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Previous News
NOVEMBER
2004
Thanksgiving
Edition - 11-25-04
* Oooookay ..... back online. Been
having ocassional glitches with my ISP service. NO, not
hi-speed broadband but good ol' cheap dial-up
connection! The $savings$ using
dial-up helps pay for the frigg'n overpriced gas
prices we have to pay in California ....that
sucks. Also, I ain't got time to sit on
my butt being mesmarized at computer screen using faster
net connection.
* Buzz is, that Sam Raimi now
better known for his directorial efforts in the
"Spiderman" movie franchise .... is
considering doing an "Evil Dead" sequel
.... Evil Dead Makes a Comeback Evil Dead Will Rise Again. So far, there have been three
..... the original 16mm Evil Dead, then the sort-of mainstream Evil Dead 2 (re-interpretation of 1st one, not
really a remake), then the last one Evil Dead: Army of Darkness. There is no continuity with the Evil
Deads due to slight variations of the stories in
each film and especially with regards to the
Linda character. They were all played by
different actresses in each of the films! Only Bruce
Campbell who played Ash,
remained the same. Sam Raimi has perhaps achieved
some clout now and the Studios may be licking his feet
.... the suits following a potential
$cash cow$. Whereas in the past, Evil Dead
achieved status as cult movie with a niche fan base, the
mainstream mostly ignored these kind of genre films.
Ironic ..... major mainstream now doing highly
budgeted B-Movies. IMO, problem is ..... those
overpriced genre mainstream flicks lose that nitty gritty
low-cost B-Movie ambiance which is a more intimate
experience because it feels more personal and hands-on
crafted. That is the great appeal of B-Movies.
Look at Tim Burton's Mars Attacks I think totally wrong to use CGI
special effects especially for the Martian characters and
also using big name pricey actors. They wanted Mars
Attacks to have a B-movie quality but I think,
failed. To me, 100% contrary to the B-Movie philosophy
and you lose that, once you start pouring multi-million
dollars into the movie. The excess cash and movie making
bureaucracy in big productions .....kind-of replacing the
creativity, resourcfulnesss, and ingenuity aspects .....
and the film becomes too large and you feel a sanitized
slickness or homogenity quality to them (dull &
uninteresting). One possible exception recently, is maybe
Hellboy .... computer effects heavy and maybe
somewhat slick looking but still retained some of the
B-Movie ambiance. The original, The Terminator has that same quality too .... low
budget gritty feel but kick-ass story! So... I am not so
sure about the Evil Dead new sequel. All
the previous ED's used the more traditional special
effects methods ..... miniatures, real practical
props-effects, stop motion , animatronics, make-up
prosthetics, basic compositing/overlaying techniques,
etc. . So, if the Evil Dead new sequel
goes mostly CGI heavy with the special effects, IMO, it
may lose that special quality
of the original EDs. Bruce Campbell's
acting career was launched by the first Evil Dead
and has been successfully marketing himself as a Top
Grade B-Movie Actor! He has a website www.brucecampbell.com, I think, I might email/contact
Bruce and give him feedback about the possible Evil
Dead sequel. It looks like he is being quiet
about the sequel because his website still has
old news that ED 4 will not be remade.
____________________
11-18-04
* This is only indirectly Stop Motion
related. I have to brag a little here. I
am pretty certain that we on the Stop Motion
Works staff (my sources) were one of the first
to announce that Eric Leighton would be the
Animation Director on Peter Jackson's CGI "King
Kong" remake. This was back in June
'04 that Stop Motion Works reported it. For months
thereafter, no one else mentioned it or they
ignored this. Back then, I did periodic online
searches about Eric & Kong and no hits or news about
it. Just now, I did a search again and Cinefex / Upcoming page, finally has reported this. Here
is the Google Search results and look who is there with
the news near top of page? Of course, I am nobody
compared to the huge entertainment media/news power
players. Eric started his animation career as a Stop
Motion Clay Animator on the Gumby TV show, then did Stop Mo commercial gigs
for Henry Selick, then was animator & animation
supervisor on Nightmare and then later, one of his biggest gigs was
as co-director on Disney's computer
animated Dinosaur. After that project, Eric seemed to have
disappeared for about 4 years and now has resurfaced and
it looks like that he is presently a new resident in New
Zealand.
* Just got this in from my sources
..... Seth Green working on a Stop Motion TV series For months no title for the show.
Rumor has it that the animation series will be called Robot
Chicken. I have no idea why
this name might be used. I hear series is going to be
animated short segments of comedic, parody/satire skits
using many modified toy figures, props, items, etc., that
will be Stop Motion animated.
* More news about Rudolph the
Rednose Reindeer (see news below) .... I also
just got word that the Chiodo Brothers are possibly doing the celebrity
stop motion puppet animation for CBS'
bumper-promo spots for the Rudolph broadcast.
____________________
11-15-04
* "Polar Express",
quoted as costing about $200 million or higher to
produce. I thought computers
were suppose to eventually lower the price of
movie making? I guess, not in Tinsel Town.
