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Previous / Archived News
 07.28.07
* Short Takes: Stop Mo selling Xbox,
Domo on
Nicktoons, Rick & Steve .... Somewhat
ironic, Xbox has a commercial ad
using Clay Animation methods. I assume
you already know that Xbox is all
video gaming using pure CGI 'puter
animation, Moo Studios Makes Magic for Xbox & Behind the Scenes ..... Some Japanese character Domo-kun (never heard of it before), kind of like a SpongeBob (cult-like popularity), will be making some
minor splash on Nicktoons Network as a
Stop Motion character. Read Hello Kitschy, Link 2 & Domo Website. Kind of weird and cannot figure out the
appeal of Domo ..... Finally, I did not know
there was a Gay & Lesbian Network
called Logo. A Stop Motion comedic shorts, Rick & Steve using hyper simple
Lego-like puppet characters, has been airing. If
you watch some to the R&S animation, it's mostly talking heads (dialog
intensive), and not that humorous to me.
* Controlling your Product
....
I know many of you are probably on an intoxicated
high, engorging your brains especially from The
Internet. In moderation, that may be
good, however, IMO, there is also a negative darker side to it. I am not a
Bible thumper, but amazingly,
there is a prophetic reference to this info
excess phenomenon. This seems to be the
high tech obsessed culture today; give
it to me NOW & free (the
internet), and then gulp it down and
it's spit out just as fast. The public hyper-quickly
gets jaded, disinterested, and
impatient; not willing to slow down
and savor. IMO, the masses
are being conditioned to ADD-like behaviours (not necessarily neurological
causes).
Previously, SMW news posted about Nick
Hilligoss going Viral with his animated short, L’Animateur.
I recently find out that originally, L’Animateur
was only posted at StopMoShorts, then, the anonymous
online Cyber Thieves quickly spread
it all over the internet.You might think that this is favorable
publicity but that could lead to
overexposure and/or devaluing
your product very rapidly, making it
difficult to monetize it. Did Nick make any money from L'
Animateur or get any offers to hire him? I am
guessing, possibly not. Someone was
trying to persuade Justin Rasche to reveal his
current inprogress Stop Motion project (or the
finished scenes). Remember Mike Bates? I
thought he vanished but is alive & well.
He just recently contacted me and says he has his new website kind of starting up. He will continue with
his Stop Motion projects, however, he stated to me, he does
not want to reveal so many spoilers.
As an Artist-Creator, if you heavily
invested your own funds, sweat &
time into your animated product,
perhaps, initially only
reveal teasers or trailers to
keep the audience in suspense
& wanting more. Do not
expose too many spoilers. That may be my
strategy. Sometimes I have said to myself, "Don't
blow your WAD too quickly". Read the topic
at SMA.com message board, where myself, Nick and few others
make some comments with regards to piracy.
Marketing is a vast subject and
can be brain frying. It is not a science, and probably
more of an Art, involving some guessing,
timing, maybe some luck,, etc..
Addendum: Of course, the Internet is
a humongous voracious beast. One must get
noticed. As part of a marketing campaign
or for displaying portfolio samples, you
want to show some
of your completed works. You will be abandoned
& rejected by the public if
you attempt to keep all your work secretive. The internet
is brutal and you got to play
some of their game.
The point of above commentary-observation, is to exercise
control on some of your
work, use strategies to
grab attention, and have 'them' coming
back. Updated: 07.29.07
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07.21.07
* Claymation Studio .... I have been hearing some minor buzz
about this. It looks like an introductory,
beginning-type Stop Motion frame capture program
(for PC/Windows) to be produced by a company Honest Technology that primarily offers a variety of other
software (that is not animation related). Usually, Stop
Motion  software is
created by individual program authors
who have a personal interest in the animation
art and they sell their Stop
Mo programs through their own websites.
Honest Technoglogy looks like a larger company
with some $capital$ behind it, they have
a staff with various departments and also using their marketing
savvy and distributing the software through many
outlets (also Amazon), including an
educational products distributor. Claymation Studio is supposed to be released
around end of July. It has slick
packaging and offered as CD software product.
I assume, that you will be able to download trial version
for testing. It does not
have a lot of features as many of the existing programs & seems to offer only onionskinning
(no frame toggling?) to guage the animation movements.
Seems to be created for the general consumers/public,
with just the basic features (for 1st timer newbies).
Read this press release last month.This is the specialty educational products distributor that will also offer the Honest
Tech product to schools.
Just some free speech cogitating here: This is already known by some
insiders in the Stop Mo biz. The specific word 'Claymation' was trademarked
almost 30 years ago by the formerly known, Will
Vinton Studio (now Laika). The description, 'Clay
Animation' is the generic term that should be
used, however, much of the media/news
mistakenly use the trademark name. I just found out,
about Genericized Trademarks. I wonder if this can be a loophole
in some cases, for others to use
trademarked names without permission?
Edit: 07.22.07
* Kiwi Stop
Motionist gets noticed .... From New Zealand, an
artist-animator-director named Tom Reilly
won some awards in the past. Apparently, still
getting some publicity mileage from work he did around 2003.
The specific Stop Motion short (about 3 minutes) is
Man
with Issues.
A quick soundbyte video clip with Tom,
around June '07, Young Kiwi Animator goes off to
Cannes. So,
4 years later after he
made the original short, he can enter it at Cannes!? Reilly has a
website, Suspended Animation and you can see his other animated
works. I do not know about the quality of his other Stop
Motion. To me, the Man with Issues looks like,
the more interesting one.
