Monday, December 22, 2008

Merry Ho-Ho from Pes (and, well, me too.)



Anybody who knows me knows that me and happy-happy joy-joy don't get along well, and Xmas is the 600 hundred pound gorilla of glad tidings. So, instead of blowing Yule Log smoke up yer bums, which would be ignant, I'll leave you with some goodies I've found round the web as I wind down this 2008.

Above, a gift from renowned thingamator PES. He's offered up a hires download of his famous Xmas FirePlace screen saver, free for the takin'! Just go here. And be sure to send him some e-mail thanks.



Next, a jazzy lil' number from the Verve record label...finally, a rendition of a Christmas classic that don't make me wanna punch puppies.



Here, we've got a Hoser Hoedown courtesy of Animax Entertainment. Honestly, these guys have been fighting to get an animated Bob n' Doug off the ground for freakin' YEARS, so it's nice to know they finally get to produce the thing...according to The Star, "The Animated Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie goes to air in Canada on the Global network in January."



Finally, here's the only truly sweet, heartfelt studio Christmas toon I was able to find in a half-hour of searching the YouTubes. It's one of me faves, simple, well-executed, short, and damned cute...a perfect closer to a darn fine year. Hope y'all have a good one, no matter what yer doin' or who you're doin' it with. Peace, and I'll see you in a couple o' weeks.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Boos n' Lawyers.





Here at work, takin' a break from finishin' up some shtuffs, and came across these on the YouTubes while lookin' for The Frantics. Hey, Scott, how comes you never mentioned this dude on VG Cats? Made me laugh, thought you'd all enjoy it. Plus, there's Boos. Boos rock. More later.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Sneebings Greebings





Just a quick post to show some seasonal love from TAIS board buddy Craig Marshall and fellow Splashworkers pixel-spanker Eric Zermeno, in that order. More to come!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Christian Topf: Mistletoe



Two and a half weeks of nothing, then a flurry of posts! Sorry, folks, the runups to Xmas have always been busy time here at Splashworks, even more so as of late. I'll try to make sure the posts are more thick on the ground in the new year, hey?

Meanwhile, a Christmas greeting from UK design house Christian Topf. My only regret in showing you this is that it seems it's their only offering on the YouTubes...Posted last year around this time. A charming lil' love story, nicely executed. Consider it a palate-cleanser to the, uhh, rich offerings below. Enjoy! More next week.

Dirdy Birdy



Ahh, the classics. Since I'm in the mood to show you some naughty goodness, howzabout some John r. Dilworth, a.k.a. Courage's dad? Think I saw this one up in Ottawa first.
Enjoy! More to come!

CuddleSticks



It's official...Mike Geiger is one sick phoink. Wanna know why I came to this conclusion? Watch the toon right through to the end, gentle viewer. Just don't be suckin' on no freezy pops while you watch...you'll be sooorrreee.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Bryce-A-Mation: Animation Unleashed



Just hoid the good woid from fellow animator and TAIS board dood Bryce Hallett. Seems he went ahead and animated a trailer for that other guide book. Y'know, the one what I fergot in my 'books you need' list? Sorry, Ellen and Bryce, me brains have been a quart low and a dollar short as of late.

Ellen's book has been getting well-reviewed and well-received around the interwebnets, and yet after doing the post about books a few weeks back it fell completely off this pooch's radar, a damn shame, cuz it's a good book to have...so I've been told. Fortunately, the ever stalwart Bryce (he who illustrated said book) has kept me a copy, signed by Ellen and hisself...so I'll be able to check it out mesself soon! I'll do up a mini-review for y'all in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, check out the trailer and get a copy from the Amazon, or if yer in Toronto, hit up The Beguiling (copies comin' soon!) or The Labyrinth (no word on copies yet...I'll call 'em tomorry) for your very owns. More later!

Boil n' Pes



Two quick notes...first, new PES! Here's his promo for the new Scrabble Diamond edition...hmm, may have to get Rob a copy o' this. Can't get enough PES? Here's the link to his page on them there YouTubes.

