FlashBrighton: Character Animation & Lip-Syncing October 13, 2009

Fiona Sutton-Harper admired herself in the plate glass windows of the towering office block. Sexy but professional, that's the look she needed. She arranged her emerald scarf with precision: looped once, hanging just below the waistline. Satisfied, she sasheyed into the foyer and across to the pristine white reception desk, curls bouncing. "I'm here for the interview with Flashy Magazine, for the 'Character Animation' role" she beamed, perfect pearly-whites gleaming.

"Well let's see" he replied, running a hand through his blond buffon. "Ah yes, the position was filled internally yesterday by Tim Frost." Fiona's smile fell off. "'Very talented man" he continued smugly, leaning forward onto crossed arms. "He's done TV commercials, documentaries, websites, museum kiosks, including some BAFTA winning stuff." He leant back and smirked.

"Great!" Fiona sighed sarcastically, and turned to leave.

"'Scuse, missy?" the receptionist called after her. He beckoned her back to the desk and whispered under his breath "There are many entrances into the Flashy Palace, not just the front door. Read my lips: Not only can Tim animate characters, he can also lip-sync them." He leant forward, "You wanna know how that's done, sister?" Fiona's eyes sparkled, she nodded. "OK here's a secret: Tim himself is giving a talk about it next week. He's discussing character set-up and rigging, the work-flow from Illustrator to Flash to After Effects and that magic lip syncing." He grabbed a post-it note and began scribbling. "Here you go girlfren', time, date & place. Be a sweetie and don't tell them I told you." He winked and handed her the slip.

Fiona looked at the scrap of paper. It read:

Tuesday 13th October, 7pm,
The Werks, Hove.
I do this for her and she still won’t give me a smile!
Dermot xxx

She looked up and, sharing a secret smile with Dermot, marched out with her head held high.

Official Website: http://flashbrighton.org