January 2011

Weekly Weblink: Eclectic Micks

Website /

Admittedly, when I first heard of Eclectic Micks, the first vision that popped into my head was a pub band along the lines of Mungo Jerry. I guess I was a bit off because it’s something much better, a colection of awesome, Irish artists!

I must have been visiting the wrong circles because the blog has been around since 2009 with the basic concept that there is one topic per week with each member posting their work on the designated day. Naturally as one would expect, the level of quality is extremely high and with such a group of talented folks, that is not surprising in the slightest.

Last week’s topic was The Secret of Kells (so you can see how I discovered the site) and as you can see below from this one sample, you are guaranteed not to be disappointed if you follow them.

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Technological Advances in Cinema: The Similarities Between Fantasia and 3-D

Animation, Disney /

Via: Trond Lossius (Norwegian sound guy)

Yes, I know, 3-D, ugh,it almost makes you want to puke just thinking about it doesn’t it? It does have its proponents though, and it seems that there is no stopping Hollywood in it’s unending quest to convince us that 3-D really is the latest and greatest advance in cinema technology (again).

Yesterday I was listening to the Fantasia soundtrack, which is really just a collection of the likes of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with classical pieces thrown in between, and it struck me just how badly they wanted people to realise that they were listening to a stereo, yes, stereo recording.

In this day and age, we take stereo for granted, it’s second nature, heck, I can listen to stereo music on my phone! Back then of course, people could still remember when Al Jolson told them that movies could have sound, so it was still a relatively new phenomenon.

So Fantasia was the first film to be released with stereo sound that was so new, there was no method for actually playing it in many cinemas, so a new system, called Fantasound was created but only installed in a couple of the large picture houses.

However, it is only on listening to the original, remastered score that you realise that the mixing is honestly, almost atrocious. Sounds pop up all over the place with little regard to their location in the orchestra. Today, recordings are mixed very much faithfully to the original recording session. In Fantasia, it looks like they hadn’t figured that out yet, so sounds whizz back and forth from one ear to the other so often that it nearly makes you dizzy.

Which is interesting because, you’d would almost swear that the sound engineers were trying to pound us over the head with the fact that the recording is in stereo. It’s as if they decided to use the extremes of their new discovery to tell us in a not-so-subtle way that we have two ears.

That sounds kinda familiar doesn’t it? What else do we have two of? Oh yeah, eyes! Is there a way of seeing two images with them as well? Why yes, yes there is! it’s called 3-D! OMG!!!! [The preceding paragraph may have contained sarcasm]

Can you think of any films today that seem to trumpet 3-D imagery as if it’s the latest and greatest thing ever invented? I’m sure you can, they’re all at it these days. The question is, why do they see fit to beat us over the head with the achievement when in reality, like Fantasia, it ends up being a whitewash of 3-D effects that are in reality, gimmicks that add nothing to the film.

With Fantasia, Walt Disney was not merely trying to beat it into everyone’s skull that his film had stereo, rather that was just part of his constant searching for the next technological advancement. Stereo in films is taken for granted now, heck, surround sound is taken almost mandatory for cinemas at this point.

The point is that the sound in films today is used in much more subtle ways than in Fantasia and it’s high time 3-D was handled the same way. There is no need to parade it from the rooftops. At this point, plenty of people have seen a 3-D films and are aware of it’s benefits and limitations, why not use 3-D in the way it is supposed to, add depth to every shot, not just the one of the missile flying towards the audience.

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The Very First Piece of Animation I Watched

Animation, Ireland /

In Ireland (way back in the day), the children’s programme was Bosco, which was basically a show featuring a puppet who lived in a box. The show was filled with various segments (some of which were animated but more on that another time) and is recalled with fondness by almost any Irish person under the age of 30.

I bring it up because I wanted to share the opening titles. Incredibly simple and bordering on the bizarre, they are most likely the very first piece of animation that I came into contact with as a child. Have a look below and see if you don’t come away just that wee bit confused. At 25, I still can’t figure out what it’s all supposed to mean.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWpRD_il9s8]

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Globalization and Animation: Is it Really a Good Thing?

