Elemental Magic Workshop at PennDesign

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the University of Pennsylvania to conduct my 'Elemental Magic' workshop at the PennDesign department of the school. It was an absolutely wonderful experience, and I can't say enough good things about the quality of the students and faculty and the warm welcome that they gave me! This was my first time conducting my workshop in an American University. I have previously given the workshop in Canada, Europe and Asia, and this was a great opportunity for me to bring my workshop stateside.


My workshop focuses on what I call, 'an ORGANIC approach' to visual effects animation. The premise of my workshop is that, like character animation, visual effects as well should be approached from a traditional, or 'classical' point of view, when a student of animation is first starting out. It has been well accepted in the discipline of character animation, that to become a quality 3D or 'digital' character animator, one must first learn the basic fundamental principles of classical animation. But when it comes to visual effects animation, the long history of special effects animation and the hands-on study of what makes effects elements tick, is most often completely left out of the equation.


Visual effects today is treated like a fully 'digital' discipline, and students of visual effects are taught a kind of techno worshipping, 100% computer dependent approach to creating special effects of all kinds. And from my perspective, this is why the vast majority of special effects being created today look like crap!


Of course there are so called 'digital' effects artists creating utterly amazing special effects these days. But I guarantee you, they are few and far between, and the ones who do create compelling effects know exactly what I am talking about! To create truly wonderful special effects, any artist must approach his art with a great deal of feeling, and an imagination filled with a deep understanding of the elements that he or she is attempting to recreate! The way to do this, is through the imaginative study of 'ORGANIC' elements. And that is the primary focus of my workshops. To bring the participant's imagination and attention, to a universe of visual effects information that is not found somewhere inside of a computer, but exists all around us, in the infinitely creative universe of natural phenomena all around us!


The students at PennDesign were wonderful, and dug into what I was saying! Over a period of three days, as we shared ideas and observations, each student had a chance to explore visual effects from a natural viewpoint. Each student chose a specific effects element to tackle, everything from water running from a tap, to a character punching a brick wall, to an airplane crash landing on a runway. One student did a fascinating study of 'caustic' effects, the wonderful patterns of dancing light rays that we see when we look through a body of moving water....


It was a fantastic workshop for me. I hope that the students at PennDesign feel the same way I do. It was fun and exciting. And that is a big part of what I am proposing when I give this workshop. The most exciting part of being a visual effects artist is the 'organic' approach. Playing with the elements, shooting reference videos, recreating bizarre circumstances in which specific effects might occur, burning stuff, breaking stuff and seeing what happens....this is the really FUN stuff that is a much bigger part of understanding visual effects than learning software!

Kudos to the folks at PennDesign for having me, and kudos to the students there, for really hearing me out and 'seeing what I mean', and for coming up with some killer presentations when it was their turn to show me their stuff! You guys were awesome!



And remember...We are not ‘digital’ artists, any of us. We are organic beings using digital tools. I pray that the academic as well as the professional world of animation will come to understand this fully, and change the creative language that we use to describe what it is that we actually do as animation artists. Must we put the word ‘digital’ in front of everything creative that we do, just because of the tools that we use? Me thinks not.

Coming to a city near you this year!
(email joegilland@shaw.ca for more details)

I will be bringing my Elemental Magic workshop to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on the 14th of January, and then on the 20th it's off to Harbin, in Northern China, where I will be doing another. And February looks like it will be busy as well! I'll keep you posted. I am aiming at eventually putting together workshops in larger venues where the general public and all interested parties can attend. If you have any ideas or leads on places, institutions or festivals that might like to host my workshops, please contact me directly at joegilland@shaw.ca or (250) 650-6686

R.I.P. Roy Disney

Today marked the passing of Roy Disney, Walt's nephew, and the last truly great man (as far as I'm concerned) to carry Walt's legacy. I had the great privilege of meeting the man, several times actually, during my 8 years working at Walt Disney Feature Animation. I first met him back in 1994, when I had just started working for Disney, moving to Florida after living in Ireland for three years. Since Roy owned a house in Ireland where he spent time each year, we had something in common, and we talked for a while about life in Ireland, and also about the history of animation. He was extremely humble, warm and engaging, and I liked him a great deal. The fact that he looked a lot like Walt, made it that much more interesting to talk to him. But what made the greatest impression was the complete and utter lack of bullshit that came through. He took a genuine interest in every artist that worked at Disney, and he made it abundantly clear that he admired and respected any artist who made it into the Disney studio. Read on and I will tell you who Roy Disney really was....

