Loving Vincent's diary - 7th week (Oscar night)

BreakThru's producer Hugh Welchman (Oscar Winner for producing BreakThru's Peter and the Wolf) and painter/director Dorota Kobiela (director of BreakThru's Little Postman and Chopin's Drawings) are co-writing BreakThru's latest film, Loving Vincent, the world's first feature length painting animation film. The film is a mystery thriller looking into the life and death of Vincent Van Gogh, and is told through bringing over 120 of Vincent's masterpieces to animated life...

The script is on its fourth, and final, draft, and wth production scheduled for spring 2013, the pressure is mounting. This weekly diary will candidly record their process of writing the elusive final draft.

Loving Vincent's diary - 7th week (Oscar night)

Well today is the 5^th anniversary of the night I won an Oscar. So I thought I would write a blog on the Oscars. I warn you there is not much Vincent content in this one… He’ll be back to centre stage in the next one!

The Oscars meant very little to me before 2008. Peter and the Wolf was the first one of my films that I actually submitted to the Oscars.

At film school all the people around me where very focused on Cannes, that was seen as the prestige event, and for animators it was Annecy. The Oscars was this distant American thing that seemed to get everyone excited. I remember promising one of my friends, who had just done well with his internet start-up, and who invested in Peter and the Wolf, that we would of course win the Oscar, not really thinking it was that big of a deal. When we were nominated then I noticed it was a big deal. All of a sudden I was getting 100’s of emails a day, from people I knew and from people I didn’t. This would culminate on the day after winning when I received 3,000 emails in 24 hours.

Two weeks before the Oscars I travelled out to California, and we went on a tour showing all of the Oscar nominated short films at the studios: Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks, ILM, Sony Pictures. There was a lot of hanging around, a lot of playing table tennis. Table tennis is big among animators on the west coast it seems. I arrived at one studio, Disney I think, and a guy came up to me and asked me if I was the producer of Peter and the Wolf. I was flattered that he had heard of the film, and that he was fan enough to seek me out. But it turned out his friend from DreamWorks had called ahead and said that I played a mean game of table tennis, and he was the studio no.1 and wanted to challenge me! I was also hanging out with all the other nominees and got to see their films many times. I was confident that we were the front-runner. There was another stop-motion, Madame Tutli-Putli, which had startling technique of combining real eyes with stop motion puppets, but that’s all I remember about the film, I don’t really recall the film, it was kind of a one trick pony. There was a half hour painting-animation melodrama from Petrov, My Love, which I did love, but I felt it was too melodramatic for most tastes. There was a lovely CG French film about pigeons, but not significant enough in style or story to challenge, and then there was ‘Where was the Walrus’ and innovative film about John Lennon. I thought this had an outside chance, but Peter and the Wolf had story, charm, humour and style, so quite honestly I expected my name to be called out.

The Oscars, appropriately, takes place in a shopping mall. Yet this pedestrian precinct is covered with red velvet, tacked on, stapled in, giant gold statues made of plastic are rolled in, and the venue is transformed. And once you see all the starlets and stars walking down the sidewalk, now a glistening red carpet, and under the glare of the lights and the flashlights, tinsel town comes to glamorous life. I walked down the catwalk next to George Clooney and Halle Berry. You can imagine that there weren’t many bulbs flashing in my direction. However as I had the foresight to smuggle in my Peter puppet we did get some attention. People like dolls.

