i've become entrenched in creating my stop motion monster and have neglected my internet responsibilities, if there are such things. first things first. the San Diego Comic-Con four day passes are already SOLD OUT. four months to the show.
and as you can see, Saturday is going pretty fast at 69%. it gets bigger and crazier every year, so if you've gotta have it, be sure to get yourself some one-day passes.
stumbled across this hand drawn Tim Fite video that's pretty rad, animated by the singer himself.
to celebrate the release of Shane Acker's "9" finally being finished and released this year (currently on the schedule for 9/9/09), i figured a look at a few of his other short films might be fun.
"The Hangnail" is a particularly well done joke film. Shock much?
"Mr. Grenade" is of the same ilk. one thing done particularly well:
and the couch gag withstanding (which is somewhat funny and clever), the new HD and widescreen intro for The Simpsons which debuted last night shows just how unfunny dogmatically staying on model can be! of course, we all fear change, but it just lacks the vibrancy and looseness of the original intro (and the first few seasons).
one of the most frequently requested television shows not released on DVD, right under The Wonder Years, is a FOX Kids action show that ran for five years and 76 episodes and has the distinction for being the longest-running show ever based on a Marvel comic book.
yep you guessed it. X-Men: The Animated Series
it was never as well-animated or on model as the folks at Batman: The Animated Series demanded of their show -- the voice acting, while competent, was a little stiff in comparison with its fellow Marvel show Spider-Man, but gosh darnit, it was a great little show. it dealt with issues that other cartoons dare not touch; the ills of prejudice, intolerance, racism, divorce, the Holocaust, AIDS, and a plethora of other issues, though sometimes in the guise of less overt issues. plus, the opening theme song was killer:
in fact, though not quite up to par with on quality with the other superhero shows of its time, it was amongst the highest-rated and most-viewed Saturday morning programs in American history. and come April 28th, Disney is finally bringing it to us in proper chronological order:
the episode breakdown, if you must: VOLUME 1 Disc 1: Night of the Sentinels (Part 1) Night of the Sentinels (Part 2) Enter Magneto Deadly Reunions Captive Hearts Cold Vengeance Slave Island The Unstoppable Juggernaut
Disc 2: The Cure Come The Apocalypse Days Of Future Past (Part 1) Days Of Future Past (Part 2) The Final Decision Till Death Do Us Part (Part 1) Till Death Do Us Part (Part 2) Whatever It Takes
VOLUME 2 Disc 1: Red Dawn Repo Man X-Ternally Yours Time Fugitives (Part 1) Time Fugitives (Part 2) A Rogue’s Tale Beauty & The Beast Mojo Vision
Disc 2: Reunion (Part 1) Reunion (Part 2) Out of the Past (Part 1) Out of the Past (Part 2) The Phoenix Saga (Part 1): Sacrifice The Phoenix Saga (Part 2): The Dark Shroud The Phoenix Saga (Part 3): Cry of the Banshee The Phoenix Saga (Part 4): The Starjammers The Phoenix Saga (Part 5): Child of Light
and because I just love stop motion bumpers (like Kirsten Lepore's for her reel...), here's another for "Ubatuber Productions"
young Kirsten Lepore, stop motion animator extraordinaire, seems to have become famous overnight -- at least in the animation community. the find has been documented by many a source, but perhaps her most high-profile featuring has been on Channel Frederator most recently. how would you feel if someone sent you this to introduce themselves on a reel?:
can you tell i'm a fan? having just graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007 with her BFA in Experimental Animation, she's been lining up clients with her very distinctive and lively freelance work. let's start with her co-production with Garrett Davis (who also sings the song) of a drawn animation of said song espousing the values of valuing a spider's life like your own. it was featured on Motionographer last month:
finally, her masterpiece (and she agrees as well that its her best work), is a 10-minute stop motion piece entitled "Sweet Dreams." it was her thesis project for her BFA at MICA. she put the better part of a year of work into the sucker and it shows. the idea and storytelling are fantastic alone, not to mention the animation. she uses many food products to make up the sets and props (though the main characters are foam puppets).
every year, the ucla animation workshop animators get together to produce a bunch of animated films in a weekend on a theme -- this year its "Bad Dreams."
i'm helping Basel and Jae with a film that's tentatively titled...."The Mysterious Case of Harold Pecker."
here's one of last year's films -- its pretty amazing for being done on the weekend (and mostly while drunk i'd imagine...)
