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07.25.09 * Tim Burton's 'Alice
in
Wonderland' (2010) ..... You likely know about the annual
big
'shindig' known as Comic-Con
that is happening right now in San Diego. A big convention orgy where
studio/suits also participate in. They time their genre
Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie teaser trailers for the Comic-Con, and
so,
Disney has rel eased teaser of
Tim Burton's
version of the 'Alice'
story. In all the previou
months of publicity about 'Alice', it was stated that this flick would
use a mixture of special
effects
methods, and supposedly, also include
Stop Motion. Personally, I always doubted that
Stop Motion
would be used in Burton's 'Alice'. Remember 'Mars Attacks'
(1996)?
Tim Burton was
going to use Stop Motion
but back then (1996)
the new upstart CGI
militia forces
cornered Tim and they heavily lobbied him
to use ALL CGI,
and Tim
'caved in'  .
For me,
that nailed the coffin shut on 'Mars Attacks'. In my view, specifically
for the Pulp/Campy style of 'Mars Attacks', CGI is antithetical
to the 'Retro' look. Stop
Motion would have been a much more applicable &
potent
special effects method
to create that B Movie
Flavor. So, for you 'Stop Moes', here is the bad news per an MTV online newsbyte about 'Alice'. Quote: "Burton said the movie combines several types of movie technology to arrive at its unique style, although very little stop-motion animation ended up being used". If I ever go see 'Alice', I am going to wait when it is on Dvd. Nowadays, I rarely see mainstream movie first run theatrical releases as I cannot see them all (too many & pricey tickets) but they go to Dvd release very fast. Here is the 'Alice in Wonderland' teaser, another CGI in your face 'high'. Depp/Burton Preview: 'Alice' at Comic-Con - Alice's Adventures in Mediocrity EDIT: 07.26.09 * 'Sinbad: The 5th Voyage' Stop Motion Buzz ..... Maybe there is some 'hope' here. An independent production company called Giant Flick Films who I never heard of before but they state that they have been around since 2003. This is Giant Flick Films Statement: "We provide high-end feature films, not of the same old mainstream commercial type films but of ideas and stories from around our wonderful  planet
and from artists that are fresh, with fresh ideas. Our core genres
include: Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Action-Adventure with a unique
independent spirit". I am guessing their goals
are to produce good entertainment genre films with good
stories and characters that are at higher level production values than
the
B-Movie gory blood & guts stuff. Well, there are some Rumors out
there that Giant
Flick Films are possibly considering for their in
pre-production
project, Sinbad:The
Fifth Voyage, the use of Stop Motion Special
Effects. In this era of CGI
over
saturation, this is rare
indeed, using Stop Motion
in the true tradition of Ray
Harryhausen-esque. This would be
the highest homage
& tribute to Uncle
Ray,
and I personally sense that he might appreciate
it more than the 'Gordon
E. Sawyer Oscar' he
received years ago (1992). Last year we attempted to
lobby the 'Suits' doing the 'Clash of
the Titans' Remake to possibly consider the use of
some advance Stop Motion, but we already knew that was a lost
cause. That remake appeal
was more about making a
statement and to
bring public awareness to counter
the mainstream media's (also from Studios) ignorant and uninformed
soundbytes-newsbytes about Stop
Motion being supposedly old
&
dated (NOT). As I stated, this is only 'Rumor' so far. You can sit on your butts OR do something. Here is Giant Flick Films Facebook page and their Website where you can find contact information and leave them comments or feedback. Let them know you want Modern - Advanced Stop Motion that is in the Spirit of the Classic Harryhausen works of the past. Tell them you are sick & tired of the CGI oversaturation & excess. If you (yes YOU reading this) have your own website or blog, then you MUST spread the word about this new in production Sinbad feature. If you do not, then you are a Stop Motion traitor  . You
can maybe
temporarily
run from the 'Gods'
1
& 2,
but you
cannot hide  .