Second, this post comes courtesy of LineBoil, Aaron Simpson's 'other' site, covering all aspects of animation, not just the stuff commmon to the webbernets. They's gots a ton o' posts on upcoming Nick series, trailers for works in progress, links to studios and animators, all that there goodness. Go say hi, n' shtuff. More later!

Labyrinth o' free stuffs

Just a quick post to let you know our homies over at The Labyrinth are giving away one of 4 different graphics novels free to anybody what buys 2 or more graphic novels this comin' Saturday. If you decide to pick up a copy of Eric Goldberg's book on teh amination (rawk) or any of the other comic/animation art books what the gots instead of one of yer graphic novels, I'm sure they'll still pony up the free book. And this Saturday only, tell 'em TempleDog sent you for one (1) confused look, absolutely free! More later.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Aaron go Boom


O.k., made it out to Aaron Simpson's shindig last night at the Mod Club. First off, Mod Club theatre is a real great joint...complete with a stage setup that would make any band in the GTA uncomfortable in the pants region (they've got a freakin' steadicam setup for filming the crowd, fer corn's sake!) Great bar and staff...kinda knew the club kid's weren't linin' up down the block for nothin'. I can't say nuthin' about what Aaron's fave venue of the three (New York, L.A. and T'rawna) was, but, y'know...if he does another event here, I've got an idea where it'll be.

Now, everybody knows Aaron as a big proponent of Flash and interwebs animation, so to see him shillin' (and come on now, shillin' he was) for Toon Boom was a bit odd. Then he starting demoing the software, and I can kinda see why he's a convert. Aaron's like Jerry Beck...he don't back no junk, and if'n he tells you he likes sumthin', there's a damn good reason. He grabbed some characters and layouts from an ol' wartime toon and showed off some of what the new soft can do, and it can do a lot. Some highlites:

Animation Disk: Now why in the name of sweet Georgia Brown hasn't anybody done this before? If you need to get a better angle on your drawing, hold down a key to bring up a superimposed old school animation disc. You can now rotate the entire stage area!

I.K. support- for the uninitiated, this means you can link images, like a hand, a forearm and a bicep, and the whole chain will move and pivot by just moving the hand.

Auto VoiceSyncing- draw and set up your mouth poses, import your v.o. audio, and the software will analyze the wave and place mouth poses automatically. How well it does it, I have yet to see, but it looked darned impressive.

Multiplane and 3d orbital Camera- You can actually set up a camera view as a layer element that will allow you to multiplane your layers...move and animate the camera, and everything in the camera view moves in relation. Nice!

He also profiled a bunch of other smaller features like custom palletes with global color settings, drag n' drop library element setup, and cleanup brushes. The guys at Toon Boom really seem to have gotten their act together from a UI standpoint...the software seems to be a helluvalot easier to learn and use than previous iterations like Studio.

They capped off the night by giving away two free full commercial licenses and handing out full versions of the software to one and all...o.k., sort of...these were the '30 days free' versions, but the boxes include all the tutorials and documentation. By the way, that documentation...a mere shadow of the massive tome you had to leaf through for Studio. As I said, they've really made an effort to making the software streamlined and accessible.

Unfortunately, there's still the price issue. Don't get me wrong, you get a lot of bang for your buck, but at a thousand bucks a license, that's a lotta bucking for an indie to take...might just buck him right over to the Flash camp. To be fair, though, they do show promos all the time, and anybody who took home a 30 days version last night can buy the full version within that time period for half-price.

I'll have a full report for ya just as soon as I get it installed and figure out a lil' test project to kick the wheels and rev the engine, so to speak. I'll keep you posted with my findings, and I'll have a final verdict in the next few weeks. Either way, big ups to Toon Boom and Aaron for the free drinks and the demo!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Animaniacs



Courtesy of Cartoon Brew, the same ol' intro, with a new twist by YouTube jerk DrawinJohn. Enjay.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Emru Townsend. Gone, dude.


