who returned only recently for a few adorable shorts. And then there's "Urbance", an incredibly unique looking animated action series written and directed by Joel Dos Reis Viegas and Sebastien Larroude... 

It is most definitely a considerably controversial thing, seeing how easily it can be abused, by supposedly anyone (Like Amanda Palmer and Zach Braff). But then there are gems like these buried underneath all that crap... which is unfortunate for deserving folks, if they already don't have a large enough following in other social medias.

All I'm saying is, I have never been more excited for any Kickstarter than LeSean's, and I absolutely hope that it will meet its goal over the next few days! (Honestly, I would have pledged more money, but alas, the life of a student...) I don't think I have seen many artists as passionate as him, especially in the animation industry.

But yes, if you haven't already, you can back it here.

Double Negative with Chris McLaughlin

It was no surprise that this was going to be one my must-attend talks for this year, especially after I deeply enjoyed last year's insightful one with Nathan Ortiz (I might have to repost that post... because for some reason it disappeared on my blog?), and ho ho... it looks like the festival director knew of that, saving the best for last...

Chris McLaughlin is the Sequence Supervisor at Double Negative, having joined the studio in 2010. He works in Lighting TD, CG Sequence Lead and CG Sequence Supervisor on such works as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", "Paul", "The Bourne Legacy", "Fast and Furious 6" and "Rush". Most recently, Chris completed work on "Hercules" as CG Sequence Supervisor where he was responsible for all environment sequences along with the three-headed Cerberus. He is currently Sequence Supervising on next year's "Terminator: Genisys" (Yay!). But anyway back to the creature production of "Hercules".

The Nemean Lion was one of their proudest works, despite it being one of
the longest to render due to its detailed fur.

While "Hercules" (Featuring Dwayne Johnson, AKA, The Rock) might be one of their least popular works (Which is understandable considering all the other blockbusters that were released around the same time... still, I have read that it was able to beat out "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" during its third week), clearly a lot of love was put into the designs of the creatures and environments that were assigned to the DNeg crew.

Interestingly enough, the wolf from the "Bourne Legacy" was used as reference during the development of the 3 wolves, which definitely made things a little easier when it came to working on them. Needless to say, reference is incredibly important and any professional will immediately tell you the exact same thing, regardless of what you are working on. So gather as much reference as you can, gather photos, watch documentaries, just don't attempt to create something out of the blue and expect it to be good!

Zbrush sculpts were first sent over to the studio by their clients during the development of the creatures, from there, Chris and his crew begin working on these designs, to not just improve on their design (Making them not just appealing, but fiercer and more intimidating), but to also to adjust the anatomy to be more accurate. Walking/Running cycles were then used to see how realistic their movements are as well physics of their skin and fur (A little more on that later).

Previs (Or Previsualization) comes in all forms depending on what media it is being used for (Eg, storyboards and concept art). 3D animated previsualization has been used in the VFX industry since the 1980s and remains popular to this day. In a way, they resemble game cutscenes that are perfect for figuring out lighting, camera angles, etc.

Challenges involve the creation of hair/fur, water/swamp creature, realistic interaction between the actors and these effects. Several custom shaders and renderers were created even for the water and snow and hilariously a 'baby oil' shader was specially made for Dwayne Johnson himself (Seeing that he applies them throughout the movie). There were just a lot of tool that Chris mentioned during his presentation, and it was pretty hard to catch it all, but needless to say, I was awed but how much went into just the creatures alone.

Hercules had a digital double that was used clearly for more dangerous stunts or considerably impossible scenes (Particularly during the fight with the Erymanthian Boar), or when the real actor's interaction did not match the object it was interacting with (Such as the hands). They also had to keep in consideration about making sure details matched that of the actor himself, such as dirt, wounds, costumes... and babyoil.

While the Lernaean Hydra didn't have fur like the other creatures, other details were considered such as the more realistic stretching of their scaly skin (A volume rig was used for the surface of the body to do so). Not only that, a majority of the setting was also redone, using the blue screen for the environment (Seeing that swamp is mostly green anyway), the water area was actually extended, with extra details such as blood added into it. But that doesn't mean that the live shots are then deemed completely useless, they can of course be referred to when recreating that scene.

Green suited actors are also used as placements for these creatures (I'm sorry, I can't find the one that was shown in the presentation), to give the idea of weight for the actors, as miming won't always work.

And so my respect continues to grow for this studio, not just because they have worked on so many of my favourite movies, but also for the fact that they truly do go all out when it comes to what they do. A part of me wishes to learn more about VFX (To better understand the softwares used for it, especially when it comes to the brushes, shaders and renderers that are used) and perhaps get the chance to work with amazing folks like them someday, but the wiser part of me knows that that probably won't happen for awhile...

Despite their amazing contributions however, the VFX department seems to be the least respected out of all the departments in the film industry (As Mr Paul Wells so states), perhaps still being the youngest and all... 

But Chris McLaughlin also has a point, taking it as the biggest compliment when their visual effects actually go unnoticed by the viewers (Like "Rush", because that totally wowed me), they know they are doing great work, and if it helps, there are folks like us who deeply appreciate their hard work...

Slumberless

"Slumberless" happens to be another animation that attempts to mix 3D computer and stop motion together, only to be a little more successful as compared to "Etoile". The story focuses on a sleep deprived man who also continues to grieve over the loss of a loved one, one night however he is paid a visit by a strange creature.

I always heard that puppets from Mackinnon and Saunders tend to cost an arm and a leg, and so I can't really imagine how much the budget was for this animation short. If I remembered correctly, only the creature's wings were animated in 3D (Or was it the other way round?). Either way, I suppose the mixture of techniques doesn't look as awkward in this animation due to there being lesser 3D effects used, and perhaps even the dark lighting, that can better hide any possible flaws.

The ending was a little odd, I assumed that the creature was in some way a harbinger of death (Or just some scary as frag sleep fairy...), instead of helping the human fall asleep, he pretty much just puts him to rest from what I can see, in the nicest possible way at least (I mean, who doesn't mind turning into a mist of glitter and soft lights when they die?), as a way to repay him for helping him. Though I do believe that much more time and effort would have been needed if the creator had attempted a different ending where the human had lived on (The one that I have been thinking of that is).

Despite the somewhat rushed story, it still was a pretty little animation (Not surprising really especially since he was able to get high quality puppets for it), it had a nice and compelling atmosphere to it, with an effective enough soundtrack. Overall, I enjoyed it.