ASIFA-SF NEWSLETTER
Association International du Film d'Animation
(International Animated Film Association)
March 2010
by Karl CohenHOWL GOT LOTS OF REALLY GOOD REVIEWS AT SUNDANCE, BUT IT UPSET OTHER CRITICS
It is nice to know Allen Ginsberg and the film Howl are still too radical for some reporters. While most reviewers loved or liked it, others sounded like it was too much for their sensibilities. At least one woman was honest in saying she didn't wish to read Ginsberg when she was growing up and she certainly wasn't expecting to enjoy the opening night film, but she was looking forward to the party, an old friend would be there.
Among the many positive reviews on the Internet, several made interesting observations about the animation and its importance to the film. Film.com begins by saying James Franco stars in this fantastic exploration into Ginsberg's poetry.
The animation is the most dynamic, if mentally straining segment, but it's invaluable for setting the tone, making Ginsberg's work soar. Betsy Sharkley of the LA Times says, We hear snatches of the poem in the smoky clubs where Ginsberg first read it, set like music to animation with Franco's voice-over providing the melody. Neil Miller at Film School Rejects.com praises the animation saying, Its almost as if we're seeing the interpretation of this classic poem, taken from the mind of the author, and transposed into fluid, vibrant animation. The critic at First Showing.com talks about the animation interpretation of the poem's more heady verses that are most intriguing and later he appreciated the vibrant pastel colored animation. My favorite comment about the animation is still the first one I read. The Hollywood Reporter said, The animation, done in Thailand, is outstanding. If anything, you'd like to rerun just those sections, as Howl rages on the soundtrack, over and over again. They have a hallucinogenic feel that fits the poem like a glove.
As for the mixed reviews, the main problem for those writers is that the film is fragmented going back and forth between a mixture of courtroom sequences, sequences about Ginsberg coming of age and writing the famous or infamous poem, historic footage and James Franco (playing Ginsberg) reading Howl. As expected some writers would have been happier with a nice simple traditional narrative or a pleasant straightforward history channel type of documentary. They seemed to have understood the film was using an unusual mixture of elements to express the subversive nature of Ginsberg, yet they couldn't accept the directors' experimental style. They had to judge the film by tried and true commercial standards. The most reactionary writer mirrored the prosecution's thoughts at the trial, that the film wasn't art. His headline on the Internet reads, HOWL BRINGS OBSCENITY TO APPRECIATIVE SUNDANCE AUDIENCE.Charlotte at Film Junk.com sums up her feelings about the love it or hate it reaction from the audience. She writes, There is a huge amount going on in this film, there are even different styles within styles (including) within the animation segments and I completely disagree with the naysayers that say it is too fragmented. It's a visual smorgasbord, with a fantastic soundtrack and great performances, and if you sit back and go with it you'll find yourself completely taken in by a beautifully unique way to show what simply is the story of a poem.
Howl did not close a distribution deal at Sundance, but several writers assumed it would be picked up, shown theatrically at art houses before being shown on cable TV and that it would eventually be available on DVD. John Hays is looking forward to the time when his animated segments are edited together, possibly with out takes included. The film's next stop is the Berlin Film Festival.
HOWL GOES TO BERLINfilmfestivals.com in Hot Tips wrote, One of the anticipated titles having its International Premiere at the Berlinale today is Howl, one of the hits of last month's Sundance Film Festival. AFP said, "Howl, a movie about groundbreaking Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in competition Friday at the Berlin Film Festival, drew warm applause for bringing the written word and the counterculture vividly to life. Filmfestivaltoday.com said, In a standout performance that could be 2010's first Oscar-worthy one, James Franco gives a compelling performance as the young Allen Ginsberg this is prime Berlin material. Screen International reported, The animated sequences provide a feast of fantastical, sometimes nightmarish images which complement the urgency and dread of the poem. In comparison to the stripped-down drama of the obscenity trial and the Ginsberg scenes, the animation creates a dynamic, fluid counterpoint which argues that Howl's vitality and imagination transcend both its scandal and even its creator's back-story.
LUCASFILM IS WORKING ON A CGI-ANIMATED MUSICALThe untitled, top-secret project is expected to feature music from a variety of sources and included animated fairies. It will be directed by Kevin Munroe, who recently wrapped production on Dead of Night, and David Berenbaum, whose past credits include Elf and Spiderwick Chronicles, wrote the screenplay. Lucasfilm is said to be developing the project at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch.
Lucasfilm also made news in February when it sued a Chicago based outdoor advertising firm. They want them to cease and desist calling itself Skywalker Outdoor.
UP WINS BEST ANIMATED FEATURE AT ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD'S 37th ANNIE AWARDS, WHILE OTHER AWARDS GO TO CORALINE, FANTASTIC MR. FOX, PRINCESS AND THE FROG AND MONSTERS VS ALIENSUnlike last year one feature didn't make a clean sweep of all the awards. Besides Up winning the Best Feature award and Pete Docter winning the Directing in a Feature prize, Coraline got awards for Character Design in a Feature Production (Shane Prigmore), the Production Design in a Feature Production (Tadahiro Uesugi) and the Music in a Feature Production trophy (Bruno Coulais). Princess and the Frog was honored for Best Character Animation in a Feature Production (Eric Goldberg), Voice Acting in a Feature Production (Jen Cody for the voice of Charlotte), Animated Effects (Jame Mansfield). Fantastic Mr. Fox was awarded an Annie for Writing in a Feature Production (Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach). Monsters Vs Aliens got a prize for Storyboarding in a Feature Production. William Shatner was the host for the evening. For a list of awards in TV, advertising and other area visit
www.asifa-hollywood.org
LOCAL COMPANIES ARE ONCE AGAIN EXCITED ABOUT FILMS THEY WORKED ON GETTING OSCAR NOMINATIONS. CONGRATULATIONS TO PIXAR, ILM AND ALLIGATOR PLANETPeople at Pixar must be walking on clouds as Up was nominated for five awards: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay (Pete Docter and Tom McCarthy), Best Animated Feature, Best Sound Editing and Best Original Score (Michael Giacchino). (Up also won Best Picture at the the British Academy Film Awards). ILM was involved with the production of Avatar and Star Trek and Alligator Planet provided animation to The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (Eli Noyes, animator; the film is nominated for Best Documentary Feature).
