Christmas coffee at Coffee Fix

Well, these sketches didn't turn out the way I had hoped. But I wanted to show my female superhero characters relaxing at the Coffee Fix over on Moorpark and Whitsett.

Coffee Fix is very pleasant, quiet and feels very homey. This is probably because of the old store front it's in.

Cubcake, Boffette and Lady Cobra take a break from Christmas shopping.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/coffee-fix-studio-city?nb=1

O Apóstolo stop motion puppet

Here I am with Executive Producer Isabel Rey Sastre and one of the puppets from O Apóstolo.
This grim little bruiser had a complete mouth with teeth. I think he had a tongue too. Eyebrows, eyelids were pose-able, I wish action figures were this good.

Photo courtesy of Kris Heller. Next time I'm bringing a camera no matter what.
Thanks Kris!
And thanks again to the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study for having the screening.

O Apóstolo

Got to see a private screening of the independent stop motion film O Apóstolo in the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study. Pretty swanky, and I saw a couple of familiar faces at this last minute screening. Good, solid stop motion, and well made, handmade moving graphics for the flashback sequence. Just the thing for a Friday the 13th!

http://www.oscars.org/academy/buildings/pickford.html

"A convict who escapes from jail takes off to a remote village to recover an old loot that was hidden years earlier. But what he finds there instead involves him in a fate much worse than his prison sentence. Sinister old people, odd disappearances, spirits, a strange parish priest, and even the archpriest of Santiago de Compostela meet in a tale full of mystery, humor, and fantasy."

I was impressed by the work, and taken in by the story. Good to see something fresh, and see a film that's not winking at the camera. Suspenseful, and O Apóstolo has some pretty creepy designs. In an effective way I mean. Executive Producer Isabel Rey Sastre was there to present the film, and even let me hold one of the figures.

http://oapostolo.com/

The puppet had an amazing armature made by the Belgium company Pedri Animation. I think it was cast in silicon, and the face and jaw were very malleable for some good, creepy expressions.

Filmed in Spain, and I understand that most of the funding was from crowd sourcing. They were also filming it in stereo-optic for 3D, but the budget would not allow it.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-o-apostolo-review-20131213,0,6372943.story#axzz2ngeFRmHB

http://www.laweekly.com/movies/o-ap-stolo-2297041/

O Apóstolo is up for Oscar consideration. I hope they make it.

Links courtesy of the Animation Guild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOV7COy5WoA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CksLSnZwAGQ&feature=results_video

Pixar Layoffs

Well, it had to happen. "The Good Dinosaur" is having story trouble, so production people have to be laid off. The corporate model is a another dinosaur indeed. Still, it's not like the old days when we were kept on with a paycheck and could just fiddle with pencil tests. Or read comic books. I never read comics on the job... well, hardly ever.

With the Holidays in progress, I'm being a Scrooge here, I guess.
(Artwork copyright Disney/Pixar.)

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-pixar-layoffs-good-dinosaur-delay-20131122,0,6910438.story#axzz2lVYB8tgd

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/pixar/pixar-lays-off-dozens-of-employees-due-to-good-dinosaur-problems-91376.html

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-13/as-frozen-leads-box-office-turmoil-in-animation-land