2009-12-23

Best of 2009!

Closing out the new year, I thought I would reflect on posts I have made in 2009 and create a "greatest hits," here. It was kind of fun to go through all of my old posts and see what has happened in animation over the past year. I have never done this before and it was like finding little Easter eggs. These arr MY favorites. I welcome you to share yours in the comments!

Here are my top favorite posts from 2009.
Hope you all have a Happy Holiday and a great New Year!


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Link



Read more here about the creative behind it Yoann Lemoine
Simple, gorgeous story.


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#9 La Marche des Sans-Nom 10.20.09




weird and pretty and awesome...

student film by Jean Constantial,
Nicolas Laverdure
& Lucas Vigroux
Supinfocom 2006
Music by Mathias Guerrero


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#8 FX Guide Interviews Scott Ross 12.18.09





Scott Ross Interview FX Podcast


Listen



Dec 11, 2009
- Industry pioneer Scott Ross is our guest as we talk about visual effects history and the future of the business.


The good stuff starts around 19 minutes!!!

Every single artist working in CG, Animation
and VFX should listen to this interview.



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#7 Secret World 08.16.09


I hope I don't find of those in my apartment one day...
http://www.darkdaysarecoming.com






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#6 Gervais and Elmo




Gervais always makes me laugh and
if you read the blog,
you know how I feel about muppets.

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#5 Zoologic 03.24.09








So cute!


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#4 Be Nice to Cartoonists 03.27.09













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#3 Carlsberg Sport - Penguin 05.19.09







Carlsberg Sport - Penguin


My friend Jonas was Sup on this spot
it made me giggle :)
Enjoy!
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#2 Tarboy 11.18.09



...love, love, love this

Tarboy is an animated short film about fighting robots, explosions and more fighting robots. Original score composed and performed by Hania Lee. See more on www.tarboy.com


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#1 Short Animation -ALARM 08.11.09






My all time fav post from 2009!

Great Animation (subtleties!!!), lighting, camera work, char design, the render!!!!

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Happy Holidays!!

xxxooo
Angie


Alma

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.


wowsie wow!

caaareeepyyyyyyyyyy!

Machinarium

This game reminds me of my Oddworld days.
The art is so kewl!


2009-12-21

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review

This takes some dedication to watch, but it is VERY funny.
Because he is right.
"A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing..." ~Lucas
Now, I am curious about the guy who spent all the time making this thing!















Ralph Bakshi: Surviving In Tough Times



Legendary animation director, Ralph Bakshi discusses how he survived the collapse of theatrical animation and offers tips to current animators for how to succeed in the cartoon business. ( ASIFA-Hollywood / www.animationarchive.org / San Diego Comic-Con 2008 )

A52 / Elastic Spots

Adidas "Lesson in Style" from Elastic on Vimeo.



Honda Accord Crosstour "Instruments" from Elastic on Vimeo.



Honda Accord Crosstour "Boxes" from Elastic on Vimeo.


My buddies Kevin Culhane
and Andy Hall (Director)
have been rocking
some fun spots at A52...
check them out!


Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace]

Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace] from Henning Lederer on Vimeo.



2009-12-20

CH / CH



hot! i wanna see more!


2009-12-18

FX Guide Interviews Scott Ross




Scott Ross Interview FX Podcast


Listen


Dec 11, 2009 - Industry pioneer Scott Ross is our guest as we talk about visual effects history and the future of the business.


The good stuff starts around 19 minutes!!!

Cheaper - Faster - Better
The future of freelancers...

Awesome, awesome interview!
He tackles
runaway production,
driving the cost of VFX down,
winning an Oscar kills business,
the vfx biz,
and starting a VFX guild
vs. the role of the VES
...wowsie wow!




2009-12-16

Alice in Wonderland: Trailer 2

98793472398 1080 from E. Devin Vander Meulen II on Vimeo.



umm wow!

Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney, dies


LOS ANGELES – Roy E. Disney, the son and nephew of The Walt Disney Co. founders who twice led shareholder revolts that shook up the family business, died Wednesday. He was 79.

The Walt Disney Co. announced that Disney died in Newport Beach, California, after a bout with stomach cancer.

read more...



2009-12-15

Apps for Animators


Auditorium is the closest to my favorite game when I was a kid. Okay, anyone who knows me well knows I don't play video games and I am going to severely date myself...but, I loved the game Tempest at the arcade. This game is pretty like tempest AND you guide the flow of particles to make music. Lot's of fun and kind of hard!





I am not entirely sure I know how to play this game, but it keeps my friend's kids entertained for hours and is really cute.





Every animator out there breathing has heard of Simon's Cat, but have you see the nerw application for the iphone? You mak music with meows!!!

What are your favorite apps?


Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection

Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

MK Adagio from Eaton Crous Counterstrike

MK Adagio from Eaton Crous Counterstrike on Vimeo.


Credits:
Orijin
Creative Director: Leon Schoeman
Producer: Rudy Senate
Art Direction/Creative Director, Design, Animation and Post Production: Eaton Crous
Sound Design: Juice.

Produced by Orijin for MK, South Africa


Box Animation

Box Animation from Jordan Clarke on Vimeo.


I love this little short. I never went to animation school. I started out as a graphic design major before computers were even on the scene and you drew all of your type by hand. Then, I moved to a fine art school and got into drawing as a major. Finally, I evolved my interests into an "electronic arts" major whens my little art school got some machines.

So, I have been exploring more design oriented and motion graphics stuff lately and really liking how CG, VFX and design are influencing each other.



2009-12-14

Up Lookalike

this just cracked me "up"


2009-12-13

ANIMATING UNCLE ELEPHANT

ANIMATING UNCLE ELEPHANT from Joel Fletcher on Vimeo.


My friend Joel sent another video of stop mo animators at work!

My buddy Mike Belzer is in it!


I shot this mini-documentary of my fellow animators Justin Kohn, Kent Burton, Mark Kendrick, and Mike Belzer working on the film UNCLE ELEPHANT. Is this grown men playing with dolls or serious business? Clips from the finished film illustrate what they are doing. Videotaped at John Clark Matthew's studio in 1991. From the Fletcher art and movie archives.

joelfletcher.com



2009-12-12

Grickle Things Christmas Card

2009-12-11

The Passenger



Great Stuff!


2009-12-04

Creature Animation Course at Gnomon


I will be teaching a Creature Animation Course with very specific goals in January at Gnomon!

Creature Animation Course

Day Saturday
Time 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location Lab 2
Dates Jan 17th - March 21st
Length 10 Weeks
Prerequisites Character Animation 1 Character Animation 2
Software Used Autodesk Maya
Tuition $1,675

Apply and adapt traditional animation techniques to monsters and creatures

This class builds on what the artists learned in Character Animation 1 and 2 and addresses more specifically the mechanics of motion relating to film quality photo realistic or creature driven content. Students will take what they have learned in previous animation courses and learn how to show realistic weight shifts in the body and expand on a creature driven performance.

Exercises covered include a film quality animated creature cycle (bi-ped or quad) that moves from stop to full speed and then stop again (sliding, climbing, hit, attack, etc.) Another test will be a pure performance-driven film quality animation using a creature or human that aligns with photo-real timing, weight and motion. This class will push student tests to two final, finished creature pieces for their reel.

Online Registration

Tuition: $1,675