In August 2009, Ann was invited to AYACC animation festival in Guiyang, China, where she had given a presentation plus a screening on Scientific Practice in Animation. It is three years since AYACC was first launched in China. Hosted by The People’s Government of Guiyang and Guizhou Committee of Economy & Information Technology, AYASS was held in Guiyang, with participants from over 26 countries and regions. Invited by the kindest General Secretary of Jury of AYACC, Mr. Liuyi Wang, there were hundreds of animation professionals from all over the world have attended the 3 day programs of exhibitions, presentations, screenings and forums. International speaks were: Kexuan Ma, Chinese famous animation artist; Wu Guanying, Chief designer of Fuwa, mascot of 2008 Olympic Games; Junichi Kawamura, Producer of Japan CG-Arts Media Festival; Jared Fong, Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studio; Ann Xiao, Animation Director in London and co-founder of CDR; Nigar Nazar, the first woman cartoonist of Pakistan; Ming Chen, Vice President of Crystal Film & Animation; David Bolinsky, Co-founder of XVIVO Scientific Animation, And many more. One of the most memorable highlights of the festival was the amazing venue of Scientific Animation Forum. It was located at Xiaohe Diesel Factory in Guiyang. It was an abandoned factory built in 1946 communist Mao’s China. You could feel the history from the propaganda on the walls and the smell from the old-fashioned diesel machines. Guiyang government is aiming to develop the old factory site into a new exciting animation comic centre and add colors onto the identity of Xiaohe district. The enthusiastic international animators and professionals are looking forward to seeing Xiaohe Diesel Factory to be evolved into a “Guiyang Animation 798 Factory” in the soon future. AYACC Animation Festival in Guiyang, China
Interview with Roundtable Community, HK
Roundtable Community (Roundtable Research and Education Community 圓桌研究及教育協會) 成立於2004年，是年輕而充滿活力的慈善機構。以培育學術研究人才見稱，透過搜集、發放年青人對社會科學及文化的評論文章，為青年人建立自由發表的平台。此外，我們積極讓年青人與社會不同界別建立聯繫，擴大他們的社會參與圈子及流動性。目的是藉著跨網絡和發表渠道，建構一個多元文化及溝通的空間，推動公民社會的發展。
Roundtable Community (Roundtable Research and Education Community, RC) was established in 2004. RC is a vibrant community that provides fresh outlooks to the society and the dynamic global scene. RC has introduced a training platform for the new generation of talented youths, specializing in academic research for Hong Kong’s future development.
肖艳菲采访 Ann Xiao Interview:
A. What made you interested in animation and graphics design? Why did you choose imaging design as your career?
Q. When I was a teenager, I was passionate about comic and had been drawing comic stories for many years. I came to London to study illustration. One day I was inspired to make some movements in my illustration and I was immediately blown away by the result and the possibilities animation could offer. Animation satisfied my desire in story telling and directing. I just realized images could be formed into a film pretty easily.
Ann’s 2009 Showreel is online now
This is my 2009 showreel of my latest video work collections. My animations include music videos, commercials and short films. Thanks for Dean Adams designed the brilliant soundtrack. I’m available for animation and illustration projects internationally. Please feel free to contact me for further information of commissions and collaborations. You are welcome to just to say hi too. Thanks for looking at it and hope you enjoy the reel!
Visual Treatment for Mean Street Music Video
It is the visual treatment for Flamboyant Bella music video “Get a Reaction”, non-commissioned.
Visual Treatment for Flamboyant Bella Music Video
It is the visual treatment for Flamboyant Bella music video “Get a Reaction”, non-commissioned.
This Little Light of Mine, Music Video for Faith Rivera Is Completed
Commissioned through Radar Music Videos, This Little Light of Mine was creatde as a music video for the Emmy Award-winning singer/song writer Faith Rivera. The music reflects the hopes and vision that have swept America and stirred every heart, and it’s got a soulful, fresh, & fun rockin’twist.
