Justin Murphy to produce independent animated feature film

Animator/director Justin Murphy is in the process of developing an independently produced animated feature film called "Dawgtown" .

Justin originally developed "Dawgtown" as his MFA thesis project at Academy of Art University.

The animation in Dawgtown will be traditional, hand drawn animation, but will be produced digitally with TVPaint Animation , with Background art in Adobe Photoshop , and also some CG elements (vehicles and props) .

Kickstarter page: http://kck.st/1fk6Bgs

Facebook page for the movie: https://www.facebook.com/DawgtownTheMovie


 

Dawgtown is the story of a young Pitbull named Max who is taken from his owner and thrown into the brutal world of underground dog fighting. As a competitor in the most well-funded pit-fighting organization in the world, he becomes a sign of hope to the others, and must lead them in a dangerous fight for freedom. It’s Gladiator meets Animal Farm. “I’ve been researching this subject for years,” says director Justin Murphy, “and talking with various rescue organizations. In order to protect their anonymity, I cannot name them, but they’ve been involved in some high-profile rescues, including busting up Michael Vick’s operation.” Refreshing about Dawgtown is that it is being produced in the style and technique of traditional hand-drawn animation, which audiences are seeing less and less of these days with the proliferation of CG. “This is indie filmmaking,” Murphy continues, “it’s done all the time with live action, why can’t it be done with animation? We have the talent on board, and the technology makes it affordable now. This is PG-13 material, and it deals with socially relevant issues about animal cruelty and the abuse of power.” The filmmakers are seeking to raise the $75,000 in pre-production money through Kickstarter. This will enable them to hire the actors needed for the voiceover (one of which includes an internationally known talent) and complete the storyboards for the entire film. The project runs from September 20 - October 20. A portion of this fundraising effort will go towards Pitbull rescue organization efforts.

Hand-drawn animation collections

Here are links to collections of various hand-drawn animated films that I think will be of interest to readers of this blog:


TVPaint Animation on Vimeo (various short films made with TVPaint)

TVPaint Animation blog

Cal Arts Character Animation Channel on Vimeo

Sheridan College Animation Channel on Vimeo

The Animation Workshop Channel on Vimeo

Gobelins Animation Channel on YouTube

The Peg Bar and Grill on Vimeo

2D Animation Channel on Vimeo

 


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The Story of Animation - an educational film

I saw this posted on the TVPaint Animation Forum.

Nice, humorous (slightly exaggerated) explanation of the production process.  Made as an educational piece for clients wanting to use animation who know nothing about the way animation actually produced.    A lot of production was done by students at  The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark  --



The Story of Animation from David Tart on Vimeo.

What is "The Story of Animation"?
The Story of Animation is an educational film about the process of animation. Although aimed primarily at potential animation clients, the film has something for everyone - animation students, animation artists, animation producers, and anyone who has ever wondered about how animation is made. Please see our website -

thestoryofanimation.com

The Story
The film follows the journey of "You" (the main character), a 3rd-tier technical writer who dreams of one day being a product designer. Working after hours, he creates a fantastic new product. When he presents his product to his employers, they inform him that it's up to him to create an advertising campaign for the product - an advertising campaign that must be animated. This poses a problem for "you" - he knows very little about animation, and is instantly filled with doubts, and thus his future hangs in the balance. This is where our friendly narrator steps in, to guide "you" through the process of making an animated film. Step by step, our hero's anxiety and doubts are put to rest, and in the end, he is triumphant!

The Production
The Story of Animation came about as a solution to a problem: The Animation Workshop, an animation school in Viborg, Denmark, had been graduating a great number of incredibly qualified animators, animation producers, and CG artists over the past 10 years. These artists had been forming small companies and beginning to produce fantastic work. The problem was not with the studios, or the quality of work they were producing, but rather with the clients: Most of them seemed to believe that animation was a simple, uncomplicated process, and were often disappointed to learn that there were very specific stages in the animation process that required their participation (and finances). It's almost as if they believed that creating animation was as simple as pitching an idea, and then sitting back while a couple of animators with pencil and paper goofed off, told jokes, and drank copious amounts of coffee until "wallah"! the animation was finished! Furthermore, they seemed to think that there would be no difference in cost between an animated film created in flash, 2D, stop motion, cut-out, motion graphics, or fully rendered Pixar-style 3D animation! At the time Morten Thorning, Director of the Animation Workshop approached me with the idea for the film, I was experiencing similar problems with a client in Copenhagen. In fact, I'd just spent several days creating a presentation about the benefits of using animation for an environmental messaging campaign. I was tasked with convincing a panel of scientists, sociologists, environmental activists, and architects how animation could be used to create positive, engaging, and entertaining content for environmental action messaging - no small feat!

The Team
After talking things over with Morten, it was decided that I would write and direct the project, which would be produced by Claus Toksvig of The Animation Hub, and animated at Tumblehead Studios. Tumblehead, led by Magnus Moller, did an amazing job on the film, assembling a team of character designers, animators, storyboard artists, and background artists (all graduates or current students of the Animation Workshop). Tumblehead saw the entire process through, from concept to post-production. The narrator was voiced by the awesome Richard Spiegel, and the sound design and score created by Mark Menza, whose many credits include sound designer and composer for "The Jimmy Neutron Show". Additional support was provided by Thomas Ahlmark (a veteran of many Animation Workshop productions).