Of Screenings, Screeners and the Army Spying on My Game:

SCREENING:
Got an email for Leslie Iwerks. She is going to be at Cimematheque with her documentary The Pixar Story and Roy E. Disney on the 11th.

The American Cinematheque presents:
The Pixar Story
A feature documentary by Leslie Iwerks

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
7:30pm

Hollywood Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA
(between Las Palmas & McCadden)

Q&A Following with:

Director/Producer: Leslie Iwerks
Director Emeritus/Consultant, The Walt Disney Company: Roy E. Disney

For ticket and addt’l information visit:
http://www.americancinematheque.com/
http://egyptiantheatre.com/tixtheatregeneralinfo.htm#tix
http://www.thepixarstory.com/

If you haven`t seen it you need to. I set up a screening at last year`s Comic Con and I am looking at my schedule to see if I can see it again on the 11th.

SCREENER:


The second screener of the ASIFA award session hit my mailbox today. Meet the Robinsons is an already released DVD. Nothing wrong with that. Love the extra features on Realease DVDs. Please keep them coming. But, hint hint, I am still hoping for some on the unrealeased films too. You know who you are.

THE ARMY IS SPYING ON YOUR GAME:


Moving forward with my Gaming Curriculum I started to load America`s Army: Speial Forces today but stopped to read the license and found out that they load a little piece of spyware named PunkBuster along with the game. The idea behind PB is that it checks for hacks on Multi-Player games. And kicks the cheaters off the network.

The truth is that it opens up your system to anybody that wants to pull any data they want. There is a big stink in the Quake community because they have made PunkBuster a core part of their software. A number of people have quit playing Quake.

I was very uneasy with the whole war game as recruitment tool in the first place. (The truth is that the whole game is so buttoned up tight that most gamers loose it and frag the Sargent because they don`t get to shoot until after years of gametime training) Now this. Our goverment spying on us. Who could believe it?

Gods, when the army is data mining their prospective recruits. Keep us safe from those who say it is their job to keep us safe. Yes Alan, who will watch the Watchman.

Profit and Risk

It has been a good 8 or 10 months since I have warched Castle in the Sky. Last night I viewed this animation again and was overwhelmed yet again with what an incredible filmmaker can do when they get the chance.

I never feel this way with committee directed films where focus groups have slowly bleed all the soul out of the film stock playing it safe. So why do so many studios still cling to committee films when all of the best films have a single driving vision?

Okay, rhetorical, the biggest flops also have a single driving vision. The percentages are the percentages. In the long run committee films are safer and have a better change of making money.

Studios are in the business of making money. If they don`t make money then they aren`t studios anymore. They are film libraries up for sale to the independent after market players and other studio`s after market divisions.

That is one of the reasons that films like Snow White, Iron Giant, Toy Story, the Incredibles and all of Miyazaki`s Studio Ghibli films are so amazing. The fact that any of them got make in the first place is astounding.

That is also why so much is written about the people who take the risks and make these kinds of films. That is why the very committee/focus group directors study these films. Hoping to find the secret. Everybody wants to know how they do it. Clue, it is not by committee. You got to take risk on a personal level to make great art.

Thoughts On Stolen Movies and The Meaning of Art

I got this question in my email this morning from my Kubert School Yahoo Group made up of early QBs that went to school in the old Baker Mansion.



Was it really twentyfive years ago that we sat in the dark of the Rockaway Cinimas and thrilled to Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER?

I think I saw Blade Runner in New York, just like Star Wars. But well I remember the Rockaway Six plus another lesser 6 tacked on out in the parking lot that ran older funky films.

About once every 2 months I would work out a time table with the movie listings and dress is a way that I could change my look by adding or removing outer clothes and I would see all six of the movies at the Rockaway for the priced of one. Out side of books that was my only entainment.

Shame on me. But I was making decisions between food and art supplies at the time and was down to a weight of 5 pounds less than my high school weight of skin and bones (and I had grown another 4 inches taller during my 7 years of college). I could crawl through a 12 inch by 12 inch square hole and often did. It let into the broom closet in the hall from my bathroom. My own secret escape route.

What is this madness called Art? Why the hell will people go through so much just to be able to do something that chances are they are not going to be paid that well for doing?

