ASIFA-Hollywood: The International Animated Film Society
Saturday, January 01, 2005
An oldie From Mark`s Vaults
I have a number of sites that I visit daily if not more often, cartoonbrew, animated-news and Mark Evenier`s POV news site. When I have some time I wander all over the site just looking at things he has posted over the years.
This morning I ran into this 4 year old article about voice actor Frank Nelson. YesssSSSS? It is a great story about the world of Hollywood voice acting. I am going to steal a quote here:
This morning I ran into this 4 year old article about voice actor Frank Nelson. YesssSSSS? It is a great story about the world of Hollywood voice acting. I am going to steal a quote here:
I will never, as long as I live, forget summoning Frank Nelson. He was sitting in the recording studio`s lobby, absently paging through a magazine older than he was, surrounded by young actors who didn`t know who he was. I stepped into the lobby and said, "Mr. Nelson?"Isn`t that great? Here is the link to the whole story. Frank Nelson . Check out some of this other stuff while you are there. It is a fun site full of all the things that makes Mark happy.
And he turned towards me - so help me - and went, "Yessssss?" Just like on the Benny show.
I broke into laughter and the other auditioners - the younger actors sitting in chairs around him - suddenly recognized him and they all broke into applause. I have never seen another actor get applause from his peers in the waiting room.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Animation Rescue Team Response
Thank you Eric, you are on the list. This is just what we are looking for. If we have 20 or 30 people that can sometimes drop everything and sometimes can`t then we should be able to put together a small team at the drop of a hat to save Animation treasures when the time comes and we need to act quickly.
ASIFA is here to serve the animation community both professional and fan. What better way to do so then to save the artifacts of this field for history?
Hi, Larry.
An animation rescue team--an excellent idea!
I'm afraid I may not be a very good animation rescue team member, me
being in Tustin with a full time job and a very full schedule, but sign
me up for the call to arms anyway and I'll do what I can. Please add
both this address (eric@xxxxxxxx.com) and narkspud@xxxxx.com to
the email list (if any), and call work 949-xxx-xxxx 7:30 am to 4:30 pm,
and home 714-xxx-xxxx all other times if you need me. Sometimes I can
drop everything, often I can't, but it's worth a try.
Thank you Eric, you are on the list. This is just what we are looking for. If we have 20 or 30 people that can sometimes drop everything and sometimes can`t then we should be able to put together a small team at the drop of a hat to save Animation treasures when the time comes and we need to act quickly.
ASIFA is here to serve the animation community both professional and fan. What better way to do so then to save the artifacts of this field for history?
Stop Motion Bones
A few days ago I got on my soapbox (yet again) and started going on about how none of the schools will teach stop motion. One of my favorite red haired stepchild causes if ever I heard one.
It is all well and good to complain about stuff on the Internet, that is what the Internet is for, but how about doing a little something about the problem, I said to myself. At the same time I could fill up a little space here with some useful information, a completely novel idea in itself.
Stop motion animation starts with the armature and quite often ends with it because they are so hard to create. The example above took me about 60 hours to create.
Didn`t grow up in a garage like I did with tools as you toys? While you don`t know what you are missing but it is a little late now. So here is where to go to get a low cost armature kit.
http://www.armaverse.com
Now Armaverse strikes me as being a cutesy name but who cares. They have a good product at a reasonable price. What else can you ask for?
A few days ago I got on my soapbox (yet again) and started going on about how none of the schools will teach stop motion. One of my favorite red haired stepchild causes if ever I heard one.
It is all well and good to complain about stuff on the Internet, that is what the Internet is for, but how about doing a little something about the problem, I said to myself. At the same time I could fill up a little space here with some useful information, a completely novel idea in itself.
Stop motion animation starts with the armature and quite often ends with it because they are so hard to create. The example above took me about 60 hours to create.
Didn`t grow up in a garage like I did with tools as you toys? While you don`t know what you are missing but it is a little late now. So here is where to go to get a low cost armature kit.
http://www.armaverse.com
Now Armaverse strikes me as being a cutesy name but who cares. They have a good product at a reasonable price. What else can you ask for?
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Urgent Need to form ASIFA Animation Rescue Team
I ran into Burbank today and dragged my son along to help rescue animation art. It is a long drive from Orange County but I could not find anyone else and it had to be done and done now. Far too often that is the case. We get a call that an animation treasure is about to be lost forever.
After having run this drill far too many times I feel that it is time to do something about it. Therefore I am purposing a permanent ASIFA Animation Rescue Team.
What I feel is needed it a team of 20 or so people that will be on call a short notice so that we can always put together a team of 6 or 7 people to save animation treasures and endangered artwork.
If you would like to be part of this team please contact me: larry@agni-animation.com
The cool thing is that you get to touch the animation treasures of the past and make a real difference at the same time. I think we should have cool shirts that say Animation Rescue Team (ART) and get merit badges for the number of rescue missions we go on. If we are going to be boyscouts we should get the neat badges to impress our friends with.
