Esopus: John Canemaker on a Single Frame

I love getting packages in the mail. Thursday I got a great package. Two copies of Esopus #5 (a reading copy and an archive copy) with the rich smell of printers ink that always takes me right back to my childhood days of hand setting type. (so I had a weird childhood)

The printing on this periodical is art to someone that knows about printing, square blocked glue bound non-standard signatures with single page inserts of special papers. It is like one of the works I use to get at the Gutenberg Show where every printer set up their press on the floor and tries to out do every other printer on the convention floor with quality they could not afford in real print runs. And the papers in this volume, each paper choice is driven by the article need not by cost or ease of signature assembly.

Esopus, as a publication just blows me away. It even comes with a CD of original commissioned music specially composed for this publication. I think the word I am looking for is cutting edge or maybe avant-garde kind of mixed with craftsmanship and something that means highest quality all at the same time. Maybe that is what Esopus means?

The content is all over the map of the arts world. But in a good way. I haven`t had time to give it a comprehensive read but I did get off on the letter to a lost love typed on two sides of a white paper bag. There was even a printed receipt inside the bag for 65 cents, no tax (food item) that is dated December 1977.

I did read, with great joy, Let a Thousand Drawing Bloom by John Canemaker. That is the reason I got this early Christmas package in the first place.

John takes one frame from Walt Disney`s 1940 Fantasia and gives us a trip through the hand drawn animation process complete with reproductions of every piece of artwork used to create that single frame. Everything is printed to look as close to the original as humanly possible. That means transparencies printed on vellum to give the see through quality of animation bond and production sketches first done on black paper printed on black paper so that the look of the work is as close as can be to pastels on black paper. As someone that spent a lot of my teen years running a printing press this has a richness that is true love of craft. Esopus would surely have please William Morris.

The strange thing for me was seeing one sentence (His boss, William Randolph Heart, once requested that he draw a portrait of Heart`s mistress, the actress Marion Davies) that I first read in a student`s paper five years ago quoted here in John`s article.

It got me to thinking about just how much research John was putting into this simple little article. He had to jump through some hoops to get access to Al Zinnen`s great nephew (privacy regulations at my college being what they are) and all that work was reduced to less than two paragraphs. How much more research is there lurking out there behind every other sentence on the page?

So I`m think John, the original release of Fantasia was 125 minutes or 7500 seconds. Take that at 24 frames Per Second for about 180,000 frames. If we go easy on you and average it out on 2s then that leaves just 89,999 more frames you have to analyze. That is going to make you a very busy man. Hope to see you at the Annies, anyway.

For info on Esopus: http://www.esopusmag.com  ¶ 5:55 PM   

  10/13 Archive Update You might notice that the Animation Archive website looks a little different. We moved things around so both the blog and the static site are combined into one single page now. Bookmark this page and tell your friends about it...

www.animationarchive.org

Jason Jones and Marc Deckter were in today. They helped catalog the Clampett cartoons and enter them into the filmographic database. We also fired up the scanner and captured our first batch of drawings for the media database. It's fitting that the first artwork entered into the database is by Mike Lah. Mike was Tex Avery's right hand man, and was a good friend of ASIFA-Hollywood, serving as Board Member and Treasurer. When he passed away, Mike's family donated the archives of his studio to ASIFA-Hollywood. Here are some samples of drawings from commercials directed by MIke Lah that we entered into the database today...







If you'd like to come down and help out on Tuesday, drop me an email at... sworth@animationarchive.org

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 7:26 PM   

  Judge Not Lest Yee Be Game:

I just nailed down my nomination judging team for the new Gaming Annie. Most of them are from Orange County (lots of gaming companies down this way) so it looks like we will be holding the final nomination judging in Orange with our one L.A. based judge doing the long drive this year (sorry Jon).

I think I have a good mix; the Animation Chair of a high profile Local Art College, a gaming historian, a CGI movie animation / FX guy, a Gaming animator, and the manager of my local Gaming Store. I think that about covers the field. And I think the Gaming Store manager is a nice touch. Very grass roots and in the trenches where the real world meets the gaming reality.

I am really stoked about the New Gaming Annie category. It is long over due and I am proud to be the Nominating Chair for this first year of composition. I just hope we get some killer stuff submitted.  ¶ 11:03 AM   

  FIRST BLOGIVERSARY:
DATELINE: Tuesday, October 12, 2004:

It has been one complete year since I took over this Blog. The ASIFA-Hollywood Blog was started in April of 2004 by Steve Worth to report on the Animation Archive Project.

