by Taylor Lieuwen
Daily Lobo
The Best in the Southwest animation and graphics festival explored the art and business of graphic design.
"We went to a lot of conferences where we learned some techniques, and we saw some inspiration, but it was always just pieces or things, and we thought, well, what do we really want to know?" festival coordinator Becky Padilla said. "We aren't finding it out there, so let's do it."
The festival examined more than the technical aspects of animation and design, Padilla said. Big names in graphic and animation design gathered at the Embassy Suites last week for the festival.
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Motion graphics and flash animation are used in everything from title sequences before TV shows to special effects in movies.
"Title sequences are packaging and branding for a film or documentary - you want to tell the story, you want to entice. You want to draw the viewer in and leave an impression," said Zoa Martinez, president and creative director of ZONA
Design. "When you watch (Pedro) Almodovar or any of the James Bond movies, you remember the opening title sequences."
The festival included a software expo, a Flash animation competition and a movie premiere.
"We're hoping people will come here, get inspired and further their own skills and their own portfolios," Padilla said.
Animators aren't only interested in improving their product.
"It is a business - it's not just about designing and making beautiful things," festival co-sponsor Elaine Martinez said. "You need to be unique, but don't be so unique that you don't get clients."
The festival has grown significantly since last year, when it was little more than an animation contest made possible by Adobe, Padilla said. This year, it boasts a wide variety of sponsors, including Apple and the UNM ARTS Lab.
Speakers included motion graphics giants such as Mark Coleran ("The Bourne Ultimatum," "Mission: Impossible 3," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") and Martinez (A&E, Animal Planet, Disney/ESPN, HBO).
The movie premiere, "Romeo and Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss," was a feature-length cartoon that told the story of two seals and their inconvenient, star-crossed love. Animator Phil Nibbelink spent five years putting the film together using Flash and attended the premiere.
"He was on hand to draw for the kids, and they loved that," Padilla said.
Students from the Public Academy for Performing Arts attended the festival through a scholarship from the EMA Foundation.
"What brings me here is all the knowledge to be gained, and all the new people to meet and the horizons to expand," student Omar Fuentes said.
