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Previous News
06.24.06
* "Otafuku
Rex" music video premiere ..... You possibly saw it? One of the
more unique and attention
getting Stop Motion items this week. If you have
not seen it, Click here. I will wait for you. You like?
Very high production qualities and superbe
work by all who contributed to it, with Eric
Towner & David Candelaria
being the head creative minds and
motivators behind it. My understanding is, that this was
done with a minimal budget. If this were done in CGI
.... it would NOT have the same impact
& effect .... no way. This only
works using the unique aesthetics-style that only
Stop Motion can offer. You paying
attention, all you CGI addicted "suits" out
there? Here is a larger size clip of the music video. Also, check
out this Otafuku Rex, "Sightings". You will see some very
good & seamless motion tracking work, of the puppets
composited into live
action scenes. I played devil's advocate
at SMA.com message board and I conjectured
how they did it. Hopefully, the master
minds, Eric or David
will share with us, some how-it-was-done
revelations about the music video, at the SMA forum and/or perhaps post later at their Otafuku
Rex site (with behind the scenes). Although I am
not into, excess dizzying camera moves that one sees in
current movies, however, in
moderation, it is one of many, creative
cinematic tool options and it especially
does give Stop Motion work, a more contemporary
visual style. I can imagine Harryhausenesque
Stop Motion characters in some moving
motion tracked scenes  . Edit 06.24.06
* FPS
Magazine ....
The founding editor of this online animation
mag/news/reviews website is Emru To wnsend. They also
offer a more in depth monthly FPS magazine (PDF format) for only $1.50 each.
Emru and staff cover all areas of Animation
and not "just CGI". FPS
are very much aware of the importance of
Stop Motion being a viable and
marketable member the animation
family, and FPS gives it respect.
Check out all their links. They also have some audio
files online, podcasts, reviews, blog, etc. One audio
file is of Ray Harryhausen being intereviewed on a
Canadian radio station when he made a visit there to
receive an award. Bookmark FPS and support it
.... be informed about the general
animation scene & trends because Stop Motion
has to compete within that market and you better know
what is going on. Edit 06.25.06
* Cuppa
Coffee to Animate New E! Show ...The Canadian
based, very prolific animation studio always seems to be
working on projects and especially Stop Motion. Read here, their latest ventures and upcoming works
in preproduction.
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06.17.06
*
Harryhausen Comic Book Deal ..... Laika Studio to build
Campus/Studio .... Not much buzz out there this week and I am
also a little occupied. Uncle Ray is all over the map and this soundbyte says that he will be providing creative
input on some graphic novel stories! The
biggest story this week, I announced here. As usual, the non-responsive
lurkers at SMA message board just dead quiet about it. Phil
Knight's Laika Studio planning on constructing a
studio-campus. Here are the press releases 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6. None of them has made my
keen & sharp observations. They
completely overlooked it. The campus will include
STOP MOTION. Very rare indeed,
in the USA; a mainstream studio embracing Stop Mo.
That is it. Nothing much else for SMW to
say and no thumbnail pics or salacious
or juicy news for this weekend. Edit 06.17.06
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06.10.06
* Tony McVey
'de-lurked' .....
Well not forcefully by me but he voluntarily maybe coming
ou t of closet! I have known him for some years. As you may
already know, Tony is behind Menagerie Productions here in the SF Bay Area. At his
studio, the other large tabletop Enco Mill & Lathe that I use is located there and I
can make as much noise and no one will get their
underwears in a bunch  . Tony is a Brit but long time
USA resident here. As a young man in England, his talents
were used for Ray Harryhausen's, 'Sinbad
in the Eye of the Tiger'. You can take a glance
at his bio overview. Fast forward to about 1996. In
case you didn't know, Peter Jackson had
to scrap his initial first attempt at
the Universal/Miramax 1996 King Kong versi on. That project was dumped
by the "suits". Jackson then
started work on The LOTR trilogy. After
the '96 Kong fever cooled off, Tony at that time wanted
to create a stylized all Stop
Motion, proof of concept tests of an
interpretation of the Kong Log & Pit
scenes. All done for DVD release
format. IMO, a formidable task indeed
with minimal staff .... the Ann puppet,
all the Kong Crew puppets and assortme nt of Stop Mo Dinos & other
creatures and then all the miniature
sets and post production effects
& matte/compositing work. He always
worked part-time on it and ocassionally enlisted my help
in armaturing. Tony is also self-taught
armaturist but sees the superiority of my skills  . Well
before the later re-incarnation of Peter Jackson's
new 2005 Kong, Tony designed & sculpted his
own unique version of the giant ape, not at all
like a typical fat Silverback, but more slender
creature with characteristics
of being more human-like. Also included
here, are behind the scenes photos of a full
figured Ann atop an ancien t statue in the misty jungle. This
is a scene where Kong places Ann on the statue, just
before he undertakes his battle with a ferocious Rex-like
dino. This could be a long blog with me having to explain
everything about Tony's project, but for now just look at
the photos. Most are sel f explanatory and others could be
explained but maybe some other time (example, he is using
two IDshots & Lunchbox, not for 3D stereo, but for
another reason). So, you are briefly invited to the mysterious
inner sanctum of Menagerie Productions,
which I already have experienced for many years, but I
was sworn to secrecy. Who knows ..... perhaps Tony will
consider a blog-update page or
something, later on?  Click on the Thumbnail
pics.