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07.14.07
* Bad toys, bad toys, watcha gonna do
when they break on you .... Witness
disturbing arrests of G.I. Joe, Barbie, Gumby, and Santa
Claus. Other suspects include Teletubbies,  Mr. Potato Head, Paddington Bear,
Energizer Bunny, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, M&Ms,
Wallace & Grommit, Mr. Peanut, Budweiser Frogs, a
Hollywood Raisin, Furby, and the Pillsbury Doughboy. I
believe, Corky Quakenbush (aka SpaceBass Films) directed some of them. These appeared in
the early days of Mad
TV. Parodies for adult
minded audiences. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
Maybe that's what Stop Motion Needs? Instead of the muted
silent lurking lifestyle we immerse ourselves in? We need
to live on the edge, abuse substances, cheat,
philander, rob, steal, etc. That's how it works in
media .... "If it bleeds, it leads?".
Good marketing for us 
* Miscellaneous:
Uncle Ray schedule, LIO & Stikfas, International Stop
Mo Studios
.... Ray Harryhausen will be making his
presence at the 2007 Comic-Con and the schedule at his official site.
I have the honor of being Stikfa-tized
as one of the judges in the
premiere Stikfas Animation Contest. It is the first one, let's see
how it goes. Give it time, things evolve, improve as one
learns. Before they contacted me, my plan was also to use
Stikfas for my practice animations,
to re-oil my rusty Stop Motion
gears.
I rambled in past that in this country we seem to be USA
ego centric, everything supposedly revolves
around us? We are big, fat, and wasteful
too. Not very good role model or  example. Ahhhh yes, but I guess,
the world is mesmorized
by the glamorous cine-products,
mainstream Hollywood pumps out.
I serendipitously found a couple of animation
studios but not in USA. In the
past, you may have misunderstood my position on Clay
Animation. I DO NOT
criticize the method. My only beef
is, that the general audiences often mislabel all
Stop Motion as Clay. With that said, I respect
CLAY as a very unique sub-category of
Stop Motion Animation. It can still grab you. Marc Spess mentioned this studio about a year ago, which is in Spain, Potens Plastianimation and carrying on the Clay
Animation style with very high
production values. Then I found this other
studio, StopTrick, located in Germany, also pushing
the Clay Animation Arts. Both sites unfortunately
Flash,
but you need to browse their links &
appreciate. Clay Animation
is still most viable & alternative animation
medium. So all you Suits, start
thinking out of the box:
'Man does not live by CGI alone' Edit: 07.15.07
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07.07.07
* Kerwin
Mathews gone at 81, July 5 '07 .... A character actor
from the ol' school days of Hollywood
with good looks, but to many of Ray Harryhausen's
following & some of the general film
audiences, Kerwin Mathews
mostly known as the swashbuckling, Captain Sinbad
in the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958). The announcement of
his death is kind of unusal to me; mysterious,
sketchy and no details and almost zero
online info about this. I remember Kerwin was
supposedly living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About 19 or so years ago, I recall Mathews
name was listed in the telephone directory and I
think he lived maybe near the Noe Valley or Castro
district, in San Francisco. I cannot
remember, if he managed an antique store or some kind of
small retail operation. No obituary
posting here in SF. His death not listed at IMDb.
However, some vague postings Link 1 , Link 2 and Link 3. At this thread, someone 'claims' that he
personally knew Kerwin. If so, why not give more
details, instead, we get a veil of
secrecy or maybe he is not savvy
on how to effectively report & announce.
One rule with the Cyber Virtual
Internet, just because it is online & in
print, do not believe
everything you see, hear, or read. Use your
commonsense, instincts, and investigative skills to
corroborate and check. If indeed, Kerwin has
gone to his maker, somewhat sad, his passing
in such an obscure manner and not
noticed by most of his peers in the biz.
Or perhaps, it was Kerwin's choice to completely
withdraw from the public spotlight all
these many years? Barely
a whimper of a response at SMA forum. Some Links: 1 - 2 - Sinbad vs Skeleton Edit: 07.08.07
* Dr. Ethan 'Frankenstein' Marak,
slowly breathing life into 'Brawl Magnet' .... Ethan, part of the Underground
Stop Mo Clique
/ Rat-Pack in Tinsel Town, has for
years perservered on a personal Stop Mo project. His
patience is astounding. In spite of his many relocations
(moving around), and other interruptions, he still has
stuck with it. He even put up with me.
It took me a little while to get his Brawl stop
motion armature completed; delays due to my own
schedule and other matters. Here, in somewhat
chronological order from Ethan's, Angry Puppet
Films Blog, are some links about the ongoing
creation of Brawl Magnet:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Then, if you have not already seen this,
check out the teaser taste
* Miscellaneous:
Studio Reel with good shots of Stop Mo rigs and 'Life's a
Zoo' ....
At YouTube there is a Demo clip
from a studio (I think). About 1 minute into the
clip, it is all Stop Motion. What is cool,
you first see the shot, with all the puppet
support rigs & wires, then immediately
after, all are erased. Incredible,
the power of digital tools &
techniques when used in combination
with Traditional
methods, giving Stop Motion New
Life & much more creative
freedom for the Stop Motionist Take a look
Is there no stopping Cuppa Coffee in Canada? What the hell
is their secret in getting that quantity of Stop Mo
work?? I am always hearing about their Stop Motion
projects, commercials, TV series, and upcoming projects.
Another one, called Life's a Zoo
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