Since the start of October, the Animation Bachelor atelier has been boiling with life! Next to the already installed 3rd years working hard on the development of their bachelor films, we, the student of the second year have settled in our cubicles. Eager to finally have our own desks, we’ve been painting and decorating the space all over!

But through the fuzzy plush worms hanging from the ceiling, the fairy lights, motivational posters picturing our beloved head of study: Jürgen Hass and other nap corners, there isn’t only laughter and late-night werewolf games in the atelier. Now that the class is split into teams from 2 to 6 students, we have been spending the past few weeks working hard to build our applied projects for the semester; 25 second (to a minute) idents for the corporation clients: Adult Swim, Amnesty International and KurtzFilmNacht.

During this pre-production period we’ve had multiple inputs on scriptwriting, character, prop and background design as well as storyboarding and sound for our animatics, helping us to develop every aspect of our projects and getting multiple rounds of reviews from various perspectives and expertise. While the 2D groups are refining their character designs and storyboards or exploring textures, the stop-motion based teams are already busy building their puppets and sets, next to the only 3D project, which is deep into modeling their assets and discovering the brand-new brushstroke tool add on from Blender.

Although supervised by our semester’s coordinator Jochen Ehmann, we are mostly self-organized and the different needed roles throughout the production pipeline such as storyboard artist, puppet builder, rigger or sound designer are designated through discussion within our work groups. This allows each student to develop their individual skills in their specialization, but also for some to discover new roles within production that might interest them in the future and that they would not have considered otherwise. It has been greatly satisfying to finally put the theory and basics learned during our first year of the bachelor to practice. As well as learning more interpersonal and organizational skills, such as communication within a team, making sure that everyone’s needs and voices are heard (including oneself!), managing time and unexpected obstacles and finding time to have fun and laugh as a class.

Soon enough, our animatics were ready to be sent to the clients for approval! (Not after a last-minute change of format of course!) PowerPoints ready on our hard disks, we gathered on the 5th of November, to present our work so far to our peers, teachers and clients, of which Wolf Gehart the Adult Swim envoy was present via Zoom. The teams working for a different client got their review per e-mail. The aim of those presentations isn’t really to show our process yet but more to do a sort of checkpoint of what has been accomplished during this phase of pre-production.

Picture 1: The team Phonomenal Battle presenting their 3D blocking and concept art in from of the class

Picture 2: The team of Blossom Blade listening to the reviews of Wolf Gehart

Picture 3: The team Forever Together presenting the concept art of a church in front of the class

Pressure is building up, only 5 minutes scheduled to present and 15 minutes of feedback. Does the rhythm of the animatic work? Will the joke land? Will the clients understand our vision, or did we completely miss the mark? Does an element not fit into the guidelines? Did we remember to add a black frame at the beginning of our animatic as fervently asked by our headmaster?? Many questions running through our heads before it’s our team’s time to present. Deep breath. Here we go!

The few technical problems put aside; the presentations went quite smoothly. It is always stressful to present the work in which not only you, but your colleges and friends have been putting their hearts and souls into for the past weeks. Yet every team’s review was delivered in a caring and insightful matter. Without of course a few laughter in reaction to the not-so-quite-on-point suggestions and concerns worded by the “London Colleges” now famous within the student body. All in good faith of course! As we, for the most part, are discovering the joys and frustrations of commissioned productions and client relations. (Of which our coordinator Jochen Ehmann still takes on most of the toils for us.)

This round of review was our chance to get a fresh eye on our projects, to take in the first reactions from our peers and advice from our teachers who have accompanied us so far, to clear up any miscommunication or inconsistencies as well as simply showcasing our progress so far! How greatly rewarding it was to see our idents and the ones of our friends and colleges slowly come to life and become more and more tangible! Working on such a big project for the first time is stressful for any student, but those presentations, allowed us to see that our efforts are really paying off and that we not only have the support of our teammates but all 2nd year students behind us. The positivity, encouragements and the gentle criticisms from the other students truly showed us that this ident is also a class effort to give each other the strength to power through and inspire one another!

(Get it? Like the movie? ‘cause we’re a film school, and that’s how we joke haha)
The second years get ready for their biggest challenge yet – applied animation!

The second year has kicked off with a bang!  Right off the gate, we started with an animation warm-up to get us back on our feet after spending a whole summer recovering from our packed first year. 

Usually, we don’t move that fast / just a small glimpse into our dark reality, a full stare into our twisted perspective would make most simply go insane

Afterwards, we were introduced to our main module this year: Applied Animation. 

We were going to apply (hence the title) all we learned last year into one commissioned ident of around 20-ish seconds. But who is commissioning? This year, we’ve got quite some variety: Adult Swim, Amnesty International,  the Kurzfilmnacht Winterthur Festival, UNICEF, and Médecins Sans Frontières.

But before we delve any deeper into the clients there was one more thing we had to do before any of that – the Kükenfest! While we were getting ready to continue our studies there were students who were just getting ready to start theirs and it was our job to welcome them.

One of the main functions of the Kükenfest is not only to break the ice but also to assign the first years a buddy who they’ll be able to ask questions to whenever they feel lost throughout their studies. Since “Küken” means “chick” in English we decided to draw baby chicks and mama birds for them. The first years would pick out a baby they liked and then they’d have to search for us mamas among the crowd.

Here are some of the funny birds we drew! which one would YOU have chosen?

Once we found each other and the initial wave of fear and embarrassment washed away we all sang, danced, and ate all night long. Well, maybe not ate. The delicious food we cooked up got snatched away instantly.

I slaved away in the kitchen making my world-famous Empanadas

The day after we were a little groggy, still shaken up from the party… so what better way to wake right up than a presentation by Adult Swim themselves? For us animation people they were the main event. They’ve produced many shows we know and love (heck, some of us even went to their panel in Annecy) and continue to be one of the few channels that takes risks and greenlights adult animation. 

This also reflects in what they were looking for from us as well as the lovely Gerhard Wolf explained to us that we had full creative freedom to do whatever we wanted. Heck, we could even use some of their IPs!

