tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-219189702024-03-07T02:58:54.306-06:00Paul Allen, CG AnimatorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-69198821103035592312009-06-18T13:12:00.003-06:002009-06-18T13:17:32.380-06:00Ghostbusters: The Video Game released this week!The game is out, and being<a href="http://kotaku.com/5294713/ghostbusters-the-video-game-review-survival-comedy"> favorably reviewed</a> at Kotaku and other sites, which is always nice. I enjoyed working on Ghostbusters, it is a franchise with a long history and a ton of fans and recognition world-wide, not too often you can work on a property like that.<br /><br />I will try to post some more thoughts on it soon.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OCmMKzmptec&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OCmMKzmptec&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-57121081190763877652009-03-22T07:57:00.002-06:002009-03-22T07:59:36.847-06:00Ghostbusters Game FootageHere's a compilation of new footage from the game. (<a href="http://www.gamecinemahd.com/game/ghostbusters_the_video_game/videos/18712/">video</a>)<br /><br />It's all coming together, we are working long hours, but the end is near!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-26192972848062035072009-03-06T23:03:00.003-06:002009-03-06T23:08:59.488-06:00The Natural History of CarsI love the whole thought behind this post, how he is creeped out by living cars, why do then need carseats? I'll have to send this to some friends over at Pixar and get their thoughts on it.<br /><br /><h2><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=1106" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: The Natural History of Cars">The Natural History of Cars</a></span><br /></h2><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><p>A disturbing question from my son: “Daddy, is Lightning McQueen a robot?”</p> <p>I’ve had actual nightmares about the automobile-populated world of <em>Cars</em>. Thinking in terms of evolution, imagine some kind of micromechanical start to life. Instead of clay hosting self-reproducing crystals of increasing complexity (or however earth-based biology got bootstrapped), imagine gear-and-spring level origins, with currents of water or wind supplying wind-up energy; later refinements might have involved burning fuel, taking advantage of solar power or natural radioactive sources, and cannibalizing the power sources of other mechanicals.</p> <p>Obviously there are plants in Carsworld. Parallel development of a DNA-based biosphere solves the problem of the source of the mechanical’s fossil fuels (they get it out of the ground like we do) and where their oxygen comes from (plants make it).</p> <p>But separate-but-equal evolution doesn’t solve the anthropomorphic issues. Why do cars have windows and seats and <em>locks on doors</em>? It’s like the people stepped out just before the film was made. It’s spooky.</p> <p>So I don’t think that Cars evolved on their own. It’s just too much coincidence. We made ‘em, that’s obvious."</p></blockquote><p> (<a href="http://www.dadhacker.com/blog/?p=1106">link to rest of post</a>)<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-8008371314562781052009-03-01T19:08:00.001-06:002009-03-01T19:10:45.363-06:00Tips for Students - The House of CurvesSaw <a href="http://www.thehouseofcurves.com/poster">this link</a> in an Ed Hooks email today, some great advice.<br /><br /><blockquote><p>In September 2008, <a href="http://www.imagineanimation.net/">Imagine Magazine</a> released our 2 sided poster, aimed at giving animation students a helping hand with their studies and some advice whilst they prepare for their careers within the industry.</p> <p>We’re delighted to announce that the full pdf document is now finished and available for downloading.<br />The full resolution posters are also available.</p> <p>We’d like to thank FRANK GRIMSHAW editor of Imagine Magazine, for making us follow this through, as well as JAKOB SCHUH of <a href="http://www.studiosoi.de/">Studio Soi</a> for the amazing illustrations.</p> SUGGESTIONS / FEEDBACK<br />If you think we’ve left out a CRUCIAL tip that should be added to version 2.0 of our pdf OR if you have any feedback OR spot any typo’s we’d love to hear from you. Please let us know at <a href="mailto:tips@thehouseofcurves.com">tips@thehouseofcurves.com</a></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-75470343382672776422009-02-15T10:55:00.002-06:002009-02-15T10:58:17.902-06:00Film/Animation/Effects potential jobs listingA friend of mine, Alex Fleisig, posted a ton of potential job links on a list the ex-DNA folks inhabit, thought I'd share it. Times are definitely tightening in the animation industry, so passing info along and networking is really important.<br /><br /><blockquote>FILM/ANIMATION/EFFECTS<br /><p> - American Zoetrope <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.zoetrope.com/">http://www.zoetrope.com/</a>> | Film | San Francisco<br /> Unknown<br /> - *GONE*ESC <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.escfx.com/">http://www.escfx.com/</a>> | Digital Effects | Alameda<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.escfx.com/jobs/jobs_main.php">http://www.escfx.com/jobs/jobs_main.php</a><br /> - Giant Killer Robots <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.giantkillerrobots.com/">http://www.giantkillerrobots.com/</a>> | Visual<br /> Effects | San Francisco<br /> Click on "JOBS" <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.giantkillerrobots.com/">http://www.giantkillerrobots.com/</a>><br /> - ILM <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ilm.com/">http://www.ilm.com/</a>> | Visual Effects | San Rafael<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ldlhr.com/jobs.html">http://www.ldlhr.com/jobs.html</a><br /> - Lucasfilm <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lucasfilm.com/">http://www.lucasfilm.com/</a>> | Film | San Rafael<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lucasarts.com/company/job/">http://www.lucasarts.com/company/job/</a><br /> - Matte World Digital <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.matteworld.com/">http://www.matteworld.com/</a>> | Visual Effects |<br /> Novato<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.matteworld.com/hr/index.html">http://www.matteworld.com/hr/index.html</a><br /> - Palma VFX <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.palmavfx.com/">http://www.palmavfx.com/</a>> | Animation and Visual Effects |<br /> San Francisco<br /> Unknown<br /> - Phoenix Edit, Effects, & Design | Editing and Visual Effects | San<br /> Francisco<br /> Unknown<br /> - The Orphanage <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.theorphanage.com/">http://www.theorphanage.com/</a>> | Animation and Effects |<br /> San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.theorphanage.com/jobs/">http://www.theorphanage.com/jobs/</a><br /> - PDI/Dreamworks <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pdi.com/">http://www.pdi.com/</a>> | Digital Animation/Effects | Palo<br /> Alto<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dreamworks.com/jobs/index2.html">http://www.dreamworks.com/jobs/index2.html</a><br /> - Pixar <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pixar.com/">http://www.pixar.com/</a>> | Digital Animation | Emeryville<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/index.html">http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/index.html</a><br /> - Sony Pictures Imageworks <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sonypictures.com/imageworks/">http://www.sonypictures.com/imageworks/</a>> |<br /> Digital Effects and Animation | Novato (Culver City)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://imageworks.com/hr/index.html">http://imageworks.com/hr/index.html</a><br /> - Skywalker Sound <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.skysound.com/">http://www.skysound.com/</a>> | Sound/Post-production |<br /> San Rafael<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ilm.com/jobs.html#sound">http://www.ilm.com/jobs.html#sound</a><br /> - *UPDATED* Tippett Studios <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tippett.com/">http://www.tippett.com/</a>> | Visual Effects |<br /> Berkeley<br /> Current Openings <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tippett.com/index.php?pt=3&bc=120&tt=12">http://www.tippett.com/index.php?pt=3&bc=120&tt=12</a>><br /> - *UPDATED*W!LDBRAIN <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.wildbrain.com/">http://www.wildbrain.com/</a>> | Animation | San<br /> Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.wildbrain.com/careers.html">http://www.wildbrain.com/careers.html</a><br /> - Zealot Pictures <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.zealotpictures.com/">http://www.zealotpictures.com/</a>> | Film | San Francisco<br /> Posts on craigslist.org<<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/jjj?query=%22Zealot+Pictures%22">http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/jjj?query=%22Zealot+Pictures%22</a>><br /></p><p>VIDEO GAMES/COMPUTER GAMES<br /></p><p> - Activision <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://activision.com/">http://activision.com/</a>> | Games | Novato, San Francisco<br /> (Santa Monica)<br /> Careers @ Activision<<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://activision.com/en_US/corporate/hr_jobs_frames.jsp">http://activision.com/en_US/corporate/hr_jobs_frames.jsp</a>>*<br />Also has listings for Shaba, Toys for Bob, and Vicarious Visions<br /> - AiLive <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ailive.net/">http://www.ailive.net/</a>> | Artifical Intelligence | Palo Alto<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ailive.net/careers.html">http://www.ailive.net/careers.html</a><br /> - Atari <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.atari.com/">http://www.atari.com/</a>> | Games | Sunnyvale (New York, France)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://corporate.infogrames.com/corp_hrmain.php?action=showjobs&locationID=3">http://corporate.infogrames.com/corp_hrmain.php?action=showjobs&locat...</a><br /></p><p> - Bay Area Sound <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.basound.com/pages/home.html">http://www.basound.com/pages/home.html</a>> | Sound/Voice<br /> Acting | San Francisco<br /> Unknown<br /> - Blue Shift <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.blueshiftgames.com/">http://www.blueshiftgames.com/</a>> | Games | Palo Alto<br /> Unknown<br /> - Capcom <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.capcom.com/">http://www.capcom.com/</a>> | Games | Sunnyvale (Japan)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.capcom.com/jobs/">http://www.capcom.com/jobs/</a><br /> - Cryptic Studios <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://crypticstudios.com/">http://crypticstudios.com/</a>> | Games | Los Gatos<br /> Current Openings<<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://crypticstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=sectionall&id=9&Itemid=46">http://crypticstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=sectional...</a>><br /> - Double Fine <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.doublefine.com/">http://www.doublefine.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.doublefine.com/jobs.htm">http://www.doublefine.com/jobs.htm</a> (bonus points for funny)<br /> - Electronic Arts/Maxis <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ea.com/">http://www.ea.com/</a>> | Games | Redwood City<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://jobs.ea.com/">http://jobs.ea.com/</a><<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://jobs.ea.com/pljb/global_jsp/applicant/SearchAgentMgr/SearchProcess.jsp?pljbHome=/ElectronicArts/United_States/applicant/index.jsp&searchaction=Search&keyword=&jobType=&jobTitle=&jobLocationRegion=&jobLocation=CA%20-%20Redwood%20City&jobLocation=CA%20-%20Walnut%20Creek&orderby=">http://jobs.ea.com/pljb/global_jsp/applicant/SearchAgentMgr/SearchPro...</a>><br /> - Eidos <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.eidosinteractive.com/">http://www.eidosinteractive.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco, Menlo<br /> Park<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.eidosinteractive.com/corporate/jobs.html">http://www.eidosinteractive.com/corporate/jobs.html</a><br /> - Factor5 <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.factor5.com/">http://www.factor5.com/</a>> | Games | San Rafael<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://careers.factor5.com/">http://careers.factor5.com/</a><<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://careers.factor5.com/layout1.asp?Page_id=6867&published=1">http://careers.factor5.com/layout1.asp?Page_id=6867&published=1</a>><br /> - *UPDATED* Flagship Studios <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flagshipstudios.com/">http://www.flagshipstudios.com/</a>> | Games |<br /> San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flagshipstudios.com/jobs_main.html">http://www.flagshipstudios.com/jobs_main.html</a><br /> - Global VR <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://globalvr.com/">http://globalvr.com/</a>> | Arcade Games | San Jose<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://globalvr.com/company_career_opportunities.html">http://globalvr.com/company_career_opportunities.html</a><br /> - Hyperpia <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hyperpia.com/">http://www.hyperpia.com/</a>> | Games/Platforms | Fremont<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hyperpia.com/jobs.html">http://www.hyperpia.com/jobs.html</a><br /> - Konami <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.konami.com/">http://www.konami.com/</a>> | Games | Redwood City (Japan)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.konami.com/gs/jobs.shtml">http://www.konami.com/gs/jobs.shtml</a><br /> - KRU <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.kru.com/">http://www.kru.com/</a>> | Games | Santa Clara<br /> Unknown<br /> - LindenLab <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://lindenlab.com/">http://lindenlab.com/</a>> | MMOG | San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://lindenlab.com/employment">http://lindenlab.com/employment</a><br /> - *NEW* Lamplighter Studios <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://lamplighterstudios.com/">http://lamplighterstudios.com/</a>> | 3D<br /> Models/Animations/Enviros for Games | San Francisco<br /> Posts on craigslist.org<br /> - LucasArts <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lucasarts.com/">http://www.lucasarts.com/</a>> | Games | San Rafael<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lucasarts.com/jobs/">http://www.lucasarts.com/jobs/</a><br /> - Namco Bandai <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.namco.com/">http://www.namco.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco (Japan)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.namco.com/pane_single.php?res=careers">http://www.namco.com/pane_single.php?res=careers</a><br /> - *NEW* NCSoft <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.plaync.com/">http://www.plaync.com/</a>> | Games | Mountain View (Korea)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.plaync.com/us/jobs/jobs_norcal.php">http://www.plaync.com/us/jobs/jobs_norcal.php</a><br /> - Nihilistic <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nihilistic.com/">http://www.nihilistic.com/</a>> | Games | Novato<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nihilistic.com/careers.php">http://www.nihilistic.com/careers.php</a><br /> - Nintendo <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nintendo.com/">http://www.nintendo.com/</a>> | Games/Hardware | San Francisco<br /> (Japan)<br /> Taleo.net Job<br />List<<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://nintendo.taleo.net/servlets/CareerSection?art_ip_action=FlowDispatcher&flowTypeNo=13&pageSeq=1&alt=1&JServSessionIdnintendo=gy0f5028kx9n3pk1.RJS2421_2423&art_servlet_language=en&csNo=10000&sp=1">https://nintendo.taleo.net/servlets/CareerSection?art_ip_action=FlowD...</a>><br /> - Page 44 <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.page44.com/">http://www.page44.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.page44.com/employment.html">http://www.page44.com/employment.html</a><br /> - Perpetual <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.perpetual.com/">http://www.perpetual.com/</a>> | MMORPGs | San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.perpetual.com/jobs/">http://www.perpetual.com/jobs/</a><br /> - Planet Moon Studios <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.planetmoon.com/">http://www.planetmoon.com/</a>> | Games | San<br /> Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.planetmoon.com/contact_2.html">http://www.planetmoon.com/contact_2.html</a><br /> - PopCap <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.popcap.com/">http://www.popcap.