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

President Obama visit at Dreamworks

Well, the momentum from Big Money seems unstoppable. The GOP and "tea-party" members will probably howl about "Hollywood liberals", but they all seem to be in Wall Street's hip pocket.

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-visit-demonstration.html

http://www.thewrap.com/obama-visit-dreamworks-animation-protest-visual-effects

http://ktla.com/2013/11/24/obama-visit-will-shut-down-streets-from-beverly-hills-to-glendale/#axzz2lgw9LJQI

Okay, I know I'm being a lunkhead, but my "visual commentary" has to be part of our freedom of speech. I say that President Obama, or any presidential candidate has to put on the "Golden Handcuffs" before he or she can put a hand on that Bible. And then nothing seems to change. The Military, Banks, Wall Street and the Media has an incredible amount of momentum, and it takes time and a horrendous amount of energy to force it to change course. (That's Donkey's silhouette by the way; all art copyright Dreamworks SKG and the U.S. "Gummint")

I'm not against a business or studio succeeding, especially with the distribution issues Dreamworks has had to face. But I still cite Henry Ford when he realized he had to make a product his employees could afford. Movie tickets cost too damn much, and bad writing leaves a lot of animation and visual effects on the digital cutting room floor. With the media monopolies, we are still clubbed over the head by virtual "Pinkerton Men", whether we are out on the sidewalks protesting or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3JLKw0q4kY

UPDATE: This in from Cartoon Brew and Variety

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/will-obama-be-greeted-by-a-sea-of-green-at-dreamworks-91463.html

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/vfx-soldier-daniel-lay-vfx-protest-1200887757/

Hollywood Reporter

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/vfx-workers-stage-protest-dreamworks-660287

UPDATE: I have to admit, it's the first time any President of the United States ever visited an animation studio. Cartoon Brew gave me that little tap on the shoulder. But I don't think it will have any effect on the job situation out here.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/will-obama-be-greeted-by-a-sea-of-green-at-dreamworks-91463.html

Woodbury Stop Motion demo at CTN Expo

Finally made it to the 2013 CTN Expo. I was still feeling sick, but I still managed to do some basic stop motion animation.

Pow! Boff! Zap! Working out some aggression I guess.

The Woodbury students were great troopers. But I was still out of it, and didn't get their names.

Ric Heitzman set up the stop mo demo, inviting expo goers to try some stop mo. Most people still seem surprised at how much time it takes to produce a few seconds of footage...

R2D2 Death Star Mashup

More mischief - surprised no one has done this yet. No one will hassle this little R2 unit!

(artwork now copyright Disney/Lucas. Apologies to George Lucas, Kenny Baker, and all Star Wars fans everywhere.)

CTN Expo this weekend.

And I've been sick as a dog. Hope I can make it.

http://www.ctnanimationexpo.com/

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/events/ctn-animation-expo-returns-to-burbank-this-weekend-90955.html

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/

Stay tuned...

Beany and Cecil - Rocky and Bullwinkle Saturday Morning Mashup

Okay, I haven't posted in awhile, and I needed to cause some mischief between Halloween and Thanksgiving: What if the classic Saturday morning teams of Rocky and Bullwinkle had to swap partners with Beany and Cecil? No, not that kind of swap! I was feeling nostalgic again, and wondered how much fun a team-up with Rocky and Cecil, and Beany and Bullwinkle would be in a 60's Saturday Morning Mashup. I've Googled this, and no one else seems to have done it before, so I went for broke.

(Artwork originally copyright of Bill Ward and Jay Scott, plus Bob Clampett!)


We basically still have young, plucky little guys with big, dumb but lovable buddies. Technically, I think it would work. Dishonest John would still get the better of Bullwinkle (until the end). And I'll bet Cecil would love to thrash Boris Badenov.

I did something like this with Johnny Socko and the Iron Giant last year. I think this would be fun:)

UPDATE: Bullwinkle DID team up with Beany Boy briefly on an ad for Thermos lunchboxes. Looks like the mid 1960's to me.

(courtesy of crypt of wrestling)

http://cryptofwrestling.tumblr.com/post/22406007205/in-store-thermos-lunch-box-poster-with-bullwinkle

Lou Scheimer at ASIFA Hollywood

Here I am, late again, but I'd like to offer my tribute to Lou Scheimer:

                    (Popeye copyright King Features Syndicate)

Back in 1998, I had the chance to meet Lou Scheimer at ASIFA Hollywood. This evening was hosted by Tom Sito back at ASIFA's old digs on Victory Blvd. I brought along my copy of Saturday Morning TV by Gary H. Grossman. I think Lou was amused by the book, and he autographed my picture of Sabrina and Archie on page 373.

