Behind The Scene: Kopas The Thief

Still about the ASEAN Animation Festival 2014, this time I will share some stories about my animation project: Kopas The Thief.

So, to participate the workshop, we need to prepare an animation concept, and then the jury will pick 12 concepts, and the chosen teams will have to do some pitching.

Before we went to Bangkok, we have to prepare the slide, although we didn't know yet whether our project would be chosen or not.

Here are some slides that I prepared for the pithcing round to explain my idea.

I made the slides before the comittee sent me the template, so in the end I never used this slides (although I spent few days to design every slide). I kinda regret that I didn't use this slide and used the template because I was so afraid breaking the rule.  Lesson learned: rules are meant to be broken :p

Do whatever you think will give the best impression of your project.

And as always, I also made an amigurumi version of the character for a lucky charm.

I actually brought this amigurumi to Bangkok, but I didn't sew the eyes so I can't show it to the audience. That's the second regret.

anyway, the presentation somehow worked despite of my funny English, so I went to the next round: making the animation :)

The challenge is to finish the animation in one month, using the money they provided.  The hardest part was to look for the voice actor.  Luckily, Cak Waw introduced me to Ibnu Angga, a sound Engineer.  Mas Ibnu Angga helped me found the perfect voice actor and also edited the sound for the animation.

During that month, I still went to work at the office in the morning and working on the  animation at night.  I was very lucky it was a fasting month so I could go back from the office earlier than usual.

The animation was done like the plan, but at the same time I have a deadline from my side project.

At the night before I went to Bangkok, I barely got any sleep because I have to upload the side project with the sh*tty internet connection.  So I was in zombie mode when I went to the city tour.  I was really fun, but I was too tired to enjoy it.

There are more stories about the animation.   I will write about it again later... maybe after the November 26 ? :D

Oleh-oleh dari Seminar Asean Animation Festival di Bangkok

I want to write this post in English, so I could practice my English, cause it’s been so long since I wrote in English.  BUT…  this post is dedicated to Indonesian, especially Indonesian artist so I write this in Bahasa Indonesia.  international reader, please use the google translate :)

Pada bulan Juli 2014 di Thailand diadakan Festival Animasi Asean dengan tema Hak Cipta.  Saya beruntung menjadi salah satu dari lima orang animator Indonesia yang dikirim untuk mengikuti acara ini.  Beruntung karena tidak banyak yang tahu tentang event ini, jadi mungkin yang mengirimkan proposal pada tingkat nasional pun hanya beberapa orang.  Nah, dari beberapa orang itu dipilih 5 orang untuk mewakili Indonesia.

Jadi berangkatlah 5 orang animator ini ke Bangkok untuk mengikuti Festival Animasi Asean.  Sesuai temanya, di festival ini ada seminar mengenai hak cipta dan industri film/ animasi di ASEAN. Beberapa catatan mengenai Hak Cipta:

1.  Hak Cipta itu tidak perlu didaftarkan, otomatis dimiliki oleh yang membuat karya tersebut.

2.  Suatu karya barulah dianggap “sah” dilindungi oleh hak cipta saat karya itu “diterbitkan”.  

Diterbitkan maksudnya ada catatan yang jelas membuktikan bahwa Andalah pemilik karya tersebut.   Kalau bisa dilengkapi tanggal dan jam, serta ada saksi.  Ribet?  Tidak, contohnya bisa dengan mempostingnya di blog/ jurnal.  Tidak harus menunggu karya itu jadi, bisa juga Anda mencatat prosesnya.  Jika takut menunjukkan karya secara online kemudian dicuri, bisa juga Anda membuat catatan sendiri secara offline.  Jika kelak karya Anda dicuri, pastikan Anda punya bukti yang menunjukkan bahwa Anda yang membuat karya itu terlebih dahulu, jadi Anda bisa menuntut.  Meskipun menurut Mr. Thienchai Pinvises (sorry to call you Mr Lawyer), meng-hire pengacara bisa menambah masalah, jadi lindungilah karya Anda sejak awal.

Aturan/ hukum di tiap negara berbeda, jadi mungkin ada beberapa perbedaan.

