Inspiration: Master Animators at Work - JOANNA QUINN

Master Animators at work. It's always interesting and educational to see how an animator approaches animating their scenes.


First up, the amazing Joanna Quinn .

More Joanna Quinn on YouTube :
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Joanna%20Quinn&search=tag

Facial Expressions Tutorial by Tracy J. Butler

Comics artist Tracy J. Butler  ("Lackadaisy") has posted a great tutorial on Facial Expressions:

NOTES ON EXPRESSIONS - Click Here -

Here are a couple of samples from the tutorial, including some things NOT to do : 

(oh, yes, let us all banish the chronic "C-Mouth" ,  "Smarm Brow" (aka  "'tude" ) and "Flounderface Disorder"  , all bad habits.)

(while there also check out her tutorials on "How to Paint in Photoshop"  ,  "How to Draw"   .)


(click images to see larger)

Animation Guild oral history interviews with Animators

Dan Haskett

Steve Hulett, who is the Business Agent of The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839), is conducting a series of interviews which makes for some fascinating listening.  Download these interviews to your iPod and enjoy listening to this vibrant oral history project with some of the best animators in the biz:

TAG Interviews -- CLICK HERE --

Or here:  http://animationguild.org/interviews/

So far they have about a dozen interviews posted online, with more promised . Interviewees include Mark Kausler , Dan Haskett , Tom Sito,  Kathy Zielinski, Bruce Smith, Mark Kirkland, Brian McEntee , Tim Walker , Robert Alvarez , Ed Gombert , and Rubin Aquino. If you're from my generation in animation you recognize all of these names immediately (I've worked with over half of these folks) . Some of you younger people may not immediately recognize all of these names , but just go search for them on IMDB.com and you'll read a very impressive credit list.

I'm looking forward to hearing more in this series of interviews.

Kyler Spears animation reel

This animation is by a high-school student,  Kyler Spears.  He's applied to Cal-Arts and I would expect he'll get accepted there. Very nice to see someone so young turning out such polished work.

"Une Vie de Chat" a new animated feature film

This looks interesting.   From France comes this new animated feature film "Une Vie de Chat"  (currently in release in French cinemas) , directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli  and Alain Gagnol.  

The film's website is here:  http://www.uneviedechat-lefilm.fr/   and the Facebook Page here: "Une Vie de Chat" on Facebook.

The trailer:



Synopsis of the film:

Un chat mène une double vie secrète : il passe ses journées avec Zoé, la fille d'un commissaire, mais la nuit il accompagne un voleur sur les toits de Paris. Alors que la mère de Zoé enquête sur les cambriolages nocturnes, un autre truand kidnappe la fillette...

A cat leads a secret double life:  he spends his days with Zoe, the daughter of a police commissioner, but at night he accompanies a thief on the rooftops of Paris.  While Zoe's mother investigates the burglaries at night,  another criminal kidnaps the girl ...

And just in time for Christmas comes this handsome image posted on the film's Facebook page:

Animation of Christmases Past

This Christmas greeting for CBS Television (from 1966) was designed by R.O. Blechman , animated by Willis Pyle.


(I have always loved the elegant minimalism and great sensitivity of this piece ... I had it on Super-8mm from Blackhawk Films in the late 70's .   I've been glad to notice that since I posted it to YouTube on Dec. 24, 2006 that it has received over 281,350 views to date.   So a few other people appreciate it too I guess.)



More Blechman:

This is from Blechman's Christmas special for PBS, "Simple Gifts" ... opening sequence designed by Maurice Sendak , animated by Ed Smith.



I wish this beautiful Christmas special were available on DVD . I don't know why PBS doesn't air it annually . '


The bits of it available on YouTube are not the best presentations , but unfortunately all that is available at the moment .

Christmas 1914 -




No Room at the Inn -




Here's Richard Williams wonderful (though much too short ) animated version of Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" ---





This is another film that should be available in a restored version on DVD , but is only available on the internet.


A cel from "A Christmas Carol" that I own.   This was animated by Abe Levitow. Director Richard Williams graciously autographed it for me last time I saw him at the Disney Studio when he was there giving a lecture about animation.

