Robin
Hunicke from EA Games (US) will be joined by Perth animator Stephen
Grant who will talk about his work on the animated
TV series Dogstar, shortly to commence airing on the Nine Network.
Robin
is a Game Designer at Electronic Arts (MySims, Wii).
In her copious spare time, she's finishing a PhD in Computer
Science at Northwestern University, studying Artificial Intelligence
and Video Games.
That
may sound surprising to some. Games are often considered crude
- different from other art forms. But in just over 40 years
they have changed the way we think about computers, theater,
television and film. They redefine how we consume (and produce)
entertainment. To expand their expressive capabilities, we
must solve some non-trivial problems.
Each
year brings us closer to new solutions... in academia and development
alike. By participating in these two cultures, Robin hopes
to support and sustain cross-disciplinary/cross-pollinating
work.
After
working for several small Perth animation studios, Stephen Grant
started to work his way through the traditional 2D animation
system, including the Amblin studio in London (American Tale
2), but primarily at the Walt Disney Animation Studio in Sydney,
where he worked on many and various TV shows and Videos including
Darkwing Duck, Bonkers, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Lion
King 2, Another Goofy Movie, and many more (sounds like a late
night Readers Digest ad, doesn't it?).
Upon
returning to Perth, Stephen discovered a new way of animating
using Macromedia Flash, and was subsequently employed by Animation
Works on season 2 of John Callahan's Quads, and Dogstar.
He
currently lives in Perth with his wife and 2 sons, and ekes out
his life animating for anyone, whether they want him to or not.
Soon
to be broadcast on the Nine Network, the Dogstar series
was produced and animated in Victoria and Western Australia
by Media
World Pictures.
