Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg Campus Magazin 23/24

HANDMADE ANIMATION
At pH studio, Sylvia worked as a production assistant
on advertising projects and even an anime. In addition
to her work in production, she also ventured into other
fields: "I was able to try out many different things. I even
helped out with cleanup and animation corrections."
Being part of a project team, she noticed a big difference
from work in other countries: "It was fascinating how
much was actually still animated traditionally frame-byframe
on paper – and how quickly and efficiently the
artists are doing it!" The fact that this type of animation
is still prevalent is most likely due to the so-called "veterans"
who have been working in the industry for decades.
They're used to animating on paper, Sylvia explains,
and they're so fast that there’s no need to animate digitally.
As a producer to-be, the organization of tasks within the
project teams also stood out to Sylvia. While she often
takes sole responsibility for the producing part of a project
at the Animationsinstitut, artists and directors split
such tasks among themselves at pH studio. Since some
of the teams were very international, Sylvia also often
worked digitally with her colleagues.
After her internship, Sylvia decided to stay a while
longer in Japan and travel around the country. She first
went to Amagasaki and lived there in a shared house. In
addition to Mount Fuji, she visited Mount Kōya, where
she spent a whole night sleeping in a temple. However,
living in Kyoto and having everyday conversations with
the locals excited Sylvia the most: "It's just fun to walk
through a city and talk to strangers. For example, I ended
up in a pottery shop where it turned out that the store
owners had been on vacation in Ludwigsburg."
team members were also going abroad during their mobility
year, things became increasingly more difficult:
"We ended up being in three different time zones, which
wasn’t great for our schedules, to say the least. But we
made it work, and I'm grateful and proud that we kept
pushing."
After her stay in Kyoto, it was time for Sylvia to head
back to Ludwigsburg. "Overall, I learned a lot about
working in Japan. But I also developed quite a bit on a
personal level." Sylvia definitely wants to come back –
ideally to the Tokyo Game Show to present SYMBLINGS
to the public.
ONE VIDEO GAME
THREE TIME ZONES
While staying abroad, Sylvia has also worked on the 2D
video game SYMBLINGS, together with her fellow students
in Germany. The project was created in the third
year of study, where various student teams each produce
a film and an interactive application which must be set
in the same universe. Sylvia's team came up with the
world of SYMBLINGS: In a poisoned wasteland where
mushrooms and plants are enemies, a hybrid creature
made of chestnut and mushroom seeks to save the world.
Recently, the SYMBLINGS team have founded their own
company and received a €20,000 concept grant from the
Games BW Promotional Programme. However, as other
Tokyo Game Show
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