With a theme in our heads and a pencil in our hands we were handed paper to do thumbnails in and this was like a splash of cold water. Suddenly, we had to be funny on the spot. Come up with something cool (or “cook” as the kids put it nowadays). The pressure was on, the clock was ticking and most of us couldn’t even think straight from the party! Of course, we are students from famous school HSLU, no matter how hangover or tired we were we still delivered. 

Since Adult Swim gets the most pitches we didn’t really have time to pitch our ideas, the storyboards had to speak for themselves. Some people saved their cards for later, we were going to have the chance to pitch to our peers later, so why not keep the stew burning?

After lunch, Amnesty International presented themselves. You’ve probably heard of them and know about their cause: advocating for human rights. But not everyone does, and their ident wanted us to raise awareness to them and their cause. Because of this some very unique challenges presented themselves to us. Unlike Adult Swim, who is open to pretty much anything, Amnesty wanted something more specific, and they came to us with a vision of what they wanted. It was overwhelming to tackle a topic as important as human rights, especially after coming off of the funny hahas of Adult Swim, but it was an interesting one for sure.

Our class busy at work

A good night’s sleep and a cup of coffee in the morning later and we were back at it again, this time with Lynn Gerlach from Kurzfilmnacht Winterthur – a film festival focused on short films. Since Lynn is a former animator she obviously has immense respect for the craft. In fact, she even said she always tries to sneak more animation into the program, hehe. The task for this client was to create a trailer that would play in movie theatres across the country. There were no restrictions, the only “rules” we had to follow were that our trailer had to have a cat somewhere and the cat had to meow. Other than that we were free. The catch? They only take one trailer per year. 1 in 33 chances! And with classmates as talented as ours it was going to be a tough competition.

Our teacher Jochen took the time to snap some pictures and take notes, thank you!

Cats are the greatest creatures ever and their dominion over dogs is obvious to most, so it is no surprise that the pitches for this festival were phenomenal. 

One trip to the cafeteria later and we were greeted by the next organization: UNICEF. You’ve probably seen ads for their campaigns all around you (in fact, after they gave us a rundown of what campaigns they are currently running I started noticing them a whole lot more). They work to protect the rights of children, making sure they are protected, supported, and taken seriously. Again, this was another heavy topic to tackle, but with Amnesty behind us, we were more prepared to tackle this client.

One of our exchange students talking with the UNICEF representatives

Last but not least, Médecins Sans Frontières (or Doctors Without Borders)came to present themselves. Like Amnesty and UNICEF, they are a humanitarian aid organization. When they asked us what we think they do someone answered they “doctored without bordering” which is essentially right, they deploy doctors to conflict areas and treat the wounds of injured civilians and soldiers alike.

A woman from the organization who had been deployed in Sudan told us about her experiences, and shared personal stories with us, motivating us to tell stories that resonated deeply with people. They wanted people to know what MSF was about not by explaining who they were but by showing it via impactful storytelling. This was an exciting task and by now we were comfortable with casting aside our fears and putting ourselves out there with these sensitive topics. 

The lovely Jessica Minarro from MSF tells us about her experiences

But now what? We workshopped some stories, drew some thumbnails, and presented our ideas but what comes next? Well, now we keep working on them. Polish them, draw concept art, and get people excited as we come onto the next phase – voting.

That’s right, soon we’ll be presenting our favorite ideas and showing them to both our classmates as well as the clients. This is a scary, nerve-wracking but most importantly exciting time. 

Next time you hear from us, we’ll be working on the projects already! Stay tuned, because we are only getting started.

For the second time, Animation Lucerne and HSLU had the chance to send an MA student and a BA graduate to a small island in Norway on a creative journey at the Arctic Hideaway.

The small island of Sørvær, home to The Arctic Hideaway in the Fleinvær archipelago, is a place where nature reveals your true essence. Located near Bodø, beyond the Arctic Circle, this remote island is a sanctuary for artists from all over the world. The container-like wooden cabins became our home for three weeks, offering a rare opportunity to disconnect and focus on our work.

As soon as we arrived and settled into our cabins, we were drawn into the island’s beauty. Its rugged landscapes and ever-changing light sparked creativity. One of us captured the surroundings through 3D scans, videos, and field recordings, while the other immersed in the creation of an animatic for an animation film. The island stripped away distractions, leaving only ourselves and our art. Like the island itself—bare, unique, and visible—we felt deeply connected to our work and nature.

During an excursion, we met Magnus, a lifelong islander who shared how the island’s soundscape had changed. Climate change has reduced the seabirds, leaving many ‘duck houses’ empty. This absence inspired an exploration of the theme of loss, using digital material gathered on the island.

A highlight was our collaboration with a local artist Are in his studio, where we worked on a linocut print, blending digital practices with traditional techniques. This grounded us, connecting modern methods to the island’s artistic traditions.

The time we spent at The Arctic Hideaway was transformative, both personally and creatively. This magical place, where we became one with nature while staying true to ourselves, will continue to inspire our work for years to come. We are grateful for this experience and hope to return to this little paradise someday.

Thanks to Lavinia Petrache, animator from Zurich, and Håvard Lund, musician from Norway, who made this cooperation between The Arctic Hideaway and HSLU possible.

Hi. I’m Sven. I freshly graduated from the Animation BA at HSLU just this summer.

Up until the LuMAA, I’ve been a 2D Animator. I have opened Blender and I’ve set a keyframe before, but I never seriously approached 3D animation, let alone worked with a proper rig.

However, I have always had a fascination with the medium. Why not combine that interest with my love for character animation?

So when LuMAA came up this year, I decided to take the opportunity to finally take a proper stab at 3D. Follow along as I discover the world of CG animation!

And heyo! I’m Emanuel. I am in my second year and have been animating in 3D for some time now, but I want to grow and learn a lot more about 3D character animation. LuMAA is one of the best courses for growing as an animator, so why not take the plunge again?

Block 1A: Human Walk Cycle

Time and time again I’m amazed by how much I can learn from doing default walks!

Erica Palmerini showed us a blocking approach to 3D animation, where you pose the Character from keyframes to breakdowns to in-betweens, quite similar to the classic 2D approach. Because of this, I felt at home quite quickly. I was expecting my 2D experience to help, but I was surprised about just how well my skills translated to CG.

