The Interview - brought to you by The Animation Workshop

The Interview

The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark, is one of Europe's leading animation schools, perhaps the best English-language animation school outside of North America. It's a hugely creative place, packed with energy and life, full of talented students doing their best to learn animation and, in their final year, make their own mark on the industry with a stunning short film. This year is no exception.

One of this year's most successful films is Interview, a funny and surprising film with a delicious twist. Two of its creators, Mikkel Okholm and Mikkel Brons-Frandsen, talked to FLiP about how it came about.

What Is Wrong With The Global Development Organisation?

What Is Wrong With The Global Development Organisation?  is a short film project executed by a group of my students, mostly at Bucks New University (my day job), but also including talent from my online school, www.animationapprentice.org.

The film was a private commission from an individual who experiences day to day the problems set out in the film, and who wanted to find a way of expressing those problems in a way that would be fun and entertaining - but with a serious message. She wants to remain anonymous because, as she put it, "if you win an Oscar I will get fired".

Endtrip from Holland

Endtrip is the work three graduate students from University of the Arts Utrecht (HKU), Koen de Mol, Olivier Ballast, and Rick Franssen. It is freaking amazing.

Endtrip from Endtrip on Vimeo.

The flimmakers describe Endtrip as "an animated short film in which we experience a breathtaking trip through the bizarre and fantastical unconsciousness of a drug overdosed girl. This visually stunning journey offers a stereoscopic 3D glimpse into the extraordinary and strange workings of the mind. Reality and fantasy become intertwined into a dream where nothing is as it seems and we can only expect the unexpected."

The Animation Workshop - a student's view - by Mikkel Brøns-Frandsen

Kwaidan - 2nd year trailer project - animation by Mikkel Brøns-Frandsen

Mikkel Brøns-Frandsen is a third-year student at the Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark. He is graduating this summer, having spent three years studying animation at one of the leading animation schools in Europe. FLIP asked him what life had been like at TAW, and how well his studies have prepared him for finding work in the animation industry.

Marc Stevenson on The Animation Workshop

The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark

Marc Stevenson is an animator with a huge wealth of experience in the visual effects industry, having worked on many successful films including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moon, X-Men, and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Marc recently took time out from VFX work  to teach at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark, one of Europe's leading centres of animation excellence. In an interview with FLIP Marc talks about his new experience as an animation instructor.

Why do the movies look so flat? - Cinematographer Barry Gross explains

The end of film?

Is it just me or has something weird to happened to the movies recently - why do they all look like TV shows? Here at FLIP we're no experts on live action cinematography but something has definitely changed in the way that movies are filmed. We asked professional cinematographer Barry Gross to explain what's up with cinema and why everything looks so....odd.

How to Make an Animated Film

One of the biggest challenges for an animator is to tackle a short film project. Most working animators don't - they're usually too busy. But at the best animation schools, students usually tackle a group film project in their graduation year. Short films are a ton of work and they present a huge variety of film-making challenges.

Georgia Woods, Bullying, and Cyber Mentors

I have been doing some teaching lately at Bucks New University and I came across this excellent short film done by a recent graduate of their Animation and New Media course. The film is by Clare Hunt and is narrated by Georgia Woods, a 13 year old girl who was subjected to cyber bullying at her new school.

The film packs a surprisingly strong punch for a student film and it shows how animation can be used not just to entertain but to tackle important social issues. I also love the simple animation style - which does exactly what it needs to do.

--- Alex

Space Stallions!

Another awesome student film from The Animation Workshop - the hilarious Space Stallions, produced by another talented crop of recently graduated Danish film-makers. I have been coming to teach at the Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark for many years now, and I always love coming back; the school has a terrific energy and has become one of the best places to study animation in Europe. All classes are conducted in English, and international students are welcomed. The school has recently added a CGA (computer graphics art) course with a strong emphasis on technical skills, and the CG artists work together with the animators in their third year to produce a "bachelor project" - a final year film which aims to combine excellent animation and story telling with a high level of technical skill. Every year the films seem to get better and better, and the recent results speak for themselves. Enjoy! - Alex