Sitting here cursing 'cuz I can't get a DVD to print, worryin' about bills n' shit. Then, I get an OIAF '08 update with this here news.

I barely new this guy. All I know about him is that he was always smilin', always friendly, and always at the Ottawa fest. And last December he got real sick. And he went real fast. And he was a real nice guy. Shit ain't right, friends. Go give his parents a good word. Then go see the man with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face, in better days. Peace, dude.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Books n' DVD's ya needs...part 1

Well, TAIS homies and animation fans, we done had our Annual General Meeting, and it's seems this ol' pooch has been doing a passable job as blog-beast, 'cuz I got the board-member nod again. Thanks, y'all, I'll try to keep them blog posts interesting, informative and copious in the future.

To celebrate, here's a big ol' post on books n' DVD's you need to have. First off, Richard William's big book o' knowledge, 'The Animators Survival Kit' is now out in paperback. This is an in-depth book cramming the collected knowledge of some of the greatest animators the world has known into one tome. Along with the techniques and the technical advice, Williams shares his experiences working with industry vets like Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas. Go get it! Below, witness the cover of the book brought to life by the author.



For those of you upstarts what wants the goods without the history lessons or the anectdotes (damn kids) Eric Goldberg's 'Character Animation Crash Course' mebbe just up yer alley.



Goldberg, a Disney vet with animation creds including Alladin and Pocahontas (hell, he's worked WITH Richard Williams, yet!) breaks down the basics and includes great tips on posing, extremes, overlapping actions, animating to music, timing, you know, all that good stuff. Where Williams' book is both a historical and technical document, Goldberg's book is arranged more like a text book, with character examples using two recurring characters, reading and viewing lists, recommended excercises and even a DVD of animated examples. Ya need to get this one, folks. I'll be buying a copy for the TAIS bookshelves, don't you worry.

Finally, Shaun the Sheep, everyone's fave secondary character from Aardman's 'A Close Shave', has had his own series for a while now, but it's only been available across the pond. Now, finally, we have 'Shaun the Sheep: Off the Baa!' This has 8 shorts and interstitials, plus a cute lil' mini-doc with some British kidlings introducing all the characters. Here's one of the eps., 'Timmy in a Tizzy' courtesy of, for some reason, Game Trailers. Apologies to Aardman for using a non-approved embed...I just people to buy lots of Shaun DVD's so I can get the next one soon, and fer some odd reason the GT embed is super-sharp!



Just a note...Timmy, the baby sheepy, is so damn cute that the doods from Aardman buckled and gave him his own series. No word on when or if it'll air in North America, I'll dig up some info. All these are availble at Amazon.ca, but if ya can, drop by yer mom n' pop vid/book store for 'em. If yer in Toronto, I recommend The Beguiling and The Labyrinth for all yer animation shoppin' needs. More to Come!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Two treats for Halloween



O.k., Aaron over at Cold Hard Flash just gave me the go-ahead, so here's yer two treats from this ol' pooch for Halloweenies. Aaron is going to be hosting three big shindigs across North America, sponsored by those magnificent vector-loving bastards over at Toon Boom Animation. Come for free drinks, free gifts (am I reading this right?) and the chance to nob and hob with some of animation's best peoples. Here's the dates and locations:

November 19th, 2008
*LOS ANGELES - 7 to 9pm*
Forbidden City
1718 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA 90028 (map here!)

November 21st, 2008
*NEW YORK - 7 to 9pm*
M1-5
52 Walker Street
New York, NY 10013 (map here!)

November 24th, 2008
*TORONTO - 7 to 9pm*
MOD Club
722 College Street
Toronto, ON (map here!)

The MOD Club theatre is like 2 blocks from casa de T-Dog, so you'll definitely feel my presence, barring a bout of the plague, er sumpin.

The second treat? I've gotten off my ass and authored up a DVD (with like, menus and everything) for the MONSTERJAM. Both MJ 1 and 2 have been compiled onto a widescreen NTSC DVD, with animated menus and buttons to jump to each individual animators work. I'll be workin' on packaging and cases this weekend. Once that's done, I'll letcha know what the plan is...chances are, I'll just be whippin' up copies by hand as we need 'em, but we'll see what the reaction is.