1 Comment / Uncategorized /

Via: The Daily Mail

Last night was the first meeting of my class this semester, Globalization and International Business. It’s a fairly typical class for an MBA student such as myself and in this day and age, even a little knowledge of what globalization is can be very beneficial.

I bring this up because here in the US (as anywhere) globalization is often brought up as an issue that needs to be tackled and defeated. Americans are losing their jobs, companies are traitors, etc. etc. etc. It doesn’t matter who you talk to (left or right) they all seem to agree that jobs going abroad is a bad thing, despite the fact that it often creates jobs at home. An often overlooked (or under-reported) fact, is that almost everyone who has been laid-off from say, a GM factory, end up finding alternative employment.

Animation is not immune to globalization, in fact, animation has benefited greatly form it. Now Steve Hullett over at the TAG Guild Blog may disagree (it’s his job to protect his member’s employment after all), but by shifting the tedious, time-consuming and most expensive part of the animation process abroad, overall costs for films and TV shows have come down, meaning that there are more opportunities for the likes of writers, designers and storyboard artists at home.

Yes, it is greatly upsetting to know that there is someone in China or Korea who is willing to do your job for barely a fraction of what you are paid, but that is an unhealthy attitude. It is much better to focus on the positive side of things. So you lost, I dunno, your position putting Post-Its on the timing sheets, well just because that’s all you’ve done doesn’t mean that’s all your capable of, right? You might have seen hundreds if not thousands of timing sheets in that time, you might now a thing or two about them that no-one else does. Why not see if those skills are in demand. Better yet, why not use those skills to acquire some new ones, and combine the two to find another job?

I suppose I’m not the best to be talking about this kind of thing, I am a civil engineer after all, and they way the regulatory environment works, I can’t foresee my job being dispatched overseas any time soon. Is that a good thing? Well for me, yes, yes it is. For the state government whose indirectly paying my wages, that’s bad. There are literally hundreds of thousands of civil engineers in China who will gladly do my job for (no joke) $3,000 a year. I know this because I was once offered a job there and your man told me I’d be earning triple what the Chinese guys would be, so it wasn’t that hard to figure out.

I’m not one to stir the pot when it comes to topics such as this. It’s important to remember that cost is only one factor when it comes to producing animation. Sending a show or film off to Korea may have cost benefits, but it also means that everything must be perfect before it leaves the US, otherwise a heck of a lot more time and money will be spent trying to rectify errors, which of course negates all the benefits that should have been reaped in the first place.

My point is: don’t be mad that someone, somewhere else came and ‘stole’ your job, they didn’t. Just because your position moved “off-shore” is no reason to assume that everything can and should be made in the US. What I’ve learned thus far is that the benefits of globalization pay off in ways we normally don’t think about (cheaper food, clothes, better choices, etc.). So for animation, remember, Hanna-Barbera and The Simpsons may have shifted the labour-intensive stuff overseas, but by doing so, were able to create many more “other” jobs at home.

As always, I am not the be all and end all of any discussion, if you feel the need to comment, please do so.

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Why You Should Always Meet Your Heroes

1 Comment / Me /

They say you should never meet your heroes. Why this is so, I can only presume, is because it’s happened to some people over the years; they got the chance to meet their idol, and when they did, were left thoroughly let down by the experience.

All I can say, is that if you feel you can never meet your hero(es) because you’re worried about being let down, then you’re looking up to the wrong person/people.

Your hero should inspire you on a daily basis and should be a decent enough sort of a person that you would feel comfortable meeting them and being able to ask them anything. Yes, celebrities are heroes to lots of people, but your hero doesn’t have to be famous, you know. I value being respected in the community and industry far more than being merely ‘famous’, fame can be fleeting after all.

That’s your homework for this evening, to sit down and think about who it is you look up to, and why you would feel good about meeting them.

