Ballyfermot College of Further Education and Trinity College launch Collaborative Animation Short Movie
Posted on: 28 October 2011
An animated short movie ‘The Last Train’, that was made as part of the Animation Hub, a collaboration between staff and students of the Irish School of Animation (ISA) at Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE) and Trinity College’s Graphics, Vision and Visualisation Group (GV2), and the animation studio Giant Creative formed by BCFE graduates, was launched this week (October 26th). The event which is part of the Innovation Dublin 2011 festival, took place in the Anna Brett Hall in Ballyfermot College of Further Education’s Media Building where the Principal of BCFE, Maureen Conway and TCD Provost and Dr Patrick Prendergast jointly launched it. Representatives from the Irish Film Board, Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Irish animation studios were also in attendance at the launch.
BCFE Principal, Maureen Conway said: “This project provided a unique opportunity for student s from both institutions to work together in the combination of artistic and scientific skills leading to a creative learning experience for all.”
The Animation Hub that received support from the Irish Film Board and Science Foundation Ireland, ran for three months over the summer and involved Giant Creative working with animation and computer science students. Together they created a one minute animated short, fusing motion capture techniques with naturalistic 3D character animation, a similar technique to that employed by recent Ballyfermot graduate and Oscar winner Richie Baneham on the film ‘Avatar’.
Commenting on the project, Programme Leader of the BA (Hons) Animation at BCFE, Gareth Lee said: “This was an exciting project to be involved in. All of the students gained valuable experience working on a high-end short film using cutting edge techniques.”
“The result of this exciting collaboration is a showcase of the best of both institutions in the area of Creative Technologies,” continued Trinity’s Professor of Visual Computing, Carol O’Sullivan.
The credit list for the film, which is about a man being chased by an unrelenting force, is as follows:
Producers: Professor Carol O’Sullivan (TCD) and Gareth Lee (BCFE)
Technical Advisor: Shane Whelan (BCFE)
Directors: Alex Sherwood, Ben Harper and Sean Mullen (Giant Creative)
Sound Advisor: Franziska Prendergast (BCFE)
3D Animation and Modelling Students: Mark Fisher (BCFE) and Owen Maloney (BCFE)
Motion Capture Students: Amy Davidson (TCD) and Kenneth Ryall (TCD)
The partnership is part of Trinity’s Creative Arts, Technologies and Culture Initiative, an initiative to spearhead a dynamic new approach to innovation by promoting the generation of new ideas, creative practice, connections and programmes across the Arts and Sciences, and between the City and Trinity. (www.tcd.ie/catc).