Unfortunately, the Animation Archive Project did not get off the ground at quickly as was hoped and this Blog sat idle for months while nothing seemed to happen on the Archive front. (thank gods that is no longer the case and Steve is back writing about the Archive Project in these pages)

So at the October 2004 ASIFA-Hollywood Board meeting I put forth that we should / I should do something with the Blog. That it should and could be the daily voice of ASIFA-Hollywood. I didn`t get a counter until half way through December 2004 so I can not state the starting number of visits in October 2004.



But in January of 2004 (the first full month with a counter) we had a little better than 2,500 visits. In July when we were reporting on Comic Con we had over 7,000 visits and last month we had 6,000 visits. We are coming up on 45,000 hits since mid-December 2004. I started the Blog with this article on the poor state of business law training in our art schools. I celebrate today by running a re-print.

Copyright & Trademark Book

`Congress shall have the Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.`

Yet another student came up to me after class this week with a really simple copyright question. It still amazes me how little artist are taught about intellectual property law in art schools. It seems to be the last thing art teachers and department chairs think about when they are putting together a program. But then they were not taught copyright law either. So it makes sense that they pass on the disease to their students.

I get a lot of questions about copyright from not only students but from teachers. I think it is because I have made it my business to correct the faults in my own art education.

Do I sound bitter, well yes. As great as my school was at teaching art they never taught me a damn thing about Intellectual Property Law. To be fair, it was the first years of the school and it was all that they could do to just pound art into our marble like heads. I talked to Joe Kubert just a little while ago and they are currently covering intellectual property law in their curriculum. Good for them, they are one of the few.

But what about the artists that find themselves without this important component in their survival kit? Remember a business major doesn`t have to know how to draw but you better know business law, because business programs are turning out students that look at the uninformed as their natural prey.

Enter Michael Lovitz! Michael Lovitz is this really cool guy who loves comics. He is also an intellectual property lawyer who gives free seminars on copyright and trademark law at comic book conventions.

I haven`t missed one of his classes at the San Diego Comic Con since I discovered him way back in 1996. And I always learn something new each time I attend.

At the 2001 San Diego Comic Con, in conjunction with Sirius Comics, he brought out this great little overview in comic book form, The Trademark & Copyright Book.

A must for all creative artists. It has a funny visual take on what could be a very dry subject if not handled in such a creative manner. Love the artwork by the Fillbach Brothers. Their comic take and super-literalism makes this not only an informative book but also an entertaining one. This comic book format survival tool is still in print. Price $2.95. http://www.cosmictherapy.com/featuredproducts.html

  ¶ 5:39 AM   

  Archive Update: Scanner Calibration Today I installed the color correction software we are using to calibrate the Epson 11x17 scanner with our 30 inch Apple Cinema Display and HP Color ScanJet 3550 laser printer. I used a color key painted by Jules Engel from Format Films' "Alvin Show" as a sample. Here is what the painting looks like...



To give you an idea of the resolution of the scanner, here is a detail on Alvin's eye at 1600 dpi...



...and that isn't even the top resolution of this scanner. It goes up to 2400 dpi! It has a transparency adapter so we can scan slides as well.

I plan to start scanning soon, so if you would like to volunteer, give me a call on Tuesday or Thursdays during office hours at 818 842-8330.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 8:11 PM   

  Charles Mintz Krazy Kat cartoons. Impossible to see anywhere.
This is your only chance there is no where else you are going to be able to see these very rare cartoons. It would be my guess that we have Michael Schlesinger to thank for this treat. Thank you Michael! Don`t miss this one folks.


George Herriman's Krazy Kat was one of the first comic strip characters adapted to animated cartoons (starting in 1916!). When the cat made the transition to talkie cartoons, she became a he - as well as a little more Mickey and lot less Herriman - in the process.

Krazy was featured in a long-running series of black and white sound cartoons produced by Columbia Pictures Corp. beginning in 1929 (and ending in 1939). This program will present many rare original Charles Mintz Krazy Kat cartoons in 35mm - newly restored by Columbia Pictures - including several that were never distributed to television or seen since their original release. This is one for the hard core cartoon buffs - and anyone else who loves funny, bouncy, pre-code musical cartoons from the 1930s. Don't miss this rare classic cartoon event!

