Discover how Disney artist Kevin Hudson created ‘Weeds’
‘Weeds’: The Making of an Animated Short Film by Gnomon
Watch Gnomon’s ‘Weeds’: The Making of an Animated Short Film on Livestream.com. Join Kevin Hudson and Bradford Simonsen at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects for a behind-the-scenes look at how ‘Weeds’, the first animated short film completed within the Filmmakers Co-op at Disney Feature Animation, was made by a group of 40 artists from over 40 countries.
Disney artist Kevin Hudson will be explaining how he directed Weeds, a collaborative CG short created using Disney’s technology, at a free event at Gnomon’s Hollywood campus next Wednesday, 8 November 2017.
His talk, ‘Weeds’: The Making of an Animated Short Film, will also be broadcast worldwide on Gnomon’s Livestream channel. You can watch along via the player embedded above.
Explore the creation of an indie short made with Disney technology
The story of a dandelion struggling to journey from barren ground to grassier pastures, Weeds is a metaphor for the experiences of modern human immigrants.
“As an artist, I wanted desperately to say something about having empathy for people who, by no fault of their own, were stuck in bad situations,” said Hudson, whose own relatives emigrated to the US from Ireland.
“I hoped that if we, as artists, could make people feel empathy for something as little as a dandelion, then perhaps we could make them feel a little more compassion for their fellow human beings.”
The first animated short film made within the Filmmakers Co-op at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Weeds was created by a group of over 40 artists from over 40 countries, including many other Disney staff.
In their Gnomon presentation, Hudson and Weeds producer Bradford Simonsen will be joined on stage by members of the team to discuss the logistics of such a collaborative animation workflow.
The session will also explore the technical challenges of making such a short, revealing how Maya, Houdini, Nuke and Disney’s Hyperion renderer were used to create the finished animation.
The 90-minute talk will be followed by an audience Q&A session, giving viewers the opportunity to ask questions of Hudson, Simonsen and the other team members for themselves.
Free to attend, but register online in advance
‘Weeds’: The Making of an Animated Short Film takes place at Gnomon’s Hollywood campus from 7.30-9.30pm on Wednesday 8 November 2017. Entry is free, but you’ll need to register online in advance.
If you can’t make it to LA, you can also watch the workshow free on Gnomon’s Livestream channel. You don’t need to register to watch the stream, and can ask questions via Twitter using the hashtag #gnomon.
Read more about ‘Weeds’: The Making of an Animated Short Film on Gnomon’s website
Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by Gnomon – School of Visual Effects, Games and Animation.