Nah, di luar masalah Hak Cipta, yang menarik dari Festival Animasi Asean ini, kami bertemu dengan animator dari negara Asean lainnya seperti Malaysia, Filipina, Myanmar, Thailand dan Vietnam.  (Sayangnya tidak semua negara ASEAN mengirimkan perwakilan).  Kecuali Malaysia yang mungkin sudah terkenal dengan produk animasinya, dan Thailand yang industri perfilmannya cukup maju,  ternyata industri Animasi Indonesia memiliki kondisi yang hampir sama dengan negara Asean lainnya.

Dari segi kemampuan, sebenarnya animator Asean cukup baik bahkan bagus, tapi lebih banyak yang menjadi outsource bagi industri animasi di luar daripada membuat animasi yang baru.  Menurut Ms. Sopita Santitrakul hal ini bukan salah atau benar, lakukanlah apa yang Anda sukai.  

Sebagai animator mungkin Anda perlu makan dengan cara menjadi outsource, tapi sebagai artist pasti Anda ingin menghasilkan animasimu sendiri.  

Menghasilkan animasi sendiri tidak berarti membuat sendiri tapi bekerja samalah dengan orang lain.  (secara pribadi, menurutku inilah yang perlu kucoba).

Lalu pada sesi tanya jawab dibahaslah pula masalah klasik industri animasi yaitu kurangnya dukungan pemerintah, dan jawabannya klasik pula:  carilah kesempatan lain misal dengan ikut festival film, ciptakanlah "industri"mu.  Kusebut jawaban klasik karena di seminar animasi lain yang pernah kuikuti, jawabannya pun sama, padahal ngga janjian.  Tidak terbatas di industri animasi, di industri komik pun begitu.  kesimpulan: untuk maju tidak harus ada dukungan pemerintah :)

Hari kedua seminar ada penyampaian materi tentang pitching.  Jadi misalkan Anda punya ide animasi, bagaimanakah cara untuk mendapatkan dana atau memperoleh kesempatan bekerja sama.  Mungkin teman-teman yang bekerja di advertising atau marketing sudah biasa melakukan pitching, jadi lebih bisa menjelaskan arti pitching itu.  Kalau menurutku bentuk sederhana dari pitching itu  Yah… mirip-mirip dengan penjual obat, menyebutkan khasiat obat, kalau perlu demo dengan suara keras.  

Di Festival Animasi Asean ini dari 24 proposal yang terkumpul dipilihlah 12 proposal animasi untuk dipresentasikan di depan juri.  6 proposal yang lolos akan diproduksi animasinya.  Kenyataannya,  tidak semua ide (termasuk ide di luar festival ini) punya kesempatan seperti ini. jadi solusinya adalah Elevator Pitch.  Yaitu menciptakan kesempatan untuk mempresentasikan ide dengan cepat dan jelas setiap saat dan di mana saja.  Karena tidak ada yang tahu, kapan kesempatan itu ada, bisa saja suatu hari Anda bertemu sutradara favorit anda di dalam elevator yang sama.

Aku pernah lho dapat kerjaan saat sedang di mobil travel.  Kerjaan beneran dari sesama penumpang mobil travel, dan saat itu kebetulan saja aku lagi bawa portofolio. 

Istilah Bahasa Indonesianya “Kesempatan dalam Kesempitan”, mungkin kedengerannya ngga enak, seperti oportunis banget.  Tapi seperti wejangan teman saya, Indri:  “Keberuntungan adalah kesiapan yang bertemu dengan kesempatan”.  Jadi selalu bersiaplah menyongsong kesempatan :)

Next post: My Animation Proposal.

Europeonscreen is coming again!

It's gonna be May soon, I'm so excited cause there will be an European Movie Festival or Europeonscreen.

It became my yearly agenda since 2 years ago, when I moved to Jakarta.  At that time, I haven't adapted to the cost of living in Jakarta, everything is so expensive. But then I heard about Europeonscreen, the screening of European Movies, and we can watch it for free.

I didn't think twice, I went to the festival because it's free. At that time, I wasn't a fan of festival movie, cause I thought festival movies are always some kind of hypnotizing movies that will take me to the dreamland. But the movie I watched on Europeonscreen changed my mind.  Although some of movies are hard to understand, (honestly, I slept during the screening of Police:Adjective), but the movies were never failed to amaze me, whether the European culture, scenery, the people and of course the story. So different, but the differences are charming.

