Animation Show of Shows

Article written by Linda Beck.

 

If you didn’t make it to Ron Diamond’s Animation Show of Shows, here’s the program of animated shorts you missed:

“Photograph of Jesus” – Laurie Hill/Basil Stephens

“The Da Vinci Time Code” – Gil Alkabetz

“Volgens de Vogels (According to Birds)” – Linde Fass

“Santa:  The Fascist Years” – Bill Plympton/Biljana Labovic

“El Empleo (The Employment)” – Santiago “Bou” Grasso/Patricia Plaza

“Nuvole, Mani” –Simone Massi/Rob Dyens & Aurélia Prévieu

“The Spine” – Chris Landreth/Marcy Page, Steve Hoban, Mark Smith, Robert Munroe, & David Verrall

“Chick” – Michael Socha/Paltge Image/Marcin Kobylecki

“Partly Cloudy” – Peter Sohn/Kevin Reher

“Runaway” – Cordell Barker/Michael Scott & Derek Mazur

The HBO Theatre on Avenue of the Americas between 42^nd and 43^rd Streets is super swanky and was able to accommodate, in a separate screening room, standing-room-only guests.

The ten hand-picked films, which will be available in a dvd set for purchase at next year’s Animation Show of Shows, make up a diverse collection, both in medium and origin.  3D, Compositing, and drawn are all strongly represented, however if Stop Motion’s your thing, you won’t find it here.   There are two selections from both the U.S. and Canada, with England, Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Italy, and Poland filling in the remaining slots. It’s a solid grouping.

Most of you will have seen “Santa:  The Facist Years”, animated and produced in a sickeningly short amount of time, if I’m remembering correctly, by Plymptoons, and “Partly Cloudy”, the latest offering from the folks over at Pixar.

My short list of other films you shouldn’t miss include:

“Photographs of Jesus”, a documentary with animation about a stock photo and video facility and their incoming requests for, as you might gather from the title, pictures of Jesus, footage of yetis, and other impossible, nonexistent items.

“Volgens de Vogels (According to Birds)” is a beautifully drawn meditation and offers a nice mental break.

And “Runaway”, about an out-of-control train, is just pure GENIUS.

Thanks to Ron, his staff, and his volunteers, for this terrific event!

 

Mary and Max

Article written by Josh Weisbrod.

Being an animator, and finding myself in the company of other animators more often than not, I tend to see a wide range of social quirks and eccentricities.  Living in New York in and of itself is basically akin to plunging oneself into a social experiment– there are so many people in such close proximity to each other, everyone a little off-kilter– some who obsess, some who overeat, some who can’t see any beauty in themselves, and many who are lonely.

The other night I was fortunate enough to attend the ASIFA screening of Adam Elliot’s feature-length stop-motion film Mary and Max– a character study of two very different people separated by thousands of miles who find a common ground as “pen-friends.”  Mary is a young girl in Australia, socially outcast, chubby, and with no less curiosity about the world around her than any other child her age.  Max is a much older man living in New York– also socially outcast, morbidly obese, and diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of autism characterized by social difficulty and a narrow range of interests).  On a technical level, it’s a beautiful movie and an astounding achievement– every character, object, and special effect is real and tangible!  As far as the story goes, Mary and Max is not only as intricate and detailed an exploration into social disorders as any I’ve seen– it’s also very funny, oftentimes depressing, and at certain points it becomes very intense and even a little bit frightening.

By the time the film ended, I was emotionally exhausted, in a way.  Perhaps it’s a testament to how well-made the movie was, but I had become very involved with both of the main characters– at any point in the film, they were either me or somebody I know– and, as I’m sure was Mr. Elliot’s intention, it was very difficult at times to watch people I know go through anxiety attacks, body image issues, and bouts of loneliness.  Of course, this was offset by the very hopeful theme that a friendship– and a very deep and lasting one, at that– can exist across infinite distances, age gaps and circumstances– that common ground exists even between the two completely disparate people.

The angle the film took on Asperger’s Syndrome was what I found the most interesting.  Max and Mary discuss it at length during a portion of the movie, and it even becomes a driving force in Mary’s life for a while, as she tries to make strides to understand and cure Max’s disorder.  Max, however, does not want to be cured– and it’s not that he enjoys having Asperger’s as much as it is that he can’t picture a world without it: “[It] would be like changing the color of my eyes.”  Asperger’s Syndrome is far from the only social disorder explored in the film– both characters are rife with them– and in fact, as an exploration of social disorders, it is as detailed as any movie, animated or otherwise.

Mary and Max was an entertaining, informative, and emotionally-involving film, with characters I felt like I knew personally.  Anyone who’s ever had an anxiety attack, been teased, or wanted a friend would be doing themselves a favor by seeing it.  Of course, everyone else would probably have a good time, too.

