Ottawa 2007

I can’t make up my mind on what to write about the Ottawa International Animation Festival. So forgive me if this entry is too long.

While our trip was slightly unpleasant (we got kicked out of our first hotel for getting too many people in), the animation festival was amazing, and the majority of the films were amazing. There are too many to discuss, so I selected only three for right now.

Achi & SSipak (AAchi Wa SSipak)
(directed by Bum-Jin Joe, South Korea).

The subject of human feces is particularly touchy when handled in animation. Most of the time, shit is just an element of gross-out humor and crass (which I often find to be handled carelessly). The plot of this South Korean film is unique in that the element of shit is crucial to the story. The movie takes place in a future where shit is society’s primary source of energy. As it turns out, anytime someone takes a dump, they are instantly rewarded with a JuicyBar, a desirable and highly profitable treat, addictive to many of the characters in the film.


Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor (Franz Kafka's Inaka Isha)
Koji Yamamura is becoming one of my favorite animators. This is the first time I’ve seen this film, and the second I’ve seen from Yamamura (the first being Mt. Head (Atama Ya). His drawing style is so unique and distinctive, and yet, it suits many moods. And lord knows, this film has many moods, although the most apparent mood is disillusionment.


Persepolis
(Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, France)

This was the Hollywood event of Ottawa. I was lucky enough to see this, because it only had two screenings, and both sold out quickly. I’m not sure what to say about this film, but I can safely say that I can watch it again. Really a great movie.



Pratt’s animators hanging out at the Animator’s Picnic.


Joanna Quinn (one of my great favorites), had a retrospective of her work. I couldn’t get a decent picture of her at the festival, so I am using this one.


Joanna Quinn displays many of her animation drawings. Sights to behold. It was amazing to look at these up close. She truly is one of my favorite artists and animators. I highly urge everyone to check out her work.


Signe Baumane (far left, whose Teat Beat of Sex was in the festival) dances compulsively, while my friend Marina drinks and dances quite casually.



Jessica Button and I enjoyed a brief waltz.

I’ll be back soon.

Learning about Bakshi

It’s been a while since I last posted.

I have no idea how guys like John Kricfalusi and Michael Sporn can update their own blogs practically everyday. Maybe its just the way my mind works.

I’ve got nothing of my own to show at the moment, so for now, I am going onto something else. Make that someone else: Ralph Bakshi.

I will try something different here. While most professional animator’s blogs show established knowledge of a subject, I am going to try and blog the establishment of the interest. Confusing? Basically, I am going to talk about something I don’t know everything about.



For sometime now, I have been building up a fascination with famed animation director, Ralph Bakshi. I learned of Bakshi during a period of interest in animation history, and started looking up the movie Fritz the Cat, famous for being the first animated feature to receive an X rating.


Earlier this year, I watched Heavy Traffic for the first time. Although I was uncertain of it at first, my opinion of it improved quickly. I have to say that it is one of the liveliest animated pieces I have ever seen. I love the character designs, the assorted personalities, the different animation styles (a rarity in most animated features) and the snide and sleazy humor of the whole thing.



Bakshi is a director whom I would take many examples from. After establishing his own brand of animation (adult cartoons based on tragic reality), he a family-friendly flick (Wizards), then a grand epic (The Lord of the Rings), then even more experimenting (American Pop and others), then an impressive venture into television (which I have yet to check out but know a lot about through the blog of Bakshi’s protege, John Kricfalusi). I admire a director who can take on several different ventures and yet maintain their own style (which accounts for my already established interests in directors like Tim Burton and David Lynch).



Bakshi’s last released project was Cool World in 1992. I actually saw Cool World when I was 8 or 9, because I thought it would be like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (which it clearly isn’t, and which also accounted for the movie’s failure). I plan on watching it again soon. Maybe afterward, I’ll write something on it.

Right now, I plan on watching Bakshi’s film Coonskin on YouTube. I have never seen it, and normally I don’t watch entire movies on YouTube (an exception being The Thief and the Cobbler). Unfortunately, it has yet to be released on DVD, so I am left with few options.