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco (Seattle)<br /> PopCap Games -<br />Careers<<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://hostedjobs.openhire.com/epostings/jobs/submit.cfm?company_id=15658&version=1">http://hostedjobs.openhire.com/epostings/jobs/submit.cfm?company_id=1...</a>><br /> - Pronto Games <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.prontogames.com/">http://www.prontogames.com/</a>> | Games | Emeryville<br /> Jobs<<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.prontogames.com/developer/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28">http://www.prontogames.com/developer/index.php?option=com_content&tas...</a>><br /> - ROBLOX <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://roblox.com/">http://roblox.com/</a>> | Games | Menlo Park<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://roblox.com/info/Jobs.aspx">http://roblox.com/info/Jobs.aspx</a><br /> - Secret Level <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.secretlevel.com/">http://www.secretlevel.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco<br /></p><p> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.secretlevel.com/main.php?page_type=item_pages&page=jobs_listings">http://www.secretlevel.com/main.php?page_type=item_pages&page=jobs_li...</a><br /> - SEGA <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sega.com/">http://www.sega.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco (Japan)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sega.com/corporate/corporate.php?item=corporate_jobs">http://www.sega.com/corporate/corporate.php?item=corporate_jobs</a><br /> - Slipgate Ironworks <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.slipg8.com/">http://www.slipg8.com/</a>> | Games | San Mateo<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.slipg8.com/">http://www.slipg8.com/</a><br /> - THQ <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thq.com/">http://www.thq.com/</a>> | Games | Santa Clara (Agoura Hills)<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://careers.thq.com/thq/cc/Home.ss">http://careers.thq.com/thq/cc/Home.ss</a><br /> - Three Rings <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.threerings.net/">http://www.threerings.net/</a>> | Games | San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.threerings.net/jobs/">http://www.threerings.net/jobs/</a><br /> - TikGames <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tikgames.com/">http://www.tikgames.com/</a>> | Games | San Mateo<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tikgames.com/Jobs/tabid/60/Default.aspx">http://www.tikgames.com/Jobs/tabid/60/Default.aspx</a><br /> - Totally Games <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.totallygames.com/">http://www.totallygames.com/</a>> | Games | Novato<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.totallygames.com/jobs/">http://www.totallygames.com/jobs/</a><br /> - UbiSoft <<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ubi.com/">http://www.ubi.com/</a>> | Games | San Francisco<br /> <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://jobs.ubi.com/">http://jobs.ubi.com/</a><br /></p>and here's a list of animation studios up here<br /><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.wickedsunshine.com/Animation/AnimationLinks-SanFranciscoStudios.html">http://www.wickedsunshine.com/Animation/AnimationLinks-SanFranciscoSt...</a> </blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-80000997566107591612009-02-08T13:17:00.003-06:002009-02-08T13:22:19.064-06:00YouTube Doubler | Worf, Theory of the Mobius | Star Trek<span style="font-size:8;"><code></code><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td height="355" valign="top" width="425"> <object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9tolLFHW1h4&autoplay=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9tolLFHW1h4&autoplay=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object> </td><td height="355" valign="top" width="425"> <object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_T0GFy8XB2s&autoplay=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_T0GFy8XB2s&autoplay=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object> </td></tr> <tr><td colspane="2"><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,verdana,sans-serif;font-size:8;" ><a href="http://www.youtubedoubler.com/">YouTube Doubler</a></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-64697426850118419382009-02-08T01:00:00.001-06:002009-02-08T01:02:27.557-06:00“Mykonos” Video by Sean Pecknold | Cartoonbrew.com<object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3089176&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3089176&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/3089176">Mykonos</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/grandchildren">Grandchildren</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote>Full video credits, along with a ‘making of’ short can be <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.vimeo.com/3090846');" href="http://www.vimeo.com/3090846">viewed here</a>.<br />(full post at<a href="http://www.cartoonbrew.com/music-videos/mykonos-by-sean-pecknold.html"> cartoonbrew.com</a>)<br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-12989940420655002622009-02-07T14:09:00.002-06:002009-02-07T14:12:45.299-06:00C'mon Sea Legs by Immaculate Machine. Animation using printed photosNice effect, I like how some of the cut-out images still have white areas around strands of hair where they didn't cut it out, just adds to the handcrafted feel of the video.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dyeghRe92Kg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dyeghRe92Kg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span><a href="http://www.immaculatemachine.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.immaculatemachine.com" rel="nofollow" dir="ltr"></a></span><blockquote><span><a href="http://www.immaculatemachine.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.immaculatemachine.com" rel="nofollow" dir="ltr">http://www.immaculatemachine.com</a><br />Official music video for C'mon Sea Legs by Immaculate Machine. A stop motion animation using photographs printed on paper. A collaboration between Kimberli Persley, Geoffrey Tomlin-Hood and many others. </span></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-27711091674445959012009-02-07T13:37:00.002-06:002009-02-07T13:41:01.610-06:00Calvin and Hobbes animation | wallyanimations<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUTBpK-Jcks&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUTBpK-Jcks&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Saw this while cruising around YouTube, made me laugh. Calvin is up to mischief, but at least he isn't peeing on a logo, the auto industry has it tough enough as it is.<br /><br /><span></span><blockquote><span>"Click here for a bit of the pencil test: <a href="http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs23/f/2007/336/c/3/ANIMATION__Calvin_pizza_by_WallyWorld.mov" target="_blank" title="http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs23/f/2007/336/c/3/ANIMATION__Calvin_pizza_by_WallyWorld.mov" rel="nofollow" dir="ltr">http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs23/f/200...</a><br /><br />Made this in my third year of my animation studies, here in Belgium.<br />Based on the characters and story of the comic 'Calvin and Hobbes'.<br />Copyright Bill Watterson.<br /><br />This is just an animationexercice. I don't claim to make the 'perfect Calvin and Hobbes film'. I know the voice isn't very suitable, but i am a Belgian animationstudent. I did what was in my capabilities.<br /><br />These are about 300 drawings handdrawn with pencil and all inked by hand. All scanned one by one and made the sound."</span></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-62957914436800559372009-02-06T21:23:00.007-06:002009-02-07T11:05:21.460-06:00Saw 'Coraline' todayI definitely recommend everyone see it, and see it in 3D if you can. In the past I have shied away from initially viewing animated films in 3D, but this was really nicely done. A friend of mine, <a href="http://raymation.net/">Ray Chase</a>, told me that he saw 'Bolt' in 3D and loved it.