Where did the money go .... to Tom Hanks' bank account? I
have not seen PE yet. Maybe when released on Dvd. Problem
with mainstream studios/biz .... their misguided
obsession in striving for the "holy grail" of
Hyper-Reality. Even when CGI used as Special Effects ....
audiences knows it's "computer
effects". One of principles of "animation"
.... is to simplify, capture, distill the
"essence" .... in a form other than reality
.... to suspend or transcend the real world to
communicate your message, story, etc.. The Less
is More principle. IMO, from the trailers I have
seen, I do not consider PE as "animation". See
my rant about that here (at SMA.com). If you are going to portray
humans as real, maybe
just use the real thing? The general
public, deep within their core-soul inner being, always
want to relate, react and emote to real actor's
performances. PE reviews were mixed .... here
are some examples: Fancy Express to Nowhere 'Polar Express' a Creepy Ride Dysfunctional Family of 5 Review:
Polar Express
Addendum: I am not criticizing PE and
I will definitely see it. Whatever works in
the entertainment arena. I suppose, my real
complaint is .... Motion Capture
(recording & copying live action motion), especially
to the extent used in PE, being presented as Animation.
Actually, it might be more closer to perhaps, Digital
Prosthetic Make-up Performance Special Effects??
* In the USA, on the CBS network,
they will be airing the classic "Rudolph the
Red Nose Reindeer" on December 1st. I heard
it has been digitally fixed-up so it will look better.
Also, prior to Rudolph airing, CBS says they will use caricatures
of celebrities, to look like the Rankin/Bass puppets,
which will do the promos-bumpers for the Rudolph
broadcast. I wonder if these celebrity puppet promos will
use Real Stop Motion or if they are
going to fake it with CGI?
Rudolph Dec 1 on CBS
* Hey .... what's up Susannah
Shaw? You are almost giving away
your book for free at the AWN
website?? She has contributed another article to AWN based on her book. It is affordable even for the most
financially challenged and everyone should buy
it for their reference library as a primer
general overview about Stop Motion production. Susannah, no
more articles. Okay? 
____________________
11-10-04
* "The PJ's",
a Stop Motion puppet TV series that had a few seasons run
a number of years ago. Done in Portland, Oregon by the old
Vinton Studios. I moved there for a little while
to work on that show & Link 2 Anyways, after it was cancelled it has
ocasssionaly aired on TV at odd hours or on cable, and
sometimes in other countries outside USA. As far as I
know, The PJ's has never been
officially released by the studios, on VHS or DVD to the
public. Here is someone at eBay (from
England) selling four, 11 DVD
Sets of the first few season's of The PJ's: Over 30 shows. Somewhat unusual that the shows
are available as a block group and in sequence. Seller
possibly recorded shows on video tape and then burned
them to Dvd's. I suppose you can email him to find out.
One should always check eBay customer feedback and that
might help in judging the seller. Of course, this eBay ad
is written in a very hyped-up manner .... typical of
people selling their wares at eBay. From the date of this
post, there are about 7 days left. If by chance anyone
buys it, let me know your opinion about it or post it at SMA.board
* Anyone remember the Ewoks
Adventures?? A couple of made for TV movies
based on Star Wars & these furry
characters.Originally shown back in the mid 1980's. These
previously were released on VHS videos but now it looks
like you can only purchase them as used. For your
information ..... these Ewok movies will be
released for the very first time on one DVD, November 23.
If you choose to purchase it you can bookmark
the following link or preorder now Ewoks: Caravan of Courage / Battle
for Endor. You
will have to judge yourself the quality of the shows ....
very family-type entertainment. To me, this Star Wars
spin-off brings back nostalgic memories of that
phenomenon & excitement and of special effects being
more of a unique event. If you did not know ..... these
Ewok movies have some classic Harryhausen-type
Stop Motion done by Phil Tippett, Randy Dutra, Tom St.
Amand and I think Jon Berg.
____________________
11-05-04
* Sheeeesh ..... seems kind of slow
and I do not have much to report. Maybe it is post
election blues, however, I am not disappointed
at the election results. Maybe in the USA, we are all
kind relieved all this political onslaught in the media
has quieted down. Well .... here is something non-stop
motion. Take a look at the Elephant Man in 3D Caution .... if you are squeamish
at looking at physical deformities, do not go there.
* I did get an update from a small
studio in Australia called The People's Republic of Animation (it is a Flash enabled website) A
unique name indeed that can catch your attention.
____________________
11-01-04
* If you scroll to the bottom of this
page, you will see two new banners. StopMoShorts.com as mentioned in our earlier news,
is a venue-showcase for Stop Motion
aficianados/practioners to display their animations. You
sign-up as a member, then you will be given a very
general theme / guidelines for your short. You do not
have to do a complex animation but the website
serves as 'motivation' for you to complete an animation
within a certain period of time and the focus is on
'creativity' .... excellent way to discipline
yourself and good practice. Many times, animators
procrastinate because their animation projects are too
ambitious. The other new link is Fields of Knowledge an informational resource for
students, librarians and teachers. Professors and
scholars make selections of who are to be included. Stop
Motion Works has been cited & given an 'Award of
Excellence'
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