As for getting used to Maya: We had a small introduction prior to the workshop, which helped a lot to find my way around the program. Naturally, it still felt quite clunky in the beginning, but luckily Erica and the students from abroad were very happy to help. By day three Maya posed no more issues. (The Autodesk gods must have been on my side though, because the program crashed a whopping 0 times in my first week! I learned only later how blessed I was…) 

One thing that I soon learned to love about 3D animation is how easily you can experiment without being destructive. It’s crazy how much the attitude of a walk can change just by slightly offsetting or scaling keyframes. And it’s super fast to iterate!

As the week came to an end, we went down to the REX, the small Cinema of the HSLU, to look at our work on the big screen. Discussing our Animations this way was a great way to end the week, so the REX reviews became a weekly thing.

Block 2: Creature Animation

In week 2 we animated a quadruped walk cycle with Lukas Niklaus. Not only did we have double the legs to take care of, but we also approached it quite differently than in week one: This time around, Lukas advised us to work directly with curves, achieving our poses by changing the interpolation between as few keyframes as possible. 

This was more abstract to me since it was a different way of thinking. Rather than coming up with poses, you would think about the speeds and offsets at which limbs move. 

Once I got the hang of it, approaching animation this way helped a lot with understanding how muscles work.

Working with fewer keys made it slightly harder for me to achieve organic movement. However, once I did, it was even easier to iterate than with the Blocking approach. Another bonus of working this way is that once you’re happy with your movement, you don’t have to smoothen it.

In the second week of the Creature animation Block, we tackled an acting shot. Together with Michael Aerni, we studied animals’ behavior in depth. We combined the previously learned techniques to bring our animals alive. For this exercise, I chose a little Bulbul bird. With its snappy movement it was quite the contrast to the tiger I animated the previous week. It’s really interesting to see how much body size influences movement.

Throughout the week, Michael also gave us interesting insights into previs and cameras inside and outside of animation software.

Block 1B: Lip sync 

By week 4 I started feeling quite confident in 3D animation, as I was slowly finding a workflow that felt natural to me: I would usually block out the most important body parts pose by pose, while tackling more simple movements and adding some follow through directly in the spline.

For Lip-sync week, Ramon Arango and Noah Demirci taught us a lot about how mouths produce sounds and showed us interesting observations about acting beats and subtle eye darts.

Conveniently, Ramon is also the creator of the Apollo and Artemis rigs that a lot of us had been using for the workshop. So not only did we benefit from feedback and lectures, but Ramon could also occasionally perform some Rig surgery.

Going from stepped animation into spline is always a hard step, but I found that for lip syncing, the smooth motion can feel especially jarring. When we talk, the mouth snaps from pose to pose quite quickly. So when we started splining the mouth, the focus was on getting the energy from the blocking back. Applying this I quickly achieved a satisfying, snappy animation. 

That week we also had a little screening where everyone could show each other projects they had worked on. I was absolutely blown away by everyone’s creativity, skill, and stories. We saw everything from psychedelic journeys through compost bins to silly 80s action movies with bugs and even played a little intergalactic rhythm game. The lovely evening ended with a heated round of Mario Kart in the cinema.

As every Friday, we ended the week with a cozy and delicious barbeque. This time it was also a little farewell for Matze and me, who left the workshop that evening.

The rest of the class was getting ready for their last big task: over the last two weeks of LuMAA, they would tackle more complex, full-body acting shots.

Block 3: Full Body Acting Shot

With the end rapidly approaching for LuMAA we poured all of our emotions into the acting shot. It’s the combination of all that we have learned with more SPECIFICITY. If there is something that our teachers from Pixar want us to remember, it’s this one concept. María Bjarnadóttir (and her partner Alyssa) and Kristen Willsher were focused on this concept and beat it into our heads as it had been drilled into them during their time at Pixar. This “specificity“ is the magic that really makes us see a person within a bunch of moving geometry. It’s the art of holding a look, an involuntary movement, or making specific choices that the character would naturally make, all while achieving the illusion that there is no puppeteer behind the scenes. But to learn more about this, consider joining LuMAA yourself.

Maria and Alyssa were there to help us come up with what exactly we wanted to animate for the following week, block it, and get it to IP (in progress – the stage between blocking and polishing). We listened to dialogue, learned about characters and how people move, and then blocked our ideas out. Meanwhile, they walked around and made sure we pushed our shots as far as we could. “It’s always easier to pull back an extreme idea rather than push a weak idea further“, and so we started with as wild-ass ideas as we could conceive, and pulled back some strings after. 

We had a lot of fun watching Luca together with Maria and Alyssa, a movie that both of them and Kristen worked on. It had become a little bit of a tradition to watch a movie that our teachers worked on during the weeks, sometimes with the teachers present. We also had another delicious Friday BBQ and a tour of the school so that everyone could see the vast number of departments in HLSU DFK.

Kristen was our teacher for the final week, which was all about Polish, her favorite step of the animation process. We also got introduced to splocking, which is a layered workflow, but this time we used it for character acting. With Kirsten’s clear feedback, we all made amazing progress on our shot and pushed it even further – sometimes, it was at the cost of finishing the shot, but on the other hand, we gained a lot of knowledge, experience, and clarity of our ideas.

In the final week, we tried to cram in whatever last activities were still not done yet, so besides a last weekend hike, we managed to go bowling and have a fun afternoon with the game of werewolf. Over the weeks we have done so many fun things together as a group, that helped us bond and connect with each other.

Bundling up whatever leftover energy and emotion within us and pouring it into our animation, we finished our shots. And trust me, the emotions were running high since we all knew that this wonderful time was coming to an end and we would have to say goodbye to each other by the end of the week. The last BBQ had plenty of food and a lot of heartwarming last hugs were given – then it was over. It was a great time and one that I will certainly not forget for a long time.

Once again thank you to Simon Otto, for supervising the course. Michael Aerni, Lukas Niklaus, María Bjarnadóttir, Erica Palmerini, Ramon Arango, Noah Demirci, Kristen Willsher, and Alyssa Ragni for teaching us so much. To the staff at Animation Lucerne for the support and for putting it all together and, of course, our classmates.
See you next year at the next LuMAA.

