 |
Previous News
07.29.06
* Same as
last week .... pretty dead quiet .... No buzz, news, and no
feedback from you. Since no one else is posting too much
at forum, and the other Stop Mo blogs
pretty much silent, why should I say anything? Maybe
all the mass media onslaught of news
sound-byte pollution upon our senses,
is getting to you? I am not a
robot, but a human and
maybe I will also just chill out and leave
you all on your own  .You
may have lucked out this time, as I may
have something to say (see below) , but next time,
I may just drop out like everyone else
that is taking a vacation. How do you
know if Stop Motion will be around next
week, next month, or
next year? Live today
like it is your last day. Do
not B.S. or
procrastinate. Too profound & heavy stuff
for you? 
* HOT OFF THE
PRESS: The Art of Stop Motion Animation .... I just received it. It was
authored by Ken A. Preibe. I was asked
by Ken to be the technical reveiwer of
his book and I was most flattered and
appreciated the opportunity to assist. I did review
the entire book in the initial manuscript stages as Ken
was writing it and so, I already knew the contents. I
tell you though, after seeing the finished book
and its high quality very impressive design &
layout, it was like a new book
and felt like I never read it before! Thomson
publisher was behind this book project and they
did a most professional and slick job.
Because any hard copy Stop Motion book
is rare compared to the plethora
of computer CGI animation books, I urge
you to get Ken's book and
include it in your library. No
single book can cover every
aspect of this animation art/craft, however, it
gives a good general overview about Stop Motion,
history, interviews, the different ways of
filming/capturing, basic puppet-making, resources, etc..
You can sense Ken's teaching experience
and he effectively communicates
so that almost anyone can easily understand.
It is an excellent introductory material
for any school or university having an animation
program and perhaps desiring to include
Stop Motion in their curriculum.
It gives you the straight-up info about
the Stop Motion field covering some
areas we sometimes discuss at the message board.
Ken put a lot of blood, sweat &
tears into this and also hustling to meet
the publishing deadline schedules. I do not know how the
hell he did it! The book does include a CD
showing some clips of the basic
beginning animation exercises, that Ken
describes in book. I am sure, if Ken had more time,
he would would have included much more. As I already
said, Ken's book is a must for your reference
library, including Susannah's book , and Aardman's. I suggest you first focus
on the animation, storytelling, characters and
how to work the software, camera, lighting. Walk
before you run. Do not get
caught-up with the Armatures yet. After
you get the fundamentals down, you might look at Tom Brierton's more advance & technical
books.
____________________
07.22.06
* Hmmm
.....You hear it too? Listen. Also nutritional  . Not much going on these past few
weeks with regards to Stop Motion gossip, news, etc.. One
exception, the Otafuku Rex music video generated some recent
excitement, last month. The message board, kind of so-so
with the basic newbie questions. Not too much deep
stuff and no flaming or funny
posts (like at Ain't It Cool News).
So polite and how boring  we are, in Stop
Motion? No drama, scandals,
divorces, no one having affairs or in drug rehab?
Most into Stop Motion maybe just closeted types?
I think that may contribute to Stop Motion's
chronic curse, since the beginning, of always
being the underdog / black sheep in the animation
family. Stop Motion 'fragility';
always has to struggle
in its attempts to stay in the public's &
'suit's' consciousness. IMO, Stop Motion
requires ever-constant vigilance and you cannot
be a slacker or just keep your mouth
shut and let the minority few bear
the load in lobbying for our animation
art/craft. Excuses you got? I know that most of you
check your email regularly, so how hard
is it to pay a quick visit to the Stop
Mo forum or Stop Mo blogs/sites
and contribute some small feedback-comments? Just a few
brief words to let us know you are lurking
out there. Oh, I just remembered .... finally
some excitement & drama? Jim
Danforth's original "Mighty Joe Young" stop
motion armature was STOLEN-ROBBED some
years ago and apparently, found recently and now
up for auction. Here is thread about it. Edit 07.23.06
* San Diego
Comic-Con .....I
hear it's going on this week? That event also seems kind of dead
this year regarding Stop Motion coverage or Stop
Mo related guests. Do you remember I tiraded a few times last year, that IMO..... bad-bad
marketing blunder, to have released "Corpse
Bride" and "Wallace &
Gromit's Were-Rabbit" in the Same
Year. Now you see why? We
may have  prematurely
shot off our Stop Motion Wad.
This year, we have
little or nothing that is major Stop
Motion. You know how the general public
is. One has to bombard them as they are all
amnesia afflicted & have ADD
(attention deficit disorder). What an opportunity to
press-the-flesh / promote at Comic-Con.
