The Exposure Sheet has moved!

As of February 1st, the Exposure Sheet has moved to http://asifaeast.com/ExposureSheet/.  Please update your bookmarks!

ASIFA-East Launches the aNYmator Online February 1st!!

WE HAVE A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

ASIFA-East is very excited to announce the upcoming debut of the aNYmator online! Moving from print to online, the aNYmator will feature a full team of bloggers reporting on the animation industry. Come February 1st, we are expanding to cover much more than the usual events reportage seen on the Exposure Sheet –– everything from film reviews, to feature articles, to member’s animation. Richard Gorey will be our new Features Blogger, covering all feature articles and stories, including posting articles from our membership. Elliot Cowan will be our Community Blogger, posting links to members’ news and animation. Dayna Gonzalez will continue in her role as Blog Manager and Events Blogger, handling all reporting on local animation industry events. The Exposure Sheet will be hosted on our website at www.asifaeast.com. Along with the Exposure Sheet, the aNYmator will include Animondays from ASIFA-East President David B. Levy, The International Update from our International Representative, Ray Kosarin, the Events Calendar, and archived original aNYmator print publications.

We hope you are as excited as we are about our upcoming launch, and look forward to your participation in the aNYmator online!

Animation, animation, animation.

Article written by Elliot Cowan.

We live and breath it every day, but the majority of us are, for the most part,  active in only a small part of this vast medium. There’s a big wide world of animation out there and ASIFA-East invited some of that world to come and chat. Last Tuesday, the 19th, a panel of representatives from five of New York’s top CGI and FX houses was hosted by Linda Beck.

The panelists were:

Lucien Harriot of Mechanism Digital

Mechanism played two reels for us. The first was a collection of their 3D and live action compositing, consisting mostly of work completed for educational purposes – History Channel etc. The second reel was a compilation of shots from film and television projects that needed some kind of digital “touch up” – adding snow, changing the color of a outfit, removing something from a scene. Everyone loves this kind of thing, I think.

Joe Burrascano of Nathan Love

Joe showed us a terrific collection of television commercials and a short film project with lots of blood and guts. Their work features lots of character animation in a variety of styles. The suicidal cabbage was done in an especially nice painterly style and was animated beautifully.

Scott Stewart of SpeakeasyFX

SpeakeasyFX most recently produced a whacking great slab of terrific character animation for Seasame Workshop’s new Abby’s Flying Fairy School series. It was a delight to see the traditional Sesame puppets reproduced in CG with all their fur and whispy hair intact.

Michael Feder of Hornet Inc

Hornet represents a large collection of directors, each with an individual style. The reel they played for was very much in the “something for everyone” vein. Hornet is really the only studio who tackle 2D character animation on a regular basis – most of what we saw was Flash or After Effects (or both) based.

David Hullin of Framestore

If you weren’t at the event, chances are you’ve seen a great deal of what David showed us. Framestore is an international CG company which produces high end photorealistic animation for commercials and film and television projects.

A range of topics was discussed – What does each studio produce? What do they look for in a potential employee? What kind of reel do they like to see? Are they interested in 2D animation? What software do they use? etc. etc. etc.

When there are five people on a panel, there are going to be several responses to these questions, so I’ll try and sum up the main points as neatly as possible.

Commercials, television work, games and film production (animation and effects) are the three main areas of business for these guys – with some studios interested in pursuing their own properties. Framestore released The Tale of Desperaux last year and David Hullin mentioned they were working on something new. Joe Burrascano of Nathan Love showed played a short, visceral animated horror film – perhaps they’ll expand on it sometime. Michael from Hornet briefly discussed a handful of things they’re hoping to expand into bigger projects.

With the exception of Hornet (a studio with working with a collection of directors, each with their own individual style), traditional hand drawn skills are not entirely sought by the CG industry. Your reel should be a reasonable length (well under 5 minutes) and contain your best work. For the most part, 3D studios are using Maya with a few minor exceptions. There appears to be a lack of CG animators in NYC (ironic, really). Most studios had dabbled in iPhone applications but the general consensus was that although it’s a growing market, it still has a long way to go before it’s a regular revenue stream.

It was an interesting evening. The CG and effects world has, for the most part, little to do with most everyday working NY animators. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. I’m not suggesting that everyone should rush out and learn Maya (although it would be useful, I’m sure), but I do think we had five opportunities to make contact with new people who are related to our industry and I think contacts are a very precious thing.

Huge, extra special thanks to Linda C. Beck who organized the evening and moderated the panel. Linda C. Beck, rocks.

The Secret of Kells Review

Article by Katie Cropper.

Pardon this review if you’ve already read the thoroughly well written review by Charles Kenny, I’ll try to take another perspective on this one. On Wednesday night, The Children’s International Film Festival hosted a screening night at the Soho House in Hell’s Kitchen. The screening room was small and I happened to be 15 minutes late and missed out on what ended up being the most comfortable leather seats I have ever sat in (for the credits, that is). I digress, sitting on the floor did not hamper the mystical experience that is The Secret of Kells.