Next week is the Ottawa International Animation Festival. As we did last year, Pratt’s animators will be in attendance. For us, four days of animated films (in large theaters), meeting all sorts of artists, catching some amazing retrospectives (this year includes UPA, Saul Steinberg, and one of my favorites, British animator Joanna Quinn), and of course, getting drunk and dancing like maniacs. I should have a lot to talk about following the festival.


Great poster, huh? I'll be back soon.

Everyone's a (different) critic

I’m just posting for the sake of posting.

I haven’t been able to post anything lately, because its the beginning of the fall ‘07 semester at Pratt (my last year at Pratt). So its been pretty busy, with all my classes and stuff starting up, including my thesis (I hope to have a title for it soon, because I don’t like referring to it as “the thesis”). It’s got a very good story, although I’m instructed that it needs a little more work. I am hoping to spend this Labor Day weekend working on it. That will include doing some storyboards, some of which I might post after presenting them.

In the meantime, there is Illustration. Some of my friends have already taken the Illustration class, and have done some amazing work. I finally have it this semester. I love looking at the work of different illustrators, among my favorites are Gerald Scarfe and (currently) Ronald Searle.

Here are some drawings for life done during the first Illustration class. As I am sure many know, I am the harshest critic when it comes to my own work. I am going to make an attempt to not voice my own criticism so loudly anymore. Some of these drawings came out pretty good and some didn’t. My dad told me recently that maybe the reason I get so bummed out over my drawing is because they don’t look like the people I admire, most of whom have amazing style. I guess I should take the hint. These drawings are how I draw naturally. Most of them have no artist in mind. Its just me trying to get shapes and gestures down.




I hope to have more coming up soon (for the few of you who are still interested in reading this blog).

Sketchbook Updates

It occurs to me that in my last post, I might have alarmed some of those who read this blog. Do you ever forget how much you enjoy doing something, and later when you have to do it, you forget that its something you enjoy? I, unfortunately have that all the time, and animation is one of those things. I’m just not very good at given myself a strict schedule.

This isn’t a cry for help, but rather its me letting off some steam. I think about animating a lot, especially lately with my thesis schedule approaching. I have an animation table, but its not in a room where I can lay papers all over the place, and leave pencils lying around. Where I am staying this coming semester, I am bringing the table, so its there right from the start.

In the meantime, I figured I show some of my own stuff. My last few posts have mostly been reviews.
A couple nights ago, I went to dinner with my sister and her friends at the restaurant my sister works at. I filled a page with various faces of the restaurant patrons. I used a 0.7 lead mechanical pencil, which is currently my choice tool for random drawing.



Recently, my mind is preoccupied with my thesis. So whenever my sketchbook is opened, I try to put down as much as I can, which is still too little right now. I can only hope more will be established by the middle of September.



My thesis involves characters that are parasites. So I find myself trying to design different specimen. The reason there is a copy of “Stitch” (which I consider to be one of the best character designs in any animated film) is because of the new site put up by animator Chris Sanders. Check out the site: it has sketches that are beautiful and highly imaginative.

The Simpsons Movie

Sorry for the slow posting. I have had personal problems lately. I have been oversleeping, which affects my credibility. I am struggling with the art direction of my thesis, and I am still losing motivation. And to top it off, I haven't animated anything in months, because I don't have all my resources, and I feel like I'm the only one of my peers who isn't at least practicing.



I have just seen The Simpsons Movie twice, although the first viewing gave me enough of an impression. What can I say? I love the old Simpsons, and I love Matt Groening’s style. But the movie: it just comes off as one of the better episodes of the Simpsons in recent years. All in all, it was a good movie, not a great movie.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a severe problem with the Simpsons since season 9. Around the time producer Mike Scully took over, the show changed from being original and character based to being a repetitive series of sight gags. Homer and Bart’s characters changed severly in ways I disliked: Homer being mean spirited and obnoxious and Bart simply being misunderstood. I miss the days when Bart was an outspoken and fun loving little menace, and Homer was a loving husband and father whose head always seemed to be elsewhere.

In the movie, Homer’s obnoxious nature is explosive, and finally causes the family to endure great hardships. Homer’s beloved pet pig leads to his irresponsibly damaging the Springfield lake with a silo of pig crap. As a result, Springfield is placed under glass by the government to prevent national contamination. The family manages to escape the dome, but not after losing their house and achieve the maximum anger of Springfield’s citizens.