 

Headless Productions

Headless Productions is a small independent animation studio founded by Adrian Garcia, Alfredo Torres and Victor Maldonado,  based in Barcelona.

Show reel:




A teaser for their latest project "I'm A Monster"

This is a piece developed to give an idea of the mood and look of the film and the characters.

Mark Kausler's "It's The Cat" and "There Must Be Some Other Cat"

Recently when I attended the CTN Expo in Burbank I was really happy to run into my friend Mark Kausler who was selling original hand-inked cels from his brilliant film "It's the Cat" .  

I had sworn off collecting any more animation artwork , but seeing Mark run his wonderful film "It's the Cat" there at his table (on a portable DVD player)  and with those gorgeous hand-inked cels right there on the table I was overwhelmed and just had to have one.

This frame (from the title sequence) is the cel I purchased:

 (this photo doesn't do it justice ... )

The film "It's the Cat" is not currently available for purchase online,  but if you purchase an original cel   they will  include a bonus DVD of the film.

One of these handsome cels would make a great Christmas gift for any cartoon fan.  And these are likely the last of their kind since hardly anyone does hand-inked cels anymore .   AND purchasing one of these unique , one-of-a-kind pieces of animation art will help fund the completion of Mark's second cat film  , "There Must be Another Cat"  , which is finished through rough animation, but still needs to have the inking, painting , and photography finished.    Mark's producer,  Greg Ford, is chipping away at the task little by little ,  but by purchasing a cel you'll have a hand in making sure that "There Must Be Another Cat"  is completed sooner .

http://itsthecat.com/Gallery-FilmArt.htm

(and then we'll have more cels to collect in addition to another great cartoon to watch !  Yay !  See how this works ? )

I was really happy that Mark gave me a sneak preview of "There Must Be Another Cat"  at the CTN Expo .  He had the pencil test on a DVD and was very kind to let me see the pencil test.   It's another great example of pure cartoon joy brought to life by a great animator.


What you may not know is that the pencil test from the original "It's the Cat" film is posted on Mark's website.

Check it out:

It's The Cat - Pencil Test 

Announcing: "Walk Cycle Depot" blog

With a deep bow of acknowledgment to Jamaal Bradley's wonderful Pencil Test Depot , I have started a sub-section of Academy of Art Animation Notes devoted to collecting various Walk Cycles,  called  "Walk Cycle Depot".

I'll be posting walk cycles animated by pros and by students.

Here's an example of what you'll find there:

Max walk cycle from Cat's Don't Dance:

(I'm trying to post all Walk Cycles as Quicktime movies so it's possible to step through them frame-by-frame.   The embedded Quicktimes tend to load and play better in the CHROME browser or  FIREFOX browser.   If the playback is too choppy download them to your computer to view directly in Quicktime Player for better playback quality)

I'll try to update it frequently.   Check out the Walk Cycle Depot.

"Jumping Through Hoops: The Animation Job Coach" by Tony White

At the recent CTN Expo in Burbank (great event , by the way) I was pleased to finally meet animator/author/teacher  Tony White face to face.

Among other interesting projects that Tony has in the works he has recently completed and released yet another book  titled "Jumping Through Hoops: The Animation Job Coach".

The book is a much needed guide for all those who want to get a first job in the animation industry.  It is also a valuable asset for all those who want to stay there once they have that all-important first job.     I read it cover-to- cover on my return flight home , and I highly recommend it to all students.    This is a very practical guide to preparing yourself for the modern animation industry and seeking a job once your animation training is completed.

(*Note: I will say that if I had a small quibble with the book it is to point out that the book needed more careful proofreading before publishing as there are a number of typographical errors,  but these in no way detract from the overall value of the wisdom contained in the covers of this book .  Just something that should be fixed in the second printing of the book.  Get the book. )

Inspiration: Toby Shelton's blog

I haven't really been keeping up with posting a lot of links this semester. Lots of good stuff out there on the web, but I've been preoccupied with other things. Sorry for the lull in posting.

