Desperate Doodle and Paul Driessen

Just desperate to post something.

I've been in hell. Last week I got stomach flu, and then suffered an acute medical reaction, which sent me to the hospital. I would prefer not to discuss it on this blog, however. Let's just say it was frightening, and I am happy I can still talk normally.

What should I post? Well, I have rekindled an interest in Dutch/Canadian animator/filmmaker Paul Driessen. One of my favorite independents, I hope to meet Mr. Driessen someday. He has a wonderful talent in telling very complex ideas in such a simple yet whimsical style. His animation style is very unique and unlike anything else. He accomplishes things I hope to accomplish. Using a very charming and whimsical style to tell stories and ideas that are unique and unusual. Here are two of his films.

The Killing of the Egg


The Boy Who Say The Iceberg


I have lost time and resumed working on my film, Parasite's Delight (as it is still called). I hope to have a couple of finished shots up here in a couple weeks. I worry about my schedule, but Andy London assures me that I have nothing to fear. And seeing how Andy handles these things, I should believe him.
Still I am desperate to do some non-thesis drawing. This was all I can muster up.

Hope to write again next week. Hopefully.

Ident ~ Aardman, 1989

This is a short film directed by Richard Goleszowski, and produced by Aardman Animation in 1989. It is remarkably different from other Aardman shorts, especially looking at it now.

I have been watching this short recently. I showed it to a friend, it was her first time seeing it, and it blew her away.

I love this short, and its a little hard to explain why. I think I just love the nonsensical nature of it. The gibberish and the actions are hysterical. It's a short film that works very well without a story. Pat Smith had a rant on his blog some time ago about how it is not always about story, but really the idea, or just the characters, or the visuals. In my opinion, there is no one source, it can be anything. It just depends on what comes first, and where that leads. Ident is a short that is very complete, and based solely on the idea and the visual.

Also, some exciting stuff over here. The Pratt Animation shows have been set up (a tremendous thanks to Fran Krause). We will have three showings, all in May. I will add more information if anyone out there is interested. Also, this coming week are screenings for the ASIFA-East festival this year. As a member, I have the privilege of casting my vote in the screening. I hope to have something to report on.

To all the Pratt animators

of 2008 that is....


It is late, and I have just come back from the studio here at Pratt. It’s one of those nights where I have lost all objectivity of my own work. I am at a point in my film where I am going through a lot of these episodes. I can't judge my own work, I can't seem to figure out if something is working, or if it will function to an audience (you have to be your own audience in these situations). When this happens, I run the risk of making animation that is unclear and compositions/shots that have too much or too little.

These episodes wear off, but I still need to talk about them. I hate losing objectivity in my own work. It causes me to lose motivation. We usually have critiques every Monday morning. Even though we can e-mail stuff to other people, we are not always motivated to do so. For me, my schedule is so tight, I am afraid to re-work a scene, I worry about losing time on the rest of the film (which I feel like I am). Everything has to be finished by May 1: eight months of work in a short film

I know schedules work differently for different independent animators. Some work fast enough to get at least one film done every year. Others pace themselves out for one or two years or more. But most of these animators, unlike most students, have employees/interns working for them. Even if it is only four or five people, it still provides plenty of objectivity for the directors.

I need more than one person to look at my work. At this point, until something evolves, I need some more objectives than what I usually get every week. Andy London, my thesis adviser, always spells out the challenges of making a film. His point are very clear, but I wish to hear ways to get around them, or accept them. How do we accept these challenges if we want to spend the rest of our lives working in film and/or animation?

I end this by spreading the blogs of some of my fellow animators.

Maya Edelman
Javan Ivey
Christopher Ko
Jen Lee
David (Dav-odd) Meehan
Dan Mountain
Isam Prado

I apologize for leaving anyone out. If they wish to be added, just let me know, and I will add you to the list.

The Cure showing off

I just got an idea for another post, but I don't know when I will write it. I figure I should post something for this week. I've wanted to post these for a while now.

Just a couple of music videos by the Cure, made in the 1980's. I really like these videos. Because they not only give the songs some nice illustration, but there's something real and exuberant about the band members' on-screen personalities. They are not professional actors, but they can show off like anybody else. I love watching people show off like this. Not showing off a strength, but showing the way one naturally moves. Non-sense motions like these make their way into my head when thinking of characters. It often gives me ideas of how to physically express a character's personality.

"The Walk" 1983

Of course, I love the songs too. Maybe that adds to my enjoyment of these early music videos. But I still think music videos should be made this way. They probably are, but the artist just isn't popular enough.

"Why Can't I Be You" 1986


Actually, I saw a new Radiohead video simply made up of video camera footage of the band recording the song. It looked a lot better than some of the stuff I am usually subjected to.

Sleep, Movies and Persepolis

This is a late post, and its not even the post I wanted to make. But my schedule is reaching that point. The point where I am working on my film into the early morning hours, and my sleep patterns get all screwed up. I originally wanted to do a post on Chuck Jones, but I didn't have enough time to put all the images together. So for now, I am throwing this together.