<br /><br />The look of the movie is gorgeous, and the animation was top notch! This is a film I can't wait to get on DVD to frame through and study different bits of motion. The music was great (go to the <a href="http://coraline.com/">main movie site</a>, you'll hear it looping), the choir voices lent a lot of magic and tension in all the right places.<br /><br />Cartoon Brew <a href="http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/coraline-opens-today.html">has a good opening day write-up</a> on Coraline. Rotten Tomatoes is scoring it very high, close to 90%, and I think it is well deserved.<br /><br />One thing that impressed me was how far they pushed the stylized look, very distinct characters and the movements fit the body types. Coraline's new friend in the movie, Whybie, has a really interesting way of moving, a slouching, head-tilted, head down sort of posture that I really liked.<br /><br />A lot of times in animated features I catch myself pulling out of the story experience trying to figure out how certain things were done. I did that, of course in this movie too, but it didn't distract me at all like it usually does. There were a couple of spots where it felt long for me, pacing-wise, but nothing that made me squirm.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(*UPDATE* Oops, I don't know why I thought Burton was a producer on this, must have been a mental wire crossover from watching the '9' trailer right before 'Coraline. So I thus remove that bit. The cat in 'Coraline' did make me think of the black cat in 'Vincent', though...)</span> I won't be a spoiler for the visual nod from the past from Selick, but if you have seen <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izb6rKX28bM">'Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions'</a>, you'll immediately get it when you get to that part in 'Coraline'. I'll leave it at that.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Izb6rKX28bM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Izb6rKX28bM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Kudos to everyone at Laika for such an excellent movie. It is not for little kids, and I'm glad they pushed the boundary and didn't knuckle under and pander to the '4 and younger' market. It's a critical success so far, hopefully it will do well financially. I did see a few young children in the audience, they were pretty quiet during the movie, so I wonder what they thought of it, if some of the spookier moments really creeped them out or not.<br /><br />I'm looking forwards to seeing this on the big screen again, I think I'll watch it next time without 3D, see how my perception of it changes.<br /><br />UPDATE: By the way, stay all the way through the credits! This won't ruin anything, at the end, the text says: For those in the know: JERK WAD<br /><br />I asked Jenny Macy about it (she is credited in the movie, did some wire/rig digital removal) and she said that JERK WAD is a password that can be entered in somewhere on <a href="http://coraline.com/">coraline.com</a> to get put in a drawing for a free pair of <a href="http://www.sneakerfiles.com/2008/12/21/coraline-nike-dunk-laika-animation-studio-giveaway/">Coraline Nike Dunks</a>. (image downloaded from sneakerfiles.com) I couldn't find the link in the site, it has crashed my browser 3 times now, so I'll just pretend I found it. :\<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FeuS03DKz-Cu6bK-pUtnhKInV0-dBapilRy0OsgYRmtA71uQBybeYwz46953yscStHdFhe-anU7S6Gy4iFVB4CWE5gBIbUoTRy_6ph677P3YSkKSsopc364muElXEJj4EgIE/s1600-h/coraline-nike-dunk.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FeuS03DKz-Cu6bK-pUtnhKInV0-dBapilRy0OsgYRmtA71uQBybeYwz46953yscStHdFhe-anU7S6Gy4iFVB4CWE5gBIbUoTRy_6ph677P3YSkKSsopc364muElXEJj4EgIE/s400/coraline-nike-dunk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299900239193950658" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-26791547547467993622009-02-06T10:43:00.003-06:002009-02-06T10:54:50.498-06:00Acknowledging the upcoming Ghostbusters video game | cinemassacre.comHe runs<a href="http://www.cinemassacre.com/new/?p=829"> a video of cuts from the FMV material</a> for the Ghostbusters game we are working on. The gist of his commenting is to get people to stop emailing him that the game is coming out.<br /><br />Of course, I imagine people will now email him even more now that they know it irks him a bit. I like how he rips into old video games, like the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLVGmvmNitg">old Ghostbusters game</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-74532189546048577882009-02-04T09:47:00.004-06:002009-02-04T10:11:27.658-06:00The Handmade Tale: Coraline's Inventive DIY Effects<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1m_Kr6BMTpz5GvViafhYGsQEir-ihcU5-FI1MJIgevfk7QNAHEOMpHt5BP2p2EyPM-HtlNiGVhfHuac2cJO6zhHH8TrA_Y4qv4kiScRZpYENB7UO4JEWDMujzQTMRPWeZ3z4j/s1600-h/Coraline_fantastic_garden_stopmotion.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1m_Kr6BMTpz5GvViafhYGsQEir-ihcU5-FI1MJIgevfk7QNAHEOMpHt5BP2p2EyPM-HtlNiGVhfHuac2cJO6zhHH8TrA_Y4qv4kiScRZpYENB7UO4JEWDMujzQTMRPWeZ3z4j/s320/Coraline_fantastic_garden_stopmotion.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298970219351823906" border="0" /></a>Very short article on <a href="http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/multimedia/2009/02/pl_screen?slide=1&slideView=3">Wired</a>, so I found a much longer interview at <a href="http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=7712">shocktillyoudrop.com</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Some of the costumes are constructed from scratch. There's one woman who was brought onboard who specializes in miniature knitting, making sweaters as small as an inch big. Equally impressive, though, are the costumes made from everyday objects. One of the models - a background townsperson - sits on the desk with an outfit made from an ordinary tube sock, recognizable only when it's pointed out as anything other than a sweater."</span><br /><br />Also, RottenTomatoes has some 'behind the scenes' footage on <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coraline/news/1748615/exclusive_sneak_peek_at_coraline_video_5">crafting the film</a>. Something interesting I had read a while back was that there were visible seams on the faces of the characters, those sections can be swapped out for facial animation. The director, Henry Selick, supposedly was in favor of leaving the seaming visible, but it was eventually decided to remove the seams digitally.<br /><br />You can see the seams on the Mom at the 1:42 mark on the <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/dor/objects/735644/coraline/videos/coraline_feat2_081208.html">'Crafting the World of Coraline' video</a> at RottenTomatoes, I would love to see some longer scenes before/after the seam removal, perhaps they will show it on the DVD when released.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-1037738876037417972008-12-22T20:16:00.002-06:002008-12-22T20:26:17.014-06:00Waltz With Bashir - I got some Academy Award screeners, Part Four...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVgw5QslP9NHG81_X1XpHmF-TPzI78JR3iOcBLy4wV8j4EX2ZNc4Cues42xXm-iN7kXfHteUrKBGfIxtfsAApLK-_Yv-wQzL550dyeyD4Cw4BdUzT6ZXWCB9hGOjBe_CBeoNx/s1600-h/Waltz+With+Bashir.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVgw5QslP9NHG81_X1XpHmF-TPzI78JR3iOcBLy4wV8j4EX2ZNc4Cues42xXm-iN7kXfHteUrKBGfIxtfsAApLK-_Yv-wQzL550dyeyD4Cw4BdUzT6ZXWCB9hGOjBe_CBeoNx/s200/Waltz+With+Bashir.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282804174813864514" border="0" /></a>And just when I thought the river o' screeners had dried up, 'Waltz With Bashir' (<a href="http://waltzwithbashir.com/">movie website</a>) shows up in the mail from Sony Pictures Classics.<br /><br />Here's a synopsis from the site:<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari Folman about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life.<br /><br />Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images …</blockquote>I enjoyed some of the 'Production Notes' on the website, sounded like a Herculean effort on a small team's part:<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">4. After the final version of the video film was decided upon, Ari, together with animation director Yoni Goodman, broke down the video film into a basic storyboard. This process took another four months. After the storyboard phase, the pioneer animation team was established and included six animators who began the animatic stage, or as it is known in the USA, the video board – the most basic illustrations of the future film in the most basic motion.