The Animation Podcast » Ken Duncan

Show 028 – Ken Duncan, Part Three

Clay — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:17:21 +0000

“It’s really great trying something out and then seeing how people react and if they don’t kind of react the way you think they should, it’s wise to be honest with yourself and try to analyze the work.”

Ken Duncan owns Duncan Studio in Pasadena, CA. Before that he animated Meg in Hercules, Jane in Tarzan, Capt. Amelia and Scroop in Treasure Planet, and he served as a sequence supervisor on Dreamworks’ Sharktale. In this final part of the interview, Ken shares more of his experiences on Hercules and Tarzan as well as futher insights in to his approaches to performance and how he approaches running his own animation studio.

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Get the MP3 here: Show 28: Ken Duncan, Part Three
(40.2MB, 1:27:39 minutes)

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(Includes chapter breaks, pictures and links in addition to the audio.)
Get the enhanced podcast here: Show 28: Ken Duncan, Part Three
(42.2MB, 1:27:39 minutes)

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SHOWNOTES

00:00 The Intro Voice
00:05 Sponsored by –
00:21 Introduction – Duncan Studio
01:08 On acting and observing reality
03:12 Definition of texture in animation
06:01 Various structures of supervising on films
08:58 Animating Meg on Hercules
12:49 Dealing with criticism and getting better
14:30 Strength of female characters
14:53 Supervising at different studios
17:05 Animating a song
18:07 3/4 inch video tape
19:56 Style of Hercules – Gerald Scarf and cartooniness
21:01 Portraying women in animation
24:16 Actresses of the 40s – Barbara Stanwyck and Jean Arthur
25:26 Animating Jane in Tarzan
29:42 Supervising in 2D vs CG
31:23 Traditional animation methodology
36:12 Getting the right reaction
38:55 Analyzing and the human touch
42:47 Taking characters off model
45:14 Jane’s physical transformation
47:54 Treasure Planet
50:24 Starting in to CG – Oskar Urretabizkaia
55:48 Sharktale
1:00:41 The atmosphere at Dreamworks
1:01:37 Analyzing European animation styles
1:03:26 Other animation is going on out there
1:07:09 Setting up Duncan Studio
1:13:46 Opportunities for experimentation
1:17:44 Conclusion
1:17:57 Question about show length
1:18:14 Feedback info/Voicemails – Email Clay – Link to Voicemail
1:21:33 Preview of next show – Eric Goldberg
1:27:09 Sponsored by –
1:27:29 Closing

Show 027 – Ken Duncan, Part Two

Clay — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:05:05 +0000

“To me it’s not about moving stuff around. It’s about thinking about a personality within a story.”

The conversation with Ken Duncan continues. In this second part of the interview, Ken talks about some of the his earlier films at Disney. Then the conversation focuses on his personal approaches to acting and his general workflow for animating productively.

Continue for Show Notes, audio file download links, and comments…

Get the MP3 here: Show 27: Ken Duncan, Part Two
(25MB, 54:20 minutes)

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SHOWNOTES

00:00 The Intro Voice
00:05 Sponsored by –
00:21 Introduction – Duncan Studio
01:03 Coming to Disney from Bluth
03:35 The experience of working at Disney
05:09 Rescuers Down Under and meeting his wife
06:14 Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin
08:33 Pocahontas and supervising Thomas
10:04 Dialog recording sessions
11:06 Figuring out acting
17:02 Boleslavsky – Acting: The First Six Lessons
21:06 Choreography of characters – The Odd Couple
24:02 Finding meaning in performances
30:10 Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold LLoyd
35:31 Animating in red for clean-up pt. 1
36:58 What is a breakdown?
37:57 Animating in red for clean-up pt. 2
39:55 A process to animate a large piece of the film
41:41 Discipline to rely on knowledge and not technology
44:12 Animation: a commercial art with finite schedules
47:07 Inspired by other actors’ approaches
48:57 Animators who lead the artform
49:59 Animation is a crazy idea
50:40 Conclusion
50:51 Question about show length
51:09 Feedback info/Voicemails – Email Clay – Link to Voicemail – Link to Michael’s blog
53:55 Sponsored by –
54:06 Closing

Show 026 – Ken Duncan, Part One

Clay — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:38:43 +0000

“That to me is one of the funnest things about animation; is experimentation. And that’s…that’s the spirit of animation.”

Ken Duncan has served as a supervising animator on four Disney films. His characters include Thomas (Pocahontas), Meg (Hercules), Jane (Tarzan), Captain Amelia and Scroop (Treasure Planet). Ken was also a sequence supervisor on Dreamworks’ Sharktale. He currently is running his own studio, Duncan Studio, based in Pasadena, California. This is part one of the interview.

Continue for Show Notes, audio file download links, and comments…

Get the MP3 here: Show 26: Ken Duncan, Part One
(26.3MB, 56:58 minutes)

SHOWNOTES

00:00 The Intro Voice
00:05 Theme Song by DJ Sweettooth (Joe Moshier)
00:50 Sponsored by –
01:06 Introduction – Duncan Studio
02:24 Animating for 24 years
03:20 Sheridan College
04:10 Learning about animation, developing skills
07:30 Goals in animation
09:08 Intruiged by early CG animation
11:05 First work after Sheridan
12:58 Canadians + animation
13:41 Working in Paris on Asterisk
15:18 Oscar Grillo – blog
19:03 Working in Madrid on BFG
21:02 American vs. European art
24:23 Interest in more involved performances
26:04 Working at Bluth in Ireland
28:25 Learning the ropes along the way
33:08 Acting
37:28 Supervising CG characters
40:15 Styles and influences of different animators
47:09 Animating female characters
50:19 Expanding performaces in CG
51:28 Conclusion
51:38 Feedback info/Voicemails – Email Clay – Link to Voicemail
56:33 Sponsored by –
56:44 Closing