When my name was called out, even though I expected it, I had a huge feeling of elation. Also relief. I had promised people this, and by the time it came to the Oscars I realised that this prize is by far and away considered the greatest prize you can win in film, and it is not something I should have promised! But, it worked out. And over the next few weeks I learnt just how highly the world regards the Oscars, and what store they set by it. I think with Loving Vincent we will have a chance at being nominated for Best Feature Animation. This category is dominated by Disney and Pixar with films normally made for around $200m, 20 times the budget we will have, but I think if we make an involving story, as well as having the most stunning visual style, that we can stand a chance. In the year I went up with Peter and the Wolf we were the favourites, if we get to be there with Loving Vincent we will be the plucky little underdogs, that has a Vincent-esque feel to it. He was the insider (in the art world) who was always the outsider. As someone who has won one Oscar I guess I am on one level an insider, but I live in Northern Poland far away from the Movie industry, and I engage in projects that attract the labels of ‘artistic’ within the industry. I don’t have any friends who are agents or actors, I don’t know any people who work at the studios, it still feels like another world that happens somewhere else, I still feel an outsider.

I will be fast asleep by the time the Oscars get announced tonight. But I predict that it will be a clean sweep for Disney. Wreck it Ralph and Frankenweenie are superior films to Brave (beautiful look but a weak and derivative story by Pixar’s groundbreaking standards); Paranorman and Pirates (for me the weakest stop motion film ever to come out of the wonderful Aardman Animation studio). This year there are only studio films in the mix, but interestingly three out of the five are stop-motion. For me Frankenweenie is Tim Burton’s best film since Edward Scissorhands. I am not a huge fan of his style, but the girl with her cat, and the science teacher are brilliant, the film gets a bit OTT at the end, but definitely a success. And much as I hate films that have inane content – a film about computer games????- I was blown away by the entertainment value of Wreck it Ralph- incredible inventive directing- why can’t they just use that awesome directing skill, technical brilliance and general film making mastery to tell stories that are about something that matters?

In the Short Animation category I hope Disney’s Paperman wins. The style is amazing, and the animation is really great. It fell down a bit as a story in the last third, but it was a pleasure to watch (especially in 3D). Wow if Paperman and Frankenweenie win it will be not only a double for Disney, but also a double for Black and White! The other shorts… Fresh Guacamole (no idea how this got nominated); Maggie Simpson short (not the Simpson’s finest hour- shouldn’t win); Adam and Dog (a few nice images at the start, but atmosphere doesn’t make up for the boredom, shocked that it was nominated) and finally Head over Heels from my old school, National Film and Television School. This is a very clever idea, and an epic achievement for a graduation film, but they puppet design is poor, and really they should have told the story in 6 minutes, not 11 minutes, it would have more impact. Still half of my sleeping brain will be rooting for them- to win an Oscar with your student film, that’d be something.

At the moment I tend to watch feature length documentaries, particularly biopics, because it fits with the story work we are doing for Loving Vincent. However it was refreshing over the past couple of days to watch all of the animation nominees. Refreshing but not inspiring, with the exception of Paperman there was nothing visually fresh or exciting.

Animation, despite representing films that go toe to toe with any blockbusters (Pixar/Disney far outrank any other studio in blockbusters and profitability) at the Oscars is still a sideshow compared to live action. By the time the animation winners are getting their rare chance to mix it up at parties with the Hollywood glamour set (an Oscar gets you into any party in LA tonight), the red-carpets will be already rolled up and the shopping mall will be restored, and I will be setting out on my 15km morning run through fresh snow to our big empty studio… which will someday soon start to be filled with painters…. And after they paint 56,800 paintings, over the next 2 years, then maybe Loving Vincent will also be a Cinderella for one night, propelled briefly into the West Coast lime light of Tinsel Town.

by Hugh Welchman

Tim Allen - Interview with an Animator

BreakThru talks to animator extraordinaire Tim Allen about his life in animation, Tim Burton and his incredible work on Peter & The Wolf and Magic Piano.

Tim Allen on the set of Corpse Bride

- When did you first become interested in stop-motion animation? Were you interested in art as a child?

Yeah, I was always drawing, making models and reading comics. I think my earliest ambitions were to make comic strip cartoons along the lines of Garfield, and I copied this format with vampire and ghost characters. As a teenager I’d moved on to Batman and my dream had now progressed to drawing superheros (or maybe being one!). I opted out of conventional A-levels in favour of a 2 year Art Diploma, as we knew I was going down the road of an artistic career. At this stage, I honestly can say I hadn’t even considered you could animate for a living!  

