RantDog

Still here...just trollin' round Youtube, and I came across this series what I never heard of. Rantdog features hand puppets with bloody stumps still inserted behavin' in a manner most unseemly. Don't know why nobody never told me 'bout this. I'll try to get a lil' more info on the reprobates responsible in the next few days. Meanwhile, enjoy this slice of antisocial web goodness.

HYPOTHERMIA...my Kayak Prayer

Still feelin' like hammered shite, so here's a quick post. Found some youtubey goodness from Dave Foster, who showed this off at the TAIS incubator last week. His film is about a frosty kayak trip he undertook on the Humber river in the winter of his 19th year. Ah, reckless youth. Check it out! More on Madi's film, "Toro Bravo" later.

Oscar goes Danish...via Montreal.

Congrats to Torill Kove for her Oscar win. It's got a serious Canuck production background, but don't be fooled! "The Danish Poet", animated in Montreal with an assist from the NFB, according to Torill "...is 100 percent Norwegian," You might remember that her excellent film "My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts" was nominated for an Oscar in 1999...ran in Ottawa in '00. Good stuff!

NFB Dancin' Pixel winners!

Naturally, I was supposed to post some info about our excellent TAIS incubator last week, but I've contracted the cold, and currently feel like about 10 pounds of hammered ass. So, I'll direct you to the winning entries for the NFB Make the Pixels Dance contest! The voting is closed, and you can go here to witness the animated glory.

http://www.onf.ca/animetesclics/en/index.php?page=winner

Sorry, I know how to embed Youtube, but a simple link still eludes me. Just copy it into a new browser page or tab (go FireFox!) and you'll be able to view the winning entries! More on the Incubator, hopefully tomorrow. Cheers!

TAIS incubator...details on Monday!

Tons of stuff went down at Thursday's InCooBator, no real time to go into detail now, it's Friday Night, fer corn's sake! I'll write up all the goodness proper like and post it on Monday. In the meanwhile, here's a lovely lil' bit of relaxing goodness from TAIS vet Gerry Lagendyk. Later!

Hydrocephalic Bunny...hell, did I even spell that right?

I've run into this dood twice in Ottawa at the anim fest, and he's the consummate art blogger...a database-like knowledge of drawing, comics, art and animation with the passion of the true enthusiast to go with it...this guy knows his shit. Drop on by and give his blog a look-see:

http://hydrocephalicbunny.blogspot.com/

I'll put a link down below as well. Meanwhile, I gotta get to work...later!

Ryan Larkin (1943-2007)

Apologies, folks...thank goodness for Jerry Beck over at Cartoon Brew, cause this slipped under my radar completely, and I feel like a complete ass. From Jerry's blog:

"Here are a few more details about Larkin’s passing from an email written by his longtime friend, Felicity Fanjoy:

Ryan departed this life on Valentine’s Day around eleven o’clock in the evening. He died in the palliative care unit of the Hotel Dieu Hospital in St. Hyacinthe QC of lung cancer that had spread to the brain.

Before slipping into unconsciousness at the beginning of this week, his last words to Laurie Gordon (his guardian angel who, along with her family, have encouraged, supported and helped Ryan in every way possible in the last couple of years) were: ‘I’m happy. I’m okay. I like it here.’ A few days earlier he also said, ‘I just want to rest and rest and rest and rest and rest until the end of my days.’ And that is what he did."

I feel doubly the ass for not really knowing the man's work. If you don't, here's his 1965 piece, 'Syrinx'. Spare the booze and lift a mug o' soda or tea, we've lost us a good one. Meanwhile, I'm gonna raid the TAIS library for more of his work. Special thanks to YouTube-er lepecheurdeperles for uploading Syrinx.

Platform: Next year...

Yeah, call me a massive puss, but I've kinda decided that getting the film done, and done right, should take priority over rushing to get the thing into a fest, even one that sounds as cool as Platform duz. So, I'm callin' it in da air, here, and sayin' that I'll wait until I've got an absolutely finished, polished film in my meaty lil' mitts before I start thinking about fests. 'nuff said.

TAIS incubator is on!

Announcing the first TAIS incubator of 2007! This is an open house for local animators (and anybody visiting, of course) to drop by and show us yer shtuff. Here's the details:
-----------------------------
The Animators' Incubator is an informal monthly meeting where independent animators can show works in progress, share animation knowledge and network with otheanimators. Members are encouraged to bring in their work, whether it be a sketchbook, demo-reel, or almost completed project.

The TAIS studio computers are available to show work.

WHERE: TAIS
60 ATLANTIC, STUDIOS #102 & 09
TORONTO, ONTARIO

WHEN: Incubators are held the generally the first Thursday of every month 6:30pm to 9:00 pm

Upcoming in 2007: February 22

WHO: TAIS members are welcome to all Incubators.Animators or enthusiasts interested in joining the Toronto Animated ImagSociety are invited to attend to meet some of the membership, see the facilities and join up!

