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Here’s Wes Anderson’s acceptance speech at the National Board of Review on January 11, 2010. I found this highly entertaining. The same goes for the film itself. Loved it.
UPDATE: Someone had their cellphone ready and shot the speech as it played at the event:
One of the most impressive illustrators working in film production today is Rodolfo Damaggio.
Damaggio worked as a comic book artist for DC in the 1990’s before moving on to do concept art and storyboards for such summer blockbusters as MI3, Lemony Snicket’s SoUE, Hidalgo, Indiana Jones 4, and Fantastic Four “Rise of the Silver Surfer”, among many others. Pouring through Damaggio’s website will leave you feeling a little overwhelmed by his stunning sense of cinematic perspective – not to mention his rock-solid drawing and painting skills. This guy is good.
Yello! from Smashbox Studios had a chance to interview Where The Wild Things Are storyboard artist Federico D’Alessand. Read it here. Fascinating read, with images of a sequence storyboarded out.
I’m not sayin’ that Hollywood doesn’t know how to make good movie posters anymore (because they obviously still do), it’s just the the Ghanaians seem to have perfected the art. In the 80s, when VHS technology became affordable and bootlegs of lousy horror and action films were plentiful, the resourceful folks of Ghana would travel from town to village setting up “mobile cinemas” with nothing more than a TV, a VCR and these spectacular hand-painted posters.
“In order to promote these showings, artists were hired to paint large posters of the films (usually on used canvas flour sacks). The artists were given the artistic freedom to paint the posters as they desired – often adding elements that weren’t in the actual films, or without even having seen the movies. When the posters were finished they were rolled up and taken on the road (note the heavy damages). The “mobile cinema” began to decline in the mid-nineties due to greater availability of television and video; as a result the painted film posters were substituted for less interesting/artistic posters produced on photocopied paper.”
If a trip to Ghana is not in your itinerary, then please wander over to Ephemera Assemblyman or the Affiche Poster Museumto gaze upon more of their glorious godawful goodness. And if you’d like to actually display one of these works of cinematic art in your own home or hovel, then why not stock up over at Ghana Movie Posters? Christmas is just around the corner and you know how much grandma loves her Tiger Cage 2!
Viz has released a translation of The Art of Ponyo – the art book for the animated feature film which hit North American theatres this month. As with all the Studio Ghibli art books, the highlights are the watercolours by Hayao Miyazaki himself.
Jeu is one of my favourite animated shorts of the last few years. Paint-on-glass animation is a technique for animated films by manipulating slow-drying oil paints on sheets of glass.
This film is a series of nine animated cycles composed of 400 paintings that “destroy and reconstruct” themselves like a set of Russian matryoshka dolls. The director’s son, Louis Schwizgebel-Wang, performs the accompanying piano piece (Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto).
“In Jeu I used a cycle of 6.5 seconds; then i thought, once we’ve completed a complete cycle, why not use that cycle to provide the detail in another cycle. The drawings are divided by nine. And when you see the whole thing it forms the ninth part of another drawing, and so on…”
(Disclosure: This is an NFB film and I work at the NFB).
via NFB’s 2009 Get Animated program where you can check out animation workshops with top animators in cities across Canada this fall.
1 Comments on Jeu – a paint-on-glass animation by Georges Schwizgebel, last added: 8/7/2009
MG is so good. I love this quote, “It’s a great benefit of being in the arts, where the possibility for learning never disappears, where you basically have to admit you never learn it.”
Maltin is a big fan of animated films and animation history and in 1994 he and the NFB put together this compilation of animated shorts he loved from the Board’s history.
0 Comments on Leonard Maltin’s Animation Favorites as of 1/1/1900
Like many of us, Jonny Quest was among my absolute favourites shows when I was a kid. It’s one of the few that still holds up (well, to a point anyway) over four decades later. Alex Toth’s and Doug Wildey’s stunning designs and storyboards, along with lush adventurous musical scores by Hoyt Curtin, put it in a class all its own. (And do not mention that “other” Jonny Quest show from the late 90s because la-la-la-la-la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you!)
So I was delighted when a friend pointed me to this wonderful (fan-made?) Jonny Quest documentary. It’s a bit of a mystery exactly who made it, other than that it was “supposedly made for a one time screening at a private function.”
The whole video clocks in at about 2 hrs and 20 minutes, broken down into 27 short chapters on YouTube, and assembled into this single playlist (two chapters are missing). It’s the perfect way to spend next Saturday morning while you enjoy your Pop Tarts and coffee in bed!