* More animation variety? .... Someone sent me an interesting
article and it triggered some thoughts. My past CGI
related tirades is basically about other
animation styles & aesthetics being mostly
shut-out in mainstream move biz.
I am not a CGI hater and you better not
mislabel me as such. Tinsel Town for
plethoric years, practicing orthodox moviemaking & marketing, mostly
appealing to LCD audience demographics. The
biz, does not seem to think outside the box. The obvious trend
& business practice in other areas
of consumer products & entertainment
(especially music) is more  NICHE targeting, but Hollywood flckster makers,
do not see it yet? I suggest, make much smaller
budgeted films for a smaller segment of
the audience. Instead, "suits"
put all their eggs in one basket. In the past I have rambled about
all this and I repeat myself sometimes
because in the internet age, it's quick-fix
and you get hyper-amnesia.
I am not the only one that sees a
possible trend (ahead of time) but others in
media might finally be noticing
it too. Grab yourself some coffee and
sit down and read this and ponder, Pixar productions: Same old, same
old. I am only the
"messenger", so do not persecute me . We
LUV you John Lasseter. You are sort-of the boss
at the new Disney-Pixar?
Isn't it about good or interesting
stories & characters? How about getting the Disney
"suits" to financially fund
other kinds of animation projects? Hmmmm ....
maybe Stop Motion
or 2D animation? It does not
have to be "feature length" mega-mega million
dollar productions but maybe experimental shorts
for festivals, cable TV, direct
to DVD. You know, niche marketing?
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06.03.06
* Bloom Off
CGI ....
Scroll down the page at this link. In my past comments, I figured that may
eventually happen. Saturation and just the same ol' CGI
animation .... style, aesthetics .... all feeling sort-of
similar. Some media/entertainment pundits seeing it too.
* The Art
& Power of Editing .... I always learn from films,
not only enjoying the story or subject matter but
studying the techniques; cinematography,
pacing, and so many ways of moviemaking
to entertain, make a statement, educate, etc. .....a
powerful medium. The naysayers (mainstream biz, suits) of the
Creature / Realistic-Surreal Stop Motion, say
that it is an antiquated technique and not
as seamless as CGI, and that it is difficult
with Stop Mo to do interaction with live action
and that the audiences supposedly, will not
buy it. Well, I say to you .... that is a bunch of BULL
SHITe. You do not have to 'literally'
show every anal detail as CGI special effects attempts to
do. There are a plethoric-cornucopia of
different cinematic ways & styles in the Art-Craft
of visual storytelling. I have
said in past,'Less is More'. You can let
the audiences' 'mind' .... imagine it,
and it can still make a strong impact. Maybe
some of you missed this nice little clip. A good
lesson for 'you' ....
Neo vs Robocop, watch it >> QuickTime, WMV, Flash (turn up the speaker volume). The
characters were composited from
two completely different movies. (Spoiler:
Charles Bronson, ED209, & Yoda, also make
appearances) Through very creative editing &
compositing, fast pacing, good sound effects & score
edit/mix, and just a damn good little
quickie creative story, I am sure that you would
agree, that this little clip satisfies
the entertaininment needs of today's audiences. My
Point: You can do the same fricken thing
with Hyper-Harryhausen style Stop Motion
'combined' with Live Action. Ladies &
gentlemen of the jury ... I rest my case.
If you want more, read my past rant Stop Motion Creature Effects Edit 06.03.06
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