An artist puts in more study than a doctor but nobody goes up to a doctor and says I can`t pay you for this processor but I have another operation coming up in 6 months and there will be lots of money for that one and anyway this will be real good for your portfolio.

Maybe if artists held a knife to our peasants and waved the fear of death around like doctors do we could get paid the big bucks that what we do is really worth?

Still, there are people lining up at all the art schools. Signing up for this life style. I look out over the new classes and know that maybe 15 - 20% will stumble by being artists just getting by. Maybe one class out of every 3 classes, if I am really lucky, will produce a student that will make a big name and maybe a comfortable living. (More like 1 out of 5 or even 10)

Strange, I talk to a lot of artists that have stayed the course and are still fighting to make ends met and they all seem fufiled if not happy. There is a core of joy around the making of art that fulfils them/us all.

Okay, there are the prima donna artist types that have burned all their bridges in the industry and can`t figure out why they can`t get a job and are bitter as hell. But even they get joy out of creating art. Most artists get that joy out of their art. Believe me, there is no other reason to be an artist.

Rankin and Bass Return of the King shows up in dollar DVD rack:

The 1980 made for television animation makes its untitled debut at the 99 Cent Only store with very little in the way of studio identification surviving at either end of the film. There is no listing of Rankin and Bass anywhere on the film or packaging.

It leaves me to wonder about the state of the copyright of this work. It shouldn`t be in public domain since it was created a good 2 years after the new copyright laws came into effect and the creaters are still with us.

If this new cheapo version was produced under license then why were the titles and credits cropped so shamelessly? Was it a matter of disk space?

If it was disk space then why wasn`t the names of the creators placed on the packaging? That doesn`t take disk memory space.

Is it some strange fallout of the Peter Jackson film? Or the cock up with the original Tolkien book copyright lasping in the U.S. with too many books being imported that lead to that green box on the back of the original books stating that this book and no other is the only authorized publication?

Anybody with info on this mystery would be helpful.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Comment from my good friend and sometimes video editor Eric Graf:

Hi, Larry.

What mystery? It's a fly-by-night company that has decided it needn't concern itself with copyrights. As with their unauthorized compilations of small-studio theatrical shorts and student films,they are doing it because they figure they can get away with it. They've also released "The Hobbit", as well as several other films that are way too recent, particularly anime owned by Central Park Media.

Regarding the cropped credits -- It certainly wasn't disc space. DVD playing time is entirely dependent on the bitrate of the encoding. You can get 6 hours or more on a single-layer disc if you REALLY don't care about the quality. Single-layer dollar DVDs with two full-length movies on them are quite common. The credits were lobbed off so they can tell the judge "Gee, we had nooooo idea."

I've decided to avoid East-West. They're obviously flaunting copyright laws, every title I've ever obtained from them I've been able to find in better quality elsewhere, and the kicker was that one shorts compilation where they created "widescreen" for the entire disc by covering up a third of the original 4x3 picture with black bars. 'Twas lovely seeing "Crac!" butchered that way. (And I used
to own the RCA SelectaVision disc they were using as their source on that one. They didn't even bother changing the order of the films.)

AFAIK, the only Rankin-Bass production that really is in public domain is "Jack Frost." There is an authorized release of Return of the King, BTW: http://www.amazon.com/Return-King-Orson-Bean/dp/B00005MP5D/
I'm sure Warner Bros. will be thrilled when they find out about East-West's version. Maybe we should send them a copy.

Eric

The Real Treasure: Goofy

The da Vinci Code is watered down tripe taken from a number of superior sources. Nation Treasure is a watered down version of The da Vinci Code. So that makes Nation Treasure II, in my not so humble opinion, a triple watered down piece of ca-ca that under normal conditions I wouldn`t go near with a 10 foot Lithuanian.

That was until they announced that the upcoming Goofy short How To Hook Up Your Home Theater will play in theaters with the sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets starting on December 21st.

This is what a good animated short is for, to prop up a weak feature. This is the way it should be. That doesn`t mean I am going to set through Treasure II once I see the new Goofy short. And I always wondered why they have video games in theater lobbies. It is so you will have something to do while waiting for the short to come up again.

