Meet The Artists - Braam Jordaan
Film Producer and Visual Effects Artist
Braam Jordaan was born profoundly Deaf 
to Deaf parents in Benoni, Johannesburg. He has achieved outstanding art recognition both locally and internationally. After graduating from TAS, he worked for several high-end film and animation companies on high-end projects for BMW, Coronation, Nampak, Mitsubishi, Yardley, Musica, World Wildlife Fund, Rabea Tea, American Eagle and Graça.
He is perhaps best known for his enchanting one-minute animation entitled “The Rubbish Monster,” which garnered no less than 12 awards, including Multichoice Vuka!, 11th Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (SICAF), 5th KAFI and Animation Exchange Best of the Best. “The Rubbish Monster” was featured in The Filmmakers' Guide to South Africa: 10th Anniversary Edition as “The Review of the Decade”. It led to Cambridge University Press publishing his children’s book adaptation by the same name in 2009.
He developed and animated a rabbit character for the first online animated Sign Language Dictionary internationally for the Deaf Culture Centre in Toronto, Canada, and Sipho the Lion, the official mascot of the XVI World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD).
He specializes in film production and transfiguring creative concept into high-end and award-winning animation, visual effects and media. He continues tirelessly to promote Sign Language and the Human Rights of Deaf people worldwide through his colourful spectrum of work.
(source: braamjordaan.com/)
You come from a Deaf family, did that have any influence on your decision to pursue a job in the visual arts & entertainment field?
Working in the visual medium makes sense for me. I grew up in a colorful environment and in Deaf culture- there's got to be a visual language. Animation is very visual-driven and colors are my music. In my blood? My father is a wonderful storyteller and my mom being a perfectionist, so I think it helped gravitating towards the world of visual arts and entertainment.
What was your experience like as you pursued the animation path? Did you have a positive experience? Frustrations? What was the reaction of your hearing peers throughout your educational career?
I started pursuing the animation path when a holiday job at an advertising agency sparked off my interest in the field of animation. We all have unique perspectives, different backgrounds and experiences, so the teaching styles all differ in some respect.
It put a great sense of responsibility for all of us to build a strong portfolio (showreel) to help with breaking into highly competitive entertainment industry. That was the positive experience and we
all worked very hard for a deeper understanding of an eclectic science that uniquely combines mathematics, computer science, fine art, classical animation, physics, bio-mechanics, and anatomy, to name a few fields.
Coming from the disadvantaged background and the bursary I received from the Department of Labor was not adequate to cover the interpreting services during the lectures. I accepted the challenge, with frustrations, to go (the) 'extra mile' to keep myself ahead (of) the curriculum. It didn't stop me from being a top student throughout and winning two major awards in a national competition for commercial filmmakers during my last student year. I walked straight into a job with one of the reputable post production companies.
I was treated with respect and like everyone else in the competitive arena and I'm grateful for that.
3 part question:
The ‘Rubbish Monster’ is one of your most recognized works, and landed you a book publishing deal. As you were creating it, did you realize that you were creating such a powerful & impactful short? Did you ever think it’d land you a deal with Cambridge Publishing House (known as the world’s oldest publishing company). Can you share with us your experience throughout the whole process?
The solution to saving our beautiful planet lies in our own hands. In conceptual art, the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work and it's only a well-founded and powerful concept that drives the success of any production. It was always my goal to go (further), but I never expected I would go that far, so it was really cool.
It was quite a challenge to successfully transform moving images into static two-dimensional world that exists between pages. The Rubbish Monster is aimed at children in the lower primary school and at this level it takes exceptional skill to select just the right words to enhance the artwork and bring characters to life.
You’ve created several 3D animated characters that use sign language, was 
sign language in animation a goal of yours?
Yes, it was one of many goals I set out to accomplish. I developed a signing character when I was in the academy but I decided to gain industry experience and expertise in character development first. The timing is perfect because the new media is coming of age and I'm currently working on the second phase of the first ever Animated American Sign Language (ASL) Dictionary for children. The project received a huge boost from the Canada Interactive Fund. The Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf (CCSD) received confirmation of a grant from the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore.
I have also worked on the lip sync for the 'hearing' characters with visual guidance from video footage of the voice over artist in the background. Anything is possible.
Can you talk about the process of creating an animated short? How long does it take? Do you need a team?
The production pipeline of a typical animated short or a movie can be divided into three stages : pre-production, production and post-production.
The first process in the animation pipeline, and also one of the most important, is pre-production. It begins with the main concepts which are initially turned into a full story and then once the story has been finalized, other things such as the script, shot sequence and camera angles are worked on.
Once the storyboard has been approved the project enters the production phase. It’s here that the actual work can start, based on the guidelines established during pre-production. Some major parts are layout, modeling, texturing, lighting, rigging and animation.
Post-production is the third and final step in film creation, and it refers to the tasks that must be completed or executed after the filming or shooting ends. These include the editing of raw footage to cut scenes together, inserting transitional effects, working with voice and sound actors and dubbing to name just a few of the many post-production tasks.
Overall, however, the three main phases of post-production are compositing, sound editing and video editing.
About how long does it take to create animated short, you're asking a big, tricky question. There are too many variables to give you a definite answer to how long something should take you. So much depends on your personal style, but basically the more complex you plan to make the piece, the longer it'll take. All depends upon the length and quality of the movie logically, but as an indication it took 300 international animators 3 years to produce the 1937 version of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Over 275 people, including computer animators, software developers, and engineers, spent three years to create Shrek. Just one guy spent six months part time (evenings) and two months full time to create The Rubbish Monster.
Part of the charm of animation, what makes it worth doing at all, is the artist's ability to surprise the viewer and interpret content in unexpected ways. In a crunch, it is this creativity that gets sacrificed to the production process just to meet an unrealistic deadline.
What are some of your goals you’d like to see in mainstream animation films?
I hope to see animation films featuring diverse characters covering a diverse range of genres. I would also like to see more films where the protagonist’s background does not inform the plot, necessarily. The films that feature diverse characters that are not simply about their diversity. I strongly believe that the animated films featuring multicultural characters will be highly appreciated and I’m hopeful for the future in the entertainment and new media industry!
Are there any artists out there that you would like to collaborate with for future projects?
Yes, many! I love creating synergistic platform with like-minded artists and filmmakers coming from all sorts of different cultures and background all over the world.
What has been your favorite creation so far?
Goodness, it seems like I often choose one as my ‘all time favorite,’ during the creation process and that lasts until the next new creation. But Cambridge University Press manages to sell The Rubbish Monster twice as many copies in the next best-selling title in the Rainbow Reading series - and there are 350 titles in the series! It looks like it is probably one of the folks’ favorite as well as mine. I also love the recent creation – Sipho the Lion, the official mascot for the XVI World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf held in Durban, South Africa.
Can you share with us some of your upcoming projects:
II have got several creative projects in the pipeline and some of them are community-related. It's my way of giving something back to where I come from. I also plan to create another short film in the near future.
Any last words you’d like to share?
Thanks. Thanks for the interview, Sean! Peace.
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