If you’d like to create a single file, you can download all the clips from Chris Webber’s blog (he’s the fellow who posted the work on YouTube, but not its author) and assemble them together into a single file. (If you do, and manage to upload it somewhere to share with others, please let me know and I’ll add the info to this post.)
About the video, Chris says:
The original creators of the documentary have given me permission to share this unique documentary but ask once again that if you do download it and decide to copy it or share it, please do not sell it or in any way create profit with it. This was their sole requirement for posting it on YouTube and now here on this blog.
4 Comments on Quest: How the World’s Most Ambitious Animated Series Came to Television (or, “Quest File 0-37″), last added: 6/24/2009
It is uplifting / To see that some folks create / Sans dollars in mind
pandafresh said, on 6/22/2009 4:55:00 PM
i remember hearing Alex Toth absolutely hated this cartoon. i mean i like it, but the super limited animation is a bit annoying, especially when you take a look at his awesome character designs.
Luc said, on 6/22/2009 8:09:00 PM
The limited animation was necessary to fit the budget and schedules of the shows, as they explain in detail in the video.
Also, almost everything I’ve read about Toth points to him “hating everything.” For all we know, he was probably just an extremely outspoken person with a short fuse and not much patience with other people, thus anything he’d say probably got interpreted as though he hated everything or was a jerk. Most of us will never know either way.
Animation projects, being what they are, rarely manage to look better than the weakest links in the production staff and executives. The show still aimed higher than most ever had before, and higher than almost anything since. From my time in the industry, it’s something of an impossible miracle when a project DOES come through as beautiful and “good” from beginning to end. It’s nearly impossible to manage the hundreds/thousands of people necessary/available who work on any given animation project.
ThunderCat78 said, on 6/24/2009 10:11:00 AM
This was AMAZING!! The person who created this video clearly has a deep love for the Johnny Quest mythos. Thank you whomever you are!! I really enjoyed the whole series of videos, and for animation enthusiasts like myself it was a real treat. If only most DVD extras were this in-depth and created with as much love for the source material.
Former-Pixar production designer Lou Romano has posted a massive post on his blog, chock-full of production artwork and tests from his work on Pixar’s newest film, “Up”. Video tests, even. Check the post HERE. Warning: there could be some spoilers, so don’t indulge yourself if you haven’t seen the film yet and want to be surprised. From what I’ve seen though, the film looks fantastic.
It should be noted that Ricky Nierva also played an important role in production, as well as Ralph Eggleston and Harley Jessup. Not sure why these names were omitted from Lou’s post.
0 Comments on Lou Romano’s UP as of 5/29/2009 3:14:00 PM
No, it’s not the missed opportunity that’s currently being sold on the bookshelves. If you’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to thumb through that book, you would’ve surmised that the only artist that worked on pre-production for Coraline was Japanese illustrator Tadahiro Uesugi. While we know that Tadahiro’s work is brilliant, the ‘visual companion’ is a complete slap in the face to all the other artists who worked on the production. Have no fear, though. The best way to see pre-production art of Coraline is to view it online. Here, I’ve created a nice tour of sorts for you (click on each name for much more art):
First up, early character and conceptual work by Dan Krall. Ronald Searle is definitely an influence:
Next, we visit Chris Appelhans for some visual development and color studies. The artists’ were definitely using Tadahiro as a point of reference:
More visual development, color studies, & props by Jon Klassen. Beautiful work, with a great sense of space and color:
Now, check out the fantastic character designs by Shane Prigmore:
Stef Choi also did some early concept sketches. Check out the cute, little garden characters. Here’s a shot of Coraline & her mom:
Finally, gorgeous sculptures of all the Coraline puppets by Damon Bard. Be sure to check out all his galleries while you’re visiting his site. Incredibly talented guy:
In fact, there was a great deal of other incredibly talented people who worked on the film, but were never mentioned in the book. Vera Brosgol, Graham Annable, and Andy Schuhler, among others. (UPDATE: Katy Wu is another vis-dev artist.) Shane Prigmore does a great job listing more of the artists responsible for the look & style of the film. Be sure and check out all their hard work.