The five nominated films for the Best Animated Feature are Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells (see article about Kells in this issue) and Up. Fantastic Mr. Fox also received a nomination for Best Original Score (Alexandre Desplat). Two songs by Randy Newman from The Princes and the Frog got nominations for Best Song (Almost There and Down in New Orleans). I was pleased that The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was nominated for both Art Direction and Costumes.
Henry Selick, who is moving back to the Bay Area, says, I feel very lucky and very grateful that Coraline is nominated. There were more excellent animated features released in 2009 than in any year before, so being included makes all of us from Laika and Focus Features very proud. And the diversity of the nominees in both storytelling and animation techniques gladdens my heart: The Princess and the Frog and The Secret of Kells, done in hand-drawn animation; Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox, in stop-motion; and Up, in glorious CG. It's a great day for me, my family, and for all of us on Coraline and a great day for animated feature films."
[photo of the art police]MEET GREGORY MACNICOL, A MEMBER OF THE ART POLICE AND A DEMOSCENE ANIMATOR
Gregory, who lives in the Santa Cruz area, writes, One reason why I like the aesthetics of demoscene is because I have an old meter maid car that has a powerful video projector in the back. What I do is drive up to a very public building and project animations on it. The works I like require simple but interesting graphics that tell an easy-to-understand story visually. I project them on walls for half an hour or so and then move on to another location (and watch people watch the animations). It's fun.
Do you know about demoscenes? Neither did I before Gregory wrote me, Having created computer animation for over 30 years, I recently discovered a little known and small group of brilliant people making astounding animations. More incredibly, instead of creating a video, the animations execute directly on the computer. He attached the next article.
AN INVITATION TO DISCOVER THE ANIMATED DEMOSCENE WORLD by Gregory MacNicolImagine a bunch of highly skilled, 20-something, European game programmers that code all of their graphics, animation, music, special effects and get together by the thousands to create gonzo computer animations. That's a little known world that I recently discovered. They call themselves a part of the demoscene world.
(For a detailed description http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demoscene)
As an old timer in the computer animation business, one thing really amazed me, their animations run directly on a computer (mostly PCs). That is, these animators don't create a video that you play, although you can see low-resolution versions of a few works on Youtube. They create executable code that runs on your computer, including playing at high-resolution formats. What I also found fascinating is that instead of being bound to a particular program such as Maya or 3D Max, they start from nothing. They use either OpenGL or DirectX, writing code in the C language and make their animations from their own internal imaginations. As a result of their young age, their animations are original, edgy, spooky, graphic, dark, imaginative, game-like, and nothing like the aesthet ics I see at computer animation festivals. Aesthetically, I find that many of the animations are naïve, similar to the first animations made on film. They are visual stories, with symbols, effects, and objects morphing into other objects.
There's one more quality that is impresses me and to demosceners as well. Many of these animations are packed into an absolutely tiny 64k of memory. It's a challenge and a test of how skilled one is to create the best visuals with the least amount of memory. That's the way it was years ago, such as Commodore 64 game intros. And that's what these animations are called: Intros. Compare that with the behemoth terabytes of memory required for a 3D animated short.
I''d like for you to check out some of these animated shorts, specifically from a group that I like, Andromeda Software Development, from Greece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E4DJlQUWjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCKec3mAgA&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mom7n2u-Id8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y42FE-I-H30
Also, check out the top sites that show off animations from others in the demoscene world. The sites are not very user friendly, but I don't think that is their ultimate goal. - www.Pouet.org - www.Scene.org - www.Demoscene.info - www.asd.gr
WATCH TARA BEYHM''S DAILY VIDEOS AND READ THE BLOGS ABOUT AWN'S OSCAR SHOWCASE TOURRon Diamond will be once again be hosting the filmmakers who are nominated for the Academy Award in the animated shorts program. It's a whirlwind tour including SF and LA Animation studios, parties and other events with the animators. Tara, who has animation degrees from both Cal Arts (BFA) and SF State (MFA) and is the vice president of ASIFA-SF, is imbedded with this troupe of merry animators as they get to know each other and the animation world in both cities on their way to the big night. She will be directing the video footage and contributing narration about their adventures. Tara says, "I am so excited to be a part of the Oscar Tour Ron's annual program of Oscar nominated shorts is my favorite ASIFA-SF event of the year and this year's films are all so great that I feel truly honored! Read the blog and watch the videos; our itinerary is jam-packed! We'll have interviews and an inside look of all the Oscar excitement."
This is the 9th annual AWN.COM and Acme Film-works Showcase Tour. Ron Diamond organizes it to give the honored artist more meaningful experiences than just going to LA to attend a 3 hour awards ceremony. They get behind the scenes tours of Pixar, Disney, PDI/Dreamworks, Sony, ILM and other studios in LA & SF, get to spend time talking with studio heads and staff members and showing them their work, and meeting industry agents and film business people. The parties in their honor include the 20th Annual Chocolate Foscas Awards and other important events.
BRAD UYEDA IS DOING STOP-MOTION ANIMATION FOR A TOY COMPANYSee his animated martial arts figures in action and other cool things from Shocker Toys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xst0TCBwdk4
LITTLE FLUFFY CLOUDS HAS CREATED A VERY HANDSOME AD FOR THE CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Much of it is a long take of a couple walking down a symbolic path of life while the watercolor backgrounds change and becomes fuller, richer and more complex. Jerry van de Beek and Betsy De Fries created Journey using Maya, After Effects and Photoshop. It can be seen at
www.littlefluffyclouds.com PS, the school is in Calif., PA
LOCAL EVENTS
Friday March 5 at 7 PM and Tues. March 9 at 7:30 PM, PRE-WWII BRITISH ANIMATION AND DOCUMENTARIESLove Letters and Live Wires: Highlights from the GPO Film Unit is an 80 min. show of restored prints featuring work by Len Lye, Norman McLaren, John Gerierson and other artists who were pushing sound films in different experimental directions. At The Pacific Film Archive Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way.
http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries
Sat. March 20, 1 pm, CAREERS IN ANIMATION free, see flyer for details
Sat. March 20, 8:30 pm, EXTREME ANIMATION!Craig Baldwin describes this program as an eye-popping orgy of high energy pixilation showcase of some of the most aggressively ingenious graphic masters in the States today.
