Sharjah Animation and Comics Conference
The fourth edition of SACC returns to Aljada from 22-25 October with more than 150 activities â masterclasses, workshops, seminars, talks and âhands-on experiencesâ.
There are separate programmes for Animation and Comics, which rather begs the question of why the two have been rammed into the same schedule. The PR bumf says bringing the two programmes together âwill allow participants to explore connections between animation and comics, including character development, visual storytelling, adaptation, publishing, physical design and digital formatsâ, but there are some obvious scheduling collisions …
The Animation stream is rather better developed, exploring the craft and industry behind development and production for feature-length and short films and TV series; there will be masterclasses and workshops on writing, drawing, storyboarding, character performance, movement, traditional and digital animation, stop-motion, dubbing, and voice acting. Participants can also explore how physical performance and motion capture are translated into digital characters and how emerging technologies are being used in animation workflows. And industry sessions will look at issues like financing, co-production, international collaboration and distribution.
The Comics programme will enable participants can develop their skills in drawing, cartooning, character and world development, visual storytelling and writing, while exploring how comic ideas can be adapted across different formats. Sessions will also examine connections between comics and animation, film, CGI and physical character design. Publishing, representation and international opportunities will feature alongside the business of comics and collectables.
The agenda for talks and workshops is pretty impressive, with lots of practical experience and hard advice on offer along with some debating issues (like âAre we training animators for the real world?â). Elsewhere and new for this year are a meet-the-creators Artist Alley, arcade and esports plus a board games area, a cosplay competition, card trading, and DIY dubbing. And evening concerts will deliver music from Disney, anime and other potentially relevant scores.
Early-bird passes may still be available. Otherwise youâll pay full price:
â« Four-day pass AED 450 (students AED 175)
â« Business pass AED 750 (adds âexclusive business networkingâ)