UPDATE: Kevin Dart just informed me that Chris Turnham has started up a blog for Coraline production art. Chris did some extensive work on the Fantastic Garden sequence:
Sheesh. I’m gonna go hang myself. Dan and Jon’s work is stupendous and it was nice to see Graham’s name in the credits. When I first saw the lovely second image (by Chris Appelhans), I instantly thought Ezra Jack Keats! Coraline was utterly fantastic and I feel fortunate to have seen it in all it’s 3D majesty. Thanks for the splendid tour, Ward!
rgnava said, on 2/23/2009 9:07:00 PM
Dave McKean did wonderful illustrations for the first version of the book. (http://www.mousecircus.com/bookdetails.aspx?BookID=2)
When I saw they were making the movie, and since Neil Gaiman and McKean are close friends, I thought that he was going to be involved in some way in the film. But unfortunately, he wasn’t.
parka said, on 2/23/2009 9:17:00 PM
Nice dude! I was thinking of creating a list like this but never got around to do so.
Scott Pilgrim Volume 5 is out this month. The art keeps getting tighter and slicker - and the story is fun as ever. Though there’s a bit of a twist this time ’round. I’m sure the improvement in brushwork can be at least partly attributed to the influence of Bryan O’Malley’s studiomate (and lifemate), Hope.
What is Scott Pilgrim?
Basically, a celebration of Toronto, video games and manga. If you’re into any of those things you’ll love SP. (No flamez about Toronto, plz. It’s where I’m from).
“Reinvent the way you market a movie.” - Phil Knight, Nike Founder/Laika CEO
And with those words, the folks at Weiden + Kennedy went right to work, creating a very curious marketing campaign for Coraline, the stop-motion animated, Henry Selick-directed film produced by Laika and distributed by Focus Features. They certainly had their work cut out for them. I’m thinking that this ugly poster (along with the ABC series of one-sheets featured below it) certainly couldn’t have been anything that W+K concocted. When you compare that garish poster with the one featured above, one has to wonder what’s going on. It looks like to me that W+K took over the campaign from a clueless film promotion team at Focus and then went a more subversive route by sending ‘mystery boxes’ to various bloggers (mentioned previously):
Of course, I’m speculating here. I really don’t know what happened. All I know is that the ad campaign took a decidedly different turn once I learned of those mystery boxes. And the official movie site, too. That was done by W+K as well. Be sure to check this post out, as there’s lots of talented people who worked on the campaign. With a $16.8M (USD) take for the first weekend, I think they succeeded (it wasn’t expected to do more than $10M for a movie like it). See video clips, too.
Also on W+K Portland’s blog: Coraline Premiere. (Look for a shot of the Joe Ranft puppet that has a cameo in the beginning of the film.)
Henry Selick is a genius. And the work W+K did was outstanding.
monolithcreative said, on 2/11/2009 2:44:00 PM
i really hate the mentality of animated hollywood films where they think they HAVE to use big name actors to do voices.
hire voice talent to sell the reality of the characters not a face. now, unfortunately, when i see coraline i will see the actors and not the characters. and i HAAAAATE dakota fanning…effing hate her.
why do you think futurama is so awesome? if features the voice talent of billy west. why do you think looney toons work so well? mel blanc.
Ward said, on 2/11/2009 7:18:00 PM
I agree about the over usage of hollywood actors as voiceovers. But honestly, I forgot it was Dakota as the voice of Coraline while watching it. She was actually pretty decent. I would suggest seeing the film first before you go all off on it, ‘monolithcreative’.
Another thing, Futurerama is not ‘awesome’ just because of the voices. The writing and timing of the humor is king in my opinion.
SamD said, on 2/12/2009 8:14:00 AM
I also think that’s an over-reaction. The voice acting in Coraline is very well done, and works perfectly for the film.
TM-Oliveira said, on 2/12/2009 4:02:00 PM
Actually, it doesn’t matter who does the voices. If you watch a movie and completely forget who are the actors behind the characters, then it’s fine. I think Shark Tale is the perfect example of an animation that fails terribly at doing that.
Cory O'Brien said, on 2/16/2009 9:53:00 PM
Wow! The old and new posters are literally night and day! W+K definitely did a great job with transforming the way this movie was marketed, and the buzz obviously paid off with a stellar box office debut.
This came off of the second disc of Disney’s “Lady And The Tramp” DVD release.
Acuarela said, on 2/1/2009 3:16:00 AM
I have a great book about the making of Fantasia, and it’s full of storyboard drawings and other development sketches, many of them far more interesting than the final results.
InMyEyes said, on 2/1/2009 5:15:00 AM
Pure Disney propaganda, interesting to analysis through this perspective.
They didn’t mention the work of Bill Peet, master storyteller and story artist for decades Walt double crossed to prevent him from being original.
Walt did just water things down to avoid taking risks, and of course everybody would kneel down because he owns the leash.