A striking bell rings out in the dormitory. Students groan, stretch, and yawn. As the morning rises on the rocky cliffs and the warm smell of breakfast fills the humble mountain hut, another day begins for the students partaking in the Out Of Home Animation camp!
This summer, from the 22nd to the 31st of August, 17 inspiring animators coming from the Hochschule Luzern to as far as Berlin, Rotterdam, and Vienna ascended to the Fromatthütte in the Bernese Oberland to partake in the annual Out Of Home Animation workshop. Surrounded by the alpine pasture, and luscious pine forest, and facing a beautiful view over the Bernese Alps, it is in this idyllic setting that we lived, hiked, and created together

Picture 1: Hills and Cliffs.

After a warm welcome involving fresh cinnamon buns and a delicious dinner, we took the time to recover from the intense but wonderful ascension to the chalet and stargaze a little bit before settling into our new home for the upcoming days. We started off the camp with a hike guided by a local artist. He told us about the myths and legends of the area as we snaked through the woods, surrounded by majestic cliffs. He periodically picked up a plant, a mushroom, or stopped next to a rock formation to give us a quick biology lesson, warning us about the dangerous plants and the impact of climate change on the flora. Some of us snacked on some wild blueberries on our way to the top.
On the second day, we had a similar program. We hiked to a mountain lake to sunbathe and take a refreshing jump in the water. It was difficult not to feel like we were in a fantasy book as we walked through the beautiful hills and cliffs and swam to the little flower-covered island in the middle of the lake! As we got to know each other while enjoying the Bernese Alps, we also filled ourselves with inspiration and ideas for our creative endeavors of the week.

Picture 2: the students sitting near a mountain lake. Picture 3: Elena and a student admiring the view.

But living so high in the mountains comes with a few quirks! Water and electricity are sparse, and we had to use both economically. A generator was turned on for a few hours a day so that we could charge our devices and work on editing or sound design. Cooking was in the care of Elena Rast and Lukas and done with an old-school wood fire stove or on a campfire. Showers had to be taken outside in a little standing tent and with a bucket full of water. But those limitations quickly became usual. They are part of the OOHA experience! Helping to prepare the meals, sleeping in dormitories all together, as well as finding new ways to spend time and entertain each other as there’s, of course, no Wi-Fi! This disconnect from the digital world allowed us to be more present, focusing solely on our surroundings and creativity. It cut us off even more from the outside, helping us focus on our animation in this cozy little world that we created in our hut.

Picture 4: A group of students sitting on rocks and listening to the guide’s stories.

Following our few days of excursions and warm sun, a thick fog rose from the valleys all the way to the top, enveloping the hut and cutting us off even more from the outside world. This eerie and mysterious atmosphere gave us the perfect conditions to get in the zone and start to work! As some began by sketching or painting, others were busy building puppets, playing with textures and collages, or even losing themselves in the mist to collect sounds, images, and trinkets. Inspiration seemed to be coming from all around, not just from nature but also from each other, as we talked, shared our worries, and discussed our ideas. Busy in work, under the guidance of Maya Gehrig, and only interrupted by games of Yatzy, the occasional visit of some goats or chubby marmots, everyone seemed to slowly find their flow while experimenting with materials and ideas. For me, it was extremely refreshing to let go of the usual production pipeline, to let myself animate whatever I felt like, however, I felt like!

Picture 5: Student taking pictures on a cliff surrounded by fog. Picture 6: Students deep in work on a table covered in various materials.

At the end of the school year, I found myself running out of creative inspiration and motivation. I was completely paralyzed and kept overthinking and changing my ideas every other day without being able to find a flow or let myself go in the creative process. I was obviously tired and in need of a good vacation. But after that, anxiety started to creep in…what if the same thing was damned to happen in September? Out Of Home Animation was, for me, the perfect opportunity to challenge myself to make a finished project in just about 5 days. The isolation from the outside world, the inspiring students around me, and the focus on more analog and simple forms of animation created the perfect bubble for me to do so!
I will admit that I signed up for the Out Of Home Animation workshop not really knowing what I was getting myself into. It sounded very fun and also a bit intimidating. Yet in the span of 9 days, I met wonderful people, and challenged myself physically and creatively! The bonds we formed and the inspiration we found in the simplest things, like a morning mist or the sound of a distant cowbell, will continue to influence our work. As I packed my bags and prepared to leave this magical place, I carried a heart full of gratitude for the moments we shared. OOHA 2024 was a journey I’ll cherish forever, and I can’t wait to see where it leads us all next.

Picture 7: Panorama of the view and a student admiring it.

Four students shared their experiences and creative processes behind making some murals at HSLU D&K.

Ella Cattaneo

I had never done a mural before, so signing up for this opportunity was very exciting and a bit stressful, but I am very happy that I took the plunge, and so grateful that it paid off! I came up with multiple concepts for the mural, but I decided to settle on one that didn’t depend too much on the format (aka the dimensions of my chosen wall), so that the organizers could potentially move me to another wall if needed.

I also wanted to depict something that related to the school, so I settled on drawing a crowd of students walking to class and choosing to depict them as animals of various shapes and sizes gave me a chance to play with proportions and composition more. I initially wanted each character to represent a specific Bachelor’s, but I soon realized that certain courses were going to be harder to represent visually than others, and that the lines between various art forms were often kind of blurry, so I decided to just freely assign art supplies to the various characters, and let the observer imagine the wider context.

I transferred my sketch to the wall by using the doodle method: I covered the surface with random irregular pieces of tape, took a picture of the wall, and then overlapped my sketch and the picture digitally. I found it much easier than using a grid, although I regretted not using a lighter color for the sketch, as I spent a good chunk of time painting over the sketch lines at the end… Otherwise, the painting was really enjoyable: I first blocked in the basic colors and then did the lineart, the quality of which varied quite a bit depending on how tired I was. I enjoyed being able to work on it virtually whenever I wanted and being my own boss. Compared to what I usually work on also felt much more straightforward: a wall is much more straightforward than a computer program.

The closer I got to the end, the harder it was to finish the project: on one side I felt fed up with the the whole ordeal, on the other side I had been enjoying myself so much that I didn’t want to be done, as contradictory as that may sound. Now that I’m done, I think that I’ll avoid the corridor where my mural is for a while, as I’m quite sick of it, but once I feel detached enough from it, I think that I’ll be able to appreciate it once again.