A torrent of tropes, trips, tricks and tits that reflect the manic obsessions of underground collage, scratch video, and neo-psychedelic compositors. New and recent works by Jacob (Paper Rad) Ciocci, Martha Colburn, Nate Boyce, John Jota Leanos, Kelly Sears, Shalo, Cory McAbee, Semiconductor, TV Sheriff and Thomas Helman. Come early for a spectacular sampling of Colburn's light show collaborations with Deerhoof! At ATA, 992 Valencia, only $6.
Thurs. April 1, COME OUT AND CELEBRATE APRIL FOOLS DAY WITH A GUMBY TRIBUTE AT THE BALBOAfeaturing The Emmy award winning feature Gumby Dharma by Tim Hittle, Robina Marchesi and Karla Gunning-Harris plus see shorts and some of the artists in-person talking about working with Art Clokey (Gumby's creator) who died in January, 2010. Check the Balboa's website and local movie listings for details in late March.
Gumby Dharma explores why a man would spend his 85 years on earth playing with lumps of colored clay. His world famous characters, Gumby and Pokey, and Davy and Goliath, echo the spiritual path of their creator. Art's journey takes us from the orphanage to inspiring adopted father, from the Seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian church values to Buddhism and Indian guru Sai Baba. It is a fascinating life and career in it's own right but also in how it gently influenced his characters and story lines for over 40 years. Clokey's work is one of the few animation characters that have survived the test of time to become a true American Icon. Interviews with contemporary leaders in animation, including Director Henry Selick (Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Adventures of Sinbad), place Clokey's work in perspective with the history of animation and explore stop motion's future in a computer graphics world. THIS IS ALSO A DVD RELEASE PARTY OF GUMBY DHARMA Details at:
Don't forget April 1 is the annual St. Stupid's Day Parade at noon.
OPENING APRIL 2, SECRET OF THE KELLS at Landmark theaters in SF and Berkeley
NATIONAL NEWS
THE OSCAR RACE FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORTThe five nominated animated shorts are French Roast by Fabrice O. Jouben, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty by Darragh O'Connell and Nicky Phelan, The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) by Javier Recio Gracia, Logorama by Nicolas Schmerkin and A Matter of Loaf and Death (Nick Park, Aardman). This is the second nomination for O'Connell. His first was for Give Up Yer Aul Sins (2001). Nick Park has received 5 previous nominations (A Grand Day Out, 1990; Creature Comfort, 1990; The Wrong Trousers, 1993; A Close Shave 1995 and Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 2005). Nick's only loss was for A Grand Day Out as he had two films nominated the same year. The awards will be announced Sunday, March 7.
PROGRAMS OF OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS TO BE SHOWN IN ABOUT 100 CITIESShorts International and Magnolia Pictures are once again putting together programs of live action and animated shorts and they will be in theatres from Feb. 19 to March 7. The programs will be shown in the US, Canada and the UK.
PORTLAND'S ROSE BOND CREATED A MULTI-PROJECTION INSTALLATION FOR A CASTLE SQUARE IN ENGLANDThe piece titled Broadside was shown Feb. 11 13 inside historic Exeter Castle, the seat of Devon's Crown Court. It was shown as part of Animated Exeter 2010. The piece had an original sound design created by Heather Perkins.
www.rosebond.com
OUR COVER STORY
[photo of house covered with grafitte]
A FORMER HOME OF WINSOR McCAY MAY BE DEMOLISHEDMcCay's former residence at 1181 Voorhies Ave. in Sheepshead Bay Long Island is abandoned and the owner wants to build condos on the site. Using the building for a museum honoring America's first great animator is a wonderful but an unrealistic thought in our greedy society.
STUDIO THAT CREATED THE ASTRO BOY FEATURE HAS CLOSED
While Imagi in Hong Kong made money on the last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature, the worldwide gross for Astro Boy was only $23 million and the production cost about $65 million. The company reported a loss of $93.4 million for 6 months prior to the films release in 2009 and it presently owes 350 employees $4.6 million in back wages according to the Hollywood Reporter.
STAN LEE IS CREATING A NEW COMIC STRIP
The Hollywood Reporter writes, Andy Heyward's recently launched A Squared Entertainment and Archie Comics have partnered with Stan Lee for a multimedia comic book property, Super Seven, which will feature the comic book icon. There is also news from Sony that Spider-Man #4 will be made as a 3-D feature and released on 7/3/12 .
SOUTH PARK'S PARKER AND STONE ARE CREATING AN OFF BROADWAY MUSICALVariety reports Trey Parker and Matt Stone have teamed up with Avenue Q composer/lyricist Robert Lopez to create a new stage musical. The untitled production will run this coming August and September at the New York Theater Workshop, where Rent originally played. Rumors say that the plot will be a critique of Mormonism. Jason Moore (Avenue Q, Shrek the Musical) will direct and Dan Knechtges (Xanadu, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) will choreograph the show.
EUROPEAN PRODUCERS BANKING ON MOVE TOWARDS ANIMATED STEREOSCOPIC 3-D FILMS TO BE AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESSAt Cartoon Movie 2010, being held in Lyon France March 3 5, twelve 3-D features, almost a fourth of the projects being presented, will be in stereoscopic formats. Last year only three were 3-D projects. Part of the forum's purpose is to offer potential buyers and investors a sneak peak at upcoming products seeking co-production funding. Over 500 participants from 32 countries were registered a month before the forum including over 150 potential investors and buyers according to Cartoon, the European Association of Animated Film.
www.cartoon-media.eu
ADAM ELLIOT'S MARY AND MAX IS AVAILABLE ON DVDAdam writes, A few people have asked where they can get a DVD of Mary and Max. Well, they're now available from the shop section on my site. Personally signed as well! He also has a DVD available of his Oscar winner Harvie Krumpet.