Somewhat lost for what to do after my art course, I was looking at modelmaking degrees and accidently stumbled upon an animation degree. At this time Nightmare Before Christmas had recently come out in cinemas & the idea of working on something like that just blew me away. Cheesy as it sounds, it was a moment of complete certainty, a true calling. I looked around & found a very good stop motion course at Glamorgan University and my very first animated steps began...

- How did you first 'break into the industry'? Was there a particular project that helped solidify your interest into a career?

It was tough getting going and those that get a break shortly after college I think are the very lucky ones. As I graduated, the industry was just starting a quiet patch which was leaving lots of established professionals on the job hunt. I contacted & tried to visit pretty much every stop motion company in the UK. In retrospect it was good experience in that it taught me who was who in the stop motion world as I literally knocked on almost everyone’s door. I did a fair bit of work experience & trainee model making where I learned quite a bit about studio practise.

I guess I did the classic of casting my net wide and after 1 and a half years I finally made a catch! I was asked to come for an animation audition for Ealing Animation in London. I think I got the job for two reasons - I would work very hard to impress and I was cheap!

One of Tim's first jobs in animation came with the BBC's
fondly remembered stop-motion education show 'El Nombre'

It was a low budget educational programme called El Nombre and so long as we told the educational part properly we had some creative freedom within the rest of the episode. For months, my animation was mostly long drawn out shots of gerbils counting money, very slowly. Fortunately the characters were charming and I had some very interesting and challenging sequences to work on for the action parts of the story. I was one of only two animators on the show so had my fair share of variety and tricky animation. A junior animator wouldn’t normally get the difficult stuff, but they only had two of us to delegate to! After 8 months the series finished & I was looking for work again, but this time I had some half decent shots under my belt & could pretend I was a professional!

- How did your involvement with Tim Burton begin? Were you a fan of his work before you were recruited for Corpse Bride?

I’ve always had a huge appreciation for Nightmare Before Christmas as it was the project that inspired me into this business. I loved Tim’s visual style and to work on a giant set from a Nightmare or Corpse Bride movie felt like the ultimate career moment at that time. Back then the only place that made feature films was Aardman. They already had a full time animation crew in place, which left most other animators around the UK (myself included) working on children’s TV series. This meant that when Corpse Bride came along it was a big deal – a chance to work on a big Hollywood size Tim Burton movie! I’d now been animating children’s series for 6 years and this movie felt like the opportunity of a lifetime!

However my showreel was rejected, as was my second attempt and only 6 months later did my third showreel (I kept working on it and updating it) earn me an audition. I had to do a nerve-racking 3 day test, but this time around, I made the right impression. It didn’t end there of course as you need to continue earning the directors trust for him to delegate what sequences you get to animate.

- Can you describe what an average day is like for an animator? Do you specialise in one particular area of it or is there a lot of variety?

On a film you often get typecast and could spend most of your time with a handful of characters. On Corpse Bride I was mostly cast as Barkis the sinister psychopath for 6 months. On Magic Piano I developed how to animate the Flying Machine & spent a good 6 months pushing it to the limits! On children’s series & commercials you can get a lot of variety quickly which is great for learning your craft.

An average day? It always depends on the project and the company you’re working for. Each studio has slightly different working practices so I could answer differently for each production. Here’s a generalisation:

Tim worked extensively on bringing the villainous
Barkis Bittern to life in Corpse Bride

As an animator my role tends to function like that of an actor in a live action film and I must be cast for the role. This is all based on what the director needs and I will work to his/her instructions to try and find the best way to approach the shot. From here I’ll plan the shot out with the camera crew to ensure I’ll be keeping the puppet in focus and making good use of the lighting. Next the model/puppet makers and riggers will help me with any details so that I can create the shot as close to the director’s needs as possible.