Last year my favorite movie was Parade, so I'm looking forward to this year's Screening.  As a veteran audience of Euroscreen, let me share some tips to enjoy this event.

1. check the schedule and venue location.

it's almost impossible to watch every movie. so you have to prioritize the movie that you want to watch the most and later watch the other movie on the same venue at the same day.  It's Jakarta, you can't predict the traffic, so instead watching 2 movies on different venue, you can save your time by watching 2 or more movies on the same.  the other reason is because the tickets are limited and you have to wait in line an hour before the screening.

2. Check the genre and read the synopsis.

if you are a newbie who think "festival movie" are "boring movie", I suggest to watch comedy, romantic comedy, or family movie. I fell in love with European movie after watching the comedy.  Choose the genre wisely and read the synopsis before watching the movie, cause there are always some twisted or inexplicit movies, it's really help to understand the movie so you can enjoy watching it.  Don't forget to check the rating! 

3. Don't be on time

Be on time is not enough, the better you come to the venue, the better experience you have.  By coming earlier, you can reserve your own ticket, and you can take a look around at the venue.  You can reserve for your friend too, but to be fair, it's better if your friend come earlier too right?

4. Pick the best seat

different venue, different "best" seat. the screening room door will be open few minutes before the screening begin, don't be late so you can get the best seat.

if you are watching with your friend please don't book seats for your not yet arrived friend. you will be the one seen as the devil not your friend.

5.  Eat.

very important: this is not a commercial theater, you can not eat the snack/ food during the screening. some venue also forbid eating inside the building, so please pay attention to the rule.  I'm suggesting to bring snack so that you may eat while waiting for the screening, or after the screening.  Because if you were planning to watch 2-3 movies on the same day, you will have to wait in line after the movie is over, and you might won't have enough time to buy food at the food stall.   Or you can ask your friend to buy the food while you take the ticket.  During Euroscreen there are usually some food stall too, so you won't get hungry unless you forgot to bring money.

6.  Be Patient.

if you are watching Euroscreen with your friend then waiting is not a problem (unless you have to take care of your friend's bag while he/she in the rest room. don't be evil, don't let your friend wait for you).  There are usually about an hour break before the next screening, you can go to rest room, buy food at the food stall, have a chat, staring desperately at your mobile phone screen or.. you can read. Personally, I prefer knitting while waiting.

7.  Stretching.

to be honest, most venue don't have that comfy seats, so sitting about 2 hours for the screening could result back pain. So while waiting, you might need to do some stretching, and try not to sit too long.

8.  Bring some shawl/ jacket

sitting still in a room with air con for 2 hours?  well, better prepare a jacket than go to rest room during the screening especially when you planning to watch all day long or watching the open air screening at night. Oh and do bring tissue, just in case your nose can't stand the AC or the wind.  And of course to dry your tears for your manly tears :)

9.  Mind the rules!

This could be the most important thing.  Basically the rules are the same as the rule in commercial theater.  Please turn off the mobile phone, do not talk during the screening.  What's different is do not eat or drink inside the theater.  I think we could easily break the rule at the commercial theater, but this time, please do obey the rules, seriously.

10. Keep open minded

The movies on Euroscreen show different culture, or different thought, different theme or different way of storytelling, sometime it's amazing, but sometime just too hard to accept.  keep open minded, so you can enjoy the movie.

Extra tips: don't bother inviting or even forcing your friend to accompany you to watch, cause you wouldn't want to hear your friend complaining afterward. There are a lot of advantage you can get by going independently, like choosing your own movie list based on your schedule.

See you on Europenonscreen 2014!

Hellofest 9

There is less than 2 months before 2014.
It's been an exciting year.  I'm still expecting a few more "fireworks" before the 2013 is over.
But last week's fireworks was so exciting that I think it's already safe to say that it's an awesome year!

I spent my last weekend at Hellofest, the biggest pop culture festival in Indonesia.
One of my animation, Lulu, was screened on a big screen by the swimming pool, with about 4000 audience.

That was a very awesome moment, I wish I made a better animation to show, cause there were 102 movies which were screened that night.  My animation just one of it, and the other movies are so good that I wanna watch them all over again.