FEE: Free
-------------------------------

Yup, it's gratis, so come on by, let us see what yer workin' on, give you some feedback, if'n y'all want it, and hang out. Cheers!

Doodlez!

Just rummaging through the Cold Hard Flash archives (www.coldhardflash.com) when I came across this slice of Atlantic Canadian goodness. Anybody in Canuck-land who whatches Teletoon will recognize these great interstitials animated by them fine folks at Cellar Door productions (www.cellardoor.tv)...they've done tons o' good stuff, including the Eckhart series, also on Teletoon. I'll try to grab some more animated oddities from YouTube for ya whenever I can.

First Time Out...submitting to Platform!

First film, first submission to a fest! Platform is the first U.S. competitive festival dedicated to just animation...and it's coinciding fairly nicely with the state of my film, which is still 'in-progress'. Luckily, the doods in Portland will take a gander at unfinished work, provided the nail is in the coffin by May 25th, which I think I can handle. 'Course, I also thought I could finish the damn thing in a week...I'll sacrifice a chicken to the animation gods and pray for the best. Meanwhile, I gotta get my butt home and burn a CD with stills, a synopsis and a bio, and a fresh DVD with the latest build o' my film on it, and get it in the mail by Wednesday, ifn' I'm gonna make the March 1st deadline! Wish me the luck.

Oh, and ifn' anybody else wants to submit, the site is at www.platformfestival.com

My Adventures with Cloe

Thanks to the guys at Cold Hard Flash for this one. It's a pilot from them fine boys n' girls at FatKat animation (http://www.fatkatanimation.com/) but don't be fooled by the cute kid and the cuddly dino, this is adult fare only...definetely not safe fer work, unless you've got headphones or a really groovy boss. This is just the teaser trailer, but don't fret...the whole 12 minute shebang is yers to watch at http://www.coldhardflash.com/2007/02/fatkats-adventures-with-cloe.html

Fat Kat has been making quite a name for itself recently, with tons of commercial work and of course the Happy Tree Friends tv series that they whipped up for Roque and the crew at Mondo Media. (http://www.mondomedia.com) If Cloe isn't picked up by Cartoon Network or Comedy Central, there's something inherently wrong with the universe. Teletoon, hey! You need this show, fellas!

Make them pixels dance, baby!

I'd forgotten about this! The NFB Animation doods have sponsored a groovy lil' contest to celebrate the launch of the Norman Mclaren boxed set.

"the NFB invited animation enthusiasts from 9 to 20 to grab a camera or cell phone and create a film of three minutes or less in the style and to the music of the master animator Norman McLaren. Here are the films of the finalists that remain in competition in this nationwide animated film contest.

From a final count of 170 eligible submissions, we of the jury chose the top ten in each age category. In the quarter final round, three films were eliminated by popular vote. The remaining 7 projects await your evaluation and their scores have been reset to zero. Remember, the more films you judge in each age category (between 1 and 5 stars), the greater your chances to win a prize.

Based on your input, another 4 projects will be eliminated during this round."

So, get on over, check out the films and vote! www.onf.ca/animetesclics/en/index.php

History of Rock by Bros. McLeod

Been trying to get YouTube embedding working, and as an experiment, here's a fine peice by the Brothers Mcleod of Fuggy-Fuggy fame. Gimme a shout out, lemme know if'n it works for ya, and I'll link to more YouTubey goodness, and get some of the TAIS ani-ninjas to post some stuff. Cheers!

Frances Leeming Master Class

We've got a Master Class with renowned video artist Frances Leeming comin' up on Friday, March 2nd at 7:30 pm, sponsored by TAIS, the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council and OCAD, the Ontario College of Arts and Design, who are hosting the event at the McCaul Auditorium on the OCAD campus. Full info on the poster. I'll have a full bio and some links to some of France's work later today or early tomorrow. Cheers!

The animation wheels grind slow...

...but fairly fine. Didn't get the thing finished, but I did put a big ol' 1:14 hole in it. That leaves 1:22, which I'll have to whittle away at over the coming weekends. Hopefully, barring interruptions, PC problems, software trouble or unforseen psychic phenomenomena, I'll be looking at wrapping up principle animation end of March. Meanwhile, here's some stills to gawk at!

We've got the Incubator, first of the year, comin' up at TAIS on Thursday Feb. 23rd...drop by and show us yer stuff! I'll post news and mebbe some photos of the event. Later!

'First Time Out'...time off to finish!

I just started this blog, and now I gotta tell ya that posts are gonna be pretty thin on the ground next week! I'm takin a few days to try to finish up work on this film I've been hammerin' away at for...yeesh, about four years now! It's big crazy robot action, with a twist ending. Here's a pic or two of some model sheets...whole thing is rendered 3d, using an old, defunct version of Max called Plasma. Remember, kiddies, never work on an animated film so long that yer software goes extinct! I'll pop on middle of next week and post y'all some stills.