Jam Yesterday, Jam Tomorrow

Just got the news from Eric Graf that the effects/voice edit is finished on the 2006 Comic Con Animation Jam. The beginning of next week I will pick it up and then the final titles edit and the effects/voice edit goes to our composer, Fletcher Beasley for the sound track creation.

Recap:
On July 21st, 22nd, 23rd 2006 ASIFA-Hollwood held an Animation Jam at our booth at San Diego Comic Con International. 13 Animators took part in the Jam over the 23 hours that the convention doors were open.

These animators are:
David Burgess
Dan Weeks
Francine Prestininzi
Meredith Gran
Pedro Santana
Larry Loc
Eliza Frye
Alice Lin
Jenny Bettis
Eric Goldberg
Federico Oropeza
Tobias Loc
Lou Scarburough Jr.

A Happy Thanksgiving to All

As a descendant Gov. William Bradford on my mother`s side of the family and 1/16th Chippewa on my father’s side I should say something about Thanksgiving before I attack myself as my enemy. Have a good Thanksgiving and remember it is all about family.

Second Sign of Award Session

The Award Session in upon us when Animation Magazine shows up in the mailbox. For years now the good people at Animation Magazine send out free subscriptions of their Award Session issues to all ASIFA-Hollywood members. Check your mailbox.

Screener Season Opens:

Yesterday saw the first screener of this award season hitting the mailbox, Ratatouille. Screeners come in 2 forms; full out screeners with the words FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION superimposed and a full version of the DVD release with all the previews, all the features and all the bonus material in a screener box.



Ratatouille is in the later category and I am glad it is because I would hate to have missed Your Friend the Rat, one of the most charming and well-crafted short animations I have seen in a long time.

There is such shear joy in the creation of this short animation that the joy is infectious. It is a combination of CGI and 2D (with a heavy UPA influence) and even has a little touch of stop motion animation.

I think that there is a joy in this work that comes from the chance for Pixar animators to work in other forms of animation. Yes they love their computers but these are not just computer jockeys.

There has been long speculation about Pixar doing a non-CGI film. As I have said before they have been quietly doing non-CGI animation for years in the form of their titles. It is nice to see a whole short film given over to reveling in all forms of animation.




My favorite is the 2D pixilated game art animation with the Canadian hockey goalie fighting off a rat invasion. Oh, and there are some other things on the disk too that are well worth seeing, like the short Lifted and the deleted scenes and oh yes the movie.

So if you haven`t seen this short it is time to buy the DVD. Or if you are a member of ASIFA-Hollywood it is time to check your mailbox.

Old Friend Blogs Down

One of the first things I tell new students is that the people around them in their first classroom will be some of the people around them in their career 15, 20, 30 years later. They never believe me. Here is a blog by my old school mate Gary Fields. http://garyfieldsstudios.blogspot.com/

Weird Cover On The Same Old Cartoons

Molly Moo-Cow is one of the all time weird cartoon heroes, right up there with Fleischer`s Hunky and Spunky for being oddly odd. But is that any reason to update the cover image to make her look like Cow from Cow and Chicken playing superhero? What up with that?



This disk from EastWest is a standard fair Public Domain cartoon DVD. Mostly Van Beuren from the Bert Gillet/Tom Palmer era with 3 Fleischer cartoons added in, one of them an all time favorite of mine.

The disk does have the kind of rare Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Winkle. The other Mollys are all over the place. It has a good copy of Dancing on the Moon, one of the best of the later Fleischer cartoons.

But It also has Bold King Cole one of the low points for silent superstar Felix the Cat, who sings in high squeaky Mickey voice. Not that this film is out of line with what Gillet was putting out at Van Beuren at that time. But because it is a sad come down to a great silent star. Kind of like Buster Keaton in his later talky pictures. Sad! He shouldn`t have to put up with this crappy material.

Okay disk but doesn`t add anything new to my collection. Some of the best color transfers on the Molly Moo-Cows. But the cover art is kind of insulting.

Shelf Life:

One of the things that makes Board Animation so profitable in the long run is the fact that you can sell it again. Walt use to bring out his classics in theaters every 7 years for the next generation of kids.