www.adamelliot.com.au (also tells how to get his weekly drawing)
ADAM ELLIOT'S ARTWORK CONTINUES TO AMAZE AND DELIGHT METhe following is the text that goes along with his a drawing of a man with a bird on his head, He writes, I'm not sure if anyone else has had this idea, but wouldn't it be great if everyone had a little bird that lived on their heads? Depending on who you are, you would get a different bird. The caring, selfless and well-mannered would get a little Robbin Red-Breast that would groom and keep their scalp nit-free, while the greedy, evil, and rude would get a dirty big black Crow that would stab at their heads whenever they were bad. Politicians would get a very large Ostrich or Emu with flatulence while those who talk too much or gossip, would get a Cockatoo or Galah with a runny bottom. The ugly would get a beautiful Bird-of-Paradise, the plain would get a yellow Canary and those who are too handsome for their own good would get a featherless diseased Budgie addicted to cocaine and swearing. The rich would get a bland and common Grey Finch, while the poor would get a rare and extremely valuable North American Yellow-Eared-Booby. The drunk and confused could have a Homing Pigeon and the vision impaired would get a Hawk. Personally, I think I would like to have a Chicken called Trevor. His feathers would keep my bald head warm and the eggs would be cheap ..... KC
MAURICE SENDAK SHORT BY THE TUTLI-PUTLI DIRECTORS SOON TO BE RELEASEDThe live-action, animated adaptation of Higglety Pigglety Pop or There Must Be More to Life is based on the book by Maurice Sendak and was created by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, whose short Madame Tutli-Putli
http://films.nfb.ca/madame-tutli-putli/?lg=en
received an Oscar nomination. The new film features the voices of Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker and was produced by Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay and Marcy Page. It will be released as a short with Where the Wild Things Are (on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Home Video).
Higglety Pigglety Pop or There Must Be More to Life tells the story of Jennie, who once had everything. She didn't care. In the middle of the night she packed everything she had in a black leather bag with gold buckles and looked out of her favorite window for the last time. The story is Jennie's surreal, suspenseful and unexpectedly moving journey to gain new experiences and realize her dream of becoming the star of the World Mother Goose Theatre.
NINA PALEY'S LATEST FILM IS ONLINEHer new work All Creative Work Is Derivative is a new departure for her.
http://questioncopyright.org/minute_memes/all_creative_work_is_derivative
NEW FEATURES
[photo from film]
SYLVAIN CHOMET'S THE ILLUSIONIST PREMIERED AT THE BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL
Chomet, who directed The Triplets of Belleville, has turned an un-produced Jacque Tati script into an animated feature. He worked with Evgeni Tomov, who was the art director of Triplets and The Tale of Despereaux.
Variety says, Auds, especially in Gaul, who don't expect animation to be aimed squarely at kids or to feature the latest technology, will be utterly entranced by The Illusionist's old-school magic, but less adventurous viewers may need some persuading.Indeed, the pic is a thrilling exercise in retro aesthetics, from the pencil-and-watercolor look to the 2D animation and the delicate lines and detailed backgrounds of Gallic animator Paul Grimault, to the details that perfectly evoke Scotland in the 1950s...
Pace may seem a little slow for those reared on contempo animation, but for those immersed in the film, the rhythms are delicious. Evocative score by the helmer himself, with pseudo-period rock songs by Malcolm Ross, enhance but never upstage the action. CGI is used sparingly for transitions and difficult camera movements, never breaking the pic's old-fashioned spell.
Screen Daily deploys superb hand-drawn imagery to bring to life an unproduced screenplay the late Tati finished in 1959. Told with no dialogue but carried along by deeply evocative sound design, this visually rewarding film's timeless, near-universal appeal should translate to widespread critical praise and art house play.
The deceptively simple story (which bears some scattered similarities to Chaplin's Limelight) is anchored in nostalgia for bygone traditions. And yet the theme of dedicated craftsmen (a clown, a ventriloquist, a magician) made obsolete by changing tastes (not to mention age making way for youth) remains relevant.
The Daily Dose.com said, Illusionist doesn't try to overwhelm with emotion and laughter like Disney's work but the breezy charm may win you over. Don't regard it as highly as Chomet's 2003 surreal spectacular Belleville, but as a muted little film in comparison
[image from film goes here].
THE SECRET OF KELLS HAS BARELY BEEN SEEN IN THE USA, BUT IT HAS AN OSCAR NOMINATION! WHAT IS THIS REMARKABLE HAND-ANIMATED FEATURE? By KCThe Academy Award nomination for The Secret of Kells only hints at the film's brilliance. That recognition is amazing as the film has only been seen by a handful of people in LA & NY when it was shown briefly to qualify it for a possible Oscar nomination. It will not open nationally until March, but thanks to a grassroots campaign by people who have seen it, and I'm one of them, word is spreading that the film is quite extraordinary.
I had been hearing about the film for several months, first from friends in France and Belgium and then from people in LA. GKIDS, the distributor, contacted me about holding a local screening, but it was too late to organize it before the votes had to be in for the Annies. Instead I was sent a copy on DVD and was told ASIFA members will be invited to a promotional screening before the film's local release (April 2 was the original local release date, but it may be sooner due to the film getting an Oscar nomination).
Yes, Secret of Kells lives up to all the comment about it being a great film experience. It has a wonderful unique look to it that I think might be called Irish or Celtic modern and a compelling well-told story that is as charming as it is exciting. Moreover the story seems quite real as opposed to the elaborate tall tales Hollywood invents.
As for the look, imagine the flat abstractions of nature found in Celtic manuscripts and jewelry coming alive on the screen. The film has a design that sets it apart from art from other parts of the world. It is as distinctive looking as Persian miniatures or traditional Japanese block prints. The look is rich and varied including intricate backgrounds that are sometimes quite stunning.
Not only is the film's bold look pleasing to the eyes, the captivating story will warm your heart. I certainly believed in the innocent boy's quest to find the right berries in the dark forest that are needed to create a magnificent color that will allow someone to complete a sacred manuscript. It is easy to believe this book is necessary for the preservation of the Celtic culture and that it has to be finished and protected from the destructive invading hordes of barbarians from the north. What happens in the forest is the beginning of a fantastic experience.
The film's simple plot and premise is based on facts; such illuminated medieval manuscripts do exist in libraries and the hordes may be the Vikings that invaded Ireland. This plot also seems very real as most people know that people in the Holly Lands once made a great effort to preserve their culture and beliefs from invaders by hiding in the desert the recently rediscovered Dead Sea Scrolls.