Janine Varga

Lea and I had the honor of painting a mural on one of the walls on the bottom floor of HSLU DFK. We spent many hours refining Lea’s initial sketch and transferring it onto the wall next to the elevator. A bunch of first-year students from the animation department banded together to send in as many applications as possible to secure at least one wall for the animation department. I eagerly joined in and submitted a simple design, which unfortunately wasn’t selected.
However, the plan was to help other animation students whose designs made it to the final round, so I got to assist Lea with her mural design instead.

I had painted murals before, so I explained some basics I knew from my previous mural projects to Lea, but even with all the experience I had, we were unprepared for the amount of work and frustration ahead. First, we analyzed Lea’s initial sketch and improvised most of the sketch directly on the mural rather than strictly following the initial design. We used yellow charcoal for the sketch, which seemed like a great idea at first but ended up causing problems later.

The first phase of painting was met with frustration when we discovered that other students had contaminated the paints with other colors. This caused the paint to look inconsistent, with darker and lighter shades mixing together instead of appearing as solid colors. This was a problem since we intended the mural to have flat colors only. Consequently, we had to repaint most areas with inconsistent colors, like the orange of the frogs. The yellow charcoal also mixed with the paint, altering its color, which further complicated the process.

Despite our efforts to avoid dripping paint onto other areas, we still managed to do so,
forcing us to repaint several sections, especially during the line art phase. Initially, we were excited about doing the line art, but it turned out to be the most frustrating and soul-crushing part of the process. Although we bought brand new brushes specifically for the line art, we eventually had to buy new ones because the brushes we initially purchased were too big or too rough to paint with. Lea did most of the line art while I stood behind her with three different colors of paint, ready to correct any mistakes. Throughout the process, I took on the role of fixing any errors we made.
In the end, it was all worth it. We were very happy with the final result and learned an important lesson: next time we do a mural, we will keep the line art out of the design.

Lea Glitsch

While I was reading through all the initial information about the murals and the walls that were available for painting, I was quick to choose the wall next to room 079. I‘ve sat in that room multiple times for various art theory classes, so I thought it would be fun to design some characters that kind of “walk” toward the room and try to „interact“ with the door. Since frogs are some of my favorite animals, naturally I had to include them in my concept.

Although I was excited to do a mural, I was also nervous because I had never worked on one before and my painting skills left much to be desired. Thankfully my friend and classmate Jan came to my rescue and we teamed up to tackle this endeavour together.

The sketching stage, in which we tried to bring the initial design from my iPad onto the big wall without the help of a projector, was very tedious and difficult. It made me realize how much I was used to only working on a small screen. Jan had some experience with mural painting already and she was able to correct all my embarrassingly wonky lines. We made adjustments to the design to simplify the painting process and added a few little references to some of our classmates.

The flat painting stage was very satisfying and relaxing (not preparing us for the horror that would be the line art). The only difficulty we faced during flat painting was the fact that many people didn’t clean the shared equipment properly so sometimes old, seemingly dry paint on the palettes would suddenly mix with our fresh paint and mess up the flat coloring.

The line art was definitely the least fun part of it all, it required a lot of concentration and a steady hand, little mishaps would be visible instantly and we needed to do quite some cleanup work with the flat colors to cover up our messy accidents. After some time Jan and I came to the silent agreement that I’d take over most of the line work and she’d stand ready with all the flat colors in case of mistakes and mental breakdowns. I guess after some time you just adjust to the misery of it all and accept the fact that some things just must be done somehow.

Aside from that the overall experience was extremely fun, with Mara and Ella just around the corner working on their own murals. We were all open for a silly chat now and then and seeing everyone’s murals progressing with each passing day was very inspiring.

Looking at the mural now that it’s finished I’m very happy with the result and I’m very grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity to add a little splash of colour to one of the concrete walls of the school!

Mara Biscioni

Personally, I always really liked the hallway area of our school. For one, because it has a nice open space at its end, and for the other, because the floor has a yellowish tone. I don’t really like yellow but hey, at least it’s a color. Most educational buildings I have been to have dark gray floors, which makes the whole ambiance of the area gloomy. Needless to say, the bar for nice, colorful atmospheres in buildings is extremely low. Even in art schools. That’s just sad. It was about time someone killed the white of this canvas. I’m so grateful for this opportunity.

The color palette was set for all the paintings to give a sense of harmony to the hallway as a whole. I initially didn’t mind this limitation since blue and orange go well together. However, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with the given colors, as there was only one main blue to work with. We had a light blue, two midtones, and a dark one. They were all slightly different hues, which made them look disharmonious. Personally, I would have loved to see more confident variations in the tones. Maybe an almost turquoise? Maybe a purple tone in the darkest blue? But that was a problem for later. First, it was time to lay down some Ideas.

Blue and orange immediately make me think of a nice warm light source. So I made a few sketches around this idea and chose the one that would be the most fitting for our nice little space.

This used to be a rougher sketch but I finished it outside of the mural project. I just thought it looked like the two characters were burning down the circus behind them, which would’ve been a more fitting image for my previous school’s walls.
This one stayed in its sketch form and never got to be anything more but a chaotic color exploration. It would have looked pretty stiff anyway with the four bluetones given.
I decided to go with this one since it featured a lot of people looking at the same light ray, much like all the people in this school have a common interest in art.

I had the pleasure of visiting HSLU last month to do a talk and spend time with students looking at their current puppets and projects.

Having heard great things about the school over the years from various colleagues it was wonderful to step inside the campus and get to meet students who are benefitting from the university’s amazing teaching and facilities. From woodwork to metalwork, to fabrics, ceramics and 3D printers, art schools are a space where ancient processes collide with cutting edge technologies.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about animation and stop motion and how this medium, my preferred métier, sits at a junction between so many art forms. It’s somewhat peripheral and often under-valued, but simultaneously fiercely unique and singular in its capacity for empathetic, poetic storytelling.

In my talk I spoke about my background in theatre, having started in the plastic arts of painting and sculpture, my love of photography, opera, dance, my collections of objects and antiques. Every time I travel  I seek out museums of puppets and curiosities and stalk through antique markets and junk shops and all of these techniques and obsessions feed into my work as a director.