A quick note about time keeping: There’s normally pressure to get things done as quickly as possible (for understandable financial reasons!). In fact the key to making beautiful stop motion fast is all in the preparation time. It’s like struggling through an obstacle course when you’d be better off removing the obstacles and just sprinting to the finish line. You’ve got to take responsible decisions to get the balance right.

Once I start animating, you’re kind of on your own – for many many hours until the work is complete. You have to embrace & love the creative freedom to ‘perform’ your shot as a live action actor would. You have specific instructions that you need to get right but at the end of the day you’ll be relying heavily on your instincts. In truth you’re normally under pressure to get it done as quickly as possible!

- Could you tell us a little about your involvement with BreakThru Films? How was it working with Suzie on Peter and the Wolf?

I came onboard Peter & the Wolf about 2 months into the shoot and it was quite an exciting time in those early stages. I was the first animator to come over from outside Poland for the project. Suzie was great and had such a clear vision of how every detail should be. The challenge for me was being able to give her the detailed performance she needed in the limited time we had.

Initially Suzie was hoping I could do lots of work establishing the wolf, but the puppet wasn’t quite ready and I started working with Peter. She liked my close up acting work and basically I think most of my time was spent doing close-ups of Peter face. It was tricky as only the eyeballs could move and Suzie needed very specific emotional reactions from a completely static face! The shot that stands out in my memory is where Peter sees Duck, his childhood pet and closest companion, eaten alive right in front of him. Suzie asked for Peter to display utter shock, then overwhelming horror, followed by a shiver creeping up his spine, climaxing into trembling realisation. All this when the only facial movement I can get is moving the head and eyeballs!

- And what are your thoughts on The Flying Machine?

Oh quite simply it’s the most challenging project I’ve ever worked on! It wasn’t just because I was animation supervisor this time round, though certainly that in itself was an interesting new challenge. It wasn’t just that it was my first time shooting in 3D or that every action had to naturally sync with Chopin’s music. No the film had so many unbelievably ambitious but potentially beautiful sequences. To try and coordinate shots with thousands of flowers blowing in the wind, or epic long shots or the entire junk yard coming to life was complexity on a grand scale - and I didn’t even animate those pieces myself!

Most of my time in the studio was taken up trying to get a 2 metre high flying machine puppet to soar through the sky convincingly. It was a fascinating yet intimidating character/machine/force of nature (we called it all these and more!). We had a lot of practical hurdles to overcome (I sense I’m making a gross understatement here!) and it was really tough getting such a big complicated model to do what I wanted. I sometimes get more satisfaction seeing the shots before post production than after, the only reason being that you can see all the rigs moving that control it. Then you get a very real sense of what a technical accomplishment it was.

But the real beauty of the film was that Director Martin Clapp had worked so hard to make these sequences flow to the music and tell some beautiful moments. Each shot was utterly complex, but you knew it was justified and would be worth it. I’m very very proud of all we did on Magic Piano and feel lucky to have been so heavily involved with it.

- You've most recently completed work on Burton's Frankenweenie, can you tell us a little about the animation approach in this new film?

The cloth will come off Tim's work on
Frankenweenie when it's released this October

Well I can’t give too much about the film away yet, but again I’m really excited to be a part of this gem of a movie. It may initially look similar visually to Corpse Bride, but the animation is much more dynamic and lively. It really tested your timing as an animator. I did a lot of work with central characters Victor and his pet dog Sparky. This meant animating a four legged character who had to behave like a loveable but realistic dog. I looked at live action videos of real dogs regularly to try and get Sparky’s running and mannerisms accurate.

- Do you think there's a bright future for stop-motion animation, and if so, what can explain it's continued appeal?

It looks like we’re starting a golden age of stop motion now. There’s going to be a lot of films coming out of America, as well as several European ones on the cards soon. After a dry spell for children’s series, there’s suddenly many happening in the UK simultaneously. Aardman continue to keep as busy as ever too. We could be looking at 6-10 years rife with stop motion productions.