Big up to the artists at that time, not to Uncle Walt.
wirestars said, on 2/1/2009 11:07:00 AM
To InMyEyes:
You should take a look at the DVD for 101 Dalmatians; all they do is talk about Bill Peet.
Ward said, on 2/1/2009 12:30:00 PM
InMyEyes, that’s just a silly way of going about it. If it weren’t for Walt, then those artists wouldn’t have had jobs during the Depression, etc. Very narrow-minded way of looking at it. And yes, Peet gets a lot of air time in the 101 Dalmatians DVD.
Wijiostudios said, on 2/1/2009 2:09:00 PM
Wow, this video was useful. I especially enjoyed and got something from the clips pertaining to storyboarding for live action films (e.g., The Kevin Costner clips and his commentary). I’m about to enter a 9-month storyboard production, for a feature animated picture, from a Director’s perspective. What luck to find such an inspirational video on DRAWN this morning. Oh, and our team is looking for some good story artists, please visit Wijio Worldwide Studios for more info. Thanks!
John S said, on 2/2/2009 3:22:00 AM
It’s a fun mini doc and is a good primer for folks who have no idea what an animation Story artist does. By the way, I’m the guy with the long hair and green shirt who is barking like a dog as he pitches. In the clip, I’m pitching the “Human Again” board for the Special Edition of Beauty and The BEast to directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousedale.
Design Sponge is kicking off a new video web-series - Design by the Book. Kind of a Project Runway but with a bunch of Williamsburg designers. And instead of the Parsons School of Fashion, it’s set in (drum roll) the NY Public Library.
The first episode is up and it’s got interviews with a bunch of interesting people. Notably:
Check out Flutter - a beautiful black & white animated short by Howie Shia.
The film has the clear line style of a lot of great recent Japanese animation - and though I’m not 100% sure what happens in the film (maybe you can tell me?) - it’s still fascinating to watch - very playful and dynamic.
The film is presented as part of World Animation Day 2008 - October 28. In Canada, the National Film Board is holding free public screenings and events in the following cities: Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Moncton, Bouctouche, Caraquet, Edmundston, Kedgwick.
Find out more about World Animation Day at the NFB’s Get Animated site. Disclosure: I work at the NFB.
Also of interest: World Animation Day 2007
2 Comments on Flutter and World Animation Day 2008 - Events across Canada, last added: 10/23/2008
Canadian cartoonist Seth is curating a series of films from the National Film Board of Canada. (This is particularly exciting for me, since I work at the NFB).
If you’re lucky enough to live in southern Ontario, you can see the films at the University of Waterloo until January 4, 2009 (more details here).
However, the rest of us can watch one of his selections - Paul Tomkowitz: Street Railway Switchman - right here. It’s a nine-minute 1953 documentary about a Polish-born Canadian who contrasts his adopted home of Winnipeg with his home-country.
Hey, even though I’m not working there anymore doesn’t mean I won’t promote the good people who’ve been working hard for several years on Henry Selick’s upcoming Coraline. LA Times has a nice showcase of on-set photos of the production. Worth a look.
Definitely check it out. You won’t be able to stop watching.
Notably, the film is part of an “Open movie project” with the following goals:
* Developing tools … for editing and rendering hair, fur or grass
* Improve character animation tools for cartoonish motion and deformation
* Test Blender with giant outdoor environments, with large grassy fields and many trees with leaves
* Further validate Blender as a professional animation creation suite
And secondary:
* Create a great and good looking animation short, licensed freely as open content
* Provide content for other artists to learn from or to re-use, including documentation and tutorials
I’ve been following the story of Blender for years now, and it’s inspiring to see such a powerful (if painfully idiosyncratic) piece of open source software emerging, and I really wish it well, and I’d love to love this movie. I do love the lighting and vegetation to bits in this movie, but…
The character design makes me squirm with horror. As you say, the “uncanny valley” effect is in full swing. I really can’t think when I’ve seen animated characters so unpleasant to look at. Still - all power to Blender. It’s obviously a toolthat can do serious work.
Hello, I believe ‘uncanny valley’ is in reference to 3D/robotics emulating reality i.e. attempting to replicate a real human being and the disparity between getting there and not quite getting there.
When the Day Breaks is a short, wonderfully-textured, animated film about a couple anthropomorphic farm animals and their chance encounter.
According to the description, the artists used pencil and paint on photocopies to achieve the soft, slightly surreal look of the film.