One of the problems with CGI and Gaming is that a lot of times it is all about the technology and the technology keeps getting better so a pretty picture show case film or game does not keep well. Or so you would think.

Pixar has gotten around this by writing damn good stories, [sneaky SOBs]. But what about games?

I have been compiling teaching materials for my History of Videogames class, Fall 2008. One of the things I am planning is to follow some of the classic games from version 1 to present day.

Last night I downloaded a game play video of Gauntlet for mobile phones and guest what? It is a port of Gauntlet II that came out in arcades in 1987 and on NES in 1990. There is also a nostalgia port of Gauntlet II for Play Station 3 that came out in May 2007.




Okay, it is not Walt Disney doing a theatrical re-release every year but it is odd to look at game play for the most modern technology that was programmed 20 years ago. Odd, all the way to the bank.

Margaret Kerry Lips Return to 99 Cent Only Store

About a month ago I was crying about the death of 99 Cent DVDs but what do I find at my local 99 Cent Only store yesterday but Margaret Kerry`s lips in the form of Clutch Cargo Volume 3. I also picked up a couple of other cartoon DVDs but I have not watched them yet. More later. There are not as many as before but they are still coming out.

What is Animation

RESPONSE TO:
Why Beowulf is Good for Animation
Friday, November 09, 2007 (Animation Magazine)
By: Ryan Ball

Ryan Ball says that Beowulf is good for animation. And he may be right. I have not seen all of Beowulf yet. So I can`t rightly say.

I have very little to argue with Ryan in his statements. At least until I see the full film. But here is something that I will take him to task for.

Was Jim Henson any less of an animator than Chuck Jones just because he chose to work in real-time versus tiny increments? Did his characters feel any less real?

I am afraid that the answer is yes. At least to the first part of the question. Jim Henson was not an animator at all and for that very reason that he worked in real time. He did not create film a frame at a time. For that is what animation is, creating film one frame at a time not recording it.

This does not mean that I hate Jim Henson or his films. In fact I love them because his characters are so real. I wore black for a week when Jim died and I went around singing Its Not Easy Being Green. But that still does not make him an animator.

So the question with motion capture is: was the raw data the last step in the process or did someone use it as a starting point for animation? I like Monster House a lot. Polar Express I can not watch. It comes down to how the tool is used not what the tool is if I will call it animation.

Oh and story. Leave us not forget story. It does not have to be animated to be good it just has to be a good film. Good storytelling is good storytelling. And that is how I plan on looking at Beowulf.

Images of the Past

Back on August 3rd right after Comic Con I wrote a post on Mi Lei Fo the story Dick Ayers did about one of planes in the 586th Bomb Squadron during WWII. there-might-be-giants-of-industry

Today I got an email from the great niece of Guerino Del Pesco, one of the airmen who died on that plane. . The story of Mi Lei Fo touched me deeply when Dick told me that story over 30 years ago when I was his student at the Kubert School. That is why I pushed him to do a comic of the story.

It was a real shock to see all that is left of that plane. Mi Lei Fo was always a powerful story by nothing makes it so real as seeing what is left of the plane. And it makes me think about the stuff that is going on even now.

Here is what Belinda Del Pesco wrote:

Thanks for posting this. My great-uncle Guerino Del Pesco was on the Mi Lei Fo (B-26 Marauder). Dick [Ayers] and I have corresponded about it. He's a great man, and a real connection to a family member we never had the pleasure of knowing. The fuselage of the plane is on display in Belgium at the Remember Museum. You can see it in their photo album, with pictures of the 9 lost crew members above the frame.
http://www.remembermuseum.com/en/

It is strange how comics can make a connection to the real world. How a kid in an art school with just a few words can connect a full 30 years later with someone looking for their family`s past.

It is not just comics. It is not just animation. It is storytelling and stories come from real life and resonate within the lives of the real world. Writing and creating is magic and those who can do it should be treated as magic not as day labor.

Here Comes the Judges

November 10th.Woodbury University. Nomination Judging for the 35th Annie Awards. The best and the brightest in the animation industry got together today to decide on the nomination for this year`s Annie Awards.