I ran into Burbank today and dragged my son along to help rescue animation art. It is a long drive from Orange County but I could not find anyone else and it had to be done and done now. Far too often that is the case. We get a call that an animation treasure is about to be lost forever.
Good Morning Larry,
I hate to bother you with this, but we need to line-up a handful of volunteers to help move a bunch of stuff out of our old storage space, today. Late yesterday morning, Kathy and I went by the office to check on things, and found that there had been some flooding in storage.
Upon further examination, we discovered that there were several leaks in the ceiling, which was causing water damage to animation artwork and archival materials. Since the place was so packed with boxes, it practically impossible to get to leaks without having empty the space. With there being no room in the Animation Center, we ended up renting a 14 foot truck, and loaded it up with the boxes that were in danger of getting wet.
This material now needs to be taken to the new space, and unloaded. Ideally, we should try and clear out as much stuff as we can, in order for it not to be damaged. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't mind contacting some folks, to see if they wouldn't mind helping out.
Since I am going to be running around this morning, would you kindly give me a call on my cell phone, to let me know if you help me out with this.
My number is (818) xxx-xxxx.
Thanks,
Antran.
After having run this drill far too many times I feel that it is time to do something about it. Therefore I am purposing a permanent ASIFA Animation Rescue Team.
What I feel is needed it a team of 20 or so people that will be on call a short notice so that we can always put together a team of 6 or 7 people to save animation treasures and endangered artwork.
If you would like to be part of this team please contact me: larry@agni-animation.com
The cool thing is that you get to touch the animation treasures of the past and make a real difference at the same time. I think we should have cool shirts that say Animation Rescue Team (ART) and get merit badges for the number of rescue missions we go on. If we are going to be boyscouts we should get the neat badges to impress our friends with.
One of my favorite places on the web is Don Markstein's Toonopedia (TM). Don is a writer and editor and giant toon culture freak which makes him alright with me.
I can spend hours, and often do, just wondering around his database of all this toony, both comic stripe/book and animation.
Don edited Comics Revue from 1984-87, and then again in1992-96, which puts him in a god-like pantheon in my book.
If you have never visited his site you owe it to yourself to get lost in it for a few hours, days, weeks: toonopedia.com
I can spend hours, and often do, just wondering around his database of all this toony, both comic stripe/book and animation.
Don edited Comics Revue from 1984-87, and then again in1992-96, which puts him in a god-like pantheon in my book.
If you have never visited his site you owe it to yourself to get lost in it for a few hours, days, weeks: toonopedia.com
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Hard Luck Charley Bowers Gets His Break
The Library of Congress inducts 3 animated films out of this year`s 25 films added to the Film Registry.
This is work the Film Registry should be about. Preserving the work of forgotten genus for the ages to come. Charley Bowers, was a stop motion animator, silent comedian, 2-D animator (Mutt and Jeff) and ex-circus performer. But very few people know him today.
As fortune would have it a DVD of his known complete surviving work is now available. DVDtoons The work is amazing and no longer hard to find. I even got one of his films on a 99 cent DVD. It`s about time that Hard Luck Charley gets his break.
The Library of Congress inducts 3 animated films out of this year`s 25 films added to the Film Registry.
8) Duck and Cover (1951) is a Conelrad atomic defense commercial
19) Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936) is a Fleischer Popeye
24) There It Is (1928). is one of Charley Bowers surrealist shorts, a film combing live action with stop-motion animation. A forgotten genus of American cinema makes it into the Film Registry.
This is work the Film Registry should be about. Preserving the work of forgotten genus for the ages to come. Charley Bowers, was a stop motion animator, silent comedian, 2-D animator (Mutt and Jeff) and ex-circus performer. But very few people know him today.
As fortune would have it a DVD of his known complete surviving work is now available. DVDtoons The work is amazing and no longer hard to find. I even got one of his films on a 99 cent DVD. It`s about time that Hard Luck Charley gets his break.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Very Late Book Review
Christmas present time. I really wanted this book when it first came out but bucks were tight at the time, something that happens in a two artist household.
That is the really cool thing about Christmas, the people that love you get you the things you really wanted but didn`t feel you should afford for yourself.
Anybody that knows me knows how crazy I am about Aardman Animation. This book is a kind of great catch-all, behind the scenes, how to, and history of animation book. It has everything including flipbook animations in the corners of the pages. I love that.
The history section goes into the English parts of animation history that are always, for some strange reason, overlooked by the writers on this side of the Atlantic. It is nice to read a book that knows William Friese-Greene.
Lots of nice behind the scenes shots and production pictures. Good section on how to do the tricks, the rain, grommet with the drill, armature shots, in short all the things you need to know to learn to do stop motion animation.
A great book that I have wanted for a long time. It is obviously still on the market because my wife found it for me somewhere. Once I am done reading it I will make a place for this book on my reference shelf right next to my copy of Don Dohler`s 1980 Stop Motion Animation.