Stop motion is an art form which operates in the real world; what you see in front of the camera is painstakingly built by hand, photographed under real lights, and brought to life by unseen artisans; the puppet animators. It’s a multi-disciplinary process that draws on performance, artistry, technicality, and cinema to create something tactile and tangible which in turn gives the medium a weight and gravitas which perhaps sets it apart from drawn animation or computer animation.

Having recently co-directed a live-action puppet film, I’m struck by the expressive, artistic joys of making with our hands, of mixing media and techniques to tell bold new stories.
In the world around us, we can observe the constant march of technological progress, from devices which control our homes to artificial intelligence creeping into numerous aspects of everyday life, as well as barging its way into the creative sphere, whether we like it or not. But perhaps the question is not ‘Can a computer achieve this faster or better?’ (I would argue ‘no’ when it comes to inimitable stop motion and puppetry in particular) but rather – ‘can a computer have as much fun as I can, making art with my hands?’ Really we need to turn inwards and reflect on why we make work and how the inherent qualities of these practical mediums lend themselves to moving audiences, engaging viewers, and communicating narratives and themes which challenge, provoke, and entertain.
I say, long live the practical, plastic arts, and here’s to many more years of making work with our hands!

If you missed the presentation or want to hear Joseph talk more about these themes, you can hear him speaking about the appeal and inner-workings of stop motion animation on the BBC Radio show Screen Shot alongside Guillermo Del Toro here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tr6g

Lastly, talking about the making of his short ‘Salvation Has No Name’ and the ups and downs of being an independent director on the ‘Under the Onion Skin’ podcast here:  https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/under-the-onion-skin/id1704806166?i=1000644088772

Text and images provided by Joseph Wallace
https://www.josephwallace.co.uk/

Auf einer spärlich bewohnten, idyllischen Insel in der Nähe der norwegischen Kleinstadt Bodø befindet sich eine Gruppe seltsamer hölzerner Kabinen, in denen jeweils eine Künstlerin arbeitet. Gegen Ende des Sommers hatte ich das Glück und die Gelegenheit, zusammen mit zwei weiteren Kolleg*innen aus der Animationsbranche für drei Wochen in eine dieser Kabinen einzuziehen, um an meinem persönlichen Filmprojekt zu arbeiten.

Die Menschen, die ich während meiner Zeit im Arctic Hideaway kennengelernt habe, waren genauso inspirierend wie die einzigartige Umgebung. Da war zum Beispiel Trond, ein norwegischer Künstler, der mir viel über die norwegische Kultur und Geschichte erzählt hat, oder Misha, eine rumänische Metallbildhauerin, deren elegante und tiefgründige Werke mich genauso beeindruckt haben wie ihre Persönlichkeit.

In meiner Arbeit suche ich nach dem Absurden und dem Überschreiten von Grenzen. The Arctic Hideaway bot mir einen abgelegenen und inspirierend schönen Arbeitsplatz, der jedoch nicht an Vielfalt und skurrilen Interaktionen und Situationen mangelte. Es treffen sich verschiedenste Personen an einem von der Welt abgeschiedenen Ort, wo sie sich gemeinsam auf ihre Arbeit und das Zusammenleben konzentrieren.

Das Arctic Hideaway ist eine Residenz, die von der grenzenlosen Leidenschaft der Besitzer und Helfer sowie von uns, den Kunstschaffenden, belebt wird. In Zusammenarbeit mit der HSLU Design und Kunst ermöglichte uns das Arctic Hideaway, unsere Kreativität an diesen Ort zu bringen und in den naturnahen, wilden und dennoch stilvollen und harmonischen Alltag auf der Insel in Fleinvær einzutauchen und uns von ihm inspirieren zu lassen. Jetzt bin ich zurück in der Schweiz und teile meine Eindrücke begeistert mit allen, die zuhören möchten. Ich hoffe, dass ich auch andere ermutigen kann, eine dieser hölzernen Kabinen für eine Weile ihr Zuhause zu nennen.

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved and dear colleague, Paul Bush.

For many years, Paul was part of the lecturing team at Animation Lucerne. He had a lasting influence on the project development of the graduation films, and introduced many generations of students to the world of animated film with sensitivity, experience, and empathy. With his humour and peacefulness, he was a great role model for all of us.

Without him, Animation Lucerne would never have been what it is today. He was a formidable artist, filmmaker, animator, and lecturer whose absence will be felt for a long time.

We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Interviews with Isabel Pahud, Caroline Laville and Isabel Clerici
It’s after a long year of sitting behind desks working on various projects that the whole animation department here at HSLU, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts comes together to eat amazing grilled veggie-burgers, to discuss the recently premiered bachelor movies and most of all, to enjoy each other‘s company before a long awaited summer break.

On Thursday the 29th of June, three classes of students and staff meet on the school’s terrace to have a last meal together before leaving for the summer or definitively for those finishing their studies. It’s a long held tradition from the animation’s department: a true farewell to our third year bachelor’s and a last chance to get together with all their peers after a very exciting but also busy premiere the day before.
It’s under a cloudy sky that it all takes place and even though everyone’s very emotional, we can see the sun shining through the student’s smiles as people laugh together over their shared memories. Watching it all come to surface, I see the perfect opportunity to ask a few of the recent graduates about their time spent here studying animation, who knows when a little secret might be spilled.

Three years have come to an end, this is the last time you’ll be with the whole bachelor together as a student, how do you feel about it?

Isabel Pahud
It kinda sucks because the three years were really nice and although we were covid kids, we still managed to build a nice class atmosphere. Now it’s the reality of having to step foot into the big world out there where nothing is sure and nothing is secure. You’re leaving this comfortable bubble, and also being a student where shit is free, I’m not going to have that adobe pack anymore…

Fuck.

I know! Usually if the studio is good they provide you the licenses but yes, it’s exciting and also very depressing at the same time.