Oh,  and there was also my 8 seconds movie, screened that night. The title was Simalakama.
Here's my ID card for the Hellofest. 

 There are also "kartu voting" or voting card, to vote the favorite animation and movie.  I didn't return the cards since I wanna keep it for souvenir. But I'm so glad that my favorite animation "Sang Suporter" and my favorite movie "Bank Note" still won. 

The day before the Hellofest, as one of the finalist, I got a free invitation to the "Hellofest Masterclass".   The contributors were Kieran Argo and Jun Awazu.  I learn and found out many things from them about movie festival and producing animation.  I feel like I found another purpose in my life as an animator.  
After being an animator for years, I thought there was nothing more that I could do, but now there is! And it's gonna be a long way, so I better start now.

A film cut from Jun Awazu's Negadon. He gave it away after the Negadon's screening as a souvenir to the audience.

Oh by the way, I didn't win, but I already feel happy for this exciting experience. It's priceless.  I hope I can do better in the future and participating again on the next hellofest. Thanks Hellofest :)

NomNom and the BIAF award

I was participating on a short animation idea competition held by BIAF (Baros Animation Festival).  So I made a story, design character, storyboard, and of course the concept of an animation.  The theme was deforestation and reforestation.
The character for my animation named NomNom, a monster who lives in the forest and eat everything. He can eat as much as he can, and once he started, he can't stop before everything is gone.
the same problem with deforestation,  the deforestation major cause is actually not illegal logging but the greediness, and we (who live in the city) share the same responsibility as the people who cuts the tree.
NomNom eat more than he needs and before he realize, everything has gone.  Pretty similar to what happen to human.  NomNom is a cute monster, and human could also become a monster.  So Are You a NomNom?
I designed the short animation as a part of a campaign, so I also designed a website too.
all this was just a concept, if you are an organization or institution who concern about environmental issue and you are interested to funding or working together to make this project comes true, please contact me :)

NomNom and the trophy

the animation sample were made in 2D, but there's a possibility that it could be done using stopmotion.

NomNom and The Forest.

The forest is designed like a wide cloth that could be pulled like a blanket

the website design,  there are actually some more pages.  it's just a dummy, I just grab some logos of the organization and institution who are concern about environmental issue.

That's me... Me... Me!

it's just the semifinal, I don't have the confindence that I will be on the final so...
I won't wait for the next moment of fame, cause the chance is low.
Let's celebrate that I'm on the Hellofest's animation competition semifinal with my 6 animations.
quantity over quality and I'm proud of that.

PS: sorry for being lame :p

Hiro My Hero

I made this animation for Axa Short Movie Competition.  Tonight is the awarding night.  I failed at the very beginning so I don't really care who's winning, cause I'm definitely lost.   I'm still in denial, I know my animation is not extraordinary, and I know it wouldn't win but... ah forget it I'm not a good looser.

the theme is: Saya Berani (I am brave or I Dare).  Since the competition was held by AXA, that insurance company, I was looking for some kind of stupidity bravery which result siliness (and damage) but still got covered by the insurance.  The inspiration come from my sister who was once collapsed after bitten by my dog.  I must admit the final story is not really fit the theme, but I had a lot of fun making story about dog.

as you can see, I only use red, white, blue and brown for the whole animation.  very "AXA".  and again, it's not the "AXA"ness that they are looking for.  it's your lost, AXA :P

Playing with the Eximus Ultra Wide and Slim Camera

Few weeks ago I went to Malang with the new extended family.
Specially for this occasion, I bought an Eximus Ultra Wide and Slim Camera.

it's green, my favorite tone of green.

