Delegate Desk (Morning)
When I came to do my second festival shift, I was scheduled to do my first Delegate Desk (Ticket Booth). So, as I was early (nothing to do, and I wanted to get the badges from yesterday) Jen Hall asked me to stick last-minute ticketholders QR stickers on blank passes to help her out.
After finishing sticking the passes (whilst I waited for them to be ready for me to buy the festival badges), I was put on Group Booking desk for Universities/festival staff passes. Nevertheless, I had to sort out the tangled blue lanyards before the first university arrived. But when Leeds Arts University arrived I barely was able to sort one bag of lanyards detangled, so I handed the envelope ✉ of their booked passes to their teacher. So, whilst the teacher was handing out the passes, I asked the class to come and collect a lanyard from me (that I still had to detangle). Trying my best to keep up with the student, I handed each and everyone a lanyard.
After the first university stressed me out, I keep continuing to detangle the rest of the several bags of lanyards but just then Hannah (another volunteer) came downstairs looking for her guests she had to liaison with. She couldn’t find them anywhere (probably, someone else found them or they found their own way around, Not my problem). As she was just standing around and she said she didn’t have another shift till later, I asked her if she could help me detangle the rest of the lanyards to help the process go quicker. Whilst we sorted the lanyards, Hannah & I got to know one another.
When all the lanyards were sorted and Anna (at the front desk) was not busy, I asked if I could now buy the entire collection of badges (2019-2022). Early I asked Anna if I could get this year’s badge and she said I’ll find out for you. Therefore, when Greg Walker (Festival Producer) came downstairs to do a task, I asked him if I could have this year’s badge for free because I’m volunteering at this year’s festival event. Hence, I bought the last year’s 2019-2021 badges for £30 and the 2022 badge for free.
Jen asked me to take a wire (that she handed me) to Greg at the Central Library (a few minute walk down the road) but when I got to the library Greg said, ‘he already found another wire given to him from the library staff’. But I needed a rest (sit down) after that brisk walk, listening to the intro to Danger Mouse over and over again as Greg was testing the screening clips. Afterwards, getting back to HOME Cinema, Jen told me that Greg emailed her about not needing the wire after finding the library wire, 2 mins after I left, therefore I probably didn’t need to go. Nevertheless, I thought it was useful as I needed to know the directions of where I was going for my afternoon shift at the VR Immersive Experience / Danger Mouse Screen at 4pm.
Getting back, I only had 30mins left before the end of my shift, so I was asked to be a straggler greeter to meet & greet the latecomers, if they were lost to guide them to the single ticket delegate desk (on the top floor).
Animation Mixtapes: Part 2
Ice Merchants
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
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Original Title: |
Ice Merchants |
Director: |
João Gonzalez |
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Country: |
Portugal |
Year: |
2022 |
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Length: |
00:14:00 |
Technique: |
Digital 2D |
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Language: |
Portuguese |
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I liked Ice Merchants but as I’ve got a fear of falling from heights, this animation scared me a little.
Making of Video
Of Wood
Examining the role of wood in daily life through the ages and the impact of consumerism on our lives, this unique stop-motion film is created by carving images into wood.
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Director: |
Owen Klatte |
Country: |
United States |
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Year: |
2022 |
Length: |
00:06:59 |
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Technique: |
Experimental, Stop Motion |
Language: |
English |
I really enjoyed Of Wood because of the way it was animated with stop-motion by carving into a log of wood.
Meet the Filmmakers
Slow Light
It is a story of a man who can only see the past (7 years eyes).
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Director: |
Owen Klatte |
Country: |
United States |
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Year: |
2022 |
Length: |
00:06:59 |
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Technique: |
Experimental, Stop Motion |
Language: |
English |
I enjoyed Slow Light, a stop-motion animation as the technique it was made out of, and the story was interesting.
Making of Video
Letter to a Pig
A traumatic memory from a Holocaust survivor takes a young schoolgirl on an inner journey.
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Original Title: |
Letter to a Pig |
Director: |
Tal KANTOR |
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Country: |
Israel |
Year: |
2022 |
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Length: |
00:16:47 |
Technique: |
Digital 2D, Other,
Rotoscoping, |
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Language: |
Hebrew |
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I didn’t like Letter to a Pig because I can’t keep up with animations in another language and the story plot was confusing.
Interview with Director
Miracasas
A corpse participates in a special carnival-style burial against his will. The gathered villagers celebrate the event with passion, waiting with greed for the life brought by death.
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Director: |
Raphaelle Stolz |
Country: |
Switzerland |
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Year: |
2022 |
Length: |
13:52:00 |
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Technique: |
Digital 2D, |
Language: |
Portuguese |
I didn’t like Miracasas because I can’t keep up with animations in another language and the story plot was confusing.
Interview with Director
Steakhouse
The steak has been marinating for a few days now. The pan is heated. Franc’s stomach is rumbling. But Liza’s co-workers surprise her with a birthday party. Will she be home on time?
