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The renegade animation director will debut the project online on his 77th birthday.

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Sony succeeded in removing multiple films from Vimeo with the word "pixels" in its title.

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The filmmaking essay series "Every Frame A Painting" takes a trip into the wondrous, disciplined mind of legendary animation director Chuck Jones.

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Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo announced a partnership with Vimeo last weekend at Sundance that will make the video-hosting site as the preferred distribution platform for films funded on Indiegogo.

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DESIRE – The Animated Musical Short from Scott Thierauf on Vimeo.

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As the Plot Whisperer, I hear from writers who have written lots and lots and lots of words. They've pre-plotted and pondered meaning. They pin up photos of characters they imagine in the flesh and settings that capture the mood. And still, their story lies there, nearly dead. Often, I'm their last hope. Or, so they think...

I am thrilled to announce the unveiling of the new and improvedto help you prepare for a powerful rewrite. 6 years in the making. Hundreds of writers taking part annually. Always in December. And, each year around mid-month, I'd watch the number of writers beginning the program fresh after generating 50,000 words and eager to form all those words into a story readers will love… or at least the writer herself loves slowly begin to dwindle. As the demands of the year's end celebrations closed in, I'd wonder what happens to writers who didn't finished? What sort of struggle and confusion will they face at the first major rewrite in the new year without questioning and revising all the necessary story elements first and what will that mean to their year overall?

I can't express to you how happy I am to share the new and improved PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month now available whenever you need help.

Like overs in a game you believe you may have already lost, PlotWriMo allows you to dig back into your story. Resurrect your ideas and clarify your vision, test your themes, re-adjust your pacing, re-evaluate your words, re-envision the greatness you once believed in your novel, memoir, screenplay.

My literary agent, friend and partner in A Path to Publishing, Jill Corcoran adds a depth and breath to PlotWriMo: Revise Your Novel in a Month beyond helping writers revise the thousands and thousands of words you generate into an actual novel with a plot. Along with step-by-step exercises revising:

• Character and Action
• Meaning and Theme
• Structure and Design
• Transformation and Emotion
• Subplots and Secondary characters
• Cause and Effect

Now, thanks to Jill, our 8 video 5.5 hour revision series also supports you in revising your all-important

• Story concept and Manuscript Voice 
• Pacing and Hook 
• Polish and Every Word Perfect

The best part? Rather than wait until the busiest time of the year, start revising your novel, memoir, screenplay right now today!
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PLOT RETREAT

***Time Sensitive: Are you in? We're down to our final few spots at the May 30 - June 1st Writer Path Retreat, so we hope to hear from you before this Friday. We can't guarantee availability thereafter, though please do check with us! Remaining lodging includes one secluded cabin, and a few final spots in the gorgeous conference center. Interested? Email jordanwritelife(at)gmail(dot)com TODAY!

WRITER PATH PLOT and SCENE RETREAT in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains May 30 – June 1st. Together, Jordan Rosenfeld and I are halfway through the rough draft of Deep Scenes, the Writers Digest book we're under contract for Fall 2015 and less than 3 weeks away from our first Writer Path Plot and Scene Retreat!

We're both deeply committed to breaking writers out of the repetitive scene design you're accustomed to using. Explore and integrate a variety of scene types and lead the reader deeper into the heart of your action and emotion and meaning in the exact way you desire while also satisfying the universal expectations for every great story. Join us May 30th

For more: Read my Plot Whisperer and Blockbuster Plots books for writers.

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Here's a new drawing. Well, it's a new old drawing. You may well have seen it before. Quite recently actually.

I have a string of half finished drawings hanging around the house. I come across them all the time. In the strangest of places. Drawings that I've given up on for various reasons. Now and again though I'll try and breathe new life into them. This is what happened here.

This drawing must be at least three years old. It actually had a shoe print on it that I had to erase (I really do find them in strange places). I remember that I'd had this great idea of drawing each and every one of my pencil cases. I got half way through this before realising what a rubbish idea that was.

There was, however, another reason that I resumed this drawing; for a long time now people have been asking me if I'd considered making a film of me in action (drawing that is). When I came across this drawing I felt it could be used to show how I go about cross hatching. So, that's what I did - I say that's what 'I' did but I actually mean that's what a friend with the technology and know-how did.  Thanks Tim!

You can see the film in my last blog post or HERE.

Plus, you can get your hands on this drawing, and film star (haven't you always wanted to get your hands on a film star?),  as it is for sale in my little Etsy shop HERE.