As for the appeal, I guess it’s the age old tangible quality, that you feel you can touch it and you can see it’s not perfect. I think people find a model set and a puppet very immersive. You can literally walk on that set and more easily imagine being in that world. We all had toys or dolls we had a close attachment to as children & perhaps puppets tap into this primal bond with our imagination.

It’s been such a blast working with so many different talented people and I feel so Iucky I found an art form I love and can earn a living from. I even went to Ray Harryhausen’s house recently to discuss stop motion techniques with him – I mean how cool is that?! It is not an easy career and won’t suit most people but there can be a lot of highlights. I’m trying to settle down more but there’s a lot of stuff tempting me right now. I believe even BreakThru Films aren’t done with stop motion...!

Tim’s website: www.TimAllenAnimation.co.uk

Follow Tim’s adventures in the world of stop motion on Twitter: @TimAnimation

Happy Birthday Peter! - 86 years of Prokofiev's classic

Peter and the Wolf is 86 years old this week - BreakThru take a look at the creation of Prokofiev's family masterpiece - and its less than enthusiastic early reception!

Sergei Prokofiev

On May 2^nd 1936, which has its 86^th anniversary this week, there was a disappointing opening at the Moscow Philharmonic. Sergei Prokofiev had recently enjoyed his 45^th birthday, and had earlier that year settled permanently in a city which had only two decades before been wracked by revolution. Already the acclaimed composer of great operas such as The Fiery Angel (1919-27) and The Love for Three Oranges (1919), he had won acclaim for his revolutionary technical and artistic achievements, as well as notoriety for his dissonant and controversial musical experiments. The composer was given leave to travel from Russia to America, to Germany and to Paris, and when he returned it was as one of the world’s most celebrated artists.

The Moscow Children's Theatre, now the Nataliya Sats Theatre
named after the formidable woman who comissioned Peter and the Wolf

Settling back into life in Moscow, Prokofiev was glad to take a small commission from the Children’s Theatre. He was no doubt convinced to take up the modest project by the strong and determined Nataliya Sats, who ruled the theatre with a strong business sense and absolute artistic determination. Sats was immensely well-respected, and when she asked Prokofiev to produce a work which could fulfil the pedagogical role of introducing children to certain aspects of music and of the orchestra, he was happy to oblige.

The work he produced was a piece which gradually introduced the audience to elements of the orchestra, giving space and identity to each instrument in such a manner as to illuminate their individual characters as well as their purpose within the wider orchestral framework. The work was to incorporate a spoken-word element which told the story of Pioneer Peter who ‘sets wrong to right by defying an elder’ (Simon Morrison, The People’s Artist). This was a simple morality tale with obvious political implications in post-Revolutionary Russia. The 1920’s and 30’s were filled with this kind of children’s literature, which taught a questioning attitude to authority, which demonstrated youth and energy triumphing over ignorance and age. The original text was drafted by poet Nina Sakonskaya, who had considerable experience writing stories in verse for young readers.

An autographed score from its 1938 US premiere

Prokofiev rejected Sakonskaya’s draft, feeling that the story was too rhymed, the rhythm of the words claiming a dominance over the music which was entirely inappropriate to his project. While acknowledging the importance of words in his tale, Prokofiev insisted upon their proper and properly delicate balancing against the music. Too much rhyme and rhythm and their jangling would drown out everything else. Prokofiev, choosing instead to draft the text himself, insisted ‘Words must know their place.’ They found their place in his own version, drafted rapidly under the title How Pioneer Peter Caught the Wolf. The plot borrows from folklore, from propaganda, and even from Disney, reflecting the concerns of animal-based morality shorts such as The Wise Little Hen.