Where are the Stop Motion people who
could be promoting it there? Do I have to fricken
do it myself?  Perhaps Stop Motion Works and
StopMoShorts joint venture, with a
booth/table at Comic-Con? All manner of
armatures & puppets on displays, books, bumper
stickers, videos, framegrabber setup etc.. I am guessing
that might draw a crowd  just
merely because of the rarity of
Stop Motion in the public mind. P.S.
Comic-Con schedule very massive. I just looked again,
apparently Ray Harryhausen was scheduled and also Gumby-Premavision's Joe Clokey. How come Stop Motion Works did
not get advance press release?
All you Stop Motion people, "you" have to get
way better at
marketing-promoting  . Edit 07.23.06
* Kirk
Douglas Clones
.... Some months ago at the message board, this incredible little animated
piece was posted but no one responded. You all maybe just stoned knocked
out  at that time? IMO, great creative
work of caricatured Stop Mo puppets
representing the actor, Kirk Douglas.  The Big Story (Oscar nominated short) originally
done back in 1993. Okay .... follow my
instructions on how to watch this for
the best experience. Please, do not
deviate and thusly spoil my blog-presentation. The
creators of this short, apparently did a rough 2D
pencil animation of it and used it as a guide.
Take a look at it (flash movie format), The Big Story (pencil test). Now look at the finished product,
The Big Story. COOL ...huh?! No
way could this be pulled off with CGI or even 2D
animation. Those techniques would not be
as affective and not have the unique
aesthetics & style of Stop Motion. The pencil
test is an interesting method to block
out the stop motion animation but could be more
work for those of us that are not experienced
with 2D, nevertheless, I think it's, a slick trick-tool
to help achieve the finished Stop Mo product. For the Stop
Mo purists out there
.... I do not consider the pencil test
an "animation cheat". If necessary, as an
animation aid-tool-guide, I would also maybe consider
using rotoscoping methods. I say,
whatever works to acheive the finished product. Compared
to the CGI mouse clickers with ALL
their Xtreme bells
& whistles automation software/
tools; "we" in Stop
Mo have limited cheat-assistance options, so I
think, we are entitled to use some ol'
school tricks. That is what I LUV
about Stop Mo ....tactile, real
world, and creative sweat equity investment. We earned
it and a great feeling of pride  . Edit 07.23.06
____________________
07.15.06
* Animation:
Marketing, Selling, Distributing, etc. .... Last week I commented how business
practices are becoming more "Niche", this
results in the "profit pie"
being divided up into smaller segments/markets, and more
might have an opportunity to get a slice
of it. Sounds great but there is another
side, especially if you are thinking about going
the verrry independent
freelance route and not working
for the "studio suits", i.e, few
animation gigs in relation to those who want to work in
the biz (more supply than demand). The Internet
& Technology is said, to be an Equalizer with the big boys,
but the by product of this is,
humon gous loads of mediocre
crap (sorry to be blunt). People who
"think" they can make films, shorts or whatever
(the YouTuber types). However, there are those
few rare gems that do shine above the
rest. Stop Motion with its very
unique aesthetics/style, may have an inherited
advantage (over CGI, 2D, Flash), because it is
such an involved art/craft to produce,
there are much less people that do it.
You do however, now see a plethora of kid newbies
(mostly the "boys") doing the typical crude
clay animation with stylized gory
decapitations, blood spewing, ad nauseum. IMO,
the greatest difficulty with animated
shorts versus live action shorts,
is, if one strives for reasonably high production values
in their animation, particularly Stop Motion, this can
take much time to do for just 5
fricken minutes of animation! Unless of course, IF
you had a slick & efficient work flow method
to pump out the stuff,
that would seem to be the
way to quickly produce numerous
shorts in order to have some kind of
product that can be 'packaged'. Obviously,
to help market & sell it, the animation
product should be 'kick-ass' unique,
entertaining, interesting or original, above and
beyond all the common stuff. Personally, I
first look to Stop Motion,
as a love & passion for the art/craft, as a
creative-hobby outlet, and not
necessarily for the money. Although, if
I can find some formula or secret marketing
trick-niche thing to make some kind of side
income from Stop Motion, that would be just more
icing on the cake . Where am I going with this? I do
not know. This subject of "making money from
animation" is so overwhelming
and brain frying to me .
Well, animation is obviously part of the entertainment-arts
biz .... volatile, not always secure, etc.. As I
said, this subject can be too complex for my brain cells.
.
