Charles Solomon writes of a one-woman animation studio:
Nina Paley wrote, directed, drew and bought the music rights for her feature, based on an ancient Hindu epic.
Paley completed "Sita Sings the Blues" in three years on a budget of about $200,000: $80,000 in production costs and $120,000 "for food and rent and things like that." ... [C]ommentators believe that "Sita" represents a new paradigm: Computer technology has become so powerful and affordable that an individual with sufficient talent can make a full-length film. ...
Mr. Ted Petok, Academy Award winning cartoonist, dies.
Ted Petok, a metro Detroit cartoonist and illustrator who won an Academy Award for an animated film about a shaggy feathered bird, died Tuesday of coronary artery disease in Rockville, Md. He was 93. ...
... "The Crunch Bird," an animated short about a cranky bird with a voracious appetite, was less than three minutes long and was produced and directed by Mr. Petok ...
After his Oscar success, Mr. Petok formed a distribution company and went on to make dozens of animated shorts, including 1974's "The Mad Baker." It starred a mad scientist and his creation, a monstrous chocolate cake. ...
The Times of Los Angeles details the censoring of South Park:
... [A]fter an ominous threat from a radical Muslim website, the network that airs the program bleeped out all references to the prophet Muhammad in the second of two episodes set to feature the holy figure dressed in a bear costume. The incident provides the latest example that media conglomerates are still struggling to balance free speech with safety concerns and religious sensitivities, six years after Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was slain for making a film critical of Islamic society. ...
And the same newspaper lists the big summer movies, many of which appear to be of the animated variety:
May 21: "Shrek Forever After" ( DreamWorks Animation). The fourth — and promised last — installment in the mammoth ogre franchise could well be one of summer's most popular releases. ...
June 18: "Toy Story 3" (Pixar/Disney). Tom Hanks and Tim Allen's first talking plaything movie launched the computer animation revolution in 1995, and the third film in the series is the first in the franchise to be designed, made and exhibited with 3-D in mind ...
July 9: "Despicable Me" (Universal). The first animated movie from the new alliance between Chris Meledandri's Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios, it's among the very few original 3-D movies this summer. Steve Carell plays Gru, an accomplished thief whose plans to steal the moon are altered after he meets three orphan girls ...
July 30: "Cats & Dogs 3: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" (Warner Bros.). ... A sequel to a 2001 movie about talking animals, the new "Cats & Dogs" combines the spy antics of "G-Force" with the preternaturally loquacious creatures of "Babe." ...
Mr. Kennedy offers "A Kick in the Head, Part !V" ... also the drawings (one directly above) handed out by animator Glen Keane at a Cal Arts lecture.
... [A] drawing that works three dimensionally is always more solid and will always be a stronger drawing ... Obviously, if you're animating in 2D it's extremely important because as you animate your character needs to feel like its sitting in real space and if you can't draw your character from every angle then you'll never be able to turn them around as they move. But as more and more people animate in 3D this is becoming a lost discipline, I fear. ...
And director/animator Will Finn offers a related tutorial:
... Silhouette is one of those rules that is so important, so fundamental, that it isn't just important to animation: it is essential to clarity in all graphic art, including painting, sculpture and photography. I confess like many "bullheads" when I first heard about it: I immediately questioned whether it was 100 per cent valid in every circumstance. After all, when we are animating, we will have to draw many angles of a figure and many phases of action. ...
Have yourself a restful Sabbath.
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3 comments:
"[C]ommentators believe that "Sita" represents a new paradigm: Computer technology has become so powerful and affordable that an individual with sufficient talent can make a full-length film."
The major problem faced by small independent feature films (and Sita is as independent as they come) continues to be the problem of DISTRIBUTION. A feature film can be made by an individual or a very small group of artists , but will it ever be seen outside of the niche market of film festival aficionados ?
I've seen "Sita Sings the Blues" and it's a very entertaining film. The "little engine that could" story of the behind-the-scenes making of the film is fascinating in itself, but I can't help wondering how much wider audience this fine film could have found with proper distribution.
"Sita Sings The Blues" is wonderful. I'm so happy it's a success.
"Sita" certainly got a look by many possible distributors. They didn't bite because they didn't think it would sell.
Although to filmmakers it's an interesting example of what can be done, to movie ticket-buyers it would only have niche interest.
The major problem faced by independent film makers who want wide commercial distribution is to come up with subjects that will support wide commercial ticket buying.
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