Donald Duck greets The Wise Little Hen (1934), one of
Prokofiev's more surprising inspirations

It took less than a week for Prokofiev to create the piano score, it took a further 10 days for him to complete the orchestration. Peter’s theme came first, the anchor for the adventure, and one which is flexible enough to bend into a march, a pastorale and a waltz as the narrative dictates. The other themes came next, inspired by the key sounds and techniques of the individual instruments. Prokofiev’s lightness of touch, his sympathy for the whimsical imaginations of children and his skill in pictorialism all combine to make for an enchanting tale that belies its roots in didacticism. The enduring and global success of what would come to be known as Peter and the Wolf demonstrates the power of its simple story to move beyond a simple delineation of a pioneer’s responsibilities and virtues into something which resonates with the fundamental thrills, fears and triumphs of childhood.

There was little triumph in that first performance, however, as Prokofiev’s new work was greeted with profound indifference by the stiff adult audience at the Philharmonic. His work seemed minor and unchallenging, the audience had little interest in being educated about the mechanics of the orchestra, or the trials of boyhood. It wasn’t until Prokofiev presented the work at a mixed audience of old and young at the Children’s Theatre that it’s incredible journey to international renown began.

The wolf  in BreakThru's own version of
Prokofiev's classic

Though adult audiences were eventually to warm considerably to the work, giving it an almost unique status among classical music as a piece beloved by audiences of all ages, it is among children that its true magic remains its most potent. When BreakThru present Suzie Templeton’s version with a live accompaniment, the loudest laughs still come from the children, the humour of that final oboe quack from the depths of the wolf’s stomach never fails to bring the house down. Prokofiev’s achievement is a truly universal one, it translates into any language, it rings true with any audience, and shows so sign of falling from its place in the hearts of young and old alike.

- Stewart Pringle

Enter our Easter competition!

To celebrate the return of the Peter and the Wolf Live experience, BreakThru Films are giving Twitter users the chance to win a pair of tickets for an Easter weekend performance in the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre. It's guaranteed to be a magical production, with a screening of the animated classic given a live accompaniment by the acclaimed Aurora Orchestra and live narration from the incredible Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Carribean, The Office).

All you need to do is follow @BreakThruFilms and retweet the following message to be in with a chance of winning.

Follow @breakthrufilms & RT me for the chance to WIN 2 tickets to Peter and the Wolf Live this Easter! http://breakthrufilms.co.uk #peterwolflive

The winner will be selected at random and receive two tickets to the performance this coming Easter Monday. There will also be a chance to meet Peter and the Wolf producer Hugh Welchman and see the miniature stars of the Oscar-winning animation.

Full terms and conditions can be found on our website but it really is as simple as that, the competition closes on the morning of April 5th so there's no time to lose - get tweeting!

- BreakThru Films

Anna Larsen - Performing the Études

Young musician Anna Larsen performed three of Chopin's Études as the live soundtrack to three of BreakThru's short films: 'Little Postman', 'Night Island' and 'Pl!nk' at the Lincoln Centre, NYC. In our inaugural blog post, she describes her experiences...

When I first heard I was invited to perform Chopin Études as the live soundtrack to children's movies at Lincoln Center, I was overcome by curiosity and excitement. Which Chopin Etudes would I be playing? How many? What were the movies like? Then we heard from the Lang Lang Foundation that the etudes I would be learning were Opus 10 no. 4, the Revolutionary Etude (Op. 10 no. 12) and the Octave Etude (Op. 25 no. 10).  I was surprised and even a little bit scared about the octave etude.  Playing fast legato octaves was going to be a challenge for my small hands. When my piano teachers learned about the concert, they were concerned with the timeline (six and a half weeks to master 3 Chopin etudes and perform them at Lincoln Center!).  Deep down inside, I knew that even though it would be a challenge, the event would be awesome and I was positive I could do it.