Titles to be screened include:


• RATSKIN (1929)
  
• PORT WHINES (1929)
  
• FARM RELIEF (1929)
  
• SLOW BEAU (1930)
  
• JAZZ RHYTHM (1930)
  
• HONOLULU WILES (1930)
  
• APACHE KID (1930)
  
• TAKEN FOR A RIDE (1930)
  
• STORK MARKET (1931)
  
• RUSSIAN DRESSING (1933)
  
• SOUTHERN EXPOSURE (1933)
  
• BOWERY DAZE (1934)

Not on Video or DVD - and won`t be!

Saturday October 29th - 3:00 pm
AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE
Ted Ashley/ Warner Bros. Screening Room
2021 N. Western Ave.
Hollywood, CA
ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD MEMBERS: FREE ADMISSION • GENERAL PUBLIC: $10.  ¶ 7:21 AM   

  Fire Destroys Aardman`s Past: (the Studio Did Not Burn Down)

Some people were reporting yesterday that Aardman Studio burned down. It did not. It was a storage unit. There were still some bad losses. Here is the Aardman press release.

On the day that Aardman celebrate a chart-topping opening weekend in the US with Wallace & Gromit The Curse of the Were-rabbit, news of a fire at our storage unit in Bristol has been devastating.

The facility used to store sets, awards, and historical artefacts, is not a part of the Aardman studio, and we are glad to report that no Aardman staff have been affected. However, we have lost a number of irreplaceable storyboards, awards, props and pieces of film memorabilia from our 30 year history.

None of the material from the new Wallace & Gromit film The Curse of the Wererabbit was in storage at the time, but we have lost many original sets from Chicken Run, Creature Comforts, and the three Wallace & Gromit short films, that were used for reference and toured around the world for exhibition.

This will not in any way affect existing or future Aardman productions as 100% of sets and props are purpose built for each production.

Wallace & Gromit The Curse of the Were-rabbit: www.wandg.com  ¶ 11:45 AM   

  Morning Email From Canemaker:

This sounds like early Christmas to me. I just hope the mailman doen`t bend it trying to get into my mailbox. If you are any kind of animation geek you might want to hunt up this publication.

HI LARRY,

This week I am having sent to you "A THING OF LAVISH, ECCENTRIC BEAUTY" according to the NY Times.

It is the arts magazine ESOPUS, published twice-yearly "featuring fresh, unmediated perspectives on the contemporary cultural landscape from artists, writers, filmmakers, playwrights, photographers, architects, designers, musicians, and other creative professionals. It includes long-form artists’ projects, critical writing, fiction, interviews, and, in each issue, a CD of specially commissioned music."

In the Fall 2005 (#5) issue, you will find my illustrated article "Let a Thousand Drawings Bloom: The Making of One Frame from the Disney Animated Classic FANTASIA," pp. 66 - 79.

It is the complete layout for scene #18 from the Dance of the Reed Flutes flower ballet from the Nutcracker Suite sequence. The illustrations are the original layouts for the scene from my animation art collection, including the pastel-on-black-paper inspirational sketch by Elmer Plummer;

and four drawings by layout artist Al Zinnen (printed on velum so readers can see through them, as did the scene's animator Cy Young); the instructional sheet attached to the layout; and a frame blowup of the final scene.
My text explains the processes, and is also a subtle lament for the beauty and artistry of hand-drawn animation.

Hope you enjoy the issue. Tod Lippy is the mag's editor. For more info, visit: http://www.esopusmag.com

Thanks for your help!

John

You are completely welcome John, all I did was put you in touch with Al Zinnen`s family and they were very happy to have someone of your caliber interested in Al`s work.  ¶ 6:48 AM   

  New York State of Mind-Travel:

Gary Sassaman, from Innocent Bystander is in NYC this week. He has posted a group of time travel like blogs talking about the New York City I knew and loved in my Kubert School daze.

The old times in Manhattan was not quite the Fleischer / Van Beuren / Doc Savage world of the 30s but it felt a lot closer to that dangerous sinful world than the family-friendly Times Square of today.

I love his remembrances of the early Comic Convention scene is NYC. I was at a lot of those conventions but never remember meeting Gary there not that that means we never rubbed elbows on dealers floor. Maybe I`m just getting old and like to talk about my glory days. If you are in the same boat stop on over and give him a read.  ¶ 11:23 AM