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Previous News
08.26.06
* ESPN Stop
Mo TV Ad by Laika .... NMBC Song Acoustical style ..... Amazing
what there is on YouTube. Pretty detail
clip of overview production description of a Stop Mo
commercial. The Making of Believe (YouTube). I recognize & know
a few people who are still hanging out there in the city
of Portland, from the Vinton Studio days
(now known as Laika). Also, watch-listen to this electric
guitar soft style interpretation of Sally's Song (YouTube)
* Nikon's
Coolpix S9 with Stop Motion .... Apparently, a new
feature included in this consumer level digital still cam
model. Now, do not expect to shoot your
elaborate & complex Stop Mo projects with this
camera. It looks like the added Stop Motion
feature is included  as something "fun"
for public to experiment with. I believe, it has previous
frame onionskin. After animating, you can select
up to 200 frames & set the playback framerate, then
final film automatically created in-camera
and I think it outputs as Quicktime.
Although, "we" as a
microscopic minority, live,
breathe, & eat Stop Motion, you have to remember,
to the worldwide masses, this animation
craft is obscure & maybe arcane
to them. So I think, it is unusual &
unique, that a mainstream camera
maker like Nikon is offering a true
single frame in-camera Stop Motion feature, in a
general consumer digital still camera.
Here is press release article and Nikon's Cooplix S9 more detailed description page.
* Foster
Farms Chickens & Matrix Ping Pong .... No CGI here ... As some of you may already
sense, sometimes there can be a sterility
or too much perfection with "CGI special
effects". IMO, this can also apply to stunt
work where CGI stunt doubles
being used. The feeling sometimes not real
or too im possible and you
sense the artificiality of it. Sure, movies
are all illusion, but maybe there can be too
much digital simulation/representation of
reality and when you cross over a
certain line or overdone, it is just not
as exciting & impressive anymore. Will the
"Tinsel Town Suits"
ever "get it"? In the big
evolutionary picture .... human species
still drawn to the Real.
Why do you think there are amusement parks
and costumed characters? Also Sesame
Street characters too. How
about museums, zoos, aquariums, etc.
where there is tactile interaction with the real.
Adults, kids will always desire
that visual viscerality, touch it, reality
factor. It is genetically in
all of us! An example, have you ever
seen the Foster Farms TV ads? They are real puppets. The impact, effect and humor would NOT
work if these chicken characters
were done as CGI. Another example, great
little clip from Japan .... Matrix Ping Pong (Google video)
It is done "live" on stage, old
school, low tech methods, precise
choreography and some aspects of puppetry
involved. It is interesting, fun and grabs you.
I am not sure, but I think this is an amatuer talent
contest-type show in Japan.You can imagine, this could
work if choreography more refined & staged, then shot
using green-screen, to remove the
puppeteers.
* Who Are
You? .... continuing series ..... I micro-blogged about this
last week. A deathly  silence out here,
except for John Harvatine IV, just letting me know, that he is out here
in the virtual cyber darkness and he does lurk
at Stop Motion Works  . Plenty
of pics of John at his website. I
already have seen some of you SMA.com members (pics or
inperson) ..... Nick Hilligoss, Dan Anderson, Jeremy
Spake, Mark Fullerton, Ted Sydor, Stanley Milton, Roger
Evans, Mark & Keith Brett, Ethan Marak, Jurgen Kling,
Susanna Jerger and a few others. You closeted
Hold-outs, you know who you are
 .
A few more pics from Sasquatch and also, showing him getting down
with the Blues.
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08.19.06
* 30,000
times, people watching guy setting his fart on fire .... That is not
my headliner but I am paraphrasing what someone wrote in
an article. The author commenting about the YouTube
phenomenon. In my own opinion, some good points
but lots of vagueness in what his  concluding views are. Although, I do
agree with him, that a bunch of mediocrity & junk will dominate
these YouTuber-type sites, however, I say (but author
does not), the minority few of creative
quality works on YouTube or its
clones, might grab
the audiences attention. As the saying goes, "The
cream rises to
the top". You may not
initially get money from these freebie "video
hosting sites", but it could be part of an
overall publicity campaign to get people to notice your
work, and that could lead to something
else, maybe. Also, this article mentions
Stop Motion. As I alluded to, kind of a so-so
and maybe disjointed but some interesting comments from
him .... Video Sharing, Amateur Art, and the
Fight for a Populist Internet
* Who are
you? I do not
get too much response here when I do a rant or let off
steam. Should I soften my style so that
I will not appear to be intimidating? Someone I know who
is not intimidated by me (it is all a
persona-image!), is a long time member at the message
board (about 5+ ye ars), Stan Milton,
who does not post a lot, but when he does, he comes up
with good points and observations. He is
known as Sasquatch and maybe just as aloof
& elusive as the creature legend!? 
Also, Stan looks like a tough hombre and could compete in "Quien
es mas Macho?" contests . Stan's
hangout is somewhere in the state of Colorado, USA. I
believe he has a regular straight job, but also, he is a creative
musician in a "mostly" Blues
band also performing some Oldies & Classic
Rock'n Roll. Of course, Stan has had a long time interest
in, and a practioner of the Stop Motion Arts.
Just got some teaser photos from him, of some of his past
Stop Mo puppets & sculpts. Hmmm .... I know what some of you
look like, but many seem
relunctant to show yourselves (photos)?