Well, there ya has it! Go eat some candy and watch some movies...animated scariness, of course. More next week.



When Candidates Attack



The most terrifying, and hilarious, thing I could find on the internets for y'all, courtesy of our homies at Pandemic. Man, looks like both Obama and Palin have that whole international diplomacy thing down.

Have a happy halloweeny of weeny goodness. Next week, nooze about a very cool event being held around and about by CHF head honcho Aaron Simpson, and some monster goodies just in time for that other holiday comin' up. Later!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Coldplay video by Miles Kalbach



Stop-mo animator Miles Kalbach just added this to his YouTube page days ago...a puppet animated video for ColdPlay's 'Lost' single, it's beautiful work. Check it out. And more to come!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Extra Life, Ishu Patel and other schtuffs...



O.k., so it's been a hairy week. Workin' on multiple games for multiple clients, extra hours to get thing ready for a new site we're launching at the day job...plus, I think I just pissed off my boss, and he doesn't piss off easily. Yeef.

So I'll leave you with a new toon and news. I created this for an event called Extra Life, happening tomorrow. It's a 24 hour gaming marathon with the proceeds going to a Texas children's hospital. Organized by Jeromy 'Doc' Adams, in honor of a girl named Tori (a good friend of Doc's) who died of a rare form of Leukemia early this year. Check out my toon, then check out the event.

Sending off this short and my 'First Time Out' short to KAFI, the Kalamazoo Animation Festival. They've recently opened their call for entries, so send 'em a DVD with yer stuffs!

Next, our homies over at MyToons are lookin' for spooky Halloween-a-mations, and yes, I'll be shooting them a link to both the Monsterjams. Get 'em your creepy toons soon, there's some good prizes to be had.

Finally, don't forget the special TAIS sponsored events happening this weekend featuring master animator (and all-round swell dude) Ishu Patel. Head over to the TAIS site for all them juicy details.

Right, that about wraps it up! I'll try to have some more Halloween inspired nooze and animation goodies for ya next week. Later, animators! (jebus, did I just write...)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

My bad, here's some sexing Pandas



Yep, I know...blog postings have been thin on the ground as of late...my bad. Here's some pandas having the mad, mad, bum-bum sexings. (remarkable, it's laden with goofy inuendo, but never gets to filthy-town. Nice work) More to come this week.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Ishu Patel and Nuit Blanche



Apologies for the lack of posts...workin' on a lil' 30-second short, which I will do a production blog entry for, so's y'all can see hows I dunnit. Meanwhile, events unfold here at TAIS. We've got an upcoming screening, master class and animation workshop with NFB legend Ishu Patel...here's the poster. Don't delay on this one, folks...our master classes always fill up fast!



Next, Madi has put together a program of animated grooviness for the upcoming Nuit Blanche here in Toronto this Saturday, Oct. 4th. Animations by yours truly (my GUNBunnies!), some excellent student films, the latest from Craig Marshall and Marc Beurteaux...t'will be awesome. Event takes place at The Rhino, 1249 Queen West here in the Big Smoke. Here's the event poster...you can get a hi-res PDF on the TAIS site.



And once again, I'm finishing up a short project that has occupied my attention this last few weeks. Delivering it tonight to Doc Adams, podcaster and radio-man from Houston...it's for his charity event, Extra Life. As soon as I've got the final version, I'll post it for all to enjoy, along with some production notes, model sheets and sketches. More to come!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Art Jumble and Cake

Quick post today about a great site and an upcoming comic anthology release. Art Jumble is, as described by them what runs it "...a weekly drawing community that supports illustration, comics and animation. Each Monday a topic is announced and any member can submit a piece about that topic. Members who post are the sole authors of their work and have all rights to their own pieces."

Sounds all lovely n' hippy-dippy, no? Hang on, there's roolz in them there blogs.

1) The piece being posted can be any phase of the piece (a sketch to a completed piece).