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">5. The animatic stage took another six months and was followed by another round of screenings. This time on a big screen. The central objective of this round of screenings was to make changes to the largest extent possible at the animatic stage in order to avoid corrections at the final animation phase, which is several times more costly.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">6. After final approval of the animatic, the art team began sketching the film based on the reference of the final video copy and the storyboard. In total, four illustrators drew close to two thousand individual illustrations and 80% of the illustrations were drawn by the film’s super designer David Polonsky.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">7. At the same time, the animation team, comprised of 10 animators, began animating the illustrations. If at the beginning the production forecast was that the team would complete 6 minutes of screen time per month, the intricate and Sisyphean technique developed by animation director Yoni Goodman caused the production to be 50% arrears as opposed to the plan and the progress rate was 4 minutes per month.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">8. The average progress rate of an animator on the film “Waltz with Bashir” was 37 frames per 9 hour work day, which are a second and a half. When an animator finishes such a work day, he returns home and does not have the mental stamina even to watch a pathetic football game on TV.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">9. The animation work in the case of Waltz with Bashir became especially complex due to the man who developed it: Animation director Yoni Goodman. They say he developed it according to his abilities, which are absolutely phenomenal and do not represent human beings what so ever, which means it took an animator on the film one month to establish a normal work pace.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">10. Yoni Goodman not only possesses phenomenal skills, he is considered the “eutopic man” by the team. He is extraordinarily talented and was born with an incorrigible optimism. He is also a “deadline freak” who can exist for days and nights on end on an excellent diet of coffee, cookies and the lowest form of junk food. He is also a great admirer of the Rambo films, especially Rambo 3, which serves as tremendous artistic inspiration for his animating skills.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">11. Illustrator and artistic director David Polonsky drew 1720 illustrations for three whole years all by himself, and these comprise 80% of the film’s illustrations. At the onset of production, David was an introverted fellow, who drew two drawings a day and did everything he could to justify his reputation as a talented artist and Russian immigrant who is ill at ease in Israeli society. After three years, we found this same David performing at exclusive karaoke events and dubbing with a powerful and loud voice the main character of Bridget Folman’s next animated production “Atomic Family”.</span></blockquote>I'll watch this over the break, it's definitely not a mainstream affair.<br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-33735372033820980292008-12-22T19:36:00.003-06:002008-12-22T19:43:12.284-06:00Laika Layoffs ReportedFrom 'The Business of Animation: A Commentary' blog:<br /><blockquote><div style="font-style: italic;" align="justify">"I knew it would happen sooner or later. Today, it was announced that Laika is laying off 65 (or 75 depending on your source). It seems that Jack and Ben has been shelved and those working on it are getting the axe.</div><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-style: italic;">When Coraline completely wraps, we may see more pink slips. This is par for the course in the animation industry. The difference is, since this company is on its own little island up there in the Pacific Northwest, they'll have a harder time bringing in new people next time around." (</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://cganimation.blogspot.com/2008/12/laika-lays-off.html">full post</a><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span><br /></div></blockquote>I just hope that the people laid off land somewhere quick, this is a horrible time of year to chunk people out the door. I understand it from a business point-of-view, but still sucks. <br /><br />I'm hoping good things for '<a href="http://coraline.com/">Coraline</a>' when it releases February 6th, the behind-the-scenes stuff is great, and I love Selick, so fingers crossed for this stop-motion production.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-23471735312298864742008-12-22T19:28:00.003-06:002008-12-22T19:36:02.663-06:00Disney's Bolt and Glaco's Guest short film... I got some Academy Award screeners, Part Tres...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6DitD2CS50D-byISlZozLJKW6h1kMPIR5MnOVhP2MwspUvBqhrPPJTJcIs3TbfGdgNebJ3mvtv4FCBqzI4blKA7ehPXrmPsmT8pe9vSL0kFBV_WoOJWJb581tOy32ls5tYpa/s1600-h/disney_bolt_screener.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL6DitD2CS50D-byISlZozLJKW6h1kMPIR5MnOVhP2MwspUvBqhrPPJTJcIs3TbfGdgNebJ3mvtv4FCBqzI4blKA7ehPXrmPsmT8pe9vSL0kFBV_WoOJWJb581tOy32ls5tYpa/s200/disney_bolt_screener.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282792344605106162" border="0" /></a>Well, got my last batch of screeners (I think) for this year. I really enjoyed Bolt. I am interested in hearing some behind-the-scenes stuff from guys that worked on it how much it was re-tooled from 'American Dog', I know the scoop is probably already out on a bunch of sites but I'm too lazy to go dig. Disney also sent out a nifty 2009 calendar and soundtrack disc.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIZxciSRJQL1WV3qIN7cwfZL4EHRkOqKaEL1PqNcsKXDnM1hMvh5vrHc3G7fdyJ7NCA376iMJmc-GLeWNmJWP1DThfaFp-dTO_l1oHIFhyphenhyphenc52btm1elFCG0uT0TXeDvNEI6bU/s1600-h/disney_glaco's_guest.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIZxciSRJQL1WV3qIN7cwfZL4EHRkOqKaEL1PqNcsKXDnM1hMvh5vrHc3G7fdyJ7NCA376iMJmc-GLeWNmJWP1DThfaFp-dTO_l1oHIFhyphenhyphenc52btm1elFCG0uT0TXeDvNEI6bU/s200/disney_glaco's_guest.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282792338728726498" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-21430282268784839572008-12-13T07:53:00.004-06:002008-12-13T08:31:59.434-06:00Madagascar 2... I got some Academy Award screeners, Part Deux...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoo73Y0b5Mp03p6bWSqgdHNznNBcSgv992VxtYocqfE7qZ_gtNRX2R7t38bLl7gMZmdQeO2XIgkC0KfZWgYQUwIFEeza8t3q4rNm6MANjyuJhPp2m-OqJecV85Le7gXz429E3f/s1600-h/madagascar_2_screener.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoo73Y0b5Mp03p6bWSqgdHNznNBcSgv992VxtYocqfE7qZ_gtNRX2R7t38bLl7gMZmdQeO2XIgkC0KfZWgYQUwIFEeza8t3q4rNm6MANjyuJhPp2m-OqJecV85Le7gXz429E3f/s320/madagascar_2_screener.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279281460221771362" border="0" /></a><br />Got another screener in the mail. I love getting these! The cardboard package is ok, but the insert that holds the DVD really sucks, very flimsy and the DVD keeps popping out, ended up slightly scratching the disc. That's why I put it in another holder. Oh well, who am I to grouse, it's a freebie, so all is good.<br /><br />I took my 3 year old to see this movie in the theater, he really enjoyed it, the penguins were his favorite, I think.<br /><br />Next, I'm hoping for a screener of Bolt!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-11279972838971742892008-11-26T23:01:00.003-06:002008-11-26T23:11:51.717-06:00Wall-E, Presto, Kung Fu Panda... I got some Academy Awards screeners...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrIwfZVPRM-C49VJyB1zXB18GTb0okuJTuMbuMdI0MFmsrR4A0deGakknMnL9Ks5ES5GTIETvuMRMFu1C3y3oykTchBRLI1JXkIau1ubq3AvMVQ0onC2althnK3TcvUZW0txV/s1600-h/wall-e+presto+kung+fu+panda+awards+screeners+2008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrIwfZVPRM-C49VJyB1zXB18GTb0okuJTuMbuMdI0MFmsrR4A0deGakknMnL9Ks5ES5GTIETvuMRMFu1C3y3oykTchBRLI1JXkIau1ubq3AvMVQ0onC2althnK3TcvUZW0txV/s320/wall-e+presto+kung+fu+panda+awards+screeners+2008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273198359384778610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This is always a cool time of year for me, I get Academy Awards screeners of animated films! So far I have Wall-E, Presto (Pixar's short film by Doug Sweetland), if you haven't listened to the interview with him at Spline Doctors, I highly recommend it!