                  

Anna performed a live soundtrack to 'Little Postman' (above)

I started with the octave etude, since it would be one of the most challenging to play. At first, I played very slowly. Over the course of the next few weeks, I gradually sped up until I could play at three times that speed. Also, I began working on Op. 10 no. 4, which was also difficult because of the speed!  Since Lang Lang had played the original soundtrack, it was up to us to recreate his magic and daring tempo in front of a live audience.  When we received the DVDs with Lang Lang's soundtrack, his tempo was metronome 168 to the quarter note! I never played anything that fast before!  It was insane!  Would I be able to do it?  I practiced for days, and the etude became faster and faster. Soon, I ran into a problem: the etude wasn't getting faster anymore. Even though I was trying, the piece simply wasn't making that much progress. I turned to my teacher for help, and he told me I was thinking too carefully about every note. “Think about the piece in groups and phrases, not about the articulation of each individual note.”  This helped a lot. I would practice as fast as I could go, except in very little groupings of notes. Gradually, I strung the groups of notes together until I could play a whole phrase at this rapid tempo. Soon I could play the whole piece at Lang Lang speed! Even my teachers couldn't believe how fast I mastered the etudes.  On Thursday the 15^th (my twelfth birthday, and two days before the concert), I rehearsed the three etudes over Skype for Nic Marshall, one of the organizers of the concert. We had to use Skype because there was no time for everyone to drive down to NYC to meet in person before the concert.  Technology is great!  When I finished playing, she had tears in her eyes and said that this concert was going to be even better than she thought it would!

The big day arrived.   It was amazing to finally meet everyone. I was shown to the beautiful theatre. After I tried out the piano, there was a run-through of the concert. I was totally amazed by the effect of the movie on the giant screen with the huge sound effects compared with the tiny DVD player I had practiced with at home. It was as if I were actually part of the scenes in the movie, experiencing everything the characters were. After the run-through was finished, I met Hugh Welchman, the person who had created the movies and Dorota Kobiela, the director.  Hugh showed me and Derek the puppets used to film the movie The Magic Piano. Also, he explained how the filming worked and how they shot the whole movie one frame at a time, with 24 frames per second. That must take a tonne of patience! I thought.

Performers Derek Wang and Anna Larsen with producer Hugh Welchman
onstage at the Lincoln Centre

After rehearsal, we killed some time, and then it was time for the concert! We walked out into the hall, where I saw kids with their families eating popcorn, and that's when I realized that I shouldn't be nervous! Popcorn with movies and classical music!  These were kids who wanted to have a good time. All I needed to do was relax and have fun! The whole theatre buzzed with excitement as the opening music played. I asked Derek, "Is your teacher here?" "Yeah, somewhere in the back," he replied. "Cool! I wonder if he's eating popcorn," I joked. Then, the lights dimmed and there was a short introduction before I went up and played. This is it! This is what all my hard work is for, so pour your heart into it, I thought to myself. I smiled as I watched the familiar little kid on the movie screen appear and clang his colorful xylophone as I began to play Op. 10 no. 4. At first, I was a little nervous. I couldn't exactly help it. But as I continued to play, I felt more and more comfortable. By the time I had reached the octave etude, all my nerves had almost entirely disappeared and all that remained was excitement! When I played the slow section of the octave etude, I felt that this was the best I had ever played this part. I let all my feelings enter the music for the remainder of the concert, and the Revolutionary Etude was full of passion and perfectly timed with the movie, the big explosions in sync with the big chords. After I was finished, there was huge applause and cheering, and I was completely happy. All of my work had paid off! I cheerfully bowed and then put on my 3D glasses to watch Derek perform. I suddenly felt very lucky that I only had to play three etudes... Derek had to play nine! I admired him for his courage to learn so much music, and he did a great job. The question and answer session was mostly questions about how the movies were made.

The concert was over, and the best part was that the kids loved it! We went into the main lobby to meet the kids and parents, who had many wonderful compliments for me and Derek. We talked for a while with Kristina, Lukas, Nic, Hugh, and Dorota, and then it was time to leave. We waved goodbye to Derek and got back into the car. By participating in the New York International Children's Film Festival, Derek and I had just helped put on a great show that lots of kids enjoyed and were inspired by, and I couldn't wait to do something like this again!

- Anna Larsen