So, get your
arsses moving! There is also a free Sinbad Newsletter
you can sign up for to receive updates. EDIT:
07.27.09____________________ 07.17.09 * 'Ghostbusters 3'
Buzz going
around ..... Looks like they are throwing out rumor to see
if it
maybe gets any interest.
Harold Ramis,
one of
the original writers and actors in original Ghostbusters (1984) did a
recent video
interview and conjectured about possible
new Ghostbusters. What was
interesting to
me with regards to special effe cts, Harold
said that
he would
prefer not
to completely rely
on Computer Effects. I infer from that, maybe using
some traditional effects
but obviously
should be more slicker than the effects in first
Ghostbusters. You know, maybe advanced animatronics, live
action
puppetry and stuff. Do not get your underwears or panties in a bunch,
he did not say anything about Stop Motion. If you are not familiar with
the first Ghostbusters, Randy
'Lord of the Rings' Cook oversaw the Stop Motion 'Terror Dog'
scenes. I am
not saying that you should lobby or contact (only if you want to  ) Harold Ramis
and encourage
him to
consider
Traditional Special effects enhanced with CGI Digital, or to use
Advance State of the Art Stop Motion . 'Ghostbusters'
game spurs remake buzz - Harold
Ramis talks Ghostbusters 3 Other optional stuff
indirectly
related Original
Terror Dog Molds Found - Auctioned
Terror
Dog Stop Mo Puppet - Who you
gonna call?
- Theme
music trivia facts and here
too EDIT:
07.18.09* Damn it! I do not want to do more 'Fantastic Mr. Fox': Clearer New Photos ..... Are these much better images possibly leaked by the Studio/Suits, this time?? What the hell is taking them so fugg'n LONG? Stop censoring publicity about it and get your 'studio butts' moving with the marketing/promotion  . ENGAGE with the
PUBLIC
& FANS. Two new, larger
photos and
they are more clear & detailed Photo
1 - Photo 2
- Photo 3* DRAGON STOP MOTION for Windows ..... Kind of known as the 'Porsche' of Stop Motion capture/recording software. Originally created for Macs, and now being offered for PCs. Some information I cannot reveal at this time but Dragon Stop Motion may have a possible endorsement by well known familiar name in the animation biz. The Dragon people when they are ready, might let you know when they are able to reveal it later. Messageboard discussion - Dragon Stop Motion website ____________________ 07.11.09
* 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'
Photo:
Stop Motion Puppets .....
I already did plenty of keyboarding
in the past about Wes Anderson's Hyper-SECRETIVE
Stop Motion 'Fox' feature' and I am plenty brain fried on it  .
Hmmm
.....
you would think with  a multi-multi
million dollar movie,
the public relations
people
would post much higher quality
images of the puppets, sets, miniatures, etc.. Instead, we
get a
low
resolution
small singular
picture.
Just being honest, maybe it's the
bad picture quality but I just do not know
what to
make of it. Maybe if we see some teaser
trailers with the puppets in
motion and 'in context' with dialog, soundtrack, music, editing, etc.
.... it will look better? Again, as I Yoda/Gandalf-ically
'Observated' many months
ago; obvious Studio/Suits suppression of
'news'
about W. Anderson's Stop Mo flick. The audience/people are
WAITING for some morsels
of behind the scenes, quality images, or teaser trailers. I suggest
that 'Fantastic
Mr. Fox' publicity department should
maybe
hire the 'Coraline'
marketing people?? Take a look here
- 1
- 2* Ethan Marak aka Angry Puppet Films ..... Through the grapevine  ,
I hear Ethan is apparently still 'alive
& well'. He is
one member of a clique, which I affectionately  call  'The
L.A.
Underground Stop Moes'. The members consist of an Elite Stop Motion crew
that inhabit
the area around 'Tinsel Town'. They are
sworn NOT to communicate at messageboards & blogs and
forbidden to mingle with the general public and thus, the
stealthy
behaviors of the underground Stop Moes projects an Aura of Mysteriousness
& Etherealism.
Yes indeed, I remember Ethan
years ago when he use to be somewhat 'normal'  before
he went over to the L.A.