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://splinedoctors.com/2008/07/doug-sweetland-spline-cast-part-1/">Spline Doctors - Doug Sweetland Part 1</a><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://splinedoctors.com/2008/08/doug-sweetland-part-2/">Spline Doctors - Doug Sweetland Part 2</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I held up the the casings of the screeners to my Class 1 students at Animation Mentor tonight, they ooh'd and aaah'd, which made me laugh. I'm such a nerd with these screeners, I get excited this time of year when I see a padded tan envelope in the mail for me, I know the goodies are here! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It's a great treat, and a good reminder of the hard work that goes into these films.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Everyone have a great holiday season!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-15288139414516527272008-09-27T14:39:00.002-06:002008-09-27T14:43:47.984-06:00Muppet designer Bonnie Erickson on puppet storytelling and inspiration<span style="font-style: italic;">Good article. Whenever I get ready to pre-plan for animation, I will always get in front of a video camera, even if it is just my webcam, and act out several versions of whatever action or acting I'm going for. That instant feedback is important to me, and that is what I find appealing about puppetry.</span><br />--<br /><p></p><blockquote><p>Bonnie Erickson designed and built the inimitable Miss Piggy in 1974 for an early "Muppets" television special, produced by Jim Henson. Puppets, props and storyboards from Henson's prolific career are featured in the traveling exhibit "Jim Henson's Fantastic World." Anika Gupta spoke with Erickson.</p> <p><strong>You've been designing muppets and mascots for years. What attracts you to them?</strong><br />The creation of worlds—the whole process of designing characters, putting together a back story, giving the characters an environment in which they can thrive and casting performers who can bring them to life.</p> <p><strong>Why do puppets appeal to adults as well as children?</strong><br />They've been a tradition across the world for thousands of years as a form of storytelling. But, until recently, they have't been appreciated in the United States. Now, however, puppetry is finding a niche in the arts—dance, theater and even opera. I think people appreciate the performers' skill as well as the artistry of the puppets themselves. We owe a lot of that to [Muppets creator] Jim Henson's vision.<br /></p><p> (full article <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/atm-qa-200810.html">smithsonianmag.com </a>)</p></blockquote><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-81902328531794696582008-09-08T22:13:00.001-06:002008-09-08T22:16:35.423-06:00Original Ghostbuster Harold Ramis Confirms Reboot | Wired<span style="font-style: italic;">25th anniversary of the original 'Ghostbuster' movie next year, like anyone should be surprised that Sony wants to capitalize. I do like how they are being coy about it.</span><br />--<br />Original<em> Ghostbusters</em> scribe Harold Ramis has clarified rumors regarding the revival of the '80s paranormal franchise. <p><strong>"</strong>Columbia is <a href="http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2008/09/harold-ramis-co.html">developing a script</a> for [<em>Ghostbusters III</em>] with my <em>Year One</em> writing partners, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg," Ramis (pictured, right) told the <em>Chicago Tribune</em>. "[Dan] Aykroyd, Ivan Reitman and I are consulting at this point, and according to Dan, Bill Murray is willing to be involved on some level." </p> <p>Ramis also backed up rumors that <a href="http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/09/ghostbusters-3.html">Judd Apatow regulars</a> like Seth Rogen, Steve Carrell and Jonah Hill could lend their star power to the third installment. </p> <p>"Judd Apatow is co-producing <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045778/"><em>Year One</em></a> and has made several other films for Sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent," said Ramis. "The concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity." (<a href="http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/09/original-ghostb.html">link</a>)<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-36831223551673679522008-09-07T17:32:00.002-06:002008-09-07T17:33:31.070-06:00I think Youtube might be advertising Spore..<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXoGRXjBeZDlxEQJvA-Cuoon_tYCNFYJqSOWXFHkt0I9UNRYxFBdVYMqAkAFARLX6I-YZHnLKOn9xD39sl_8X0XUnZNP4DI6rriGGIB2bh7kpeer6OA5EqWgbyOLjXXWGLssI/s1600-h/spore_youtube_ad_huge.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXoGRXjBeZDlxEQJvA-Cuoon_tYCNFYJqSOWXFHkt0I9UNRYxFBdVYMqAkAFARLX6I-YZHnLKOn9xD39sl_8X0XUnZNP4DI6rriGGIB2bh7kpeer6OA5EqWgbyOLjXXWGLssI/s200/spore_youtube_ad_huge.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243426539252681730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />They are very subtle.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-46313549094841252062008-09-03T22:42:00.003-06:002008-09-03T22:45:39.768-06:00VOLTRON movie in the works?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Voltron_in_the_sun.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Voltron_in_the_sun.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This definitely </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117991565.html?categoryid=13&cs=1">could be somewhere</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> on the 'awesome' scale, please don't nuke the fridge!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(actually, don't think that phrase really works with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltron">Voltron property</a>, but I haven't used it in a while, suck it Indy!) </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-74451280132676645202008-09-03T22:28:00.003-06:002008-09-03T22:34:20.583-06:00Bill Melendez 1916-2008 | cartoonbrew.com<span style="font-style: italic;">Man, I grew up tracing 'Peanuts' comic strips, love those specials. RIP.</span><br /><br />(more at <a href="http://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/bill-melendez-1917-2008">cartoonbrew.com</a>)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0G8XH4WDxP4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0G8XH4WDxP4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><p><a target="blank" href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i666fc0408ab465aaaa3c27625a84282e">Bill Melendez</a>, the Mexican-born American character animator, film director, and film producer, best known for his animation for Warner Bros, UPA and the <i>Peanuts</i> specials and feature films, has passed away. </p> <p>In 1938, Melendez was hired by Walt Disney to work on animated short films and feature-length films such as <em>Bambi, Fantasia</em> and <em>Dumbo.</em> Three years later, he joined Leon Schlesinger’s team at Warner Bros. studios, where, as a member of the Bob Clampett and Art Davis units, he animated on a number of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck shorts. Among the classic Warner Bros. shorts he animated on are <em>Book Revue, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, Baby Bottleneck,</em> and <em>The Big Snooze.</em> UPA put him on their payroll in 1948 to work on many television commercials, as well as the <em>Gerald McBoing Boing</em> and <em>Madeline</em> shorts.