UT Portugal Digital Media ZON Monstra Animation Workshop

2 Feb 2011

Instructors from UT Austin will teach classes on animation and scriptwriting March 21-25, 2011.

The Monstra | Lisbon Animated Film Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary this March 21-27, with competitions for long, short and "super short" animation as well as special programs featuring work from Holland and Japan.

This year the UT Austin|Portugal Program will participate in Monstra by offering a pair of workshops for animated filmmakers taught by instructors from the UT Austin Department of Radio-Television-Film.

For full details, please see the Monstra Workshops section of monstrafestival.com.

3D Digital Animation
Ben Bays and Geoff Marslett
21-25 March, 10h-18h
Location: BES Arte & Finança, Marquês do Pombal

This workshop will be practical in nature and will address topics such as script, storyboard, chroma key, cartoon perspective, digital painting, 3D, rotoscoping, and compositing.

Ben Bays has produced a variety of motion graphics, digital paintings, animation and virtual worlds for commercials, shorts, features, series and interactive media for over a decade. His work has been shown on television, in theatrical release, and on various consoles ranging from the Gamecube, PS2, XBOX, GameboyDS, iPhone, and PC. His specialty in interactive media has always been virtual worlds. Bays' experience ranges from concept artist to environment lead to art lead on a variety of projects including: isometric pre-painted backgrounds, full 3D environments, 2.5D platformers, and even tile-based destructible environments. Currently, he is the In-World Composite Director at Videoranch, a persistent 3D world that delivers live, real time content of live music and video performances. He teaches Motion Graphics and Visual Effects and Computer Animation and 3D Modeling (Maya) at UT Austin as well as Modeling and Surfacing for Video Games (3DS MAX) at Austin Community College.

Geoff Marslett has directed fourteen short films and half a dozen segments for other directors’ television and film programs. His critically acclaimed Monkey vs. Robot screened at over 25 festivals worldwide, was distributed theatrically, and ultimately broadcast on HBO, PBS, and Univision. His short Bubblecraft premiered in 2006 and served as a laboratory for developing his own unique animation process and style. Marslett wrote software specifically for animating this film and later co-wrote an expanded version for his latest film, MARS.  MARS is a feature length animated, sci-fi, romantic comedy for which he was the writer, co-producer, director, and character animator. MARS was completed in January 2010. Marslett teaches in the RTF Department at UT Austin, where in 2009 he received the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.

Scriptwriting
Richard Lewis
23, 24 and 25 March, 14h-18h
Location: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Sala 1

This workshop will address story, characters, dialogue, and the structure and description of scenes.  It will emphasize interaction between the participants and the instructor as well as the production of work that will be analyzed in class.

Richard Lewis has an MFA in Scriptwriting and is an Associate Professor of the Department of Radio, Television and Film at the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked as an editor, producer, director and writer for companies including National Geographic, Channel 4, A&E, and PBS.