Every hit film or game starts with a story, the most crucial driver of all subsequent steps in creating that audiovisual work. To apply for free script workshops during the Blender: Film & Games conference, you need to submit your short story idea (synopsis, maximum 1 page).
- Title: Film Script (led by Branko Ružić) // from 9:45 to 13:15
Join the script workshops with internationally successful screenwriters. The film script workshop lasting 3.5 hours will be led by Branko Ružić, an international writer born in Split, who now lives and works between London and Singapore. His authored works include 14 TV series and three feature films; his stage plays have been translated into seven languages, and he is a multiple award-winning author. He is currently working for Studio Dragon/MBC (South Korea) on the project Lee Jin. As a consultant, he worked on the adaptation of the traditional Chinese story Into the Mortal (Winsing); he is also working on projects for Fremantle Australia and on the children's feature film Eva & Hm.
- Title: Script for Video Games (led by Siniša Bahun) // from 14:30 to 18:00
They are far from ordinary texts as they are also technical documents that contain hundreds of pages of visual descriptions, flow diagrams, dialogue branching, and scenes. The workshop on scripting hit video games lasting 3.5 hours will be led by Siniša Bahun, an academic dramaturg who has been intensively working for the domestic video game industry for the past ten years. He has contributed to Croatian hits such as SCUM, The Red Solstice, Aquatico, Reset, and many others. He teaches creative writing for the video game medium at Vern University and the Academy of Dramatic Arts. In addition, he is involved in writing scripts for animated films, some of which, like Ballad of the Flute and the Necklace (Jaka Produkcija), are among the most awarded works in recent years. He has also designed scripts for interactive and VR installations for the Geo Info Center Voćin. He is a regular collaborator with the children's program of HRT, where he is currently working on several active projects within the morning mosaic Juhuhu.
- Title: From 2D Photography to 3D World: Visuals for Hollywood and Video Games // from 10 to 13:30
External lecturer at Algebra University and collaborator in the Game Development study, multimedia artist Ivan Šivak, will reveal to workshop participants the magic of transforming an ordinary 2D illustration or photograph into a dynamic 3D space – literally in the blink of an eye! Using simple techniques, Šivak will share his years of experience in the fields of comics, illustration, and animation, and explain how to enrich a static image and create an impressive 3D world. At the end of the process, participants will create a stunning 3D effect and literally bring the photograph to life by adding a camera and animating its path.
Ivan Šivak, a master of animated film and new media, was born in 1985 in Zagreb. He completed the School of Applied Arts and Design and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, at the Department of Animated Film and New Media. He has been a member of the Croatian Association of Visual Artists since 2011 and the Association of Visual Artists of Samobor since 2022. Throughout more than ten years of professional career, he has worked on over 40 projects in the fields of illustration, animation, and comics, for clients in Croatia and abroad. He is particularly noted for his HNB award for the design solution of the 2 euro coin in 2022 and the publication of his authorial picture book “Ajla and the Legends of Samobor” in the same year. As an art director in the video game industry, Šivak worked on the project “The Hand of Merlin” in 2018, and in 2021 he left the industry to focus on authorial projects, including children's picture books and comics for adults. He also conducts numerous art workshops and lectures in primary and secondary schools, colleges, and international projects.
Application task:
To participate in the workshop "From 2D Photography to 3D World: Visuals for Hollywood and Video Games", choose a film or video game with visual effects that impressed you and write a short explanation (up to 200 words).
In your text, answer the following questions:
- Which visual effect did you like the most and why?
- How does that effect contribute to the film or game?
- What particularly inspires you about these effects?
No need for technical knowledge – just share your impressions and imaginative ideas!
Send your applications to this mail: info@blenderzagreb.eu.
The application deadline is September 27, and selected participants will be notified by October 2. The workshops will take place during the conference on October 4.
English (UK) 
Hrvatski