Underground Dark Side  . Anyway,
check this out, a personal
Stop Motion creative piece for his
portfolio. It is not an actual commercial ad but created as spec
project
to further demonstrate his skills, not
only
as a hands-on Stop Mo animator but especially his directing skills.
Watch Guitar
Hero. Also, it looks like some of the 'L.A.
Underground Stop
Moes' are part of the talent pool that contribute to Buddy Systems
Studios
____________________  07.04.09  rased quote
from author
of article I just read and
perhaps he makes much better observations than I have tiraded
in the
past. This is not necessarily about the CGI technique itself, but maybe
the
oversaturation use of it, shutting out all other kinds of cinematic
visual imagery styles & aesthetics. I cannot argue
the power of CGI especially in creating cityscapes, architecture,
landscape, water/oceans, in additional to weather elements special
effects. The discussion here is in reference to
maybe realistic style
creature
'character animation' and certain kinds
of digitally synthesized special
effects. Actually,
this
might be somewhat related to last
month's SMW News,
about Mike Brent making some observations on Harryhausen style Stop
Motion. If
it is too slick
perfect which is usually
the signature of CGI, does
that take away from its believability? I
strongly think
that it does. The CGI brand has a certain homogenized quality
(signature) and
subconsciously, the general audiences, I believe can sense it. Have
modern visual effects robbed us of reality? EDIT:
07.05.09* Stop Motion Magazine coming out in August '09 ..... This has been brewing for some months now. John Ikuma, who is passionate about Stop Motion, has decided to volunteer  his
personal time as editor-in-chief to produce this
electronic form of magazine. It will be in PDF format. John says he
intends to offer it for free and looking for advertising and/or
donations. Sure, you may be excited and all that, but I know the cheap side of
lurkers & info
spongers on the internet  . Will
you
be just as excited if there were a
small subscription fee? John is intending this to be a bi-monthly
magazine. IMO, Stop
Motion is
extremely niche and
difficult to keep fresh with subjects. I know, I have been doing this
SMW News thing for about 10 years now. I sometimes use a little creativity and use Stop Motion to expand into other societal, political or worldly issues and
impart my cogent
observations  , like
in the next topic below
. Visit Stop
Motion Magazine website* Supplies, materials, cams, equipment & general living costs may Skyrocket ..... This is primarily for USA 'Stop Motionists' and of course any lurkers reading this. I am guessing you might have been distracted by Michael Jackson's death last week. Yes, he was a pop cultural musical icon but his personal life was kind of messed-up as with many celebrities in the fast lane of 'life', excess ego-centricity, narcissism, and glutonous self indulgence (like Elvis & other 'god-like stars'). While the M. Jackson stuff started last week, the Congressional USA House (Democrat majority rule), RUSH-voted last Friday, 6/26/09 (and it barely passed) for the most 
Draconian 1200 page, 'American
Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009' (Bill HR 2454 aka Cap
& Trade regulation). This sweeping iron fisted legislation will
eventually control
& diminish
your lifestyle level by increasing
costs of goods
& services, ALL of which are impacted by Energy price. This
President/Administration through the rule of congress, will mandate the
regulation
& control of
an
invisible vapor
called Carbon
Dioxide (CO2) which will eventually
be traded
like a stock
market commodity aka selling
of Cap &
Trade
'Carbon Dioxide' Permits. So, when these 'Cap &
Trade' permits are in SHORT
supply, that means energy
costs will eventually be hyper-volatile.
There is more: At the last minute, a 300 page amendment was
added to HR 2454 which will require ALL
States to be under the RULE
of Federal
Building
Codes. Yes, your HOME will be
subject to 'Energy'
Inspection & Audits by the FEDERALE 'GREEN' POLICE
before you
can sell it or if
you ..... Continue >>
EDIT:
07.05.09* JULY SMW Random Cinema©: > ROBOCOP
(1987) 20
year Aniversary (2007) Making
oF > The Gate (1987) The entire frigg'n movie online in 8 chapters? 
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