Submarine Channel

Event: Playgrounds vs Submarine Channel 2011

The video above you an impression of the Amsterdam event @Pakhuis de Zwijger. More video interviews coming up. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.

It was super exciting to team up with The Playgrounds Festival for a unique, single day event in Amsterdam on October 5, 2011. Submarine Channel contributed with a special Forget the Film, Watch the Titles program, which focused on the process of designing Main Titles for movies, tv and events. The festival turned out even better than we had hoped, leaving us Subbers, as well as the audience with lots of stuff to think about, new inspiration and new friends. Scroll down for the wrap-up by our Rani Nugraha.

Poster by Menno Fokma. Download the 300 DPI version of this poster (PDF)

Playgrounds vs Submarine Channel wrap up
From 10 in the morning on Wednesday October 5th 2011, heavyweights from the advertising and visual arts industries, students and design enthusiasts from around the country, producers, directors and those that make their crust from the motion graphics and film industry around Europe flocked to Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam to experience day one of the Playgrounds festival, hosted in conjunction with Submarine Channel.

The Playgrounds vs Submarine Channel event went for a good twelve hours, with the first half of the day consisting of international guest speakers that were brought together in the spirit of the “Forget the Film, Watch the Titles” project.

 The “Watch the titles” project celebrates the leaderboards which are designed to introduce central storylines and themes and to A-list punters and fresh meat in the cinematics game, while setting up the mood prior to the main event.

It would be safe to say that title sequences play an integral role in setting up audience expectations as it’s no easy task to give suggestion to the cinematic journey that the audience is likely to experience over the course of the following 90+ minutes.

The intimate Playgrounds vs Submarine Channel event had super talented creatives and the best of the best in the motion picture industry present: animation, title design, music videos, commercials, character design, VFX and gaming pros, presenting intimate perspectives on their design and production processes.

“I’d like to share you a short film that I made about my experience of Playgrounds Vs. Submarine Channel. I really enjoyed that day. I hope you like my impression,” wrote graphic designer Martin Ferdkin in an email. And we love your video Martin!

Kicking off the day, Barcelona based design crew Dvein took to the stage to show off the recent fruits of their labor and the three gentlemen of the motion graphics studio, Fernando Domínguez, Teo Guillem and Carlos Pardo, discussed what it’s like to work as a design collective. They gave us a first look at the motion titles they made for the feature length film, Eva, made by Spanish director, Kike Maíllo, complete with fine and intricate glass machines and bulbs which form complex systems, designed to compliment the themes of robotics and the future in “Eva.”
Watch the video interview with Dvein’s Carlos Pardo shot at Playgrounds Vs. Submarine Channel
Watch Eva on Watch the Titles
Following the Spanish talent, Dutch studio Postpanic was next, represented by Mischa Rozema. Mischa’s very cluttered (and no doubt, fascinating content filled) Macbook desktop set the scene for the amount of work and projects this Amsterdam based studio has going on.

Now, we wouldn’t call Postpanic “dark” but there sure were some suggestions of sinister and gruesome in their latest work. Mischa presented a particularly edgy piece they made for the 2011 Offf festival called “Year Zero”.

Next up were the wit and charms of Sam from Tokyo Plastic. What make Tokyo Plastic such interesting artists? We might have to say it’s a combination of their sense of humour and their willingness to take a chance.

Explaining how the duo took time off work to go at their design and animation dream full-time for six months, Sam trawled through video after golden video of the animation goodness these cheeky and lively lads create.

Work hard, work hard, work hard” is the motto we’ve all come to realize generates success, but Sam then explained that there are those other pesky variables which can sometimes come between you and success as an artist. Like the client. And when they work your knuckles to the core only to run to another supplier with your precious creations.

We’re certain a chord was struck with majority of the audience and a few pings of pain resurfaced from Sam’s recount of what happened when it got messy with a certain advertising agency and Irish beer giant.

Kyle Cooper graced our stage shortly after. The man creates stunning and ambient cinematic pleasures in title sequences that tell stories within stories.

In front of an eager packed house, Cooper presented a few of his chosen works from the Prologue showreel. Cooper founded Prologue in 2003 having left the first company he created, Imaginary Forces, in order to focus less on business admin and management and more on being a creative. 

The motion graphics master largely spoke about his creative processes, what drives him as a creator, and about how each individual project is crafted.

He initiated the presentation by discussing the mechanics of creating the titles for “Final Destination 5”  following on with a discussion on how being flexible in the moment was the crux of the creative process when making the sequence for “American Horror Story”. He also spoke about taking risks and to keep up with your creative instincts as the love of what you do will ultimately make you successful.

We were treated with more of from the Prologue showreel with some anecdotes of the what, why and how to his work, including the titles for “Se7en”, and a montage clip of FX  from “Iron Man”.

After Kyle, the three co-founders of Physalia, Mauro Gimferrer, Marcos Cora and Pablo Barquín, along with their producer, Belén Palo took to the stage to show what it takes to take some gutsy ideas and turn them into a reality that superseded any previous expectations of what could be made possible in motion graphics.

Animation boundary pushers Physalia are also out of Barcelona and the their hybrid techno and hand-crafted work in conjunction with their behind-the-scenes videos makes their stuff edgier than most. Talking about how their different skills are brought together, they presented their short experimental film “Resonanance” and what they produced for the title sequences for the F5 2011 Replay Film Festival and MMX festival.

The highlights just would not end with Isaiah Saxon, Sean Hellfritsch from Encyclopedia Pictura really taking the cake with their presentation of past works (music video for Bjork and Grizzly Bear) and other eclectic short films  in combination with their upcoming project. These guys really had the audience wide awake with their eco-futuristic ideas and visions of the world to come. They held the audience captive with how they planned on integrating their hope for a better educated and sustainable world with the capacity to combine their skills in gaming and animation to make it a reality.

This was just the first half of the day, the programme went into the evening with the likes of BUCK, Onesize, Matt Lambert of Barebones, David Wilson, and last but not least HeyHeyHey. We interviewed them all on video so stay tuned for more.

Proud? Like a eager mumma bird watching their little sparrow fly for the first time, we were beaming with delight after the show was over and really can’t wait for the next chapter in this motion graphics adventure in 2012.

The complete set on Flickr (60 photos)

Speakers at Playgrounds Vs Submarine Channel, in order of appearance:
~ Dvein
~ PostPanic
~ Kyle Cooper
~ Tokyoplastic
~ Physalia
~ Encyclopedia Pictura
~ BUCK
~ Onesize
~ Matt Lambert @Barebones
~ David Wilson
~ HEYHEYHEY

None other than Fons Schiedon was our host! Yes, the same person who designed last years “aesthetically controversial” Playgrounds opening titles. (PS We think they were sublimey!)

All Day
Installation by Minivegas and Matt Lambert
Screening programs by Barebones, Forget the Film, Watch the Titles.

ONLINE
Besides co-hosting the event, we have been interviewing guests and speakers at the events in Amsterdam as well as Tilburg. Stay informed: Twitter, FaceBook, Flickr, Newsletter.

SEE ALSO
“The Live Title Show” at Playgrounds on Forget the Film, Watch the Titles

SPONSORS
The Forget the Film, Watch the Titles presentations and screening program have been made possible by SNS Reaal Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and Mondriaan Foundation.