The story may be fiction, but in your minds you care and empasize with those who are living a simple peaceful life. Their innocence is a far cry from the complex worlds and plots that Hollywood creates in films like Princess and the Frog, Shrek 3 or Monsters Vs Aliens. While the Hollywood features are often delightful entertainment, you probably leave feeling the film was a lot of fun, and rarely about any greater meaning or message. On the other hand while you may leave Kells with a sense of joy, you may also leave feeling the movie gives you a realistic experience of what life was like in the Middle Ages and with a belief in the goodness of the peasants and monks who lived a simple agrarian life in their rural walled village.
Part of the success of The Secret of Kells is its use of universal themes. Preserving culture is important, but the film is careful not to spell out to many specifics, possibly to avoid limiting its audience. Although you probably know what kind of book is being created, I don't believe there are any mentions of a specific religion or what the book's text is. Also the warriors are not from a specific place and are faceless, abstract images representing evil. They become symbols of all destroyers of what is good.
Another interesting deviation from a Hollywood blockbuster is the director's use of economy of images in the battle scenes. Unlike a Star Wars battle there are no wide angle shots showing hundreds of helmeted warriors slaughtering peasants. By using simple symbolic shapes, close-ups, fast cuts, split screen shots and an effective sound design, the feeling of fighting and destruction is just as real as what George Lucas can create on a grand scale.
In art school instructors sometimes talk about less is more. That becomes part of this film's charm; that so much can be created with the films distinctive economical style. The results were a rich, totally satisfying film experience for me.
COMING NEXT MONTH, A LONG INTERVIEW WITH TOMM MOORE, THE FEATURE'S DIRECTOR - WE ALSO WILL LET YOU KNOW BY E-MAIL ABOUT A FREE ADVANCED SCREENING OF THE FILM!
BOOKS
ANIMATION ART AND INDUSTRY(22 Articles by 29 authors), edited by Maureen Furniss, published by John Libbey, distributed in North America by and excerpts from books that should fascinate anyone who is serious about understanding the many facets of animation. You are not likely to read it from cover to cover as the range of topics is quite wide, but I suspect you will return to it as your interests grow in different directions. For examples some of the directors coved, Winsor McCay, Disney, Lotte Reiniger, Norman McLaren, Hayo Miyazaki, Nick Park, Chuck Jones and Art Clokey, represent quite different aspects of the art and commerce of animation. There are articles on specific films, trends, WWII propaganda, cold war blacklisting and marketing. Many of the authors are highly regarded for their serious concern for scholarship including William Moritz, John Canemaker, Charles Solomon, Karl Cohen, George Griffin, J.B. Kaufman and Michael Frierson. The material in this reader was first published between 1980 and 2004. $27.95 (paperbound)Indiana University Press. This is an excellent collection of very readable articles
ANIMATION JOURNAL Vol. 17, 2009This issue is devoted to sound design in animation with 5 long articles: Audio Avery, Sound in Tex Avery's MGM Cartoons; To Sonicity and Beyond! Gary Rydstrom and Quilting the Pixar Sound; Whimsical Complexity: Music and Sound Design in The Clangers; Animating and Educating Japan: Nitaboh, Music, and Cultural Nationalism and Sounds of Easter Island: Music and Cultural Representation in Ogu Y Mampato En Rapanui. $10 + $2.50 post from Maureen Furniss, 20124 Zimmerman Place, Santa Clarita, CA 91390-3102
ON THE INTERNET COLORING THE KINGDOM BY PATRICIA ZOHN, AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE ABOUT WOMEN INKERS AND PAINTERS AT DISNEY BEFORE WWII
This is the first serious in-depth article I've read on the topic. Be glad this story is ancient history (at least in the US).
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/03/disney-animation-girls-201003
[photo of Williams goes here]
RICHARD WILLIAMS' EXPANDED EDITION OF THE ANIMATOR'S SURVIVAL KIT
reviewed by Gene Hamm Richard Williams' book The Animator's Survival Kit is out in an expanded edition that includes a DVD. For anyone not familiar with the book, it has surpassed Preston Blair's animation book as the definitive how-to book. Where Blair showed all-purpose walk cycles that lazy animators just plain copied, Williams shows from scratch how to create unique walks suitable to the personality of the character. Where Blair just had one page of mouths to cover dialogue, Williams goes into depth about problems and solutions of lip sync. Where Blair hinted at the Wave Principle and didn't explain it very well, Williams pounds home the Successive Breaking of Joints.
What's new? He shows lots of new two and four legged walks. He also discusses the problems of realism that animating in 3D brings up. He has an in depth explanation of The Uncanny Valley and when rotoscoping is useful and when it isn't.
The DVD that comes with the book is basically a commercial for the 16-volume set of DVD set The Animator's Survival Kit Animated (which is worth it if you can afford it). The DVD has some animation on it, but there are actually more animated examples on his website.
My one disappointment with the updated edition is his leaving out a discussion about what 2D animation can do that 3D animation can't, and the broader subject is 2D dead? Williams was quoted on that subject in an old ASIFA-SF newsletter. Perhaps he is leaving room for another expanded edition down the road.
Is it worth buying the expanded edition? If you don't already have it, it's even better than the earlier edition, and it is still at the same price ($30.00). If you already have it, buy it anyway. My original copy is getting pretty beat up from use. I bet yours is too.
And while you are buying books, buy Eric Goldberg's Character Animation Crash Course (which comes with its own DVD). Those books completely complement each other.
Editor's note: I think Gene is being modest in his praise of both books. One thing that delights me about the new version of Williams' book is the tremendous amount of exceptional drawings in the addition pages. They are easy to find as the new text and illustrations are at the end of book. KC
http://theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/index.html
OBITUARIES
JOHN FREEMAN, DISNEY ANIMATOR AND MENTOR TO MANY YOUNG ARTISTS, DIES AT 94
(Dec. 14, 1916 Jan. 1, 2010) John joined Disney when he was 22, was drafted before the war and was back at Disney in time to work as an inbetweener on Fantasia. He remained at the studio for another 16 years working on Lady and the Tramp as a designer and character animator. He also worked on shorts, Peter Pan and other projects.
In 1956 he was in San Francisco working at TV Spots, amazing people by laying out minute ads and animating them in one week. Eventually his TV credits included several great specials including The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and the Green Eggs and Ham segment of Dr. Seuss on the Loose. He also worked on lots of TV series for kids.
