Animated Exeter 2013 – Event Preview
Animated Exeter takes place 18th – 23rd February 2013, at a number of venues in and around Exeter. This year the festival’s theme ‘State of Play’ is gaming, and the 2013 festival will be a completely new experience. The festival will be packed with fabulous gaming ideas; from game jams and theme nights, to a specially commissioned participatory game through the city, run by Slingshot – the brains behind Bristol’s Igfest.
Both the gaming and VFX industries are recruiting and talent scouts from Mind Candy and Double Negative will be visiting Animated Exeter. Students can book a 1 to 1 session with a professional and there are opportunities to showcase their work through Animated Exeter’s film competitions and games events.
Some of this year’s festival highlights include:
Double Negative
A presentation by Britain’s award-winning Visual FX house whose portfolio includes Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, for which they won an Academy Award, Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 & 2, will be giving a presentation discussing recruitment opportunities for students plus, hugely exciting, one to one Surgeries 12 midday onwards for animation students.
Mind Candy
The entertainment company behind Moshi Monsters will be talking at the Careers Day about animation for gaming, and holding a Game Jam. This will be their first appearance in the South West.
Late Night Bakshi at the Bike Shed Theatre features Coonskin, a satirical look at racism, stereotypes and blaxploitation in 1970s America.
Slingshot
The company that make games; from mass participation spectaculars to mobile phone adventures will be coming to share their game design expertise. For Animated Exeter they have created a street game, Time Winders, where players will race against time to save the destruction of Exeter’s timeline. Find out how they create their ideas.
Game City Night
An after dark exploration of videogame culture, fusing intimate developer presentations with a relaxed and accessible atmosphere. The evening will feature the GameCity Arcade, free exhibition space for independent developers to get their work in front of crowds for promotion and/or play testing. Titles exhibited at each GameCityNights tour stop will feature in Edge Online.
Dragonframe
Dragonframe are introducing their stop motion software at the festival and bringing plenty of prizes with them. Dragonframe was used in Paranorman and Frankenweenie to exquisite effect, and this will be a chance to meet the developers and learn about their visual timeline editor, integrated lip-sync, advanced DMX lighting (99 separate channels), motion control and much more.
Show Me The Animation will be presenting three new companies: Stripey Bird, Rumpus Films and another (TBC) who will be able to give tips on starting up in the industry.
For young children (and older alike!) a retrospective of films from TVC, the company behind The Yellow Submarine and Snowman, includes Grandpa, an adaptation of John Burningham’s popular book, and screen versions of Beatrix Potter’s beautiful books.
Director of Photography masterclass – An in-depth interview about the skills of specialist stop-motion camerawork. Tristan Oliver talks with Helen Brunsdon about his work as Director of Cinematography on animation features including ParaNorman, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Curse of the Were Rabbit.
Plus, Alan Gilbey will be present with his excellent writing masterclass.
To find out more about the festival, and a comprehensive list of what’s on, visit the Animated Exeter website.
You can book ticketsby telephone: 01392 667080 or online at http://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk (booking fees apply online).