Just in case you haven't discovered it for yourself yet I want to point everyone towards Toby Shelton's relatively new blog  "Stuff I Did (when I wasn't doing other Stuff)"

Check out the great examples of storyboards and model sheets on Shelton's blog:

(amazing selection of How To Train Your Dragon storyboards)

Drawing tips on things like hands (can never have enough of these reference sheets) -

Model sheets:

(click any image to enlarge)

The above images are just a small sampling to whet your appetite. Go check out Toby Shelton's blog . Add to your bookmarks. Check back often.

The Thief & the Cobler - Layout tests and Pencil tests

Rare behind-the-scenes look at raw pencil tests and camera layout tests.






Pencil tests of Zig-Zag (and early version of Zig-Zag pencil test at the end by Art Babbitt) --



Same set of scenes in finished form:

NOCTURNA [English] Part 1 of 8

Part 1 of 8 . See it while you can.

Sister blog - CHARACTER DESIGN NOTES

Another of our AAU Online instructors, the fabulous Jennifer Gwynne Oliver, has started up a blog for her Character Design & Drawing for Animation classes (ANM 364 and ANM 633).

Jennifer has already posted some great examples and will be updating it every few days, so bookmark it and check back often:

Academy of Art CHARACTER DESIGN NOTES blog

"The Monkey and the Elephant" by Boris Maras

The Monkey and the Elephant by Boris Maras, Sheridan College 2010.

He animated this in 2 months.




From Boris Maras's blog:

"Keeping my film rough was a big decision. Amanda and I were both considering cleaning up and colouring our films, but we would have had to rush the animation so much and we really wanted to learn as much as we could about animation. Keeping them this way, I think we learned a lot about our limits and we have a way better idea for how approach a short film now.
The idea for my film was pretty different up until February, the characters were pretty much the same but the situation they were in was different. It was risky because I had to throw away the animation I had already done and around 25-30 layouts, but I think I made the right decision for what I want to pursue.

I started animating around the middle of February and animated up until our deadline of April 19th. It was the craziest 2 months of my life but I'm really happy with the amount that I learned during the process of making my film and hope I can make another one soon."

"Slim Pickings, Fat Chances" by David de Rooij and Jelle Brunt

(cross-posting this from my other blog "Animation Grad Films" which showcases animated shorts made by students at various art schools around the world)

Slim Pickings Fat Chances is a student film by David de Rooij and Jelle Brunt from the Willem de Kooning Academy in the Netherlands.

Official film website: SlimPickings.nl
Filmmaker website: Jelle Brunt
Filmmaker website: David de Rooij

2010 Annecy shorts from the Gobelins School

http://www.gobelins.fr/galerie/animation/

Another great crop of student films from the Gobelins School in Paris , made for the 2010 Annecy Animation Festival . All are 1:00 minute or less . Shows that you can do a lot in one minute !

I love the fact that besides the solid animation and design work that these films put a great deal of emphasis on the cinematography . These films are built on a solid foundation of classical animation, but with a modern sensibility in terms of the camera work.

British Animated Ads of the 80's

YouTube has a number of animated commercials by Richard Williams, Oscar Grillo, Richard Purdum, Eric Goldberg, and other luminaries of the British animation scene.

Also check out Garret Gilchrist's The Thief Archive channel on YouTube for more British commercials from the 70's and 80's.

Klacto Animation (Oscar Grillo and Ted Rockley) "Sinatra 20 Golden Greats" advert -



Klacto Animation (Oscar Grillo and Ted Rockley) "Heinz Baked Beans Lighthouse" ad.
Designed and directed by Oscar Grillo, Animated by Eric Goldberg, Backgrounds by Neil Cambell Ross.



Pizazz Pictures (Eric Goldberg) "Rolos" animated by Eric Goldberg -



Richard Willliams Animation . "Jovan Sex Appeal" ad , animated by Richard Williams, BGs by Rebecca Mills.



Richard Williams Animation. "Listerine" ad , animated (I think) by Russell Hall -






Richard Williams Animation . "Limara Perfume" ad. Not sure who animated. Maybe Eric Goldberg? -



Passion Pictures . "Cadbury Creme Eggs" advert. Animated by Chuck Gammage. -




Richard Purdum Animation . "Tate Gallery Liverpool - Modern Art" . Animated by Richard Purdum -