It took me 2 weeks to complete the promo. Since it’s a low budget project, I did all the animation by my own. The video has dramatic colors and energetic movements. It’s all designed by Adobe Illustrator and animated by After Effects.
This video is featured on Radar Music Video front page at the moment, and also featured at Vimeo Staff Pick Channel. MTV Iggy is going to feature the video online with an interview too.
Ed McKeon’s comments on Fooling Around & Horses
“I was looking for a special way to mark my dad’s 70th birthday, to celebrate his life at a time when it’s not always easy being with him – with alzheimers and dementia the only thing he can remember, curiously, are the words to songs from his youth. When I saw Ann’s film ‘Between The Lines’ I knew I’d found what I was looking for and asked her to make a short film based on some of the stories from my dad’s childhood and youth.
“The process itself was rewarding. Family members ‘donated’ stories from which I selected a handful, and I borrowed photos from various family members as a starting point for Ann to work her magic. She needed to, because the stock of photos was, to put it generously, not very good. She worked wonders though, finding other library images, adding drawings, animation and design to make an enchanting film.
“I had three aims in commissioning the film: that it would be a good quality film in its own right; that it might make my family (and others) laugh – my dad would love that; and to jog my dad’s or other people’s memories about his early years. I really didn’t expect it to meet, let alone exceed all these aims. It’s clearly a very personal film for me and my family, but I hope anyone watching it can enjoy it and be reminded of their own family stories too – cherish them, they’re precious.”
— Ed McKeon
short film
Fooling Around & Horses
’Fooling Around & Horses’ is a short film commissioned by Ed McKeon, directed by Ann Xiao. It’s a memory film for his Father, Jim McKeon, who is affected by Alzheimer’s disease and suffers from memory loss. The film is set in Jim’s childhood in Battersea, London in the 1950’s. The film was shown at Jim’s 70th birthday, as a wish to help him recall the lost memories of his childhood. The animation is a surreal collage of old family photos, 1950’s London scenes and personal memories.
短片由Spnm制作人Ed McKeon委托，Ann Xiao导演，为Ed已经失去记忆的父亲Jim McKeon创作的怀旧影片，背景是Jim成长中的1950年代伦敦Battersea地区的童年，以及青年时代的趣闻。影片是轻松调侃式的，正符合Jim年轻时幽默好动的性格。短片在Jim McKeon的70寿辰放映，愿望唤起Jim对童年的记忆。动画使用家庭相册的老照片，与50年代氛围的伦敦场景拼贴，用略微超现实的风格体现回忆。配乐则使用了Jim年轻时代最熟悉的英国老歌。
presentation
Presentation @ Jilin College of Arts, China
The Jilin College of Arts in China, invited Ann to present her animation work to the tutors and students at the Animation & Comic department. The presentation included images and video footage from the commercials, short films and music videos she had been working on in London between 2003-2008. Ann also displayed a number of sketches and treatments, which had not been published before.
受到吉林艺术学院邀请，Ann向艺术学院动漫系的老师和同学展示了她的动画作品。讲座包括2003－2008年间Ann在伦敦创作的广告，短片和音乐电视，其中还展示了从未发表过的大量动画草稿和投标方案。
animation installation
“Sleeping Beauty” @ Cotton USA Natural World exhibition
When cotton is used for art, what does it become? Eleven avant-garde artists were invited to create an installation for a unique exhibition entitled Cotton USA Natural World at Bridge Art Center in Beijing.
Ann was asked to create a piece of installation around Marie Claire bed linen. Sleeping Beauty features a romantic bed in a cotton room, with films projected on to it, showing a girl’s sweet dreams, in which she is playing on clouds, ambling in a flower-filled forest and floating through space.
2008年12月11位潮流设计师和艺术家受邀在北京桥艺术中心展示他们为美国棉花Natural World艺术节创作的棉花艺术品。
Ann的动画装置“睡美人”建造了一个棉花房间和一张浪漫的床，当动画影片放映在床上，睡美人的梦境里充满了有趣离奇的情景，因为太舒服，梦结束了睡美人也不见醒来。
screening
Ann Xiao’s Short Film “Between the Lines”@ King’s Place Opening Festival
The short film ‘Between the Lines’ was shown during the launch week of King’s Place on 5th October 2008.