• November 30, 2007: Deadline to renew or join ASIFA-Hollywood in order to participate in Annie Award voting.



• December 3, 2007: Annie Award nominations announced.



• January 15, 2008: Online balloting begins



• February 1, 2008: Deadline for members to cast ballots



• February 8, 2008: Annie Award ceremony

Dollar DVDs Are Back

A month or so ago I was bemoaning the fact that my local 99 Cent Only store had stopped selling PD Animation DVDs or any DVDs. Today I was in Target and what do they have for just 1 penny more, Public Domain DVDs.

I picked up this Davey and Goliath gem and watched as much of it as my overly evangelized scarred youth would let me watch.

Low and behold when reading the credits I found the name of my friend Ken Southworth under the animator credits. I have known Ken for about 12 years and never knew he did stop motion animation. I knew all about his Disneys stuff, his Walter Lantz years and his time with Tex Avery at MGM and H & B but not a peep about straight ahead puppet animation. Ken, I am even more impressed.

Round Up

The first order of business to was putting together the Yahoo Group for the Animation Educators` Forum as a tool for communication. ASIFA_education/ We only meet every other month and all of us are very business doing the animation education thing. A web based forum is a good way to get lots of stuff done with stolen moments from a busy schedule.

We have set a tentative date for the First Annual Southern California Student Animation Film Festival. That date being october 18th. More details as they come in.

This Saturday is the Judging for the Annie Award nominations at Woodbury. This year I am not in charge of putting on the event (thank the gods). I am Nominating Chair for Gaming and Commercials. Should be fun.

Report From the Animation Educators` Forum

We had a very productive meeting at Loyola Marymount last night. The plan now is to launch an L.A./Orange County Student Animation Festival for October of 2008. We are still in the early stages of planning with none of the details worked out yet. But we are planning to create a festival geared to the needs of college animation students. I will keep you updated as more details come available.

One of the other subjects covered was the compiling of a broad set of Universal Core Skills that would cover all the different areas that should be taught in different types of animation programs. It is hard to believe but as animation moves into its second century the debate over what animation is still rages. Big in the industry news right now is if Mo-Cap is animation.

The next Animation Educators` Forum meeting will be held on Thursday, January 10th , 2008 at Cal State Long Beach. We will be starting a Yahoo Group forum in the next couple of days and I will give you details on how to join when that comes about.

ASIFA Round Up

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educators` Forum: A Reminder


CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW

Animation Educators` Forum Meeting
7:00 PM - Tuesday November 6th
Loyola Marymount University
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
School of Film and Television
Foley Green Room

AGENDA ITEMS:
Student Film Festival Scheduling
Faculty Data Base
Establish Animation Curriculum Guidelines (please bring copies of course descriptions)

ANNIE AWARD Tickets go on sale to ASIFA members today. Look for details in your email inbox

Writers Strike Starts in Earnest

NEW YORK - The first walkout by Hollywood writers in nearly 20 years got under way Monday with noisy pickets outside the Today show - a strike that threatens to disrupt everything from late-night talk shows to soap operas. Above image and paragraph is from Yahoo News

The writers are on the street but what does that mean for animation? Animation has always had problems holding good writers because of the royalty disparity between live action and animation. In most cases animation writers don`t get no sinking royalties.

But writers are everywhere in TV and Film. Even the reality TV shows have writers. And the strike is going to shake up everything with different impact times. Animation having one of the longest lead times will be the last to show damage. Do the damage will be there none the less.

From the viewpoint of the creatives, creators are being prayed on and obscene amounts of money are being harvested off the labor of the people with the ideas by the people that hold a strangle hold on distribution. That is the playing field we work in. It is just the way it is.

It is to the studio`s advantage to get creatives as cheaply as they can. It is to the creatives advantage to take care of themselves because nobady else will.

So where do I stand? I am not a member of WGA and I am not a member of the management. Both sides are doing what they should do. But I, for one, will not cross a labor picket line. That is all I will say on that matter.

Even if animation writers are getting a raw deal compared to live action writers. And will most likely still get the short end with any new contract. Even if animators are not sharing in the royalty pie like they should. I will respect their right to strike.