(Artwork copyright Filmation/Archie Comics, Pink Panther copyright Depatie-Freleng)

In spite of it's shortcomings, I'll always have a warm spot for Filmation shows. I remember clear back to their New Adventures of Superman in the early 60's. After working on King of the Hill for two seasons, I now appreciate the pressure they must have been under to make the deadlines for TV production. Plus, staying on model with the DC comic book characters called for some precise draftsmanship. Although later on, it became "jump cut city" on shows like Star Trek. I think it gave me some bad habits as far as storytelling goes. And I forgave the stiff, limited animation since the visuals were so great, and the stories could sweep me away as a six year old.

Archie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Fantastic Voyage, Star Trek, Space Sentinels, Flash Gordon and Fat Albert were all cornerstones of my Saturday Mornings. Except for HB's Space Ghost, and the Herculoids, Filmation seemed to be the only studio that tackled science fiction fairly well. I just found out on Variety that Lou won a daytime Emmy for the animated Star Trek.

Only later I learned that Filmation had kept many animation artists employed when so much work had already been outsourced from the mid 60's onward. Filmation had helped some artists to break the glass ceiling to get into feature animation, or at least move on to other studios.

But to sum up, Lou Scheimer and his partners Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott got ahold of some amazing properties to dazzle my teeny brain on Saturday Mornings. Here's to 'em!

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/r-i-p-filmation-co-founder-lou-scheimer-89971.html

http://variety.com/2013/tv/people-news/lou-scheimer-filmation-founder-dies-at-84-1200742545/

http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-lou-scheimer-20131020,0,1131347.story

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0770617/

http://www.startrek.com/article/remembering-filmation-co-founder-lou-scheimer-1928-2013

Rod Scribner

I didn't know about Rod Scribner until I read Tom Sito's post about him on Facebook.
The clue was the work he did on Daffy Duck in the "Great Piggy Bank Robbery".

After his work under Bob Clampett, Scribner left Looney Tunes to work at UPA.

Wikipedia Rod Scribner went on to work at Playhouse Pictures in Hollywood. I was able to get some freelance there years ago on a Tony the Tiger commercial. I misread the Wikipedia article, thinking that Scribner founded Playhouse, but it gave me some feeling of connection learning that I had worked briefly under the same roof where Mr. Scribner had been.

http://rodscribner.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Scribner

Richard Williams at the Motion Picture Academy

Not to be glum, but that Friday evening October 4th will probably be the last time I see Richard Williams in person. As part of the Marc Davis Celebration of Animation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave the evening to Richard. It had been a long day, and my stomach was acting up. I felt a bit trampled watching the autograph hounds mob him after the presentation. It was his night, and I figured he would make it home okay.

http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2013/10/this-amazing-medium.html

Richard recounted the key animated films that had shaped his career, such as the "Silly Song" sequence from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the performance by Milt Kahl of the tiger Shere Khan from the "Jungle Book", the demon from the "Night on Bald Mountain" from "Fantasia", and John Hubley's "Rooty Toot Toot". I'd never seen "Rooty Toot Toot" before, I thought I knew most of John Hubley's work.

After outlining how these classics influenced him, Richard also took us through his work with his 1972 "A Christmas Carol", "The Return of the Pink Panther", "The Thief and the Cobbler", and of course, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". "The Rabbit", as Richard called it, earned him an Oscar for Special Achievement in Animation. Roger Rabbit was the film that finally got me to move to California, and get into animation.

We also got to see his personal project "Circus Drawings" that he finished in 2010. Richard converted sketches he did observing a small circus in Spain into a short animated film. Very dreamy, very smooth animation on "ones".

Here's the cover from the evening's program:

And here's the program from the Roger Rabbit 25th Reunion that I managed to glom onto.
(I think I got the last one!)

Still, it was good to set foot inside the Samuel Goldwyn Theater again. I still have some photos from my first Hollywood trip where our teacher, Phil Skerry, got us to let us pose with Oscars.