Animation director Ann Xiao and sound designer Tiantian Zhu collaborated for the first time to complete an audio visual film entitled “Between the Lines” about London’s Kings Cross area. This piece is commissioned by SPNM , a South Bank based New Music organization. The first performance was given at the opening festival of London’s new art centre King’s Place.
The architectural elements in this video were captured from the historical and contemporary Kings Cross area. The audience would recognise the gate of The British Library, the clock of St. Pancras Station and other features from the neighbourhood which Ann has mixed into surrealistic scenes. Traveling through a vintage map of Victorian Kings Cross, we could see our memories, emotions, reality and imaginations through a magnifying glass.
The film captures various qualities of the Kings Cross area which is rich in history but is also a rapidly developing commercial and cultural centre. The surroundings have a raw urban context, dominated by transport industries, which are also a setting for important academic institutions. The film is a surrealistic mixture of memories, history, transport, dance and architectural space.
Tiantian’s sound design brings the audience into a surreal imaginative environment. The subtle, ambient sound draws listeners inside themselves to go wandering through their memories.
2008年10月伦敦新艺术中心King’s Place对公众开放。由South Bank的Spnm声音影像组织委托，Ann Xiao为艺术中心开幕式制作了一只关于伦敦King Cross地区的5分钟声音影像影片。
Kings Cross是伦敦的老工业区，拥有最古老的铁路，在现代逐渐发展为交通，文化及教育中心。“两线之间”意指铁轨之间流动的历史，动画里面的建筑场景，各种图像以及声音，都是和伦敦Kings Cross老区有关：在维多利亚时期Kings Cross的老地图上面，用放大镜看到回忆中现实中和想象中的情景。Kings Cross地区既有历史的陈迹也有现代的繁华，有着运输中心的粗糙工业味道，也有校园和艺术者的细腻学院气息。影片是回忆，历史，舞蹈，运输和建筑的超现实融合。了解Kings Cross的细心的人，也会在片子里面发现各种熟悉元素：地图，大英图书馆的铁门，地铁站的站牌，St.Pancras火车站的时钟等等。朱甜甜的声音设计充满空旷的回忆感。
2008年10月5日影片在伦敦Kings Cross新艺术中心King’s Place Art Center开幕式上放映。
commercial
COI Commercial on Air
COI commercials are on air now. They will be shown on Channel 4, ITV and Sky 1 for a month time from 2nd August.
Try Life in another Language is a series of 5 commercials commissioned by The Central Office of Information, to encourage young people to learn foreign languages.
th1ng studio undertook the project and Ann Xiao directed one commercial for German language. The new upcoming German band Fotos is featured in the commercial/music video. Ann created a dramatic 3 dimension Neon City purely by After Effects which leads to a very unique visual style of illustrative buildings in 3D space.
Check out Ann’s Ads as well as the other 4 commercials in the “Try Life in another Language” series: Trylifeinanotherlanguage.com
talk
“Chinese Animation”
Ann’s presentation at V&A Museum
Ann is invited to give a presentation about Chinese animation at the Lecture Hall inV&A Museum, as part of the School & College Events of China Design Now exhibition.
In the “Chinese Animation– the Past, Present and Future” talk, Ann introduced the rich history of Chinese animation and the decline, China New Comic Movement in 1990’s, cyber space experimental illustrators and new individual innovative animators.
talk
Ann at Sweet Talk, Berlin
On May 12th Ann presented her illustrations and animations at Sweet Talk in Berlin.
Speakers included Ann, Eboy, BANK, Hort and Steve Lawler.
CANDY in association with Tiger Translate present SweetTalk 21 in Berlin, an informal presentation by some of the world’s leading creatives.