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Original Title: |
Steakhouse |
Director: |
Špela Čadež |
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Country: |
Slovenia |
Year: |
2021 |
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Length: |
00:09:30 |
Technique: |
Cell, Cut Out, Other, Stop
Motion, |
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Language: |
Slovene |
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I didn’t like Steakhouse because I can’t keep up with the animation and the story plot was weird / creepy.
Interview with Director
Animated Immersive Experiences + Danger Mouse
VR Immersive Experience
A selection of the best in immersive animated content submitted to Manchester Animation Festival from around the world. VR and 360 films showcase brave new worlds for animation fans to explore. A free event as part of Manchester Animation Festival 2022.
During, my last shift of the day, was Danger Mouse screening and VR Immersive. As the shift was slow, I got to play with the 3 VR games/animations called:
Clap
Clapping is a way of expressing emotions by using one's own body to create sound. When people want to express their admiration, they channel their emotions into their hands and clap, with energy and feeling, even if it means withstanding physical discomfort. But does that feeling ever reach the other person? In 'Clap,' the protagonist is the target of applause, and the story unfolds from the point of view of a person clapping.
“Thread man”, the protagonist, lacks self-confidence and feels so intently that he has no redeeming features that he has shrunk to a thread-like existence. One rainy day, the thread man is walking down an alley when an empty, rusty can falls in front of him.
The can reverberates with a pleasant and amusing sound, and, taken in by it, he tries to recreate the sound himself by wearing the can on his foot and starting to dance. Of the many people who pass by the thread man, a girl notices him and stops to watch. She channels her appreciation of the sound into applause, which makes him happy, and in pursuit of more of this feeling, he becomes even more lost in the dance.
Soon a crowd of people gather around the thread man, and the sound of applause grows ever louder, though with the increased volume comes increased pressure, which troubles the thread man. Even so, he continues to dance before the audience. Eventually, feeling cornered, he tries to escape from the applause and falls into darkness. It is when he is in this darkness that you first stand face-to-face with the thread man.
Why did the thread man become scared of the sound of clapping and why could he no longer enjoy it? Why does he reject your applause, and why do your emotions not reach him? When your heartfelt applause reaches the thread man, the original meaning of clapping is restored, which signals the beginning of a beautiful sound.
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Director: |
Keisuke Itoh |
Country: |
Japan |
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Year: |
2021 |
Length: |
00:13:00 |
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Technique: |
CGI, Other, |
Language: |
Non-Dialogue (a few instructions in English) |
I enjoyed this game so much that when I was playing I was tap dancing.
Beeing (YouTube)
Climate change, environmental protection and sustainability dominate media and political affairs. The demand for increased use of public transport instead of cars is obvious. Beeing – the nature-inspired VR journey is intended to raise awareness of these topics and at the same time create an example for added value for public transportation.
Additionally, a prototype for a new content platform is being elaborated, which will also enable future-oriented developments by providing a variety of entertaining content between the train stations. The prototype presented is designed for short-distance trains in the metropolitan area of Stuttgart, Germany with an approximate duration of three minutes. The physical conditions of the train ride are reflected in VR. With this special form of customer experience, the user is to be picked-up in the real world, i.e. in the real train, in order to experience a fantastic ride that far exceeds the experience of a normal train ride.
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Director: |
Leszek Plichta |
Country: |
Germany |
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Year: |
2021 |
Length: |
00:03:12 |
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Technique: |
Other, |
Language: |
no dialogue |
This animation VR video was kind of boring as there wasn’t much going on.
VR 360 Video
Lavynthos (Labyrinth)
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Lavrynthos places you at the heart of the labyrinth of Crete to tell you the story of the unlikely relationship between the Minotaur and his next meal: a girl named Cora. A contemporary Greek tragedy paying homage to the cradle of modern dramatic theory while challenging it at the same time. Lavrynthos is a humorous take on a 3000 years old myth updating it with themes and topics that are relevant in this day and age.
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Director: |
Amir Admoni, Fabito
Rychter |
Country: |
Brazil |
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Year: |
2021 |
Length: |
00:20:00 |
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Technique: |
CGI, Motion Capture, |
Language: |
English |
I liked this labyrinth game (that scared many people who played it but not me) because the storyline was interested but it was said when the woman killed the minotaur.
Danger Mouse Screening
There were also many episodes of Danger Mouse shown at a screening that I had to listen to the theme tune on a loop when every episode started.
He’s the greatest, he’s fantastic and for one day every one of his classic adventures will be playing back-to-back at Manchester City Library. Come and join us for Danger Mouse Day, a free screening as part of Manchester Animation Festival 2022.
Who doesn’t like Danger Mouse, it complete nostalgia. I enjoy it and still watch episodes on Netflix. Watch the season on Netflix from the link below.