</p> <p>After a decade working on commercial and industrial films at studios like John Sutherland Productions and Playhouse Pictures, Melendez founded his own production company in 1964. Bill Melendez Productions helped produce the annually broadcast Christmas special <em>A Charlie Brown Christmas,</em> for which he won an Emmy Award and the George Foster Peabody Award despite having to work on short notice and with a tight budget. </p> <p>Melendez has gone on to do over 75 half-hour <em>Peanuts</em> specials, including the 1989 miniseries, all with partner Lee Mendelson. In 1979, he directed a made-for-TV animated version of <i>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-41455490774825925232008-08-02T15:39:00.002-06:002008-08-02T16:03:41.889-06:00Ghostbusters: The Video Game... the controversy continues...I can't talk about the tempest kicked off by the <a href="http://protoncharging.com/gb/2008/07/30/variety-activision-not-publishing-gb-game-helping-with-options/">recent Activision announcement</a>, but <a href="http://terminalreality.com/">Terminal Reality</a> is still moving forwards with the game. It's looking great! There was a <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/244270.html">hands-on demo</a> of one of the levels at this year's Comic-Con, and it was a smash hit. Lots of very positive feedback from the fans.<br /><br />It is a lot of fun to animate with the voice cast of the original. Next year is the 25th anniversary of the original 'Ghostbusters' movie, so opportunities like this don't come around often. On my slate of 'to do' for this game is a couple of nice cinematic shots with Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and a lil bit I came up with for Slimer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-73481365627392221802008-05-05T13:08:00.003-06:002008-05-05T13:44:05.226-06:00Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation<h3><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: normal;">This was circulating at work, I very much subscribe to the notion of getting everyone into a room and looking at the work that is being generated. Get comments on it. <span style="font-style: italic;">Does this work? What if this was simplified? This isn't working, try this instead. <br /></span></span></span></h3><br />Getting notes from the director or person who has final say is generally always preferable. Maybe not always convenient, but definitely cuts down on situations where there is misinterpretation. It also fosters a creative atmosphere and allows the artist to ask questions that an intermediate person might not think of.<br /><h3>--<br /></h3><h3><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Pixar’s Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></h3> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p>This week <a title="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/home.aspx blocked::http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/home.aspx" href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/home.aspx">The McKinsey Quaterly </a>asks: what does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? Apparently, a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In <a title="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Innovation_lessons_from_Pixar_An_interview_with_Oscar-winning_director_Brad_Bird_2127_abstract blocked::http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Innovation_lessons_from_Pixar_An_interview_with_Oscar-winning_director_Brad_Bird_2127_abstract" href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Innovation_lessons_from_Pixar_An_interview_with_Oscar-winning_director_Brad_Bird_2127_abstract">Innovation lessons from Pixar</a>, McKinsey writes: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird makes his living fostering creativity. Academy Award-winning director (<a title="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/ blocked::http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/">The Incredibles</a> and <a title="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/ blocked::http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/">Ratatouille</a>) talks about the importance, in his work, of pushing teams beyond their comfort zones, encouraging dissent, and building morale. He also explained the value of “black sheep”—restless contributors with unconventional ideas. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Steve Jobs hired him, says Bird, because after three successes (<a title="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/ blocked::http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/">Toy Story</a>, <a title="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120623/ blocked::http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120623/" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120623/">A Bug’s Life</a>, and <a title="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120363/ blocked::http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120363/" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120363/">Toy Story 2</a>) he was worried Pixar might struggle to stay innovative. <em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Jobs told him: “The only thing we’re afraid of is complacency—feeling like we have it all figured out,”</span></i></em> Bird quotes his boss as saying <em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">“…We want you to come shake things up.”</span></i></em> Bird explains to McKinsey how he did it — and why, for <em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">“imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.”</span></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The piece is behind McKinsey’s pay wall, but we extract its <strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">9 key lessons</span></b></strong> below.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson One: Herd Your Black Sheep </span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: How did your first project at Pixar—The Incredibles—shake things up?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird: </span></span></b></strong>I said, “Give us the<em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"> black sheep</span></i></em>. I want artists who are frustrated. I want the ones who have another way of doing things that nobody’s listening to. Give us all the guys who are probably headed out the door.” A lot of them were malcontents because they saw different ways of doing things, but there was little opportunity to try them, since the established way was working very, very well. We gave the black sheep a chance to prove their theories, and we changed the way a number of things are done here.<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Two: Perfect is the Enemy of Innovation</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: What sorts of things did you do differently?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird:</span></span></b></strong> I had to <strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">shake the purist out of them</span></b></strong>—essentially frighten them into realizing I was ready to use quick and dirty “cheats” to get something on screen… I’d say, “Look, I don’t have to do the water through a computer simulation program… I’m perfectly content to film a splash in a swimming pool and just composite the water in.” I never did film the pool splash [but] talking this way helped everyone understand that we didn’t have to make something that would work from every angle. Not all shots are created equal. Certain shots need to be perfect, others need to be very good, and there are some that only need to be <em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">good enough to not break the spell.</span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Three: Look for Intensity</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: Do angry people—malcontents, in your words—make for better innovation? </span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird:</span></span></b></strong> Involved people make for better innovation… Involved people can be quiet, loud, or anything in-between—what they have in common is a restless, probing nature: “I want to get to the problem. There’s something I want to do.” If you had thermal glasses, you could see heat coming off them.<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Four: Innovation Doesn’t happen in a Vacuum</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: How do you build and lead a team? </span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird: </span></span></b></strong><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">I got everybody in a room.</span></i></em> This was different from what the previous guy had done; he had reviewed the work in private, generated notes, and sent them to the person… I said, “Look, this is a young team. As individual animators, we all have different strengths and weaknesses, but if we can interconnect all our strengths, we are collectively the greatest animator on earth. So I want you guys to speak up and drop your drawers. We’re going to look at your scenes in front of everybody. Everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together…<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Five: High Morale Makes Creativity Cheap</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: It sounds like you spend a fair amount of time thinking about the morale of your teams.