In the next 8 years, while I was working for Disney, I watched in horror as the studio slowly transformed itself from an incredibly supportive, creative, and exciting place to work, into a faceless corporate entity ruled by fear, lies, and the 'bottom line'. By 1998 the studio had decided on an extremely aggressive production schedule, that would have us releasing a brand new feature film every year. My take on that strategy, was that they would shoot themselves in the foot by saturating the market. And on top of the 'one feature film per year' schedule, they also began to release a ridiculous number of poorly animated direct-to-video sequels of their great classics, even further saturating the classical animation market, as well as degrading the public perception of the 'Disney Quality' that they had come to expect.

Although I was still pretty happy to be working at Disney, and we were starting production on what turned out to be the most enjoyable production I have ever worked on (Lilo & Stitch) I was disillusioned by the overall direction that the company seemed to be headed in. The 'president' of Disney animation at the time, Tom Schumacher, was in my eyes, literally dragging the studio down the tubes with his creative meddling, and bizarre production decisions. I watched aghast as tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars were thrown away on ill-conceived productions that were not followed through after countless millions were squandered. But when the studio started to falter and box office numbers began to slide, it was the hard working artists who took the brunt of it, even though they had seen the folly all along and had been trying to raise the red flag. Blame was put everywhere except where it belonged, directly on the shoulders of the profit driven suits who were making all of there decisions based on fear and greed.....

Then in 2003, Roy Disney resigned, and sent an incredible letter to Michael Eisner and the Board of Directors. In it, Roy echoed my exact sentiments of where the company was heading. Here are a couple of quotes from that letter:

"consistent micro-management of everyone around you with the resulting loss of morale throughout the Company"

"The perception by all of our stakeholders-- consumers, investors, employees, distributors and suppliers-- that the Company is rapacious , soul-less, and always looking for the "quick buck" rather than long-term value which is leading to a loss of public trust"

"The creative brain drain of the last several years, which is real and continuing, and damages our Company with the loss of every talented employee"

At that same time, Roy partnered with Stanley Gold and created the SaveDisney.com website. I'll keep this short, you can 'read all about it' all over the internet, but in short, over the next several months, Roy brought down Michael Eisner and ultimately Eisner was shamefully ousted from the company.

This all happened at precisely the same time that I left Disney and returned to Canada, to raise my son far away from the stifling corporate culture that was apparently strengthening. On my way out, I spoke to my colleagues, imploring them to get out while the getting was good. My warnings were almost word for word the same words that I read in Roy Disney's letter just months after my leaving.

And that was when I knew, that Roy was the real deal. A man of principle, willing to stand up, with his family, and fight the likes of Michael Eisner. My respect and admiration for him are of the very highest order. He was the last gasp of the true Disney legacy.

And so today I mourn a great man, and I pray that there is somebody in charge, somewhere in that massive corporate engine that is the Walt Disney Company, who can steer the behemoth in the right direction. With 'The Princess and the Frog' just coming out, it looks like the dream of the Disney Legacy, making marvelous, timeless cartoons, might actual live on. (I haven't seen the film yet, review coming shortly) And I believe that without the strength, conviction, vision and character of Roy Disney, the company may never have gotten back on track again.....

Blessings to you Roy, and to your family. As animation artists, we will carry your torch, forever. We will keep the light table fires burning, we will flip the pages, we will be true to our creative selves, and we will not allow corporate blindness to drive the creative engines of animation....