One of the people who apprenticed with John was Arne Jin An Wong who recently directed the animated planetarium show Tales From the Maya Skies at the Chabot Science Center in Oakland. Arne says, I met the infamous Disney veteran animator/layout artist Dr. John in 1975, when I first arrived in Los Angeles to begin my career in animation. He gave me an inbetween test on the Tony The Tiger TV commercial he was working on at the time. I failed it miserably; in fact I re-did the test four times before he decided to take me on as his apprentice. In those days there wasn't an animation school or any way an artist could learn this craft except to apprentice or join a large studio and be trained in their system. Being a bit of a maverick, I preferred to remain freelance and stayed away from the soul-choking corporate studios such as Hanna Barbara and Disney.
John gave me my break and through his patience and generosity, he taught me the foundation principles of being an animator. But most important, John taught me to accept nothing less than excellence in my work. It is not worth doing unless it is done well, was his motto. His humor was highly intellectual and witty, and he would use a vocabulary that was way over my head. I would go home and look up these words to find out what they meant. John was a walking dictionary, as well as a great animator, layout artist, teacher and friend. I owe him a great debt of gratitude for giving me my start in the animation industry.
Now I teach at the Academy Of Art University in San Francisco and Expressions College of Digital Media, and I tell this story to my students, passing on the legacy of John Freeman, and his unyielding stand for excellence.
TE WEI, ONE OF CHINA'S GREATEST ANIMATION DIRECTORS HAS DIED AT 94Te Wei (August 22, 1915, February 4th, 2010) was a former head of the Shanghai Animation Studio who developed a remarkable looking technique for animating Chinese brush paintings. During the Cultural Revolution he was not permitted to create animation or draw and was forced to work with peasants, hauling mud, carrying manure, working on pig farms, etc. as part of his reeducation as a decadent intellectual. After Mao's death he regained his position as studio head. His personal films are The Conceited General (1956), Where is Mama (1960), Buffalo Boy and Flute (1963) and his masterpiece Feeling From Mountain and Water (1988). In 1989, when the Chinese government chose four filmmakers as the most outstanding of more than 50,000 people who had worked in the industry, Te Wei was one of them. In 1999, when the government chose the 100 most outstanding films of China, Te Wei's four films were among the twenty animated films selected. ASIFA awarded him the ASIFA Prize at Annecy in 1995 for his work and courage. There are clips of his work on YouTube.
ANIMATING MY DREAMS IN TALLINN, ESTONIA, THE 11TH ANIMATED DREAMS ANIMATION FESTIVALby Nancy Denney-Phelps
Although they are only 500 miles apart, the Fredrikstad Animation Festival in Norway and Animated Dreams a week later (November 18 through 22) in Tallinn, Estonia are worlds apart. Both are wonderful, warm, welcoming festivals, but Fredrikstad is family oriented while Animated Dreams is definitely for adults.
Opening night began with the premier of four new Estonian animations. As a great fan of Olga and Priit Parn's multi award winning Life Without Gabriella Ferri, I was anxious to see their latest film Divers in the Rain; I was not disappointed. The story, about a deep-sea diver who works daytime and his lover, a nighttime dentist, is patently humorous and also a bit sad since their kisses are always goodbye kisses, never helloes. The 2D drawn film uses black and white to full advantage with the barest splashes of vivid color to punctuate this tale of ill-fated lovers. As usual with a Parn film, one viewing is never enough to capture the full effect of what you are seeing on the screen so I look forward to seeing Divers in the Rain several more times during the 2010 festival season.
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Olga and Priit Parn, directors of Life Without Gabriella Ferri
There were two other films on the program that I had not seen before - In the Air by Martinus Daane Klemet and Oranus from the team of Mari-Liis Bassovskaja and Jelena Girlin who gave us the multi award winning The Dress in 2004. Both are complex in typical Estonian fashion and need another viewing especially Oranus which has a very mixed media style. Also on the program was Crocodile, Kasper Jancis' brilliant tale of love found and lost and of course, a crocodile. I had seen it the previous week at the Fredrikstad Animation Festival where it won the Grand Prix.
The screening was followed by a party at the EAST Creative Space in conjunction with their opening of Graphic Dreams, an exhibition of comics. Since Kasper had not been present in Fredrikstad to receive his Grand Prix award, I carried his Golden Gunnar to Tallinn. Unfortunately the multi-talented Kasper missed the opening ceremony that night because he was performing with his band, so I finally got to present his statue to him during the party.
On Thursday the first two of the four competition programs screened. I had seen many of the films already, but there were some unique surprises. One such was Lucia, which the jury awarded the Grand Prix. Three young Chilean collaborators, Cristobal Leon, Niles Atallah, and Joaquin Cocina, used dirt, flowers, found objects, cardboard, and charcoal to carry us into Lucia's memory as she recalls the summer when she fell in love with Luis. Shot in stop-motion with a digital camera, this disturbing film blurs the lines between memory and reality. You can view scenes and sets from the film at the trio's on line exhibition space Diluvio Gallery at
Whenever I see a new film by Theodore Ushev I generally find it disturbing but thought provoking and Drux Flux is no exception. The film, inspired by philosopher Herbert Marcuse's One Dimensional Man, is a battle between the individual and totalitarian ideology where man serves industry and critical thought is swept away. Part figurative, part abstract drawings set to the tense, menacing industrial music of Russian composer Alexander Mossolov that heightened the discomfort that I felt as I watched the film.
Two highlights of Animated Dreams for me were a retrospective of Yuri Norstein's work and a program of animated Soviet propaganda films. I have seen Yuri's beautiful films many times, but I like seeing them again whenever there is an opportunity to view them on a big screen, especially the beautiful Tale of Tales which has been called the greatest animated film of all times. I do regret that the program was on a DVD and not film.
The Soviet propaganda films shown deserve an entire article of their own. Spanning five decades from 1924 to 1977 the cinematic styles ranged from Modernist Avant-Garde and Socialist Realism to echoes of Disney and The Yellow Submarine. The influence of Mr. Magoo and the UPA style were evident in Mr. Twister. Based on Samuel Marshak's poem, Mr. Twister is the tale of a racist American millionaire who rejects a hotel room in St, Petersburg, Russia because a black guest is staying there. The film extols the absence of bigotry in Soviet society. I am no fan of capitalist millionaires but by the end of the 15-minute film I actually felt sorry for Mr. Twister and his family as they were turned away from hotel after hotel.