I have to say it has been an incredible year for smaller budget and independent animated features. The main reason for this small screening was to get some buzz built up for the upcoming award season. The Secret of Kells really is a unique film because the quality on a whole is so high. Often films have to sacrifice in places where they just couldn’t make up the money. The design, sound, performance, compositing, and writing were on par with work big name studios with bigger budgets and much larger staff have produced. Now onto the film; The Secret of Kells is a story about a young orphan boy named Brendan living in a walled in town named Kells. Brendan is being raised by his stern and protective uncle who also happens to be the abbot, Cellach. One day Brother Aidan shows up in Kells after his own town, Iona, after it had been destroyed by the norsemen (Vikings). Brother Aidan feeds the wild and bright imagination of Brendan and takes him on as an apprentice to learn illuminated calligraphy. Much to the disapproval of the abbot whose main concern is to prepare for the impending attack of the norsemen on Kells.

Throughout the story, our young protagonist ventures into the forest on missions for Brother Aidan where our magical mystery tour takes off. It is in the forestry scenes where the art direction of the film really comes to life. The stylization is really prominent from the first frame of the whole film, especially in the forest and interaction with our nymph friend named Aisling. Though there is a clear flat style to the layouts and patterns throughout the film (inspired by the book of Kells itself), often the screen is broken in sections, and the movement of the characters through the shot define the space or imply mystical vastness or passage of time. No part of the screen was ignored and each layout seems so incredibly planned. I fell in love with the dense shots just as much as the more minimal.

The design of the film may have been distracting upon the first look, but by the end of the film it was all just so cohesive. The character animators were definitely taking on a modern sense of weight and smoothness of action. The costume design and hair movement added to the whimsical performances. I could have used some more subtlety in some of the performances.

The music and sound design of Kells were perfectly paired. The only possible low point I could find was with the song Aisling sings to cast a spell over Brendan’s pet cat Pangur. It just felt strangely long or out of place somehow. The Secret of Kells also leaves the book that is the main focus of the film, to be somewhat mysterious though it has clearly holy and powerful meaning to Brendan. Considering the film was about the protection of the Christian gospels, there wasn’t an overwhelming presence of religion in the film. It played more to the allegory of good versus evil, or dark versus light. The look of the norsemen in comparison to the innocent villagers is a stunning contrast. I left the film wanting more a little. The conclusion of the film felt a bit rushed whereas the beginning and the forest scenes were well paced.

I applaud Cartoon Saloon for putting together a feast for the eyes, as well as a warming experience of the human will through times of hardship and invasion. It isn’t often we see animated films showing the experiences of refugees living in fear and finding light in dark times. A triumph for Ireland’s film community.  A great film.

ASIFA-East Presents: The Business of Being an Artist

Steven Zelin, The Singing CPA

Steven Zelin is the Singing CPA. He writes and performs funny songs about taxes and accounting, and he’s been a certified public accountant for over 10 years. He started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers and currently is the principal of a practice specializing in providing high quality tax and accounting services to individuals, small businesses and non-profit organizations. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Nightline, The New York Daily News and many radio shows. He is a regular guest speaker at SVA and teaches Accounting at Long Island University. Mr. Zelin has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Fordham University.

He will join us on Feb 19 to discuss (and sing about) the business of being an artist with a focus on taxes as April 15th approaches. He will walk us through an interactive exercise in preparing a tax return, give advice on record keeping for artists, and provide resources on how you could get your tax returns prepared for free. Bring your tax questions to what is sure to be an entertaining event!

Steven Zelin, The Singing CPA
Friday Feb 19,  7 PM
SVA 209 E. 23rd Street
Room 502, 5th Floor
Admission: Free
www.theSingingCPA.com

ASIFA-East presents – A Spotlight on CGI & FX Studios

January 19th, Tuesday  7pm

ASIFA-East presents - A Spotlight on CGI & FX Studios

Join representatives from NYC’s leading CGI and FX Houses in a panel discussion about current work trends and what they look for in forming partnerships with artists and producers like you.

Admission:  Free!

SVA
School Of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd Street
(Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave)
3rd Fl, Amphitheater
NYC

Order ASIFA-East’s First 12 Month Calendar of NYC Animation Legends!

ORDER YOUR VERY OWN ASIFA-EAST (full color) 12 MONTH WALL CALENDER NOW!

With original artwork by a who’s-who of NYC animation legends, this calender will delight and inspire you to have a very animated 2010! Featuring artwork from: Bill Plympton, John Dilworth, Michael Sporn, Mo Willems, Kristy Caracas, Candy Kugel, George Griffin, Emily Hubley, Debra Solomon, Signe Baumane, Jennifer Oxley, and Xeth Feinberg.

Your order counts as a charitable donation on your taxes and all proceeds go to ASIFA-East.
PS- Makes a great holiday gift! Hint! Hint!

Make checks payable to:
ASIFA-East

Amount of:
$13.00

Send checks to:
ASIFA-East c/o
David Levy
135 Ashland Place, Apt.7C
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Be sure to include a return address for us to mail the calender to.