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Encyclopedia Pictura is the creative association of Isaiah Saxon, Sean Hellfritsch and Daren Rabinovitch that has been producing striking, playful work since its inception. One of their early shorts, “Grow,” shows off the power of a simple, clever idea executed well:

The team has produced several music videos including work for Björk and Grizzly Bear. Here are a few stills from Grizzly Bear’s “Knife” video, which features their multimedia, practical/digital effects combination approach to direction:

There is a load of interesting behind the scenes footage and photos also on their website, such as this video:

Their claim of working in “film, art, game design, community building, and agriculture” is not a bit of bombast. From their about page:

From 2008-2011, EP led an effort to build a unique hillside neighborhood and farm called Trout Gulch. They lived and worked there along with 15 others. In 2012, they co-founded DIY in San Francisco, with Vimeo co-founder Zach Klein and OmniCorp Detroit co-founder Andrew Sliwinski. Saxon also volunteers as Media Advisor to Open Source Ecology.

They are passionate about gardening, farming, construction, villages, augmented reality, science visualization, social ecology, technological empowerment, adventure, and country living.

DIY is both a feature film in development as well as more recently a new and growing online community that encourages young people to become “Makers” and share their work, gaining confidence in their creativity and earning digital badges for their profile as they go. DIY meets kids where they already are, on connected devices, and encourages their natural creativity while learning real-world, off and online skills. The DIY “anthem”:

The Do It Yourself/Maker attitude is perhaps the most valuable thing that is being nourished as young people challenge themselves to new experiences inspired by the site.

When a person grows up understanding that they can create and mold the media and environment around them, they don’t have to resign to an existence of passively consuming at the corporate trough. An individual’s confidence in their own creativity is an essential survival skill for the future.

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Last week at SXSW, Vimeo announced that Don Hertzfeldt will be among the introductory group of filmmakers to use their new Vimeo On Demand platform. Hertzfeldt has always been very selective about how he distributes his work online, which may be the first sign that Vimeo is doing something right with this new service.

The new platform allows anybody who has signed up for Vimeo PRO to distribute their films online. Hertzfeldt is selling his new feature It’s Such a Beautiful Day for $2 (to view the film online for one week) or $6 (to download a DRM-free version).

Vimeo’s On Demand set-up is fully customizable. Films of any length can be distributed, and prices can be set by filmmakers as can viewing periods for films. Here are some of its key features:

90/10 revenue split: You keep 90% of revenue after transaction fees, and we cover all delivery costs.

Your audience can watch anywhere: Your work is available online, as well as on mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs, all in gorgeous HD quality.

Customizable design: You can completely personalize your Vimeo On Demand page to match your work and bring it to life.

Flexibility + control: Sell films, episodes, and more at the price you want, anywhere in the world you want — including on your own website.

I haven’t delved into all the particulars yet, but Vimeo On Demand appears to be quite filmmaker-friendly. The system isn’t perfect: for example, they might be better off with a credits-based system instead of the currently cumbersome pay-per-view model. But such issues are resolvable over time. The important thing is that Vimeo has spent years building a solid foundation including its elegant video player and a large userbase interested in independent filmmaking. Their On Demand service is a positive development, and has potential to be a game-changer for indie animators and filmmakers.

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If you read just one article this month about short film distribution, make it this piece at Short of the Week. Written by filmmaker Ivan Kander, the piece is ostensibly about the changing game of short film distribution, but it also contains a sharp critique of short film distributor Shorts International.

Nobody denies that Shorts International works for a handful of high-profile short films—think Oscar-nominated—but, as the article makes clear, their model simply doesn’t work for the average animation filmmaker, a complaint that I’ve heard often throughout the years. Their business model might have been relevant as recently as five years ago, but in 2013, they are an anachronistic presence on the short film circuit. They take far too many rights for the limited financial reward and exposure they offer in return.

Solutions exist, but companies in the short film community have been slow to implement them. Firstly, filmmakers need something like Bandcamp that facilitates the sale of digital downloads and merchandise, the latter of which is a major part of the income stream of established indie animators like Don Hertzfeldt and Bill Plympton.

Vimeo, by virtue of its name-recognition and user base, is perhaps in the best position to make a major impact in the film distribution game. Their recent introduction of the “tip jar” was a step in the right direction, but what I’d really like to see them do is introduce a micro-payment system. For example, a filmmaker on Vimeo could charge 5 cents per film view. As a viewer, I’d purchase a $5 credit from Vimeo, and then everytime I watch a film that requires payment, the site would automatically deduct a nickel from my account. Vimeo could charge 10% for the service (that’s half a penny on a five-cent film). A film with 500,000 views at a nickel apiece would earn $22,500 for the filmmaker and $2,500 for Vimeo. Add in downloads for 25 cents, and you’ve instantly created a more effective model for short filmmakers than Shorts International, iTunes and YouTube’s Partner Program combined.