Here are some interesting reads for you .... Is My Animated Short Worth a Penny? - The market for indie animation DVD
sales? - The Great White Hope of Indy
Animators Part-1 Part-2 - Internet: Portal to Indie Film? - IndieFlix Newsletter - Build your own DVD. I am slightly aware of the podcasting video thing and also
the all-in-one multi-media cell phone craze, but I am not
sure yet, of its potential as an outlet for animated
products and especially, if one can get
some kind of monetary reimbursement for one's
creative works. If you have any ideas,
thoughts, comments on this subject, feel free to
contact me. Edit 07.15.06
____________________
07.08.06
* Niche,
Targeting, Niche, Targeting, ad infinitum .... Will
mainstream movie business ever get with it?? I have
ranted and rambled in the past about it. It's just becoming common business
marketing practice. FYI, Superman Returns
is reported to have cost over $200 million plus. Why
the f---k soooo much? 'Puter Special FX cheaper?
Just think, in a few months, you will have the Superman
flick in your hands on a DVD. No
lasting power of movies in theaters Can Superman Really Fly? How about, more uniq ue/niche movies and spend
less?! I ask again, will mainstream Hollywood
listen? Frick no. Okay then, they are
going to learn the hard
way. To suits, save
your money and focus on direct-to-DVD
with heavy internet marketing, word-of-mouth promoting.
One of my underground sources referred to me to a Wired
mag article about the music, tv and movie
industry. For the third time, I ask:
Will the 'suit' controlled, orthodox, L.A. Movie Industry "get
it"? It seems, many of these obscenely
costly, wannabie blockbusters
fail to make it and go to the
DVD bin pretty fast. This is a very good read;
the points are cogent and clearly defines the trends The Rise and Fall of the Hit Edit 07.08.06
* Creepy , Thurgood,
& Rankin Bass .... This is kind of
interesting and nightmarish, sort-of like Paul
Berry's 'The Sandman'. I do not want to
spoil it for you. Just watch it in late evening by
yourself, turn off all your room lights, and turn-up
speaker volume. If you stubbornly, do not follow
my viewing instructions, then it is your loss
for missing out on the best
experience . Watch The Cat With Hands. Some info about creator of it .... You want some fun now? Remember, The
PJs Stop Motion comedy TV series? I worked on that project
during first season back in '98-'99. I cannot figure out
why the series has not been released to DVD.
It seems stoopid of the 'suits'
for not distributing this; or maybe it
is stupid legal crap preventing this from being
available to public? If you newbies never seen
it, the only available micro-clips that I know of are on
YouTube. Only a couple are in English, and the rest are
just teasers in Spanish! Here are the The
PJs clips: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 .... You might get excited about this remake, The Year Without Santa Clause . I fooled you;
it's only a live action version for the NBC
TV network. I have nothing to
say about it (yawn).
____________________
07.01.06
* Animation
Study/Reference discovery .... Found this accidentally. A whole
library of short free preview clips.
Human movement reference is what is mostly addressed by
animation books, articles, tutorials, etc., however, for
myself and I am sure many other Harryhausenites into
creature, alien, fantasy characters ....
we probably want to study the animal, bird,
aquatic, insect kingdom. It looks  like this site might supply some
resource. I have an old tutorial about creating Muybridge-like motion reference using
two VCRs, Studying Motion. For myself, throughout the years
for my own motion study library, I have recorded many,
many hours of wildlife nature TV
shows/documentaries onto VHS. This is a much
more detailed resource, however, many of you may not have
access to my personal video library . At
this website you register for free to access
their complete motion library. At your
option, you can purchase the un-watermarked and higher
resolution versions, but in our case that may not be
necessary if you are viewing the clips only for animation
reference-study. You use their search feature, to locate
the movie clips. Explore & enjoy BBC Motion Gallery
* 'Flanimals'
Stop Motion series .... This is news from the UK. A Brit
comedian by th e name of Ricky Gervais is behind this and got the green light.
Maybe he is sort-of equivalent to our USA's Seth
Green of Robot Chicken? I never
heard of Flanimals before and apparently more known in Euro
countries. Looking at the pics of the characters, they
look pretty crazy. Some former Aardamn animators
will be doing the Stop Motion. Studio is
called Caramel Uncut in Bristol,
England, but I could not find their website yet, TV deal: Flanimals
* Fantasia .... A yearly shindig in Montreal, Canada ..... they call it North
Americas Premier Genre Film Festival. Unfortunately
I cannot make it and possibly many of you either, except
for those who live in Canada. There's a little bit of Stop Mo content, but the entire festival line-up
(non-stop motion) looks pretty interesting, displaying
works of independents in the genre
field. So, I post this here so you are aware,
this is a way to publicize your work, via film
festivals. Maybe no money, but some exposure
and you never know if your work will catch the attention
of some "suits" sitting in the
audience  .
____________________
|
|