The film won the Palme d’Or in the short film category at Cannes in 1999 so it’s nice to see the whole thing (just over 9 minutes) available online. Check out a higher-res version here.
0 Comments on When the Day Breaks as of 8/5/2008 1:14:00 PM
If (like me) you’re a fan of the films of Hayao Miyazake (Totoro, Spirited Away), this might interest you. It’s a glimpse of the first trailer for his new film, Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea, which will be released in Japan in July, 2008.
According to IMDB, the film is about a five-year old boy and his relationship with a girl-princess fish who longs to become human. Overall, it looks like a really nice return to the innocent and child-like fun of Totoro.
Also, here’s a slideshow of behind-the-scenes images (including distinctive concept watercolours by Miyazake himself) overlaid with an addictive theme-song.
great news! thanks :) I just love Hayao Miyazaki’s animation (by the way, there seems to be a little mistake in the article - authors name spelling).
anyways, I also prefer Wikipedia for particular information… not http://www.imdb.com -_-’ cuz it has pictures’n’snapshots! ^_^
imaginatoon said, on 6/28/2008 8:41:00 PM
Spirited away is a really good movie. My expectations are high! Can’t wait to see this one!!!
yuki said, on 7/1/2008 7:30:00 AM
sorry but it’s spelled “miyazaki” and the videos do not work :(
Nicolas de Crécy, genius comic-artist and the (not so) secret graphic voice behind Les Triplettes de Belleville has been residing in Villa Kujoyama recently and keeps a wonderful blog with his drawings and photos…
2 Comments on Nicolas de Crécy blogs, last added: 6/22/2008
Upon the release of every Pixar movie, I look forward to the subsequent Art of book. I am eagerly awaiting the release of Wall-E (robots!) and was equally excited for its own book of production art.
The Art of Wall-E seems, to me at least, a bit of a departure from previous Pixar Art of books. Those books were filled with all sorts of different character designs in wildly varying illustration styles. Perhaps I shouldn’t expect the same from a film that is centered around a lone robot inhabitant on a desolate planet, but apart from a few notes about how the character was inspired by R2-D2 and a pair of binoculars, the book features nearly zero preliminary character designs for the titular droid. It’s as if the character was invented fully formed.
The book still features plenty of storyboard sequences, lush concept paintings, and the colour studies you’ve come to expect from these books, but I could have used more robots! Robots!
For robot art, I’ll have to turn to the tie-in book, Lots of Bots. The always-stellar Grain Edit recently posted an interview with illustrator Ben Butcher, who shared some behind-the-scenes looks at his insane cut-n-paste working process:
I’m surprised there was no inspiration mention of “No. 5″ from the film Short Circuit. They’re very similar designs.
almilway said, on 6/13/2008 2:07:00 AM
I thought exactly the same about Short Circuit - to the point where I was under the impression it was clearly wearing its influences on its sleeve. I imagine many of the people working on it must have been the right age to love Short Circuit - almost 25 years old now, surely?
Wall E does look beautiful though!
paig said, on 6/13/2008 4:19:00 AM
“It’s as if the character was invented fully formed.”
yes, by the designers of no5!
really excited about this though:)
Lunchbox said, on 6/13/2008 10:01:00 AM
I love the PIXAR flicks and the “art of” books just as much. The Incredibles book is a personal fave.
But this is not the first time PIXAR has lifted something from someone else. Look at the Incredibles. Can anyone say Fantastic Four? Sure, a few tweaks. Replace the look of the Thing with a Supermanish Dad and add the power of flight…
Instead of “flame on” you have the Flash with the same personality of Johnny Storm. Sister gets Sue’s powers minus invisibility and Mom is stretchy. Oh, and then little Jack-Jack (*cough* Franklin) gets a load of powers including a touch of the Torch.
Sorry, let me kick that soap box aside.
I did love the Incredibles. In fact, I just watched it again the other day. And I do realize that it was a play on the superhero genre. But not to give any props at all to Marvel even in the art of book…
weak.
I can’t wait to get my hands on it…
Oh and if you want a really sweet robot book, get Robots art of off ebay or amazon. It’s out of print, but worth EVERY penny.
aestheticonion said, on 6/13/2008 12:35:00 PM
Have to say, I thought it was sad that it was not based on Short Circuit. It would have made a great summer blockbuster for all us late 20’s early 30 somethings who watched the movie when they were a kid.
These are fantastic.
Wow – this guy is good!
DROOOOL. yes.
Damn!…
And notice the quote on his comics portfolio “If you want to know how to draw DO COMICS”