Job Roles Form

We had to pick what genre of job we wanted to research, my first choise being stop motion, 3D modelling for games and concept art.

Our Tim Burton Presentation Summary

How did Tim get into his career?

Tim Burton was hired by Disney in America after recognizing his production, of his short film The Stalk of the Celery Monster. They said “If we don’t hire him someone else will”. This was the beginning of Tim Burton’s career.
He worked on films such as The Black Cauldron and Fox and the Hound, However throughout his time working for Disney he did not enjoy the making of producing these characters as they lacked his creative flow and imagination. After Disney recognized where his talents really lied, they allowed him to work on his own productions of Vincent and the original Frankenweenie before realizing that his talents weren’t suited to the Disney house style and let him go. He then continued his career to make his other major productions such as Pee-Wee’s big adventure and Beetlejuice that later got him recognized as a creative genius before then going back to Disney to work on The Nightmare before Christmas, a stop motion production written and designed by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick that was worked on from 1991-93. 

Character Design is completed during pre-production and is a vital part of bringing the narrative and story alive. When designing a character, the most vital part is to allow the character to be relatable and connectible to the audience, as well as being able to express their traits, emotions and personality. A good character designer must have a firm grasp of semiotics and understanding of what parts of a character can be exaggerated to create an interesting design. A character designer (and the design they create) must hold strong from the first design until the credits of the movie, so the designer must be well versed in technical proficiencies that are generally split between several fields.

The characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas were heavily influenced by Tim Burton’s original drawings as well as the ones he created when making the film. Even Danny Elfman used the drawings that Tim made of the characters in order to better visualize the songs and lyrics. Tim’s unique design of characters didn’t sit well with Disney however as they insisted Tim should give the main protagonist eyes instead of empty sockets as it would allow the character to connect better with the audience. Ultimately, Burton proved them wrong and the design choice was perfect for the role.

Introduction to Media Roles and Practices

This project focuses upon the contemporary animation and moving image industries, and the professional roles and practices within them. You will identify and research existing industry roles, structures, and practices, exploring their future development. The unit also considers increased convergence and co-operation across media industries. You will research roles and practices within animation industries, addressing the increasingly blurred demarcations between producer and consumer, independent and mainstream, art and commercial.

 Examining how commercial considerations and new technology affect creative output and distribution, you will analyse the contemporary sector and attempt to identify future developments and trends. You will identify roles in the industry that have particular relevance to your areas of interest in animation, and subsequently begin to locate your creative practice within wider contexts in the industry. Working individually you will produce an online Research Blog that evidences self-directed research and coherent contextualization of a relevant study or particular role/practice.

You will conduct primary and secondary research of academic and industry sources using both analogue (books, journals, magazines, corporate literature) and digital (websites, e-journals, academic blogs) sources. You will be expected to historically and culturally contextualize your example.

• A Research Blog - which must contain audio/visual assets and utilize the medium’s interactivity by adding links to relevant resources. 
• A 10 minute group presentation
• Your verbal presentation should be accompanied by a digital visual aid (PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi etc) utilizing images, short video clips, and supporting text. This must be submitted after the presentation.
• A 500 word statement - that summarizes your research findings.