</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird</span></span></b></strong>: In my experience, <em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">the thing that has the most significant impact on a movie’s budget—but never shows up in a budget—is morale.</span></i></em> [<em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">what’s true for a movie is true for a startup!</span></i></em>] If you have low morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about 25 cents of value. If you have high morale, for every $1 you spend, you get about $3 of value. Companies should pay much more attention to morale.<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Six: Dont Try To “Protect your success”</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: Engagement, morale—what else is critical for stimulating innovative thinking?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird:</span></span></b></strong> The first step in achieving the impossible is believing that the impossible can be achieved. … “You <em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">don’t play it safe</span></i></em>—you do something that scares you, that’s at the edge of your capabilities, where you might fail. That’s what gets you up in the morning.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Six: Steve Jobs Says ‘Interaction = Innovation’</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: What does Pixar do to stimulate a creative culture?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird:</span></span></b></strong> If you walk around downstairs in the animation area, you’ll see that it is unhinged. People are allowed to create whatever front to their office they want. One guy might build a front that’s like a Western town. Someone else might do something that looks like <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Hawaii</st1:State></st1:place>…John [Lasseter] believes that if you have a loose, free kind of atmosphere, it helps creativity.<o:p></o:p></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Then there’s our building. <strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Steve Jobs basically designed this building.</span></b></strong> In the center, he created this big atrium area, which seems initially like a waste of space. The reason he did it was that everybody goes off and works in their individual areas. People who work on software code are here, people who animate are there, and people who do designs are over there. Steve put the mailboxes, the meetings rooms, the cafeteria, <strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">and, most insidiously and brilliantly, the bathrooms in the center</span></b></strong>—which initially drove us crazy—so that you run into everybody during the course of a day. <strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">[Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you not to run into the rest of the company.</span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Seven: Encourage Inter-disciplinary Learning</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: Is there anything else you’d highlight that contributes to creativity around here?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird: </span></span></b></strong>One thing Pixar does [is] “PU,” or <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Pixar</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. If you work in lighting but you want to learn how to animate, there’s a class to show you animation. There are classes in story structure, in Photoshop, even in Krav Maga, the Israeli self-defense system. Pixar basically encourages people to learn outside of their areas, which makes them more complete. [and more creative].<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Eight: Get Rid of Weak Links</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: What undermines Innovation?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird: </span></span></b></strong>Passive-aggressive people—people who don’t show their colors in the group but then get behind the scenes and peck away—are poisonous. I can usually spot those people fairly soon and I weed them out.<o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lesson Nine: Making $$ Can’t Be Your Focus</span></span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p> <p><em><i><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Quarterly: How would you compare the Disney of your early career with Pixar today?</span></span></i></em><o:p></o:p></p> <p><strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Brad Bird</span></span></b></strong>: When I entered Disney, it was like a classic Cadillac Phaeton that had been left out in the rain… The company’s thought process was not, “We have all this amazing machinery—how do we use it to make exciting things? We could go to Mars in this rocket ship!” It was, “We don’t understand Walt Disney at all. We don’t understand what he did. Let’s not screw it up. Let’s just preserve this rocket ship; going somewhere new in it might damage it.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Walt Disney’s mantra was, “I don’t make movies to make money—I make money to make movies.” That’s a good way to sum up the difference between Disney at its height and Disney when it was lost. It’s also true of Pixar and a lot of other companies. <strong><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">It seems counterintuitive, but for imagination-based companies to succeed in the long run, making money can’t be the focus.</span></b></strong><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21918970.post-81577683102617995582007-05-10T20:09:00.000-06:002007-05-10T20:09:27.854-06:00Boing Boing: Quirky human behavior<a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/10/quirky_human_behavio.html">Boing Boing: Quirky human behavior</a><br /><span class="rss:item"></span><a name="034791"><blockquote>In 1988, psychologist Fritz Strack of the University of Würzburg, Germany, a<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg19426031.700-a-quirky-look-at-our-quirky-species.html">sked two groups of people to judge how funny they found some cartoons</a>. In one group, each person held a pencil between their teeth without it touching their lips, which forced a smile. The other group were asked to hold the pencil with their lips (not using their teeth), forcing a frown.<br /><br />The results revealed that people experience the emotion associated with their expressions. Those with a forced smile felt happier, and found the cartoons funnier than those who were forced to frown...<br /><br />Anthropologists and psychologists have long been interested in superstitions. One of the key categories of superstitious thinking is the "law of contagion", which says that when an object has been in contact with someone, it somehow acquires their "essence". Psychologist Paul Rozin and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania have investigated how common such thinking is today.<br /><br />They asked people to rate how they would feel about wearing a nice, soft, blue jumper that had been freshly laundered - but previously worn by someone else. As they varied the fictitious previous wearers of the jumper, it became clear how strongly people follow the age-old belief in magical contagion.<br /><br />Perhaps unsurprisingly, the volunteers were unhappiest about wearing the jumper if they were told it had previously belonged to a serial killer. On the whole they would rather have worn a sweater that had been dropped in dog faeces and not washed - raising genuine health concerns - than a laundered sweater that had been worn by a mass murderer.<br /><br />Even in the 21st century, we are far from being the rational creatures that we like to think we are, as a final part of the experiment made dismayingly clear. When asked to imagine that the laundered sweater had been worn by someone who had contracted HIV through a blood transfusion, most people once again said they wouldn't wear it.<br /></blockquote></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0