Here comes the soapbox part, why can`t I find a school that will teach their students stop motion. I have been after a number of schools for a number of years. Come on guys, let me teach your students a stop motion class or seminar.
Everybody says that learning animation principals on the computer is very, very hard. Camel through the eye of a needle stuff. Traditional 2-D and 3-D (stop motion) are the best ways to learn to animate. In fact I feel stop motion teaches animation faster. For some reason none of the schools will teach stop motion, even the schools that still teach 2-D. End of soapbox.
Christmas present time. I really wanted this book when it first came out but bucks were tight at the time, something that happens in a two artist household.
That is the really cool thing about Christmas, the people that love you get you the things you really wanted but didn`t feel you should afford for yourself.
Anybody that knows me knows how crazy I am about Aardman Animation. This book is a kind of great catch-all, behind the scenes, how to, and history of animation book. It has everything including flipbook animations in the corners of the pages. I love that.
The history section goes into the English parts of animation history that are always, for some strange reason, overlooked by the writers on this side of the Atlantic. It is nice to read a book that knows William Friese-Greene.
Lots of nice behind the scenes shots and production pictures. Good section on how to do the tricks, the rain, grommet with the drill, armature shots, in short all the things you need to know to learn to do stop motion animation.
A great book that I have wanted for a long time. It is obviously still on the market because my wife found it for me somewhere. Once I am done reading it I will make a place for this book on my reference shelf right next to my copy of Don Dohler`s 1980 Stop Motion Animation.
Here comes the soapbox part, why can`t I find a school that will teach their students stop motion. I have been after a number of schools for a number of years. Come on guys, let me teach your students a stop motion class or seminar.
Everybody says that learning animation principals on the computer is very, very hard. Camel through the eye of a needle stuff. Traditional 2-D and 3-D (stop motion) are the best ways to learn to animate. In fact I feel stop motion teaches animation faster. For some reason none of the schools will teach stop motion, even the schools that still teach 2-D. End of soapbox.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
The Incredibles: Best Film of 1972
People just stair at me like I have grown another head every time I mention the time setting for the Incredibles.
Maybe it is because the Incredibles is not really a period piece even if it is set in 1972 or 1973? You did`t catch that? Missed the year somehow? You`re not alone.
Thunderhead dies in a cape related accident in 1958, Thunderhead was at the wedding of Bob and Helen Parr, in costume, therefore their wedding happened before 1958. Dead heroes don`t show up at weddings that often. Add 15 years and we are in the early 70`s. Prime superhero comic book time!
Still don`t believe me? Just look at the cars, the furniture, the High Karate used by Frozone. Do they still make High Karate? But somehow everybody misses the fact that the movie takes place in 1972 not 2004.
Maybe it is because the film is filmed like a current movie not a period piece? Maybe it is because the characters are stylized to the point that they become archetypes as every true superhero and Villain should? Maybe it is all the modern comic book devices used by the heroes and villains? It might just be a combination of all of these factors?
Somehow there is something timeless about this film that sets it outside space and time to the point that people just miss the 1972 time setting completely. When a filmmaker can put it right out there, music and all, and nobody can see it there is something really magic going on in the filmmaking process.
Is it important to the story that the Incredibles is set in the silver age of comic book heroes? No, not at all. What is important is the filmmaking magic that makes everybody miss that fact.
What I want to know, and tried to ask the last time Brad was in town, is did he do this on purpose? Did he set out to hide the time period in plan site or did it just happen? On that question hangs just how incredible his talent really is as a master magician of the modern cinema?
Incredibles 70`s Cars
Maybe it is because the Incredibles is not really a period piece even if it is set in 1972 or 1973? You did`t catch that? Missed the year somehow? You`re not alone.
Thunderhead dies in a cape related accident in 1958, Thunderhead was at the wedding of Bob and Helen Parr, in costume, therefore their wedding happened before 1958. Dead heroes don`t show up at weddings that often. Add 15 years and we are in the early 70`s. Prime superhero comic book time!
Still don`t believe me? Just look at the cars, the furniture, the High Karate used by Frozone. Do they still make High Karate? But somehow everybody misses the fact that the movie takes place in 1972 not 2004.
Maybe it is because the film is filmed like a current movie not a period piece? Maybe it is because the characters are stylized to the point that they become archetypes as every true superhero and Villain should? Maybe it is all the modern comic book devices used by the heroes and villains? It might just be a combination of all of these factors?
Somehow there is something timeless about this film that sets it outside space and time to the point that people just miss the 1972 time setting completely. When a filmmaker can put it right out there, music and all, and nobody can see it there is something really magic going on in the filmmaking process.
Is it important to the story that the Incredibles is set in the silver age of comic book heroes? No, not at all. What is important is the filmmaking magic that makes everybody miss that fact.
What I want to know, and tried to ask the last time Brad was in town, is did he do this on purpose? Did he set out to hide the time period in plan site or did it just happen? On that question hangs just how incredible his talent really is as a master magician of the modern cinema?
Incredibles 70`s Cars