2) Keep it clean. Some members have children that love to look at all the fun illustrations. No nudity or anything that would offend someone. (baby bigfoot genitalia notwithstanding-tdog)

3) Critiquing someones piece, if you don't have something nice to say please keep it to yourself.

4) If you've posted already and would like to update that same art - please do not post it again - please update the post that you've already posted.

5) Please submit your piece for the current week before or on Sunday, for new topics are announced on Monday's.

Here's some samples from fellow Splashworker Eric Zermeno, Gary Ham (who'd like you to know it's Talk like a Pirate Day!) and the anatomically adorable Beatriz Iglesias...in that order.






Of course, I've gone and added 'em to the Links of Doom! Check 'em out, mebbe join the club if ya wanna. Meanwhile, Eric and his Art Jumble homies are busy at work on Cake Anthology vol. 2, which promises to be some good comic eatin'. Here's a link to vol. 1...go get a copy. And keep a few shillings aside to pick up Vol. 2...should be out just in time for Xmas. More to come!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mike Geiger gets spooky on yer ass...County Ghost



Keeping up with his tradition of great characters and terrifically timed animation coupled with a swingin' score, Mike Geiger (Monsterjammer extraordinaire) has just premiered COUNTY GHOST, his new web series. You can watch the whole thang above, and be sure to drop by his YouTube page of Youtubeyness for more animated schtuffs of similar high quality. Special thanks to Aaron Simpson over at Cold Hard Flash for that there head's up.

Ellen and Bryce done dood a book!


Seems that TAIS homey and all-round animation maven Ellen Besen has teamed up with our very own Bryce Hallett to produce a book, nay, a tome on the subject of all things animated. And, she'll be up in Ottawa next week signing up copies! Go get you one! And hey, Bryce, don't ferget to snag mine...I expect florid and flattering autographs from you both, of course. For those of you who might miss the opportunity to get yerself a signed copy, fret not...she'll be at the Gladstone Hotel on Nov. 4th as part of the 'This is Not a Reading Series' uh, series. More to come!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

TAIS event: Aardman retrospective



Just a quick post to show y'all some of the goodies brung over from ol' Blighty by Aardman's own Helen Brunsdon. She's heading up to Ottawa next for the fest, so if you missed the show (free, by the way) you can catch it up there, although you'll have to buy the tickets. Thanks to the NFB for setting up a second simulcast room for all the extra folks what showed up. More to come!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Frederator does OIAF signal films!



In the runup to this year's Ottawa fest, at which Frederator Studios plans on being a big presence, they've gotten a whole mess of Ottawa signal films together and programmed 'em into an episode of Channel Frederator! Phark me, why din't I think of this? I won't be up this year, so somebody buy Dan Meth the cocktail for me. Enjoy!

In Order of Appearance:
1976 - André Théroux (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation & National Research Council of Canada)

1998 - Justin Stephenson (Cuppa Coffee Animation)

2004 - "Instant Animator's Dinner, Hand-o-Matic & Animator's in a Pouch" Theodore Ushev, Eric Barbeau (National Film Board of Canada)
1996 - Marv Newland (International Rocketship Limited)

2006 - Bruce Alcock (Global Mechanic)

2002 - "Scratch Track" Richard Reeves
2005 - Will Krause

1980 - George Iro & Gerard Bueche (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

2003 - Nick Cross

2007 - Filmtecknarna

Beyond Granpa



I had a particularly shitty day yesterday, and whenever that happens, I goes and watches some funny cartoons. Here's one of me faves. Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

MyToons has 5 OIAF passes up fer grabs!


Them fine folks over at MyToons have snagged themselves 5 animapasses for this year's Ottawa International Animation Festival. Now, you 'member how much of a blast last year's fest was...



You need to go, 'specially since I cannot (work, n' all that.) So, go on over to this blogpost and send in yer comments on why you'd like to go. Best ones picked by the MyToons judges will get the golden tickee. So, what you starin' at me fer? Go!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Song of the Sad Assassin



Been awhile since we've had a public service message from our friends over at the Citizens Against Safety Goggles. Mike L. Mayfield has animated up an intriguing video here for the band "Why?". Enjoy.

