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Previous News
AUGUST
2003
08.28.03
* Mark your calendar next month
somewhere near September 14 or check you
local TV listing. Oh Davey ... History of the
'Davey and Goliath' Television Series, a one
hour documentary, will be broadcast on the ABC
Television Network in the USA. Here at the Davey and Goliath website, you will find more
details about the show and on the left page other links
.... the Lutheran Church are doing some lobbying to the faithful,
to bring back D&G.
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08.22.03
* On the SMA message board, topics sometimes resurface regarding how
hopeful we are that Stop Motion will live on in other
venues or niche markets. We have mentioned the plethora
of cable/satellite channels perhaps looking for
some type of animated products. Here is
a news item that could possibly be a showcase
for some Stop Motion. There is a new
cable channel called Spike TV which will be targeted towards the male testosteronized audience
and coincidentally, the underground cultish, Spike
& Mike Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation has
the same name. Well, check this out .... Spike TV
have signed a deal with Spike & Mike to
showcase their past animation shown during the festivals,
on TV as a series. This could
include new animation. On broadcast TV, it might
be better than internet/online which may have a more
limited audience and puny/miniscule screen size viewing
of movies, especially for many who do not have broadband
connection. You may not get rich showing your Stop Motion
on this TV series but could lead to other projects and
looks good on your portfolio/resume? Also, a means to
expose more Stop Motion to the general audiences. I do
not think Spike TV is looking for Cutesy
or Sesame St. type animation but something unique, raw or
cutting edge stuff for the Dude Demographics
market !
Added Note: There is
nothing wrong with the milder animation content
for younger audiences. I am just guessing that Spike
TV will be more into the harder stuff
* New site devoted to independent
animation as announced by AWN .... for details. Then here is the website AnimWatch. I quickly went there ..... all
CGI and I think Cel. If anyone has some good
Stop Motion short or something maybe you can submit it.
You have to contact them for details.
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08.18.03
* A few new frame capture programs
here. You Mac users are lucky as there
seems to be slightly more available in Stop Motion for
you guys (usually, PCs have more aftermarket programs).
This company, Loud Incorporated, amazingly is offering three
animation capture programs (only for Macs)... Stop Motion Studio at $45. and a free demo download
is available (I posted this one before). Also, they have
recently released Stop Motion Jr. at $35. (for the young/kids) and
you can tryout a demo. Then they have this other new one Loud Animation Studio and they do not list the price but
I think you can also download a tryout demo. These
programs seem to have lots of features but I am not
certain if they are comparable to Frame Thief
or BTV Pro. This other animation capture
program is being offered by Xow and according to their website,
they are educator specialists. Their
animation capture software is called Xipster (about $29.) and is for PCs
& Macs and the most unique thing I like is,
its especially user friendly designed for
beginners or younger crowd. I visited their
booth at Imagine Nation Expo. Also,
their website offers the most online information about
their product. As I find out more about Xipster,
I will keep you posted. If you tryout any of these
programs, feel free to email me about what you think of
them.
____________________
08.12.03
Imagine Nation
Expo, the aftermath.....
* Actually, I posted my comments
about it at the SMA Message Board as this event might deserve a
wider readership at the message boards. I took only a few
photos at the expo. I am dead -tired .... came back from
Vegas about 3 hours ago and I need to crash then go to my
other straight graveyard shift job. I only took very few
photos Imagine Nation '03
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08.06.03
* What the heck is taking so
long with the Wallace and Grommit movie? In past news posts here I
reported that supposedly that production was already in
progress but according to this news item it seems like it
is now just starting? I know quality Stop Motion
can take some time, but I am going to be an old
man and in retirement by the time this Aardman movie
comes out 
* Imagine Nation Expo is happening this week. Your roving
reporter spares no expense in digging up the nitty gritty
Stop Motion News. I will be there.
____________________
08.01.03
* The Will Vinton verses Phil Knight
drama continues. Here is the latest news about the
lawsuit Vinton filed against Knight, now owner of the
former Will Vinton Studios Nike Chief seeks Dismissal
* Today in the internet age, there is
a little more information (than in the past) about the
esoteric, ethereal, and arcane art & craft of Stop
Motion Animation, however, it is all somewhat disjointed,
disorganized and difficult for those just learning or
wanting to study or pursue it as an avocation. Stop
Motion is so much dependent on your actual artistic,
crafting and manual dexteritous abilities in which these
prerequisites, far exceed what is required for computer
animation or drawn 2D animation. This possibly, one of
many reasons why Stop Motion is not seen much in the
mainstream. Just to difficult to assemble a crew on short
notice for a stop motion production. The Studio
"Suits" today are just too impatient to pump
out the film product at hyper-speed levels. I get emails
all the time asking me what is required to get into stop
motion. Those very general email questions I sometimes
ignore because they are not specific and they have not
even attempted to look through my website (it is a small
site). If you do not even have the self-motivation
to take the time and do detailed research about Stop
Motion, then you are not really Stop Motion material.
Remember, not all information is free
and there are variety of related reference books
available. Click Library/Books. Some experienced Stop Motionists
are even starting to teach at trade schools, colleges or
offering workshops. This is something I have in mind to
maybe offer seminars about the nitty gritty How-to
technical aspects of Stop Motion.
* On the SMA Message Board we try to give verbal descriptions about
the How-to and that does help, but as the ol' saying
goes, pictures worth a thousand words.
There are photos on some general websites websites
primarily show moldmaking of a general nature, showing
only rubber/silicone molding methods and not specifically
related to Stop Motion puppet fabrication. As a teaser,
here are a few LIO Armature-Mold Prep
photos 1 - 2 - 3 showing a 4 legged armature being set-up in
an Ultra-cal/Hard Gypsum mold (not silicone). It is
amazing to me, on the entire internet, we still can not
find photos like this except for maybe one Stop Motion
"brother", down under in Australia, Nick
Hilligoss, who has been generous to document the
general Stop Motion puppet making process Nick H. Photo Album. I also had some photos on my site
for awhile showing Molding a Dino. Of course, you can purchase some
how-to videos related to special effects
prosthetics/animatronics moldmaking. Like I said, if you
are serious about all this, you should make a
monetary investment in your education &understanding
of Stop Motion. There is Kathi Zung's 101 Video, that deals specifically with Stop
Motion and one way to make molds and do the foam latex
rubber work.
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