(Rich man smoking money photo via Shutterstock)

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By Alice Northover

Another week, another delayed Friday procrastination. Last week I was rumbled in the demands to tumble — that is, Oxford University Press’s academic division has a shiny new Tumblr. For those of you in publishing and not on Tumblr, the inordinately helpful Rachel Fershleiser gave a presentation on Tumblr tips earlier this week. So without further ado…

Did you know CPR only works 8% of the time?

The best minds of a generation captured in photographs.

Tips for mobile (phone) photographers.

Academic job-hunting for the position you want.

A museum for American writers!

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is the price we put on higher education, and what is the value?

10 things about being an artist that art teachers don’t tell you.

Social media for academia from sociologist Deborah Lupton.

People in the office very kindly don’t shout at me when I verbify, but merely look puzzled.

The Ransom Center examines why Knopf has such a rich Latin American publishing program history.

Filing away research results — for better or worse?

MOOCs aren’t perfect.

Our music editors and writers are very upset by this advice.

New reality show idea: academic book proposals. (h/t Duke UP)

Graduate students and social media.

Things that get medievalists angry: any explanation of the bubonic plague. (There are a lot of arguments, counter-arguments, stuff Renaissance scholars just make up to make themselves look good, etc.)

Not sure if we mentioned this before, but world’s largest archive of natural sounds.

Alice Northover joined Oxford University Press as Social Media Manager in January 2012. She is editor of the OUPblog, constant tweeter @OUPAcademic, daily Facebooker at Oxford Academic, and Google Plus updater of Oxford Academic, amongst other things. You can learn more about her bizarre habits on the blog.

Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.

The post Friday procrastination: Tumbled edition appeared first on OUPblog.

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Today America is the world’s leading anti-smuggling crusader. While honorable, that title is also an ironic one when you consider America’s very close history of… smuggling. Our illicit imports have ranged from West Indies molasses and Dutch gunpowder in the 18th century, to British industrial technologies and African slaves in the 19th century, to French condoms and Canadian booze in the early 20th century, to Mexican workers and Colombian cocaine in the modern era. Simply put, America was built by smugglers.

In this video from Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, Peter Andreas, author of Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America, explains America’s long relationship with smuggling and illicit trade.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Peter Andreas is a professor in the Department of Political Science and the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. He was previously an Academy Scholar at Harvard University, a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and an SSRC-MacArthur Foundation Fellow on International Peace and Security. Andreas has written numerous books, including Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America, published widely in scholarly journals and policy magazines, presented Congressional testimony, written op-eds for major newspapers, and provided frequent media commentary.

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Subscribe to only American history articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.

The post A history of smuggling in America appeared first on OUPblog.

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Tonight in New York City is the second annual Vimeo Awards. I was one of the judges in the animation category, and one of these four nominees in the category will receive $5,000:

Little Boat by Nelson Boles (US)

Les chiens isolés by Rémi Bastie, Nicolas Deghani, Jonathan Djob-Nkondo, Paul LaColley, Nicolas Pegon, Jérémy Pires, Kevin Manach (France)

Umbra by Malcolm Sutherland (Canada)

Cross by Fabian Grodde (Germany)

Tickets are sold out to the award ceremony, but there are still tickets left to the Vimeo Festival which takes place tomorrow and Saturday, and offers lots of interesting talks targeted toward short filmmakers. Vimeo is offering a special deal for Cartoon Brew readers. For a $40 all-access pass to the 2-day festival, go to Ticketfly and use the discount code “brew”.

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Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Canada, Fabian Grodde, France, Germany, Jérémy Pires, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, Kevin Manach, Malcolm Sutherland, Nelson Boles, Nicolas Deghani, Nicolas Pegon, Paul LaColley, Remi Bastie, Vimeo

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Video hosting website Vimeo will be presenting their second-annual Vimeo Awards this June in New York City. The deadline to submit films is next Monday, February 20. The awards have an animation category, as well as other categories that may apply to readers of the Brew, like music video, experimental, advertising, remix and motion graphics. The winner in each category receives $5,000 and there’s also a $25,000 grand prize. Entry fees are $20 per film, or $5 for Vimeo Plus/Pro subscribers. Submission details and official rules are available on their website.