In the beginning, I can understand, but after some years
online, what do you think? Just hiding
behind these written text-words? Are you
running from the law or
from your "ex"?  The internet
is a visual medium too. Personally, I
would like to ocassionally see some "faces"
attached to these words. Serves
as a reminder of reality,
the "human touch" factor,
instead of this cold virtual cyberworld,
where we are constantly reading-talking inside
our brains  Edit 08.19.06
* Not ...
Stop Motion News .... If I start on these off
topic things, I would probably be
tirading so m uch, that extreme
rage would take over and I may transform
into The Hulk. So much stupid ass crap
going on in society & world. It is
getting insane and just worsening.
Now, we got this Airline stuff in the
news. IMO, how idiotically the bureacratic government
& airline industry have handle it in the past &
currently. In general, I do not even
want to think of the future. I do
not usually plan my "life",
more than 90 days ahead! Live in the
"now". Here is just a
micro-scopic example of the crap
that burns my foam rubber latex.
This is an online video clip from a recent ABC
NIghtline .... Your Tax Dollars paying for
repeatedly destroyed Vacation Homes You ANGRY? Contact your elected USA
"politicians" 
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08.12.06
* Wally World
in the movie business? It looks like they will be exclusive
distributors of some new
Stop M otion animation
for direct-to-DVD. It will be Holiday
season themes that may have some of the flavor
of the ol' classic Rankin Bass classics.
With Walmart being humongous, here and
worldwide, they maybe have the clout to
make this work. Perhaps, Holiday-type
Stop Motion geared towards family/kids, is not exactly
cutting edge use of our animation art-craft, but this is
what I  would call, very creative
niche targeting - marketing (Walmart's
involvement). Have I mentioned "niche" before?
(again & again) The lucky studio
that got in this gig and who will be doing the actual
Stop Motion is, Bix Pix Animation. I
posted about them back in April. Check this out Wal-Mart partners on Christmas DVD
* The Golden
age is over .... now there's
an excess of product ....Those are not my words
but that of another deep thinker &
observator (like myself ) out
there. We are talking about the mainstream movie business
being formulaic & homogenized, trying to appeal to LCD market. Here is quote from article, "Therein
lies the contradiction: in the right hands, animation is
the perfect vehicle for subversion, but in the economic
landscape of movie-making, the only way to make animation
profitable is to pitch it broad." Here
is full article, Who Flamed Roger Rabbit? I know in this excess media
onslaught upon our senses, the masses are ever more amnesia
prone. So with that said, I am re-posting a damn good
article about the decline of the Blockbuster, as applied
to the entertainment industry. If there are any
intelligent, forward thinking "Suits"
out there, print this article, study it, and take action,
The Rise and Fall of the Hit.
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08.05.06
* New
Stop Motion Blogger Sites .... A couple of Vinton Studio
veterans. First, we got Kevin McClean's
blog ..... Stop-Mo-Kev. He worked at Vinton when
it was at it's peak with lots  of Stop Mo TV ad work and all
Stop Mo TV series; The PJ's and
Gary & Mike both were in production
at about the same time. Kevin now works at DreamWorks.
That's okay Kevin, we forgive you .
Perhaps, you might be working on some personal
stop motion stuff or reveal behind the
scenes on pas t Stop Mo you worked on? Or
stories, tips, or advice? .... Then there is ol' timer,
Tony Merrithew another new blogger at TM.
He has been associated with Vinton for 20 years
and has lots of animation mileage frames under
his belt. Right now he is working for Laika
Studio (formerly Vinton) on the all Stop Mo "Coraline"
feature. The same applies to you Tony.
We hope you can share!! I suggest to readers
of Stop Motion Works, to bookmark their
websites .... encourage them, leave
comments, ask questions so that
they speak up. They might be Blog
shy, but make them feel welcomed.
* Stop Motion
Tools announcements ..... covering both extremes.
One is Free and the other one is a $
Big Investment $. If you  are a Mac person, you might
jump on this one. It is called Single Framer 2.1. It is free and bare
bones basic frame capturing program
for use with DV camcorders. It does time
lapse recording but it can also do single
frame capturing with onionskin
to see previous frame. I do not know if
it has back & forth frame toggling. There is no
online documention. I do not use Macs. If you
are a money poor Stop Mo newbie or hobbyist
and use Macs, give this program a test
run and feedback. Even if you
use another Mac based framegrabber, try this one
out. Unfortunately, there are so few
Mac animation capture programs and more
quality Mac Stop Motion programs are needed .... The other high end product
has been around for years, but this is a recent upgrade
improvement. It is the LunchBox DV. Pricey
but the thing is supposed to be built like a tank
and rugged. Primarily for use as a high
production-usage animation "aid-assist tool"
with your Movie Film Cameras or
nowadays, you can use Lunchbox DV as a "video
assist" with Digital Still Cams.
It has been used by a number of pro studios
that do some Stop Motion. I believe Robot Chicken
used some LunchBoxes as video
assists with their Digital SLR Still
Cams. Also, animation educational
facilites use the LunchBoxes. This
"hardware" animation equipment is
not a computer and it is not
software. There is no mouse clicking, no
computer screens. It is a standalone portable
unit you hook-up to regular TV set
or video monitor and a DV
camcorder. Price is not listed but just contact
them.
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