Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Animation Shows

In the past few days I've had the chance to check out some local animation screenings hosted by the NFB for World Animation Day. Last Thursday was Ron Diamond's Animation Show of Shows, a touring program affiliated with AWN. We were asked to send Ron our thoughts on some of the films, so these are the ones I felt were the most worthy to write home about.

John and Karen - Nothing short of brilliant! Character animation at its finest. I'm glad this film was included and it was a perfect way to open the show.

Madame Tutli-Putli - Astonishing and beautiful, and definitely raises stop-motion to a new level. This one has been talked about alot, and deservedly so. It's probably the most interesting stop-motion film to come out of Canada since The Sandcastle.


I Met the Walrus - I'm not usually too impressed by films in this medium, the sort-of abstract quality that looks like it's done in Flash or AfterEffects(?), but this one was an exception. A clever idea using innovative use of computer animation. But what's up with Canada being described as "Nothing"?


Ujbaz Izbeneki Has Lost His Soul
- Loved it! Great puppets & animation, brilliant sets. Had a great Twilight Zone quality to the writing.

Pearce Sisters - I saw this film for the first time at the Platform Festival. Enjoyed it even more this second time. Very innovative use of 2D/3D and finding a new way to use technology but still maintain a hand-crafted look, while at the same time, creating an atmosphere. You actually feel like you are on that rainy island! The story, although slightly macabre, is still charming in a strange way.


How to Hook Up your Home Theater - the highlight of the evening, and the main reason I made sure I attended the show. I love the classic Goofy shorts and it's great to see the studio bringing this tradition back. I only hope the film gets the wide release it deserves. Outside of being screened along with 'Enchanted' it should be made available to the public afterwards. The writing and cartoon exaggeration was superb, and perfectly captured the essence of what it's like to hook up a home theater. I kept saying to myself, 'Yes, that's exactly what it's like!' Wonderful wonderful wonderful.


Administrators - Amazing, especially for a student film. Was extremely entertaining and funny, while at the same time it had a good message.

I found something interesting and enjoyable about almost all of the other films, some more than others...there's always the strange art-speak droning abstract stuff you have to sit through at these things, and funny films with really bad drawings (And why is it that ALL French films have accordion music?) I suggest anyone who gets a chance to see this travelling show to check it out.

These days I'm fighting off my annual cold into submission by drinking lots of fluids and trying to stay happy so I'm not down for the count for trick-or-treats or the animation festival this weekend.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Future of Animation

Gotta start 'em younger these days.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Tonight we carved pumpkins and afterwards I watched my favorite TV special...I'd like to incorporate the two events into an annual tradition, once Ariel can sit still through both of them. She seemed a little freaked out by the actual pumpkins, and she didn't stay awake long enough for the animated ones.

Here's a visual tribute to some memorable images from this masterpiece which always takes me back to childhood and represents the season for me. The animation is great, even when it's sloppy. The dialogue is very surreal, and overall it's just really strange, but I love every frame of it. And the music is perfect too. One of my favorite things about this show is the watercolor backgrounds.











Here's the REAL Great Pumpkin!

Friday, October 19, 2007

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who voted for Ariel's Bon Jovi Dancing video, which won the Crave 95 radio contest! Visit Jay's blog for more details on all the loot she got.

Here's the winning video:


This still cracks me up each time I see it. She sure loves to dance! This one cracks me up too...in particular the little shuffle she does at about :11 seconds. I was showing it to my colleagues at work the other day as great animation reference.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Big Scary Pumpkins

Unfortunately I wasn't around for this, but I knew I had to document some of the activity from Jay & Ariel's day at the Pumpkin Patch. Looks like they sure had a good time! Wish I could have been there.

IMG_4851


Is it gonna eat me, Mommy?




These things look curiously like the Greedy from the Raggedy Ann & Andy Movie.



And here is the official website for the Pumpkin Patch! If you visit the site here, Corny Corn will actually talk to you. Before I saw the site itself, it was funnier when Jay imitated it.



Corny Corn also looks curiously like...



Holy crap, I hope Ariel isn't having nightmares right now about big scary pumpkins and corn with giant eyes that turn you to stone. I know I might. The only thing worse would be if they suddenly emerged from around the corner and didn't make any sound.



Is this cute, brilliant, or simply wrong? I can't decide.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Bunnies Invade New York!

Intrigued?

Then click here and see the 'Play Doh Bunny Ad' and also watch how they did it. It has to be seen to be believed.