Isabel Pahud, director of this year’s bachelor film Forza, Rea!, started her studies here in September 2020 right before new public health measures were imposed due to Covid-19 cases rising in Switzerland. Having to study from home affected the class dynamics but not necessarily in a bad way, as Caroline Laville explains:

Caroline Laville
The lockdown started again around November so we had three months to get to know the class. Then we all moved to Discord* until the end of our first year. I think it was hard on some people but it worked out for my side of the class really well. We * instant messaging social platform, usually used for video calls and private chats met everyday, we had such a tight bonding experience through staying up until 2 am chatting or playing games together, that formed a really strong bond between us. It‘s in the AniGrill that the third year class gets to say goodbye to this school. It’s a special event that can get quite emotional as it takes place directly after the bachelor film’s premiere, the day before. For Isabel Clerici, the second Isabel from team Forza, Rea!, this year’s grill is different because it’s her last:

You’ve been to quite a few AniGrills, what makes this event special in your
opinion?

Isabel Clerici
It’s the feeling of everyone being excited because some really cool movies are done! It‘s also the last time you get to see some people and talk to everybody, not just your class. It’s exciting to have everybody together, it’s hard finding time for everyone to hang out. The AniGrill is like: “we the animation students are having a party”, it’s really cool.

We always have a lot of things organized only for animation students, it’s so great.

So exclusive!

Yes definitely!

It’s just really nice because it’s like a send-off. You get to send somebody off and know that next year it’s your turn, you can prepare yourself for that. As a third year, something ends and it’s sad but in a good way. It’s important, if we all just left and there was nothing it would be hard, this helps. So that’s the main purpose of the AniGrill: not just eating for free but also closing an important chapter in the student’s lives. It’s a time of discussion and reflection, where everyone can go over their evolution during their studies.

With your studies finished, what do you take out of the last three years?

Caroline Laville
I started studying here not knowing if I wanted to do 2d or 3d and now at the end, I know very specifically what I will focus on. It formed me by giving me directions. The studies here also gave me realistic expectations for what happens after school. But most of all, we have a community now with this class where we’re proud of each other, everyone is very skilled. I know that a lot of us are gonna be in the industry and it will be amazing seeing people that I studied with work on really cool projects.
Maybe in the future we get to work together again, it would be a dream.
Caroline Laville worked on her personal portfolio during her last year instead of teaming up to make a movie. However, that did not stop her from stepping into many different projects in different roles like for Summer Rain as Compositor and Oh No as Producer. Connections are one of the most crucial possessions that students take from their bachelor in Lucerne. All the time spent together creating strong bonds contributes to better teamwork and an overall greater time working as a group.

What are the best memories you keep?

Isabel Clerici
AH you’re making me choose! I don’t know, maybe lunches in the atelier, just eating together, having a laugh, watching movies in the Rex* or hanging on the terrace, it’s the small things. Obviously seeing my name in a big cinema made me cry, it’s a pretty big moment. Aside from that, I’d say the third year because it’s such a collective work. I don’t think it was a specific moment, it was getting to work on a project and seeing everybody work on their project, updating and helping each other. I don’t think I’ll ever have something like that again. It was pretty incredible.

Such emotional answers! Okay so-

Also pancake day was fun.

Pancake day! Was that a new thing this year?

That was because Bee (Isabel Pahud) is British and it’s a British holiday!

That’s so funny, I saw it on your schedule!

Yes, so carry it forth next year, do pancake day.

Sure, great memories are formed during the studies. And even though the students wouldn’t change a thing about those, there are still specific moments where they feel like they could have done things otherwise, especially with the knowledge they have now.

What would you have done differently?

Isabel Pahud
Now with a whole year behind me of being director, I know what I can do differently in that role. I have a clear idea of what is expected of me and what I should bring to the table. When I pitched my story, I didn’t realize exactly how much I should have done beforehand, style-wise and story-wise. It’s good to have a clear idea of what you want instead of just a concept. Concepts are great but if you don’t flesh them out, you won’t find anything tangible. Also, If you have a concept, make sure that you have people that are very eager to bring ideas to the table! Around the tables outside, between the alumni, staff and current students, a few new faces can be seen. The next first years have already been accepted, some are here tonight. There’s no better time to drop a piece of advice, I’m sure they’d be as eager to hear it as me. * Hslu’s own movie theater just next to the cafeteria

What piece of advice would you give to the newcomers?

Caroline Laville
I remember my first kükenfest* I was sweating because my new classmates were so much better than me. I got in from the waitlist so I wasn’t sure I deserved my place here. I talked with a third year back then at the grill, their piece of advice stuck with me: even though you compare yourself in the first year, as soon as you start working in a team, you stop the comparisons because everybody is equal. The better your teammate is, the better it is for you!

Isabel Pahud
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Take these three years as practice, don’t expect to have portfolio worthy work walking out of it. Always move on to the next project instead of sticking to one trying to make it better. Sometimes starting from scratch or doing something different is way more helpful to advance in your skill. Also, make good friendships and have a good time, don’t take the teachers too seriously! Grades don’t matter, you just need to pass. It’s all about your skill, not grades.

Isabel Clerici
Follow your gut and do what you like. If doing what you like means not doing an all-nighter but instead hanging out with your friends, then do that. It’s probably the only time in your life where you’re gonna get to do that. If it means that you really want to finish this specific thing then do it! As long as you follow your gut, you’re going in the right direction.

Thank you Isabel 1, Isabel 2 and Caroline, we’ll be sure to put all of that into action.

So there it is folks: as the night ends, the beloved third years pass not only the salad, but also the torch to the next batch of students. And as we all eat and drink together, this evening serves less as a goodbye but more as a welcoming party to all the amazing projects to come by our new graduates.

photos by Jessica Meier

*grill organized in the first week of school to introduce the new animation students to the Bachelor

Meeting the students behind the stories
Interviews with team Crevette, team Summer Rain, Kirill Gromadko and Justine Klaiber

I’m sitting among hundreds of people, the room is overflowing with excitement. Today is the HSLU’s Animation premiere, where films made by the students both in Bachelor and Master Animation during this last year will be screened.

It’s all taking place in the Blue Cinema here in Emmenbrücke. As I walk in, maybe fifteen minutes early, I can already see multiple small clumps of people talking. There’s the graduates’ families and friends, alumni, students, school’s staff and many Swiss professionals. I now understand why it couldn’t take place in our own cinema room in school, the Rex. I mingle a bit before going to the ticket stand where I receive a bracelet for my reservation and I walk into the screening room.