Aardman event!



Sorry for the long absence, blog-buddies, it's been that kind of a summer. Fortunately, it's come to an end with a nice aperitif in the form of a free event, sponsored by TAIS and held at the NFB! Programmed by Helen Brunsdon and hosted by Michael Fukushima, it's a night of Aardman faves, and it's free! Check out the poster, or head on over to the TAIS or NFB sites for more info. Laters!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

TAIS: You've got jobs!

The power of Emilio compels you...to check out this TAIS job posting! Y'all see what I did there? I started out all serious and stuff, and then I did the Emilio joke. Cool huh? Just check out the listing, ya blatherskite.
-----------------------------
The Toronto Animated Image Society Is a not-for-profit art organization.

We have a part-time work opportunity for an energetic team player with proven organizational skills and a commitment to promoting the art of animation.

THE TASK : To administer a non-profit Office and Studio .
This requires ability to assist in coordination of programs provided throughout the year to members and non-members, as well as management of the work studio provided for the use of members.
The Office Administrator will report to the Board of Directors and be required to work in cooperatively with the Board’s initiatives.
The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills, administrative experience in maintaining paper and database files.
Knowledge of the arts communities and the not-for-profit arts sector is useful.
This position requires experience with Mac computers, Filemaker Pro database, Microsoft office programs and email applications.
Basic design packages and Web applications experience is an asset.

2 days a week / 8hrs per day
$14/hr
Contract for 6 month with possibilities of extension.
Starting Oct.01, 2008 –March, 31 2009

Candidates are asked to send a resume and letter of motivation to tais@bellnet.ca by September 15, 2008

TAIS nooze and more! Well, sort of...


Here's some silly sketches of Emilio to confuse and distract from the fact that I've got nothin'. No, really, some cool stuffs comin' up for both myself and TAIS, but for now, stare at my llama. Here's them nooze:

Toronto Animated Image Society
1. New Events
2. Festivals
3. Members News
4. TAIS Welcomes New Members
5. Other : Valuing Culture: TOWN HALL REGARDING CUTS TO CULTURAL AND HERITAGE GRANTING PROGRAMS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. NEW EVENTS
1.1 - Screening Next Wednesday August 27, 2008
7Th Generation Image Makers : ISHSKWADAY
Where: Buddies in Bad Time Theatres , 12 Alexander Street, Toronto
Time : 6-9pm
Including: premiere of films by John Hupfield :new animated short, "Birchbark".
+ films by Shaneeka Melanson and Michael Crawford
( TAIS workshop participants on the project Aboriginal Expressions )
support aboriginal youth arts!!
For more information contact : Adam Garnet Jones : 416 969 8510

1.2- In the Land of Aardman: an evening of chat and cheese
Helen Brunsdon, head of shorts development and manager for television production, presents a short programme of Aardman works -- classic and new -- and will pull back the curtain on the Aardman emerald palace. Hosted by NFB animation producer Michael Fukushima, and co-presented with United Kingdom Trade and Investment and TAIS.
September 16 at NFB Mediatheque 150 John Street at 7 p.m.
FREE EVENT !
Limited space : RSVP tais@bellnet.ca
ref. : Aardman Event

1.3 - Ottawa International Animation Festival : Sept 17-21
TAIS members order your pass and get a discount !

1.4 - October 04 TAIS at NUIT BLANCHE:
A Program of animated films will play all night long at the RHINO 1249 Queen Street West. The program will be announced in the website soon!

1.5 - Ishu Patel Master of Animation coming to Toronto: Reserve your dates for screenings and workshop : October 18-19 ..... More info to come….