 

Paul McCartney's High in the Clouds animated project

It looks like Sir Paul McCartney will be involved with the production of a new feature based on his children's book "High in the Clouds". The articles state that these will be a stereo-optic 3D production, although oldies 1150 radio mentioned that the former Beatle prefers hand-drawn animation. There's also buzz that audiences are tired of the glasses, and the expense of going to 3D movies. Maybe they'll change before production starts.

http://www.oldies1150.com/News/Music.aspx?articleID=1151036

http://www.awn.com/news/films/animated-feature-planned-paul-mccartney-s-high-clouds

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/paul-mccartneys-high-in-the-clouds-heading-for-big-screen-1200682182/

Wish we could get more royalty to support animation...
Looks like it had a false start in 2009 -

http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=1891

My Stop-Motion project

Finally got my storyboard for my stop-mo project. Check it out here -

http://kenroskosanimationthesis.blogspot.com/

RFX Inc. Autodesk User Group Meeting at Gnomon

Pretty awesome stuff with Maya, Massive and more! I was intrigued by "reality capture": now we can generate mesh with regular digital cameras, using 123D Catch. All courtesy of RFX Inc.

http://www.rfx.com/

http://www.123dapp.com/catch

Excellent and fun presentations by Autodesk's Marcel de Jong and Mark Schoennagel.

http://www.gnomonschool.com/?p=2832

And many thanks to the Gnomon staff for setting up the show and buying the pizzas.
Nice to get out of the Valley and see old Hollywood.

Cute Stuff - Part IV - Adorable Dynamic Damsels look development

Here is some further ruff cleanup and color for the Adorable Dynamic Damsels-

And a 60's style color design.

More coloring in Photoshop

Someday I'll get this done. But beyond my personal satisfaction, I don't know if there is any market for these characters. Cubcake (the squirrel-girl) is sort of the team's hot-head, and has hit or miss magic powers. She is also the team gearhead and hot rod driver. Jet Puffin, with her power suit, has the genius of Tony Stark, but is more of the "mom" of the group. Lady Cobra is the real mystic of the group. She works as a librarian. Her coils are strong and dexterous enough to handle most of the volumes.

Hug Life Street Poster

I like Philip Lumbang's work, "Hug Life". That's instead of thug life, I guess.

He has cute characters that are bold and positive, and not just sickly sweet.

But I saw this poster over a year ago on a bus stop on Barham across from Oakwood Apartments near Universal City. It's cool, but it looks like it was done in collaboration with someone named "becca". This poster has been painted over now. The Awesome Bear is in "James Bond" mode, shaken, not stirred.

(And the "Martini Bear" seems to have a hot date!)

You can see his work and the original poster at http://philiplumbang.tumblr.com/tagged/becca

http://philiplumbang.tumblr.com/page/2

More of my cute stuff either today or tomorrow.

Cute Stuff - Part II

Here's a woodcut from a print making class back at old Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. It was done probably when Edinboro was Edinboro State College.

More weird than cute I guess. Horse and rider become blended together. This was shown in Woodbury University's faculty art show last spring.

Cute Stuff - Part I

It's been a while since I've posted anything original on Animation Re-creation. After scribbling for years, I've got some work I'm proud of. But I'm still self conscious about showing it. Here's why:

Animation artists and cartoonists seem to be split into two camps: the majority seem to be easy going... well, to put it bluntly, nerds. But I've seen a smaller group, the more macho, athletic group who practice martial arts, mountain biking and other deadly weekend pursuits. They make me feel lame as I'm shoving that extra piece of pizza in my face.

So, it appears I fall in with the majority. It's hard to pose as a too-hot-to-handle "weekend warrior" when I'm drawing cutesy stuff like this:

This is my "Cubcake" character. She's a tough, but sweet amalgamation of girlfriends from my past. She's also a mixture of squirrel, bunny, kitty and a few other critters mixed in. I figure she can give Bugs Bunny a run for his money.

C'est la Vie.

Snail with Halo- More street poster Art around North Hollywood

And this cute little guy was put up on the old Camera Craft storefront on the corner of Vineland, Lankershim and Camarillo. All the art was drawn on large post office mailers. He's got these blanked out, swirly eyes and a halo over his head; is the artist saying this fella has croaked?

They were side by side on Camera Craft; here's a lighter one in light beige and tan, with no post office mailer surrounding it.

This looks like it would make a cool toy, or a nice stuffed animal. I guess the meaning is up to me. There is no other information on the web that I can find so far. There's a whole world to the street art poster movement that I'm just learning about. From what I've Googled, this art may be in several different cities, and could have come from the other side of the country. Or the world.

Whale goes Poof - Street poster Art around North Hollywood

These posters have been around my neighborhood since the beginning of the year. I don't see any name.
They look like interesting, and fun characters.

On second thought, this whale looks like he's in distress. I also noticed a big, cartoony poster of Swiss cheese on a signal box on the corner. Someone took the time and resources to put these up around the area.

This was near the corner of Camarillo and Cahuenga. Does anyone know who made these?

More bloody spam!

Good article from Andres Tirado on spam.

http://www.tecnoxps.com/2012/08/how-much-spam-visit-your-blog-some.html

All this technology, and people have to burrow into our computers like some sort of...
Never mind.