Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Conversation with Joe Grant

This is a great interview with Disney Storyman Joe Grant. The audio sync is a few frames off but it's worth a listen!

 Part 1 and Part 2













Sunday, July 25, 2010

'Virtual human' Milo

Microsoft has shown off its "virtual human" that reacts to a person's emotions, body movements and voice. 
 full article here: BBC News 'Virtual Human'

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

SHOCK: Pixar isn't making 'Planes'?












No shocker here -- Disney will be outsourcing animation on their new project 'Planes' to India?

more here via Bleeding Cool: It Isn’t Pixar Making The Cars Spin-Off



Monday, July 19, 2010

A History of Aardman











Aardman

These featurettes are just awesome! They have some great archival footage from the early days of Aardman and excellent commentary on the studio's history!


A History of Aardman: Episode 1 - The Early Days 




A History of Aardman: Episode 2 - The Birth of Morph




A History of Aardman: Episode 3 - Early Lip-Synching Work




A History of Aardman: Episode 4 - Pete and Dave Meet Nick Park!




A History of Aardman: Episode 5 - The Move into Commercials




A History of Aardman Episode 6: Making feature Films! 

 

Friday, July 16, 2010

Pascal Campion on Illustration & Storytelling










This is a great interview with story artist and illustrator Pascal Campion. 

Pascal Campion: blog, website, storybird gallery





thanks Oz for the ref!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Of Muppets and Men: The Making of 'The Muppet Show' (1981)











I've been trying to scrounge up some good material on Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Mostly to glean some incite into how they puppeteered their characters. Found this 'Making of The Muppet Show' from 1981! It's pretty amazing!

Of Muppets and Men: The Making of 'The Muppet Show'


Saturday, July 10, 2010

FLIP ANIM: studios requiring tests for jobs






This months article on the 'FLIP animation' site talks about how studios are requiring more industry veterans to do tests for jobs. It's an interesting read!

The Test Pattern





Friday, July 09, 2010

New Oscar Rules 'Mocap Isn't Animation'




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LOS ANGELES — The visual-effects category has gotten an upgrade at the next Academy Awards ceremony.
The board of governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences increased the number of nominees to five, up from three, at the 83rd awards show next Feb. 27.
The switch brings more awards attention to visual effects, which play a bigger role in Hollywood blockbusters as digital-animation technology continues to advance.
Since 1996, the visual-effects category has featured only three nominees, including last year's winner, the science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar."
The academy also announced Thursday some changes to the feature-animation category, including shortening the minimum running-time for animated contenders to greater than 40 minutes. That's down from the previous minimum of 70 minutes.
The change brings the animation rules in line with the minimum running times in other feature-film categories.
The new rules include language to clarify what constitutes an animated film, stating that "motion capture by itself is not an animation technique."
Motion-capture records performances by live actors wearing special suits covered with sensor dots that are read by digital cameras. The technology was used as the foundation for alien characters in "Avatar," the great ape in "King Kong" and the Gollum character in "The Lord of the Rings" films.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

BIG BANG BIG BOOM -by BLU

I saw some of his work during a visit to London last year! I think it was near a gas station in Camden Town. Cool stuff!

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.