Amid Amidi, Cartoon Brew's other half and (now) New York commentator, posted something on Cartoon Brew last week that really excited me. It was an article written by David Levy for the ASIFA-East newsletter, about the rise of independent animated features coming from New York. Music to my ears. With Persepolis getting lots of attention, I side with Mr. Levy in seeing this as a sign of an on-coming revolution. An evolution in animated features. I suggest you read it.

Among the filmmakers mentioned are Michael Sporn, Bill Plympton, Nina Paley, Paul Fierlinger, and Dan Kanemoto. I am suprised Amid neglected to mention Pat Smith, as Pat is working on a feature of his own at the moment.


I visited Michael Sporn's studio months ago with a class. There, he informed us of a feature he was working on, based on Edgar Allen Poe. I hope it goes well, because as Sporn's style has evolved over the years, its got the potential to hold an audience's attention for more than an hour. And I think his style is a relaxing place to go to.



Nina Paley and Paul Fierlinger also have interesting films coming along. Nina Paley has a style that is quite charming and embracing, so I am very curious to see the very personal Sita Sings the Blues. And Paul Fierlinger managed to snag some top-notch British actors for his film about a man's relationship with his dog. Very impressive.


Bill Plympton has been making his own features for years. They have been quite rocky for him, however, as they seem to go in limbo when released, and never make much money. The image above is a feature he did four years ago, Hair High, which I saw and believe to be his best feature. His most recent feature, Idiots and Angels, might be a little more effort in embracing it. Still, its nice to have something different, and after hearing Mr. Plympton talk about it with us, its clear that he is thinking more like a filmmaker than an animator now.


In the midst of my depressing schedule, I managed to go see Persepolis. I saw it early at the Ottawa Festival back in September. It is truly unlike any other feature out there. Even though its directly based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel, its still refreshing to see an animated feature today that is black/white and introspective. It is a deeply moving and emotion story, with moments of wonderful humor. I know some animators have complained about the style of it. But the style makes the movie work, and its probably one of the more complete features of the last ten years.




The start of a revolution? I absolutely hope so.

Henpecked Hoboes (Tex Avery, 1946)

Why is this cartoon not on DVD? In fact, the Droopy Theatrical Collection is the only thing out there that has any of Fred "Tex" Avery's MGM cartoons.

What do I want to see? I think there should be a DVD set of Tex Avery's MGM cartoons from the 40's and 50's. I consider these particular cartoons to be among some of the finest work in the animation world. If anything, they are possibly among the best film making ever done. Unfortunately, these cartoons have taken some undeserved heap in our recent years of censorship and political embarrassment. But thankfully, the DVD releases of Droopy, Popeye, and the Looney Tunes collections have shined some light on the matter, and kept the cartoons as they were meant to be. I mean, for heaven's sake, you can't erase or improve history.

*The following has no in depth analysis or artistic breakdown like most bloggers show. It is simply a general enjoyment.*

I came across this cartoon recently. I haven't seen it in years, and now that I am older, there is so much more I see in it. I loved seeing this when I was little (when they still showed old cartoons on public television).


I now know that the characters of George and Junior are based on the two leads in Of Mice and Men (a very depressing read for me).














A satisfying ending: the stupid tramp gets her ass kicked.




This image is from Kevin Langley's blog, which I recently discovered. If you like this, I suggest checking his blog out.

On another note: if anybody reads this, I have a question. I am trying to figure out how to get quicktimes up here on the blog. I need to get my work up here while I try to figure out my web page. What is the recommended web host to do this?

My confession

I have been to two parties this week, and neglected my thesis twice. I was encouraged to go to one, and the other was a special occasion. I will illustrate one with photographs, and the other with doodles.


Drinking and Drawing

It was organized by Lee Rubenstein and Dan Meth. The original basis was to simply drink and then animate, and the animation would reflect your intoxication. Well, it seems the idea changed to simply gathering at a bar and creating an "animjam."

For those who don't know, an "anijam" is an animated piece made up of different segments each done by a different animator. When one animator finishes, the next picks up from the last drawing of the previous. It sounds a little confusing, but once you see one, its really quite simple. I love anijams, as they reflect individual artists in such a settle way. And I've always wanted to be part of one. The jam should be up on the Frederator site next week.














Jessica Plummer's So Long

Jessica Plummer is one of the best animators I know personally. There are many places she can go with her amazing drawing skills. One of those places appears to be Chicago. She is leaving New York for the time being to follow her boyfriend to Chicago, and she held a fond farewell bash (I'm probably making it sound pretty sad, but it wasn't).

I went to catch up with Jessica, as well as a few others, because I am unable to see them for months at a time now, due to my schedule. Even though it was nice to catch up, I ended up keeping my nose buried in my sketchpad, as I normally do. These are a few of the pages I filled up during the night.






And I close with some last minute scratches. I apologize for not having another Gothic mouse. I just needed to get something posted this week.