The old trick is always to turn one disadvantaged group against another disadvantaged group to protect the interests of the group that benefits from everybody else`s disadvantage. I grew up in the old Jim Crow South I know the drill. I know name of the game.

This is a first of a group of strikes that are on the horizon. I expect to hear how much the writers are already getting and how the studios are going to have to cut jobs, and how much the WGA`s acts are hurting the economy and all the other old saws. I also expect some careers will be ruined and friendships busted up forever.

But it is better than just taking what is being offered because nothing is going to be given away from the goodness of anybody`s heart. And you know what. Strange as it may sound, even the studios benefit in the long run by being able to attract better writers. And by the people who will go out on own and create those new start up companies.

Original Thought Where Are You

Fully 1/3 of the Classic Games in this Collection are based on one game, Space Invaders

Just going through early 80s games. It is amazing just how many of them are rips of Space Invaders thinly changing the space aliens to spiders or plaque causing agents.

It is like everything else. One good idea and 100 rip-offs. The fun thing with early games is that it is so easy to see. There was not enough technology to hide behind at the beginning of the game era. Now if we could jsut get the Hollywood Studios to quit remaking the same 5 or 6 movies.

Weekend Update:

Back at Laguna College of Art & Design. My daughter is doing life drawing and I will be talking to the advanced sculpture class on stop motion animation later today.

Yesterday was madness chasing around Annie Awards judges. A last minute cancellation combined with a new judge assign process that just does not work has doubled the normal workload. On top of that add in the upcoming Animation Educators’ Forum and I am stretched a little thin this week.

I should complain, my friends in Silverado still have not been let back into their homes. Santiago Canyon road is open but Silverado Canyon Road still has police roadblocks. I drove through Santiago Canyon and it was all blackened earth, like a war zone.

THE PIXAR STORY

ROLLS OUT NATIONWIDE ON OCTOBER 23, 2007
FROM ACADEMY AWARD(R) NOMINATED FILMMAKER LESLIE IWERKS

On October 23, 2007, The Pixar Story began a national theatrical rollout that will include screenings in 14 major markets across the United States. (You have got to see this folks, Leslie was nice enough to do a sneak peak screening throough ASIFA at last year`s Comic Con and it was killer)

Filmmaker Leslie Iwerks has documented the ongoing events at Pixar on and off since 2001. In a relatively short period of time, Pixar went from a bootstrap enterprise run by some pretty daring risk takers to a multi-billion dollar corporation that sets the standard for an entire industry

A companion book to The Pixar Story titled To Infinity and Beyond -The Story of Pixar Animation Studios, by Karen Paik, is based on interviews and research by Iwerks, and is scheduled for release by Chronicle Books in Fall 2007.

SCREENING SCHEDULE :
Chicago Century Theater . . . . . . . . . October 23-25
Dallas Magnolia Theatre Theater . . October 23-25
Detroit Maple Art Theater . . . . . . . . October 23-25
Washington, D.C. E Street Theater . October 30-November 1
New Orleans Canal Place Theater . . October 30-November 1
Denver Chez Artiste Theater . . . . . . .October 30-November 1
Seattle Metro Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . October 30-November 1
San Diego La Jolla Village Theater . .November 6-8
Boston Kendall Square Theater . . . . November 6-8
Atlanta Midtown Theater . . . . . . . . . November 6-8
Milwaukee Downer Theater . . . . . . . November 6-8
Indianapolis Keystone Theater . . . . .November 6-8
Minneapolis Lagoon Theater . . . . . . November 6-8
San Francisco Lumiere Theater . . . .November 13-15

The Pixar Story is written, directed by and produced by Leslie Iwerks. It was edited by Iwerks and Stephen Meyers, A.C.E. The director of photographer is Suki Mendencevic. Original Score is by Jeff Beal. The Post Production and Visual Effects Supervisor is John Locke. The film is narrated by Stacy Keach.

Attention all Animation Educators

Animation Educators` Forum Meeting
7:00 PM - Tuesday November 6th

Loyola Marymount University
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
School of Film and Television
Foley Green Room

AGENDA ITEMS:
Student Film Festival Scheduling
Faculty Data Base
Establish Animation Curriculum Guidelines (please bring copies of course descriptions)