After using digital camera for years, it's weird to use film camera again and unable to see the result before the whole roll processed.  I didn't even know whether I used it correctly or not.  I already forgot all the photography basic and just blindly shot everything. when everybody else already posted and shared their pictures, I still have to wait some extra days to find the place to process the film. it's exciting, just like waiting for the Christmas day to open the gift.  Here's the result:

Batu Secret Zoo

my favorite pic: the sugar cane field

the result is not really that special cause the object itself already interesting, the objects still look good captured by a normal camera phone.  There are some failed pictures because of lack of light, cause there's no flashlight. And there are also some other amateur mistakes but turn out to be interesting pictures.

me taking a picture of my sister taking a picture of her husband taking a picture of an elephant

Haunted mansion with a... ghost?  no, that's my dad :p

something you won't get when using digital camera

Sea of Inspiration

The Beach and The sea always be my favorite scene to draw.  I don't know how many time I made designed (never being animated) animations with the sea as the background.

like this one I found from my archive. It's one of the illustration for an animation I never made.  Despite its bright scenery, the title was "dear tortoise" and the story was about a griefing hare.  it's too sad that I don't want to finished the script.

 

"Dear Tortoise"

And then, There's also "ke laut yok" (let's go to the sea).   I originally designed the character for comic, but later published it as comic strip. I though of making the animation version (more like a music clip), but back then I was busy working on college assignment. The story was about three teenagers found a boy who is stranded in an island and there's no logical explanation of how.  

 

  Ke Laut Yok

The story inspired another animation I made together with my friends.  The animation title is "Si Bodoh" and of course 90% of the story changed into a very different animation.  too bad my hard disk drive was stolen, I don't have the copy of "Si Bodoh" :(

The animations was very rough, we work in a team of four with different style of drawing, and we were a total amateur.  Thanks to the solid team work and good presentation, we got A.

The latest one is "Cece & Cece", animation for my sister's wedding invitation.  Last year on her birthday, she asked no gift but an animation for her wedding.  My sister's fiance's name is Caesar who is called "Cece", and my sister's name is Severine, who is called "Cece" too by our nephew.  it was started as a prank, my nephew who was 1 years old back then called me "Cici" cause he can't say my name, so I taught my nephew to call my sister as "Cece" cause it's resembled Caesar's nickname (they were just started dating back then and of course she asked for this animation after they got engaged, about two years later)

Cece and Cece

The first animation  design was like the above, cause I wanted to make some experiment using black and pink, and the theme was the same as the wedding: the sea.  She asked me to make the animation since October but all I made was that picture.  I didn't have inspirations for the story.  I could think of various slapstick story or cheap romantic story, but I don't think it fits my sister image, and of course I don't want to be rude to my future brother in law.  so I didn't use this design at all and totally change it few days before the deadline :p

There are actually more animations with sea or water or beach theme that I ever made, but I will safe it for the next time.

AgentC- backgrounds and icons design

at the late 2011 I designed some backgrounds and icons for a mobile game for Adhi.
back then I didn't know the title yet, but more or less I was told that it was going to be some type of pet game.
Few days ago, I e-mailed Adhi and found out that the game is already published (many times ago).  You can download the game here.
though before this project, I have spent my last 4 years designing game assets, I rarely got task to design game background.  and just look at my animations, I rarely put any backgrounds on it.  so I found this job challenging yet fun to do.  Cause, I never thought I could do background designs before.

This is one of my favorite cause I love the purple-ish sky, and the balcony.

PSA: Beruang Putih

Beruang Kutub from dessy TAB on Vimeo.

it's the last PSA animation I made using my belated netbook last year.
yes, netbook.
the animation begins with the Polar Bear naration "Were I a Polar Bear"
it tells how the polar bear angry at those who takes part on damaging the environment.

Doodling Daisy

something fresh from the oven :)

I'm in mood to draw in pastel colors

Rejected design: a chef animated gif

I'm crazy about contest, that's not a secret. I  lost so many times, so I no longer cry everytime lost.

this one is exception, I wasn't sad, I was furious!

this gif were made for a design contest, they asked for an animated gif of a chef "baking up a new site".  the contest holder change the brief multiple times.

up to this day,  I still can't get it why I was lost since the winning animation is fugly. it's my very honest and objective opinion.

I made this animation using inkscape and photoshop.

Rejected design: a cat illustration

Again, from the archive, an unpublished design.
rejected design, it was an illustration for a birthday party.
no.. it's not my birthday, read it carefully, it's 20-10-2012, not 20-12-2012 :)
tho it is rejected I kinda proud of this illustration, since I'm not a big fans of feline.