The room is enormous but I still struggle to find a sitting place in the middle, who even wantsto sit on the sides? The space gets filled pretty quickly. In the crowd, the people graduating this year stand out: dresses to suits, professionalism seems to be the theme, bulls-eye, every single one of them looks amazing! After all the greetings, they also take place and when every single person is finally sat, the atmosphere changes. Jürgen Haas, Hslu’s Bachelor animation’s director, walks on stage accompanied by Tina Ohnmacht, Master animation’s coordinator. A not so little speech is made, which I unfortunately can’t forward to you as it was held in german, but I assume it’s about the year of work behind and the pride felt for the students. That’s what I would have written. Then, it’s the students turn to speak, Sven Bachmann from team Crevette talks for the whole bachelor: he thanks every person involved in the films and gives away bags prepared for the school’s staff. Pretty similar words are said by Pedro Nel Cabrera Vanegas, on behalf of the master students. When all the important thanks are finally in the air, the lights dim and the true event starts.

Movies for all tastes are shown. DIfferent techniques, from stop-motion to hand-drawn animation to 3D are used and various stories, from the fear of pregnancy to a lemon thief, are told. People laugh during the funny moments and are quiet during the sad ones. What I’m sure of is that no one slept.

Soon enough, it all comes to an end. Jürgen Haas speaks a few more words about the amazing movies just presented: Henry’s hand, Oh no!, Forza, Rea!, Summer Rain, Crevette, Fork, Kill Your Darlings, NonSense, Searching for the Fifth Direction, Sonnenhuegel, Tapir Memories and Catch The Mouse!. And finally, the students graduating are welcomed on the stage for a strongly deserved round of applause.

The official screening is over and everyone starts getting ready for an apéro before calling it a night. However, all I can think about is finding a few of the graduates to ask them somquestions. The teams behind Crevette and Summer Rain, Kirill Gromadko from Catch the Mouse! and Justine Klaiber from the master’s, all agree to take a little interview.

What does it feel like finally seeing on the big screen the movie you’ve been working on for the last year?

Elina Huber
We’ve seen it before in the Rex but the animation moves differently in this even bigger screen. It doesn’t look worse, I just notice other details. It’s really cool because it gives me a fresh perspective on the film.

Sven Bachmann
It was interesting to hear and feel the audience. Before, we had only shown it to people who already knew the film and the story. I liked seeing the reactions of the ones that had never seen it before.

Elina and Sven worked on Crevette with Jill Vágner and Noémi Knobil. Even if seeing their project in a movie theater was a big step from working on small screens or watching it projected on school grounds, what mostly stuck with them was finally seeing the audience react genuinely. Which also seemed to be the case for the Summer Rain crew:

Marlene Low
It’s crazy to be in such a huge cinema but also, I’ve seen the movie so many times that I’m a bit numb to it. However, at such a big event like the premiere, you can hear so many new reactions which is really nice.

Johanna Kern
Or not hear reactions, a lot of people were very quiet.

Marlene Low
But that’s also a reaction!
Summer Rain, telling a story about grief through a child‘s point of view, was met with a strong silence when the credits rolled. The film, created by Marlene Low, Johanna Kern and Julia Krummenacher, touched the audience so profoundly that everyone hesitated to applaud. Fortunately, after one first clap the whole room joined as the team surely deserved.

Tell us a bit more about your teamwork, what would you have done differently?

Jill
We had a super dynamic team, we all worked on everything. We had a very democratic way of deciding what we wanted to continue with. It had its benefits and its downsides, it takes a lot longer to work that way. Noémi and Elina started with the story but we could all bring our things into it. We had to have a lot of discussions and meetings, it took way more time. It’s not very industry standard.

Elina
I’m not sure what I would change, I have more things that I definitely will keep on doing: like setting clear deadlines. Certain development stuff you can continue forever and keep finding more details, it’s dangerous. While for some, teamwork relied a lot on trust and friendships, for others this wasn’t the case.

Kirill Gromadko worked alone on Catch The Mouse! so he had to approach his project differently:

Kirill
Working alone allowed me to go at my own pace, I put more hours on it then I would’ve if I were in a team. It’s a movie that I’ve been wanting to do for four years so I was also kinda addicted. If I were to do it again, I would’ve had less characters. Right now, the movie has five and they’re all four-legged creatures, which I had never animated before. Working alone has its own perks such as independence and complete choice. But in a group setting, a story can change drastically, especially when you constantly get input from your teammates.

How did the movie evolve from your original view?

Marlene
When I pitched the story I had a few images in my head. Looking back, if it were a solo project, it would’ve turned out so different. It doesn’t mean it would’ve been better. I had a few visuals that I think would’ve been heavier story-wise and mood-wise, being in a team really helped me find that bittersweetness that we were going for. I wouldn’t change anything about the story that we have now, it’s perfect in my eyes.

Every graduate is very proud of their movie and they’ll carry on that feeling towards the new projects they’ll contribute to. While some are continuing their studies here at Hslu or elsewhere, others are stepping directly into the industry either through an internship or a full-time job. Justine Klaiber, master graduate, will be looking for funding for her story, as she entered her master degree in the concept track and spent her studies preparing the pre-production for a short-film.

What is the movie about?

Justine
It’s the story of Amelia who is stranded in space on a space-ship. She’s completely alone and struggling with the isolation and grief of losing a colleague partner. It’s about human and physical connection, being able to touch and feel another person. We as humans need that physical connection with people that are important to us, even if it’s not a love-relationship or a sexual-relationship. That’s why I tried to keep it ambiguous.

If everything goes according to plan, we should expect Lost Touch to premiere in festivals towards the end of 2024.

Another year goes by and we can once more be satisfied and fulfilled with the amazing work done by the animation students here in HSLU – Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The premiere is a success, it’s fair to expect more reservations for the next one, especially if they keep up the apéro treatment. It’s great seeing so many animation-passionate people connecting and having fun in the same place.

Looking at all the filmmakers being created here in Lucerne, we can’t help but to look forward to the numerous original stories to come from the Swiss Animation industry.

Blogpost by Daniel Neto Dias
photos: HSLU Premiere Animationsfilme Emmenbrücke, den 28.06.2023
Copyright: HSLU/Priska Ketterer