Puppets for film animation
About workshop
Description of Animation Workshops
In 2008 we offered our first workshop on making puppets for film animation because of the rich tradition in this country and a high level of interest from former students of our marionette carving workshops. Students meet professionals working in all aspects of puppet film animation. The teachers explain techniques of designing and making a stop motion puppet film - including the unique technology of the Czech armature. Students spend two days in the Hafan Film studio, a professional animated film studio, making test films.
Professional film-puppet designer Zdar Sorm leads students through the process of building a puppet, metallurgist Milan Vins demonstrates how the traditional Czech armature is welded, and animators from Hafan Film Studio help students in animating and filming. Other topics will include film equipment, computer technology, the current status of film animation in Europe, and the evolution of the Czech film animation puppet.
After the Animation 2 workshop in May, students will also have chance to visit the ANIFEST festival in Trebon, Czech Republic, one of the largest film animation festivals in Europe.
Do I keep my puppet?
At the Animation workshop students will work with puppets (armatures) borrowed for the duration of the workshop. They will keep all parts, that they construct during the workshop, but NOT the borrowed armature. Students have the option to purchase the professional armature for an additional cost of about 600 Euros.
Daily Schedule
The daily schedule is intensive: students work eight hours per day with morning sessions consisting of short lectures and afternoons for practical work.
The workshop includes 2 and half days of creating pilot films in the Hafan film studio, one day in latex studio creating latex hands, one afternoon in metallurgist studio to observe how an armature is created and one afternoon film editing on PC. The rest of the time student are learning more about puppet design and making wooden prototypes of heads, bodies and legs for their own puppets.
Who is the course designed for?
It is an ideal opportunity for animation students, professional animators, and artists who want to learn Czech method of creating a puppet for film animation. Click here for Comments from former students.
Students will be selected on the basis of their experience, and all applicants should send photos or their work with the application. There will be a maximum of 9 participants.
Workshop fee
14,000 Czech Crowns for tuiton
OPTIONAL: Students can purchase armature for an additional 15,000 Czech crowns
Price includes all materials. For actual exchange rate see here.
To confirm place in the workshop, applicants must send a deposit (details will be sent upon acceptance).
Accommodations/Food
The fee does NOT include accommodation during the workshop.
Accommodations with shared bathroom facilities can be arranged for participants in Pension Jana, a comfortable hostel located in a residential area a five minute walk from the workshop. The price is about 400 Czech crowns (approximately 14 Euro per night) for a double room, 520 Czech crowns (approx. 19 Euro) for a single room (includes breakfast), or 350 Cz crowns for a dormitory room. For more information, see Pension web site: www.dhotels.cz.
If participants prefer other accommodation, we can provide contacts to booking agencies in Prague.
Participants can cook meals in a small kitchen in the workshop, or eat in local Czech restaurants (approx. 5 Euro for lunch).
Location of Workshop
The workshop of Miroslav Trejtnar, located ten minutes from the historical center of Prague in the Vrsovice neighborhood, on Holandska Street.
Language
The workshop is taught in English.
Teachers
Zdar Sorm
Leader of workshop.
Zdar worked for the Jirí Trnka animated film studio at Barrandov studio in Prague for 20 years, and is now a freelance designer of puppets for film animation and theatre, as well as a graphic and furniture designer. He is one of Prague's leading experts in the technological design of puppets for animated films.
Lenka Krizova
Puppet animation.
Lenka graduated with a degree in animation from the Pisek Film School. Upon graduation, she worked in the Motion Works Halle in Germany as an animator. She is currently employed at the Hafan Film Studio in Prague. She has made a number of her own films and worked on many others for Animax, AT Studio, GUT Studio, Hafan film (including the award-winning film "Fimfárum").
Milan Vins
Technology.
Milan worked for 10 years for the Jirí Trnka animated film studio at Barrandov studio in Prague . Now he makes armatures and animated puppets for most of the Czech stop-motion animated films which are currently being produced.
Patricia Ortiz Martínez
Postproduction on PC.
Patricia is an instructor of film animation in the animated film department of the Prague Decorative Arts Academy (UMPRUM). She is also a freelance director of animated films, working on projects for private studios.
Barbora Zadrazilova
Postproduction on PC.
Barbora earned her MFA in film animation at the animated film department of the Prague Decorative Arts Academy (UMPRUM). She is now working on professional films for private studios.
August 2009
May 2009
Comments from former students:
"It's been fantastic ... I've learnt more than I expected, and you taught it in an accesssible hands-on way. I didn't expect to meet so many people working within animation and to see how they all interconnect - which is useful in seeing possible ways of working and learning a living." - student, Summer 08
I was looking for new techniques for work in animation, meet people interested in this art and know how they work in other countries. I wanted to get more iexperience in design and puppet making, and I think that this has been a great experience that I hope to repeat. - student, Summer 08."
Photo gallery
Armature
The puppet's armature was invented by Jiri Trnka in the 1950s. Five decades later, this technology is still being used with only minor modifications. The maximum size of the puppet is about 25 cm. In addition to the metal parts, the construction includes wooden shoulders and hips. Hands and heads can usually be removed and changed on an armature.
We start in the Hafan film studio. In two days the students work in a fully-equipped film studio which is used specifically for animated films. Students are given an assigment to animate puppets which have been used in professional films so they can learn the basic techniques of animation. In groups, students are assigned specific puppets; they come up with a short story and over the course of two days film their scenes.
The group divides the work so that each student tries each aspect of filming. Students take turns animating, taking pictures onto a PC, and working as directors who coordinate the work of the animator with the movements of the puppet and camera.
After becoming familiar with puppets through hands-on animation, students work on their own puppet designs. During this phase of the workshop, they get to know the fundamentals of construction and the technology for specific parts of the puppet. Each student works on a detailed technical drawing based on his or her design.
Students spend one day working with Jarda Bezdek in his latex studio, working with specific equipment used for creating puppet hands. Under the guidance of Jarda, each student makes hands for his or her puppet. They learn the whole process of latex hand production, including how to model them using the original molds.
Animated puppet hands are simpler and usually have fewer fingers than a real hand. Hands are made from latex with wire inside each finger. An important part of the workshop is about how to develop hands.
This building phase of work includes creating a three-dimensional puppet head using wood. Students learn basic techniques of woodcarving and they carve heads based on their own design. Students are introduced to basics about wood, chisels and other tools and equipment.
Students spend half a day in a metallurgy workshop where Milan Vins makes armatures. Milan, a professional metallurgist, shows how he welds an armature - and, with his help, students make part of one themselves.
Students also work on film editing on a PC with a professional film editor. They work in small groups on the film they created in Hafan Studios, editing their own version of the film.
Jakub Persin, a professional phogographer and an instructor at the Prague Decorative Arts Academy, speaks about cameras, arranging shots, lighting scenes, formats and media.
The workshop includes presentations by other professionals, artists and creators of animated films. For example Noro Darziak, a leading animator with a professional studio Tobogang, who works successfully in the commercial arena, has spoken about his work.
The production team of the Anifest Festival has also come to speak to students.
We have visited tje post-production studio UPPwhere effects for international productions are created.
Director and designer Sarka Vachova spoke about film production from A to Z.
We visit art exhibitions and museum expositions. Here students saw an exhibition of the puppets and scenery from Fimfarum - a film based on short stories by the Czech writer Jan Werich.
Links
Here are some usefull links to animation film studios in Prague.