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So Justin Bieber Presented the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature

2 Comments / Animation /

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxQKiDXWUfk]

Via: Cartoon Brew

…And I didn’t even know until this morning when I opened the web browser. I suppose it speaks to how little I really care about awards season in general, which almost always snubs my favourite films of the year. However, last night at the Golden Globes, it was Justin Bieber who announced the award for Best Animated Feature (won by the the bookies favourite of course), with a girl whom I can only suppose was chosen because the two of them would look cute together or some nonsense like that.

I could rant on about how Bieber isn’t even worthy of announcing an award, heck, he’s somehow worthy of an auto-biography despite not even being halfway through his teenage years! But rather the focus of my attention is why in the wide, wide world of sports did the ceremony’s producers feel they needed to use someone under the age of 20 to announce the best animated feature award?

From what I understand, the Golden Globes are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and while it carries a fair amount of gravitas (often being cited as a predictor for the Oscars), it is a somewhat less formal affair. At least the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tries to make the Oscars appear to be the pinnacle of a tasteful awards ceremony, in spite of the best efforts of the writers.

Having a kid (and according to my Dad, you’re not really an adult until you can grow a moustache) present the animated award says more to the public at large about animation than anything else the industry can seem to do to prove otherwise. This is despite the inclusion of The Illusionist, which sits firmly outside the mainstream Hollywood offerings.

It’s somewhat disheartening, I mean, it’s Justin Bieber, the kid who got famous from YouTube and whose record company is undoubtedly ripping him off as we speak, and why the Golden Globes?! The Nickelodeon Kid Choice Awards seem more appropriate, and even then they haul out a few big-time celebrities to present an award and get slimed.

If anything, the decision to use him smacks of laziness on the part of the producers, who obviously were looking for a kid-friendly host for a supposedly kid-friendly category. It once again brings to the fore the argument that animation is a genre rather than an artform and castigates animators and fans alike for even liking an animated film.

Thankfully though, animated films tend to speak in cash rather than gold, so while the artform may be continuing to struggle for recognition from adults, it can confidently say that on average, the films are far more profitable.

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The Unexpected Bonus of Netflix Instant Streaming

2 Comments / Animation, IT /

Via: Toon Nation.net

While I was vaguely aware that Netflix has a fairly comprehensive repertoire of animated films and TV shows, I’d never actually spent the time to go through and see what was there. That’s all changed thank to the Roku box we got for Christmas, which has spurred me to take a deeper look at what can and cannot be watched, animation-wise, on Netflix.

While there are the usual suspects on there: plenty of anime, the latest blockbusters, there are also plenty of hidden gems. For example there are some of Don Bluth’s classics in there, some old-school DreamWorks before they switched to a CGI-only studio, independent stuff like Mary & Max and even some of Ralph Bakshi’s more (in)famous works.

It’s safe to say that I have my work cut out for me over the next couple of months as I wade through all the classics and non-classics alike in the all -you-can-eat buffet that is Netflix. Such availability will only prove beneficial to these films as they gain a wider exposure through Netflix than they ever could have on DVD.

So what are you waiting for, Netflix normally offer a free trial of some sort, so head on over now and check it out. You’ve nothing to lose by doing so,

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Weekly Weblink: Shane Glines’ Cartoon Retro

Link /

I’ve decided that from now on, Saturday is going to be a link-sharing day. I have literally hundreds of links residing in my bookmarks folder and my RSS reader and it would be a great shame to keep them all for myself.

This new series of posts will most likely supersede the “Anomaly Approved” series because they take so long to do and it has been increasingly difficult to find the extended amount of time it takes to put one together. So form now on, if I recommend you visit a blog, it’s because I read it myself and therefore approve of it wholeheartedly!

Without further adieu, the first in this new series is the blog, Cartoon Retro, of Shane Glines. Besides posting work in that imitable style of his, there are also plenty of old comics to be found that Shane thinks represent the best when it comes to poses and drawing skill; a veritable treasure trove for fans of the old classics.

Although the posts are infrequent, the wait is always worth it. I also highly recommend checking out Glines’ website that has more of a portfolio emphasis which you will undoubtedly want to take time perusing.

