Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/28735
higher learning By BARBARA ROBERTSON BarbaraRR@comcast.net Common ties B ERLIN, GERMANY — Berlin, 2009. A three-room flat stuffed with ani- mators, directors, computers, desks Former students build a tight bond as they help create an award-winning animation. and tables, and everyone working on Studio Soi’s The Gruffalo, a BBC television special. The award-winning studio had rented the space in part to attract talented animators more interested in working in Berlin than in the company’s Ludwigsburg studio.And they did, starting with Animation Mentor gradu- ate Max Stöhr.We talked with Stöhr and three other Animation Mentor alumni who signed on for the show. Stöhr introduced Tobias von Burkersroda, also an alumnus of Animation Mentor, to di- rectors Max Lang and Jakob Schuh.And, von Burkersroda introduced two Mentor Choice Award winners that he had met: Maciej Gliwa from Poland and Alli Sadegiani from Sweden. Fast-forward to 2010. At the Annecy In- ternational Animated Film Festival and Mar- ket: The Gruffalo wins best TV special.The film receives a (BAFTA) nomination for best short animation and makes the Oscar nomi- nation shortlist for Best Animated Short Film. Other awards and noms follow. While the Animation Mentor alumni are justifiably proud of the awards, they truly treasure the time spent together with the other animators who worked on Gruffalo. “One of the special things about Gruffalo was the vibe in the studio,” says Gliwa, who is now at PDI/DreamWorks. “We had a blast,” adds Sadegiani.“None of us know actually what it was, but there was a chemistry.We became best friends. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.” COMING TOGETHER In 2007, Stöhr was working as a freelance animator when Studio Soi hired him to lend a hand with the pitch for The Gruffalo. “I helped out on one of the shots and did some fixes,” he says.“But, they remembered me.” Stöhr, who is from a tiny village in Bavaria near Munich, was born to be creative. His great-grandfather, Max Pitzner, made a living by painting. His great-great-aunt studied with Matisse. But he wasn’t interested in creating fine art. Instead, he thought he might try graphic design or filmmaking, and with this in mind, he attended an open house at the Ger- man Film School.“It was the right decision,” he says. “That’s where I discovered anima- tion.” He also met von Burkersroda; the two worked together on short films. After graduation, Stöhr began working as 48 Post • April 2011 a freelancer but discovered that he didn’t want to be a generalist.“I wanted to do ani- mation only,” he says. “Tobi [von Burker- sroda] had started at Animation Mentor a half-year before. It seemed the logical step.” when pursued by a fox, contrives a story about a creature called a Gruffalo. “Gruffalo director Jakob Schuh had come from a 2D background, so he liked the Ani- mation Mentor workflow, whereby you con- The Gruffalomade Oscar’s shortlist. Von Burkersroda had fallen in love with cartoons as a kid, but like Stöhr, hadn’t con- sidered becoming an animator. “I was into games,” he says. He happened to see a short CG film from the German Film School and was inspired. After high school, he enrolled at the German Film School. “In the beginning,when we were studying 2D, I didn’t want to animate because my drawing skills were not that good,” von Burkersroda says. 3D animation was more interesting to him, so in addition to classes at the school, he subscribed to Keith Lango’s tutorials. Following graduation, he did mandatory civilian service. “I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m losing nine months,’” he says.To di- minish the impact of those nine months, he enrolled in Animation Mentor in 2006. When The Gruffalo was green lit, Stöhr and von Burkersroda were the first anima- tors Studio Soi hired, and they received credit as lead animators for the project.“We started doing some of the blocking in Janu- ary,” von Burkersroda says. “Then, in about three weeks, we started with the animation. Max got the mouse. I got the fox and did walk cycles to find the animation style for the characters.” For those unfamiliar with the 30-minute animated short, it is based on the children’s book of the same name.The story of The Gruffalo centers around a mouse, which, www.postmagazine.com centrate on the poses and plan your shots.” In March, animation began with Stöhr, von Burkersroda, and the directors in the little Berlin studio. When the directors asked if the two ani- mators could recommend others for the project, von Burkersroda suggested Gliwa and Sadegiani. Von Burkersroda and Gliwa had met at FMX, an animation/VFX conference held yearly in Germany. “I wanted to do anima- tion,” says Gilwa.“But, I couldn’t find a school. So, there was a time when I thought, maybe I should become a lawyer (he comes from a family of them!) I even started to study law, but after a half-year, I knew, that’s not for me.” Gliwa quit law school and found a school in Warsaw that taught computer science and multimedia. “I learned about program- ming, but they were not good at teaching animation,” he says. Gliwa taught himself enough to land an internship with Polish television.When he discovered Animation Mentor, he quit that job, moved back home, and began studying animation. “I took my chance,” Gliwa says.“It was a good decision. I had been trying to learn software programs. I didn’t know animation was about principles and not about pro- grams.” When he finished, he flew to San continued on page 50