Yefim Gamburg's Wolves (1970) is a frightening, symbolic tale of the West encouraging the raising of feral wolves that are actually children who are turned in wolves due to their upbringing. This represents symbolically the threat of Neo-Nazism. If you have never seen any Soviet era animated propaganda you should make it a point to watch a DVD of this fascinating piece of history.
Festival jury member Regina Pessoa from Portugal introduced a program of contemporary Portuguese animation from the renowned Cinanima Animated Film Festival. Although I had seen all of the films before it was a pleasure to see such quality work as Jose Miguel Ribeiro's latest puppet animation Sunday Drive and Joana Toste's Chicken Stew, a witty tale of what a mess a harmless chicken stew can create between two neighbors.
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Priit Tender and Tatia Rosenthal
Juror Tatia Rosenthal introduced her award winning feature film $9.99. Three other features, Mary & Max, Fear(s) of the Dark, and Metropia, that I had seen a few days before in Fredrikstad, were also shown out of competition.
A program of New Estonian Student Animation and Music Videos gave me a look at the next generation of the countries up and coming animators. Judging from what I saw Estonian animation has a bright future.
For the first time Animated Dreams screened one program aimed at a young audience in conjunction with Tallinn Films children's program Toddlers Chest of Cartoons. The five films in the Saturday and Sunday morning program included When Apples Roll directed by Reinis Kalnaellis of Latvia's Riga Films. I have seen this delightful story several times, of Cat and his devoted friend Mouse who find a strange egg while they are out picking apples, and I always enjoy it.
Keyframes
Keyframes, a lecture series examining the relationship between animation and other creative fields presented a two-day symposium in conjunction with Animated Dreams. Jurgen Hagler, Austrian computer animator, screened the 2009 Ars Electronica award winning films including Jeremy Clapin's ingenious Skhizein, Chris Landreth's The Spine, and the extremely witty French Roast. The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the most important awards for creativity and pioneering spirit in the field of digital media. Jurgen was on the 2009 Ars Electronica jury and curated last year's Ars Electronica Festival.
London based-German born animator Sebastian Buerkner presented a selection of films from the UK's Animate Project's archives. The project, funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and Channel 4 Television, commissions artists to create works that explore the relationship between contemporary art and animation for broadcast, gallery, cinema, and digital exhibitions. Sebastian's program included a fantastic journey from a real life NASA laboratory at UC Berkeley (Magnetic Movie, 2007), a tragic love story played out by porcelain figurines (Damaged Goods, 2008), and a life story told via a one-take live action shot of a giant zoetrope containing the film The Life Sized Zoetrope (2007). There were also some films already familiar to me such as Run Wrake's Rabbit. You can view over 100 Animate Project films at
Painter and animator Buerkner also presented the concept of his recent work as part of Keyframes. He uses Flash Technology to make films where the images can range from recognizable forms to arrangements of abstract and geometric shapes that are sometimes simple, sometimes almost dizzying in their complexity and movements. Several of his innovative films commissioned by Animate Projects can be seen on their website.
The last Keyframes participant, Austrian animator Virgil Widrich, is well known for his films Copy Shop and Fast Film. Copy Shop, the story of a man who copies himself until he fills up the entire world, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001. Fast Film is a tour de force through film history, from its silent beginnings up to present times. Widrich used a very original technique for Fast Film selecting 65,000 frames from 300 different movies, printing them on paper, folded into objects and then reanimated for the film camera to form a complex tableau.
The social scene
Even though there were plenty of films to watch, there was still time for parties every evening. Thursday evening Film Estonia Animation Studio hosted a reception in the festival café with generous amounts of snacks and drink.
The highlight of the festival parties for me happened the next evening when Nukafilm hosted their cabbage soup and vodka evening at their fantastic studio. I have wonderful memories of their party two years ago and once again they outdid themselves with long tables covered with large pots of aromatic cabbage soup, hearty slices of brown bread, platters of pork and beef, and of course many bottles of vodka. Even better than the delicious food and drink was the chance to talk to old friends and get a firsthand look at the new projects at the renowned puppet animation studio.
I have long been a fan of Mati Kutt's films so it was a special treat to have him take me on a tour of his very busy workroom where his latest project is in full swing. The room was packed full of drawings and puppets constructed out of all sorts of things from clay figures to a dog fashioned out of a folding knife. From the looks of the detailed storyboard on the wall to the figures that Mati showed me it looks like his next film with be another hit.
The party was my only opportunity to talk with Olga and Priit Parn because they were off to Helsinki, Finland the next morning where Pritt was being honored with a retrospective of his work. I hadn't seen Rao Heidmets since KROK so this was my first chance to congratulate him on his Grand Prix win at the Ottawa International Animation Festival with his very funny Inherent Obligations. Priit Tender told me about his latest project which is in development. The jurors were at the party so it was a chance to talk to my old friend Hardi Volmer who was one of the judges. The party was truly a memorable evening.
As if one good party was not enough for one night we all strolled to Old Town in true Estonian style to a party hosted by the Estonian Art Academy's students. The students acted as DJ's, playing a wide array of music and held a special lottery with great prizes. Of course there were snacks and plenty of vodka, beer and wine to add to the fun.
Tallinn is a beautiful city to explore on foot with winding cobblestone streets and storybook medieval houses. As you wander around Old Town you will find the image of Juke the Dog cast in copper in the pavement in front of a house in Suur-Karja Street where Juke was born. The Adventures of Juke the Dog was Estonia's first experimental animated short.
All too soon it was the evening of the closing ceremony held in the festival home Cinema Soprus. The festival awarded cash awards for the first time which added to the suspense and excitement of the ceremony. The Grand Prix was given to Lucia created by Cristobel Leon, Niles Attallah, and Joaquin Cocina from Chile. In addition to the Wooden Wolf Grand Prix award that is traditionally crafted by Nukafilm Studio, 1,000 Euros was awarded by A Film Studio Estonia.
The 500 Euro Estonian Academy of Art Award for best animated film was given to Red-End and the Seemingly Symbolic Society by Robin Noorda and Bethany De Forest from the Netherlands. The jury cited the film for outstanding visuals, excellent design, and the music.