I’m a big fan of the service that Vimeo provides to the filmmaking community. They get everything right from their high-quality video player to elegant site design and respectful community standards. That’s why I’m delighted that they invited me to be one of the judges in their Animation category, along with DreamWorks’s Marcy Page and Eran Hilleli, whose short Between Bears won the animation prize at the first Vimeo Awards. Make our jobs hard and submit lots of great animated films!

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Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Amid Amidi, Eran Hilleli, Marcy Page, Vimeo, Vimeo Awards

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Here’s the video of me talking about Ask MetaFilter and online Q&A stuff that I gave at the Oregon Virtual Reference Summit. I included the slides a few days ago, but here’s the actual video of the talk, as presented. Big thanks to Caleb Tucker-Raymond for making this video up. You might also like Emily Ford’s lightning talk: What Libraries Can Learn From Kanye.

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‘Politics feeds your vanity and starves your self-respect,’ according to the journalist Matthew Parris. In the video below, filmed by George Miller, Antony Jay discusses what makes a good political quotation.

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Sir Antony Jay is the editor of Lend Me Your Ears: The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations. He is most famously the co-creator of the classic British 1980s sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.

View more about this book on the

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Hey everyone! Well, I finally took the plunge and created my first video. All of you Youtubers & Vimeors out there I give you props cause its definitely a process with editing, formating & uploading those videos. I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted to paint for […]

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Historical lexicographer Elizabeth Knowles introduces her new book, How to Read a Word, which aims to introduce anyone with an interest in language to the pleasures of researching word histories. Previously I brought you an interview filmed by George Miller of Podularity, in which she suggested some ways to get started with word research. In the following three videos, Elizabeth gives us three one minute word histories. Click here to read more by Elizabeth Knowles.

On ‘avatar’:

Click here to view the embedded video.

On ‘Twitterati’:

Click here to view the embedded video.

On ’skulduggery’:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Historical lexicographer Elizabeth Knowles introduces her new book, How to Read a Word, which aims to introduce anyone with an interest in language to the pleasures of researching word histories. In this interview filmed by George Miller of Podularity in the library here at Oxford University Press in the UK she suggests some resources and techniques to get you started. Click here to read more by Elizabeth Knowles, and check back tomorrow for some of her One Minute Word Histories.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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14 actors acting. [New York Times]

Triumph of the week: I finally learned how to fold a fitted sheet! [Nag on the Lake]

If this doesn’t make you smile, I give up. [Best Roof Talk Ever]

Amazing video created for the German shortfilm competition “Kurzundschön” (Short & Nice). [Vimeo]

Did you know Jesse Eisenberg has a wordplay website? [One Up Me]

No luck trending on Twitter? Blame Justin Bieber. [WSJ Speakeasy]

The other day, I glanced at my Pandora, and it hit me that the singer Jason Derulo was actually Jay Sean Derulo. (If you don’t know who I’m talking about, good for you.) I was amazed – how had I not realized this before?! Because it’s not true. They’re actually two different people, but at least in looking it up, I stumbled upon this gem of a mash-up. [YouTube]

In the future, no one will burn books. [clu]

Remember that movie Julie & Julia? Yeah. Well. This takes it to the next level. [Urlesque]

This dog never stops being cute. Never. [Facebook]

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London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew is an extraordinary work of investigative journalism, a work of literature, and a groundbreaking work of sociology. It centres on hundreds of interviews conducted by Mayhew with London’s street traders, beggars, and thieves, which provide unprecedented insight into the day-to-day struggle for survival on London’s streets in the 19th century.

In the video below, our edition’s editor, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, explains why he believes it is still well worth reading today. The interview was conducted by George Miller for Podularity. Robert has previously written this post for OUPblog.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to join the Ypulse LinkedIn group, if you haven't yet, and post there for... Read the rest of this post

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We only have one week left in August, people. ONE WEEK! Oh, the agony…

Here are some things that don’t make me sad.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. It might be the most delightful video I’ve ever seen. [Vimeo]

Dinner Party Download needs your help! Because “it’s not really public radio if you don’t beg your listeners for money.” [APM]

Ah, home… This Day in History: Record Setting Tow-Truck Parade Held in Washington State [History Channel]

I’m sure this was staged, but it is delightful. [YouTube]

Cute item of the week: Puffin. [Next Web]

Our colleagues at Oxford Fajar have a treat for you! [Save the Words]

Kindle vs. iPad close-up showdown [Wired]

It’s about time we had a Silly Bandz anthem! [Urlesque]

#EatPrayWhatever [Twitter]

This is one “epic” parking garage. [GalleyCat]

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