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Mark Evanier on "Voice Over Matter"

Uncategorized /

As much as I try and read all, or at least a majority of Mark’s posts, when time is not on your side, you often have to choose which posts you read based on their title. As soon as I saw “Voice Over Matter” however, I knew it was worth a look. In it, Mark recalls the story of how a famous voice-actor (Mark Elliott) came in to do some work and was there a grand total of 3 minutes, for which he was paid a tidy sum. It’s not a long piece, and while I recommend you check it out, the defining quote is this:

One of the crew guys grumbled a bit and said, “You paid him all that money for three minutes work?” Before I could say anything, the director said, “No, we pay him all that money because it only takes him three minutes.”

It makes me wonder why some studios insist on using celebrity voices when there’s clearly no advantage (cost or otherwise) to using them.

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OMG It’s The Ricky Gervais Show Season 2!

Animation, TV /

Via: RIckyGervais.com (duh)

So, yes, I got a pleasant e-mail from Mike last week informing me that the new season of the Ricky Gervais Show will premiere tonight (Friday, Jan. 14th) at 9pm on HBO. Not that this post is some unabashedly promoted one (I am still waiting on my cheque after all), I happen to like Ricky Gervais and while his brand of comedy can be sometimes cringe-inducing, it is nonetheless funny.

What the show does highlight is the ability of animation to adapt to real-life situations rather well. It’s been done before by Aardman Animation with the very successful Creature Comforts, in which conversations with members of the public are turned into claymation scenes featuring animals, all in a very British style of course. The Ricky Gervais Show is similar, except that is uses irreverent podcasts from the man himself where he discusses various bits of nonsense with his partners in crime, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington.

I bring up all of this because it harks back to the early days of animated shows on TV and the derogatory label they gained as a result of their move to this new medium: illustrated radio.

Basically, illustrated radio was a way of looking down on the kind if limited animation that Hanna-Barbera became known for. Of course they had a good reason for using it as they couldn’t afford anything else! Critics, however, pounced on this and were keen to point out that there wasn’t much to be gained by adding some moving pictures to the sound.

The Ricky Gervais Show is basically an animated conversation, which in a way, is exactly the accusation that was levelled at Huckleberry Hound all those years ago. The difference now, is that the writing has improved and takes centre stage over the animation.

Although podcasts allow the listener to let their imaginations run wild, a show like that of Ricky Gervais’ has proven to be successful as animation and is proof that good writing and inventive, companion animation can go along hand in hand. Below is the obligatory video that features the trailer for the second season.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWcYW8pmGaI]

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Animators I Follow on Twitter

Animation /

As a twitter user, one of the joys of the service is the ability to interact with people you otherwise might not be able to. Yes, you could listen to the random ramblings of various celebrities, but there are plenty of normal people on there too, and they are immensely more interesting.

There are plenty of animation folks on there for a start, and if you are looking for a nicely curated list of the best, look no further than the Cartoon Brew Twitter Directory, which contains dozens of noted, famous and otherwise talented animators, producers and studios.

What I’m posting today, however, is a list of people I follow. Now I will admit that even though I’ve been on Twitter for almost two years, I’m still learning and constantly discovering new people to follow or people who I didn’t know were on Twitter. Some are famous, most are not.

However, following people is not about how famous they are or are not, it’s about what they have to say, and I think I can safely say that the people below represent a diverse section of the animation industry, from the big boys down to the independents, so I get a pretty wide view of the happenings in animation on a daily basis. OK, sure, there are some people who don’t update very often, but that should not discourage you from following them. They might say something interesting someday, and you will want to be listening when they do; there’s no disadvantage to be had by adding them to your ‘following’ list.

Of course, if you’re already on twitter, all you have to do is follow my animators list, or my animation industry list, which features the studios.

Here is the list, presented in absolutely no order whatsoever, although while it most likely approximates when I began following them, it in no way represents what I think of them or how important I think they are. One note though, I have not included people who have protected their profiles as they’ve done so for a reason and the last thing they need is a whole bunch of invites they didn’t ask for.

 

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