The closing party at the Cinema Sopra was called Soprus in Memoriam. 2009 was the last year that the festival will be held at the beautiful old movie palace because the owners are converting the building to other uses. No one was quite sure what lay in store for the building, but its lovely atmosphere will be missed when the festival moves to its new home in a modern, multi screen theater. Amid an abundance of snacks, vodka shots and dancing to an array of DJ's the Cinema Sopra was bade a fitting farewell.
Just as it was the end of an era it was also a new beginning. It was the first year for Margit Sade as festival director. Although new to the job, Margit did a wonderful job paying great attention to detail. She displayed a keen ability to program a festival with a rich and varied selection of films. Behind her, but no less important, was her efficient staff who went out of their way to make their guests feel welcome. Margit and her staff have their work cut out for them in 2010 to match this year's success, but I am sure that they will rise to the challenge. To learn more abut Animated Dreams and see a full list of winning films visit their web site
www.poff.ee/anima
LATE NEWS - TIBURON FILM FESTIVAL SHOWING SEVERAL INTERESTING SOUNDING ANIMATES SHORTS IN MID-MARCHShorts by Steve Subotnick, Bill Plympton, Chris Perry, work from Iran, UK, Canada, etc. Plus a feature I know nothing about, The Magislicd by Rebecca Jones.
ASIFA-SF IS A VOLUNTEER RUN ASSOCIATION
Newsletter Editor: Karl Cohen
Contributors: Gregory MacNicol, Nancy Denney-Phelps, Gene Hamm, Arne Jin An Wong, and other friends of ASIFA
Cover illustration by Ricci Carrasquillo
Proofreader: Sarah Chin
Mailing Crew: Tara Beyhm, Dot Janson, Shirley Smith and Denise McEvoy
Webmaster Joe the Calif. Kid Sikoryak
Special thank to Ron Diamond for organizing and presenting the WWN.COM Oscar Nomionated Shorts in Animation and to Dolby Labs for hosting the program. Also to Tara Beyhm our VP, to our treasurer Karen Lithgow, to The G Man for sending out our e-mail updates, to Nancy Denney-Phelps for representing our chapter on the international ASIFA board, and to Patricia Satjawatch-arapjong who posts excerpts from our newsletter on theInternational ASIFA website www.asifa.net
ASIFA-SF is a chapter of: Association Internationale du Film d'Animation with almost 40 chapters around the world.
Our website and blog is: www.asifa-sf.org
Mail can be sent to: karlcohen@earthlink.net
Or to PO Box 225263, SF CA 94122YOU ARE INVITED TO A PREVIEW OF WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY
Tuesday, March 16, 4:00 PM, free
AMC Metreon Theaters, Mission at 4th StreetRSVP to karlcohen@earthlink.net
Only a limited number of seats are being offered. Members can bring 1 guest.
FILM OPENS MARCH 26 AT LANDMARK'S EMBARCADERO
Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairytale. It is a story of Disney animation from 1984 to 1994 when clashing egos, out of control budgets and escalating tensions erupted and resulted in the studio emerging from the tempest with one of its most creative periods.Director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider, key players at Walt Disney Studios Feature Animation department during the mid1980s, offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of those turbulent times and the staggering output of hits that followed over the next ten years. Artists polarized between the hungry young innovators and the old guard who refused to relinquish control, mounting tensions due to a string of box office flops, and warring studio heads create the backdrop for this fascinating story told with a unique and candid perspective from those that were there. Through interviews, internal memos, home movies, and a cast of characters that includes Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy Disney, Don Bluth, John Lasseter, and Tim Burton, Waking Sleeping Beauty shines a light on Disney Animation's darkest hours, joys and its improbable renaissance. Waking Sleeping Beauty was directed by Don Hahn, and produced by Peter Schneider and Hah n.
The film was shown at the 2009 Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and it won the Audience Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
CAREERS IN ANIMATION
Come learn from people with experience in stop-motion, 3D animation and in other areas, that have worked as interns, writers, animators, directors and in other industry jobs.
SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1 PM AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE, AUGUST COPPOLA THEATRE
(Fine Arts 101, between Creative Arts and the Student Union), free, public invited
Presented by the Animation Society of SFSU and ASIFA-SF
A PANEL DISCUSSION WITH
ADAM BURKE, PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOSAdam studied at Cal Art, and he worked in LA for 11 years as an animator (credits include Iron Giant) before joining Pixar in 2003. His credits include The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALLE, Up, and Toy Story 3. He is also on the staff of Pixar University and will be an instructor for student inters this summer.
KEN PONTACKen has produced and directed the hit TV stop-motion series Bump in the Night, and several pilots. As a writer his credits range from the ultra violent Happy Tree Friends to episodes of the charmingly pro-social Arthur animated cartoon. He also still enjoys getting royalty checks for writing the LazyTown song "You Are A Pirate," which has become an Internet meme, enjoying 10 million hits on YouTube and inspiring multiple mash-ups and drunken karaoke videos. Pontac lives in Sausalito with a beautiful redheaded nurse and his crazy dog, Whistle. Once upon a time he was art director on Gumby Adventures. KC
JUSTIN KOHN, STOP-MOTION ANIMATORJustin has worked for over 30 years as a stop-motion character and special effects animator. His credits include work on Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Robo Cop 2, and other features. He is presently teaching at the Academy of Art and the visual effects director and producer for Retro/Vision, producing effects by hand for SF and Fantasy films.
JASON SPENCER-GALSWORTHY, FROM PDI/DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONJason is presently a supervising animator. His remarkable career includes his working as a stop-motion character animator for Aardman Animations for 9 years (he worked on Chicken Run and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit). He moved into CG and worked for Dreamworks as a supervising animator (Flushed Away, Madagascar 2). After a 7-month stay in India he co-headed the animation department in the production of the short film Merry Madagascar, and is currently working on Megamind.
NICASIO NAKAMINE FROM PDI/DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONNicasio is a recent graduate of SF State's animation program, who will discuss why he was invited to join the company's staff. Perhaps his story will inspire and encourage you to succeed in this competitive industry.
Careers in Animation is for people who want to know how to find employment in the local animation industry. Representatives from the industry will discuss their careers, background, the kinds of work they do, who gets hired, what training you need to get a job, portfolio tips on what will impress people who are in a position to hire you and other basics. This is your chance to ask and get your questions answered about careers in animation. Please leave your portfolios at home as this is not a portfolio review session.Karl Cohen - karlcohen@earthlink.net