Queens International Film Festival

The Queens International Film Festival is in two weeks and will feature a number of New York Animators.  So far, I’ve noticed our own Communications guy Elliot Cowan, David Sheahan, and Don Hertzfeldt.  I’m sure I missed a few, so be sure to let us know in the comments area.  Most of the animation is being shown on Friday November 13, with day and evening programs.   I think I’ll be getting a full Friday day pass myself, and bring back dear memories of Ottawa.  The festival features the work on many talented live-action directors as well, and I encourage you to check the line-up out.  I went last year and it was a lot of fun.  – Dayna Gonzalez

November 12-15, 2009

For Friday’s schedule and other days, see here:  http://www.queensfilmfestival.com/showtimes/day.asp?day=2

ASIFA-East presents – An Evening of Calendars and Films

November 12th, Thursday  7pm

Join us as we screen films by 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, and sell our first-ever ASIFA-East 12-month calendar featuring art from these same superstars of NY Animation.

The full-color calendars, which make a great holiday gift (hint! hint!), are priced at $10 each.  All proceeds go to ASIFA-East and count as a charitable donation on your taxes.

Cash only, please.

Admission:  FREE!

SVA
School Of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd Street
Fifth floor, Rm. 502
(Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave)
NYC

ToonBoom and Animazing Gallery…Two Snaps Up!!!

For those of you young’ins who don’t get the Two Snaps Up reference, please see Men On Film.

Report by Dayna Gonzalez.

The makers of ToonBoom spoke to a packed house Tuesday night at the Animazing Gallery in Soho, New York.  They were in town to promote their slate of animation programs, specifically ToonBoom’s Animate.  I can’t possibly go into all the details on why this program looks so awesome, but it may have a lot to do with the fact that it’s the only comprehensive animation program completely dedicated to meeting the needs of animation professionals in the best ways possible.   The seminar was very informative  – a brief overview of the company’s history was offered, followed by coverage of ToonBoom’s product line, with the most in-depth attention given to Animate, and Animate Pro.  ToonBoom’s reps tried to answer as many questions as possible, and were very engaged with the audience.  ToonBoom is widely used overseas and up North in Canada, and they are looking to expand into the US market.  Almost 100% of Disney’s Princess and the Frog was done using ToonBoom’s software, and it’s truly amazing what this software package can do.   It would be great to see this program used more here in the US, but I’d say the major drawback may be the expense involved.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but key programs are sold separately and the programs themselves are kind of expensive for even the ordinary independent animator.   The discount offered at the event for Animate was decent though, and I would suggest looking into the program to see if it’s right for you.  It definitely blows Flash away, which was certainly not made with animators in mind.  I could see how the program could speed up a workflow immensely.

A quick note about the venue – The event was held at Animazing Gallery, which is a really great art gallery featuring animation art.  The current exhibit is focused on the art of Maurice Sendak, creator of Where the Wild Things Are. The exhibit is wonderful and you should really go check it out before it finishes on November 8th.  The event was originally supposed to be at a bar that holds regular animation events, but since this event was more of an informational seminar, the bar atmosphere would not have been ideal.  The wine and hors d’oeuvres were a nice touch as well.

Animazing Gallery

ToonBoom

Local Animation Talents Get All Pretty at Beauty Bar

Article by Katie Cropper.

This past Thursday, I had the pleasure of going to Asifa’s most hybrid and fem-powered event in recent history. With the combined powers of One Plus Hub, Women In Animation, ASIFA East, and Women in Children’s Media, a lush collection of New York talent convened at the Beauty Bar here in downtown New York. The music was kept at just the right volume and the manicurist was in a whole other room so that it was an optimal network environment. It was also exciting to hear of the wide variety of projects people were working on or building up to. Though a good number seemed to be between jobs, I think the best thing one can do with the new found free time is to go to these kinds of events and work on personal projects. I went to this event knowing somewhat little of the women’s organizations ASIFA teamed up with. Who knew there was such an organized female presence in animation here in New York? Jill Gilbert of One Plus Hub deserves a good bit of praise for bringing these 3 groups together for a night among friends, comrades, and possible co-workers. The post prior to this gives a few details on what each of the organization is all about. Also the event was well attended by both sexes so please consider supporting/joining the event’s sponsors Women in Animation, Women in Children’s Media, and of course ASIFA-East.

Animate More for Less – New Venue

Animate “More for Less” Event in New York

Please note that the venue has changed to Animazing Gallery.  Which has a Where the Wild Things Exhibit going on!! 

Stop flashing around.

Host:	Toon Boom
Type:	Meetings – Club/Group Meeting
Network:	Global

Date:	Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Time:	7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location:	The Animazing Gallery
Street:	54 Greene Street (Corner of Greene and Broome)
City/Town:	New York, NY

Phone:	5149098142
Email:	joseph@toonboom.com

Description

Toon Boom CEO Joan Vogelesang and CTO Francisco Del Cueto will be presenting “More for Less”. As the animation software global leader, Toon Boom is well placed within the animation network.Come and learn about the current state of the worldwide animation industry and find out directly how you can access our global corporate network. The best animation talent lies right here in North America! Let us examine together how we can maximise your potential through Animate.

Francisco will demonstrate why Animate is quickly being recognized as the tool of choice by animators and studios around the world. A preview of Toon Boom Storyboard Pro will be shown.

Exclusive $399.99 Animate vouchers for attendees. Appetizers and drinks will be served. This event is FREE.

Attendance prize: one copy of Toon Boom Animate.

See why more and more people are migrating to Animate…