Angry mobs are something that have always suited the Simpsons, and is something that I often look forward to in Springfield.

My problems.
Patty and Selma (two of my favorite characters) had no role in the movie, not even a speaking part, which would have been sufficient.


Most of the animation was no different than the show, with the exception of a few choice moments. Notably a removed smear of Marge Simpson.



I wish the movie was more character based, and less about making fun of itself. All in all, it is simply a movie about the Simpsons being a movie. That gets tiring.

On a side note, I’d like to say that I really enjoyed the Green Day cameo. Very charming.

Animation Block Party, Part II

This is a late entry. I’ve just been extremely busy lately, getting work done for Andy London, checking out Augenblick studios, and trying to get the story for my thesis down.

I saw the last two nights of the Animtion Block Party, and was very impressed. Actually, the third night only had a few films that impressed me. But, as I predicted before, the final night at the BAM Cinemateque was by far the best. One day later, the audience awards for the ABP were presented, and only one of the films I voted for won something. A CAL-Arts film called Zoologic won a best design award (I wish I could find this film on the internet, but no success). Below are some images from my favorite films.







Don Hertzfeldt’s Everything Will Be OK was featured in the final night, and is still one of my absolute favorite films of the year. It’s Hertzfeldt at a whole new level. I bring this up now, because I have been reading all of John K’s blog entries on blandness. Recently, he featured a “blandness defense” from executive Marc Deckter, and I regret to admit that a lot of it makes sense. Anyone reading this should read it.

What does this have to do with Hertzfeldt? Everything Will Be OK won the best short film prize at Sundance this year, which is impressive, because Sundance has never been known to take a shine on animation. Everything is, as far as I know, the first animated film to win a top prize at Sundance. This is only the beginning, in my opinion. It is my hope that sometime in the future, animated features will make their way into more independent festivals. Independet features can’t be bogged down by commercial executives, and in film festivals, they are reviewed by peers and people who can respect originality and imagination.

I am also sorry to admit that I haven’t been doing a lot of drawing lately. For practice, I took out Amid Amidi’s Cartoon Modern book from the library. It features a drawing style I think I can figure out. Hopefully, I will get plenty of drawing done this week.

This Sunday, I am off to New Jersey to see The Police at Giants Stadium. I know its not animation related, but I am still excited to see the reunited Police.

Animation Block Party, Part I

The last couple days have been pretty crazy for me. My sleep patterns are all screwed up because of the last two nights.



Currently, I am in the middle of the Animation Block Party, which lasts four nights this year (last year, it was only three). My film, Ivan's Act, made it into the first night’s screening, which is pretty exciting for me. It marks the first time my film has been accepted by someone else into a screening. An even bigger surprise was that Friday night’s program booklet used a picture from Ivan’s Act for its cover.




Friday night’s screening took place outdoors (it was originally supposed to take place on a rooftop, as part of Rooftop Films). Most of the work was alright, not a lot of memorable work. Bill Plympton’s Shut-Eye Hotel was by far the most professional film of the night, although I don’t think its one of his best. Ivan’s Act played to what I felt was a daft response, possibly because its not as crass as most of the other work. Casey Safron, one of the head curators of the ABP, assured me that Ivan had a good reaction, so I shouldn’t be too dissuaded. It doesn’t bother me too much, as I have learned a great deal more since making it.

The Saturday night screening took place at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater in Lower Manhattan. With a shorter program, I found some of the work to be much more interesting than the previous night’s. There were at least four films that I found very accessible, one in particular was a Zoo comedy, which had a remarkable design reminiscent of 1950’s design (which I am currently fascinated with). I will write up another entry on the last two nights. The last night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music usually has the best work.

In the meantime, I have done some pastel art for my thesis. I am planning out the coloring of the film, while at the same time trying to design some new characters. Designing characters is rather frustrating for me, especially since I don’t have the whole story figured out (I have the plot figured out, but not the total story). It takes a while before I figure out how to make character movable (one of my Achilles heels).







I will be spending the rest of the summer doing pre-production artwork, while trying my best to figure out the story. Andy London has been very helpful with me in that area.



Stay tuned for Animation Block Party, part II.