From the Archive: Game Design

while I wasn't actively design many things at the past few years, I actually have some artwork that I haven't share.  Like this one.  I made this at 2011 as a test to be a game artist in a game studio. The test was to design a background for fighting game and one character design.

as you can guess, I was inspired by Venetia, and the masked hero is of course based on Venetian masquerade party.  Believe me or not it was the first time I draw a full background from scratch.  I love the moon. (fyi, I passed the test, but foolish me became to greedy).

Below, is another test for another game studio.  The test was to make a character design.  the studio didn't even reply my e-mail T-T.  No hard feelings, anyway.

by the way, I also made some icons and background for a real game, but since I haven't ask permission to publish it here I can't share it yet.

Oh, if you have any game project and need to design some game asset, do not hesitate to contact me ;)

The Animator has return!

when I was reviewing the past year, I felt dillemmatic cause at one side it's been a very good year for my crafting activity, but at the other side, I've been a very passive designer.
I just waste my 2012 by doing nothing as a designer.
(Oh, I got paid as a designer/ animator/ visualizer whatsoever in a company, but it doesn't  count for some particular reasons)
So I was very happy when I was commisioned to make animation for Cyrosella earlier this year.  it's a short project but it's love, cause all I can say is I Love Love Love doing this job.
it reminds me how I love making animations.  and the best part is I can proudly say, I'm back.  The animator has return :)

Thanks Cyrosella for trusting me.
and thanks nicotina for the great song

Crochet meet visual design

I more likely to introduce myself as a knitter or animator than a graphic designer.  I don't have such confidence to be called a graphic designer.  However, for the Worldwide Knitting in Public event, I tried to give my best designing skill instead of selling my amigurumi (crocheted doll).
I will meet a lot of knitters, probably the best of the best Indonesian knitters, they could easily make amigurumi, if they wanted to.
so, this time, I designed various printed pattern/ guide. to make it more appealing during the bazzar, I designed the display too.

I use a woven basket from Cikini Train Station for the base, then add some recycled boxes to place the items.
it was basically coffee box I collected, then covered it with brown paper (called samson paper).  and instead of using glue, I sew it on using hot pink thread.

I also add some hot pink crocheted lace to make them cuter and to fit my blog identity. Then finally add some printed label for additional informations.

I had some extra days to make a neon green amigurumi with pink nose to guard the items.  and of course he has to knit for the worldwide knit in public event :)

wanna meet the neon green man?
come to the Worldwide knit in public Bazzaar at Museum Tekstil Jakarta,
June 17th 2012 starting from 9 AM till 4 PM.
I will be collaborating with my colleague from Gondangdia Afterwork.

Picmonkey: a free online photo editor

since I moved to Jakarta, I got more time to spend for photoshop but less time to take picture outdoor.

tho I have plenty of time, there would be many more reason not to take pictures outside, it's Jakarta!

compared to the pictures I took last year and the years before, the background of my pictures lately are too predictable, that's why editing picture become essential.

the bad news is I don't have photoshop in my netbook.  I installed GIMP but editing picture using a 10 inch netbook is tricky.

Now I know why people love instagram!

then again, I don't have real smartphone to even try instagram.

thankfully, there's PicMonkey, a free online photo editor.

it's easy to use (even for a photoshop dummy)

go... go try it, there's no registration required :)

ah... so Hipster!

enjoying my every second

5 months since I moved to Jakarta, I think I'm getting used to my job now.

everyone is nice, at least I don't find anybody to hate (that's good right?)

about the job... it's true that I almost resigned right after my probation's over.

it's not my dream job, I kinda wish I could be somewhere else.

I still think that the room I rent is too expensive and too d*mn HOT.

but in the end, I decided to stay.  Stay working, stay living in the same room,

I don't know what other's been thinking, that's the least thing I care.

Basically, nothing changed except me.

really, nothing's changed. I'm still working the same job (with the same salary, if you really need to know), living at the same room without TV, AC and spring bed.

I only try to enjoy my every second. that's all.

I was kinda frustrated cause I can't bring my computer to Jakarta, but lately I enjoyed drawing.

something I rarely do after I graduated.

Please don't ask if I love my job right now, cause I don't know, I don't want to know.

my parents seem happy that I keep my job, and I have to looked happy too. 

I smile a lot, looked like a real happy person and yes, I'm happy. I really am :)