often times, the general public and even us animators don't realize how much effort goes into animation that seems almost trivial to a scene -- effects animation. when its done great, you hardly notice it. when its poorly done, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Kathleen Quaife has done traditional effects work since the early 80s for all the major studios including Disney -- and she teaches life drawing to boot.
here's a cycle on twos for fire she worked on:
she (along with seven other animators) worked on this car commercial for Sprint:
most of her work is not available on youtube persay -- because no one thinks to put up just feature effects work in clips for those who peruse the digital boobtube. but on her blog, she has gaggles of her effects work available to view including some really beautiful stuff from The Pagemaster, The Chipmunk Adventure, Once Upon a Forest, and even a commercial she did some effects for Will Vinton -- Michael Jackson as a California Raisin of course. be sure to check out all the wonderful clips she has on her blog including her simply dazzling reel of effects animation.
continuing with the films up for the Oscar under Best Short Animated Film, here's a 2-D film from Russia by Konstantin Bronzit called Lavatory Lovestory. its a charming piece of animation with true emotional beats. as you can imagine, its involves a woman who works as an attendant in at a public bathroom whose heart yearns for another.
it seems like its animated in Toon Boom, but please forgive me if I'm in error...at any rate, its top notch work from a man who's directed seven animated films including a feature animation. here's an article on Bronzit's 2004 feature Alosha.
2003's The God offers a much different aesthetic from Bronzit. its got some layers beyond the obvious implications...
finally here's a short and very traditionally animated gag film by Bronzit in 1993 when he worked as an animator and director for Pilot Studios in Moscow. his films have received more than 50 awards in film festivals around the world including the coveted Grand Prix twice at Annecy. without further adieu, "The Pacifier":
Gary Larson hasn't made much of a ripple since his retirement from The Far Side in 1995. beloved by millions, its still reprinted in thousands of papers around the world. his drawings seem like they would lend themselves to animation -- and it has, but you've probably never seen it. 1994's "Tales from the Far Side" was a short film collaboration between Larson and animation veteran and teacher Marv Newland (Bambi vs. Godzilla). after winning the Grand Prix at Annecy and airing on CBS for Halloween, it was rarely seen again.
that didn't stop Larson and Newland from working on a sequel, the aptly named "Tales from the Far Side II" in 1997.
eventually, they were only available on a limited run VHS which goes for quite a pretty penny on ebay -- you can now buy both on Larson's website for $30 altogether. its not the best price, but much better than it had been going for. from what i've seen of it, its looks interesting, if a mixed bag -- as any type of anthology film is bound to be. this is one of the funnier clips from the 2nd film:
from the first film, here's a less successful skit: "Dead Ranch"
and just for fun, one of the most successful and least animated animations of all time. the story goes that Marv Newland missed magic hour for his live-action short that was due for class, so he decided to do something quick -- an animation. and so began his illustrious career...
and if you just can't stand any more drawn/cartoony farsidedness, then check out this recent movement of live-action still renactments of Far Side cartoons.
Paul Robertson has mastered 2-D 16-bit side scroller animation. its his chosen art form. he's become an internet sensation over the past few years, in large part due to his first major release -- Pirate Baby's Cabana Street Fight 2006. i remember seeing this at Spike and Mike's a while back and it got the most rousing audience response by far.
he's a 2-D video game animator by day for Game Boy Advance and DS games like Contra 4, Barbie and the Magic of the Pegasus, and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab. though he's not too proud of the work he's done in the industry, "It's always just been a job to me as I've usually just worked on projects I didn't care about," its been the main source of his income and has fueled some incredibly detailed and well done shorts like no other.
because of the shorts he's done, he's gotten offers for music videos and commercials in the same style. this particularly kinetic one works pretty darn well for Architecture in Helsinki's Do the Whirlwind off 2005's In Case We Die:
this next music video for "Devil Eyes" by Qua is probably my favorite and most affecting animation by Robertson. its about a simple friendship between a cat and a panda until a visitor from outer space comes to play.
here's a commerical for Syke, an energy drink for gamers. its got parodies up the yin yang, see if you can spot all the references:
finally, if you have the time for his latest 12-minute epic -- 2008's Kings of Power 4Billion% -- its quite a ride. its essentially a tricked out run through of a game that never existed. if you loved 16-bit sidescrollers that made no sense, then this is your holy grail...
and if you can't get enough of the 29-year Australian animator, be sure to check out his awesome blog where he posts his art and animation-related materials often as well as his myspace, where he has plenty of animated gifs to keep you busy.