2. SUBMISSIONS
2.1- 10th Aubagne International Film Festival March 16th - 21st 2009
Deadline for entries: October 15th 2008 www.cineaubagne.com

2.2- 13th edition of the International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, ANIMAC 2009
You will find the Animac guidelines, the entry form and the access to the online registration in the website www.animac.info

2.3- The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers: 17th Annual $100 Film Festival
March 5-7, 2009
Calgary, AB; CANADA
Deadline for entries: December 2, 2008.
16mm or Super 8 film under 22 min in length. MUST be able to provide a Super 8 or 16mm film print for exhibition.
Official release date after December 1, 2006.
The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers is pleased to present the annual $100 Film Festival from March, 2009. The festival embodies the spirit of low-budget, independent filmmaking and brings the experience of projected celluloid to our audience by only screening film prints. It is the only competitive festival in Canada that screens exclusively on Super 8 and 16mm film. The $100 Film Festival does not charge any entrance fees and pays artist fees for all films selected for the festival. The selected films will also be eligible for festival prizes. For more information and entry forms, please visit: www.csif.org/festival or e-mail festival@csif.org.

3. MEMBERS NEWS
Congratulations to TAIS Member Patrick Jenkins, his new film Labyrinth has been selected and screened in the following festivals :

June 2008 Official Selection, Animafest, 18th World Festival of Animated Film, Zagreb, Croatia (Competition)
July 2008 Anima Mundi International Animation Festival, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil
August 2008 Odense International Film Festival, Odense, Denmark (Competition)
August 2008 Montreal World Film Festival, Montreal, Canada
September 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa, Canada
September 2008 Animadrid, Madrid, Spain

4. TAIS WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS
Terri Roberton
Christine Whitlock

5. OTHER

Valuing Culture: TOWN HALL REGARDING CUTS TO CULTURAL AND HERITAGE GRANTING PROGRAMS
Everyone is welcome to join specially if concerned about the Federal Government’s blatant contempt for arts and culture.

Representatives from Government, visual arts, film, video, performing arts will be speaking and all will be strategizing on how to get our voices heard in the next election.

PLEASE JOIN:
Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 at 7pm.
The Theatre Centre
1087 Queen Street West, (South East Corner of Queen and Dovercourt)
Toronto
Info: info@fusemagazine.org, info@thetheatrecentre.org or heather@torontofreegallery.org

BECOME A MEMBER, SUPPORT TAIS!
------------------------------
Toronto Animated Image Society
60 Atlantic Avenue, suite 102
Toronto, Ontario
M6K 1X9

tais@bellnet.ca
www.tais.ca
416-533-7889

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Happy Life; Bert Dombrecht



Discovered a lovely lil' short from Belgian animator and illustrator Bert Dombrecht today...check out his other animated offerings on the YouTubes. More to come!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Animation showdown: Émile Cohl vs. J. Stuart Blackton

Interesting bit o' business to start the week folks. Slashfilm (via the Disney Blog) has declared today the 100th anniversary of the animated film. Émile Cohl's film 'Fantasmagorie' was released on this day in 1908, comprised of some 700 individual drawings, it's considered by some to be the first animated film. See it in it's entirety below.



But wait! I have to call shenanigans...J. Stuart Blackton developed an animated film 2 years before! It's actually said that Cohl was inspired by Blackton to create his own animated film. While 'Humorous Phases of Funny Faces' isn't as lushly animated as Cohl's film, it certainly qualifies as animation...the drawings come to life on screen. See for yourself!



So, who's the father of film animation, Msr. Cohl or Mr. Blackton? In the end, who gives a damn? Pioneers like these got the ball rolling, inspiring legions of artists to try their hand at the art, eventually leading to something sublime...like, oh, say, this.



So hoist a glass to them whats paved the way. Cheers, cheers, a thousand times cheers, gentlemen!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Llamas and Nooze


Sorry for the quietude of late...a combination of the business-ness and the sickness-ness. At any rate, lemme get you up ta speed.

Them fine folks over at Channel Frederator put the 1st half of the MONSTERJAM in this week's episode! I've uploaded the second half to their servers, and I'll be giving a shout to all the jammers via email to see if we can get a few words from the individual film-makers for the Fred Raw blogs.

We'll also be submitting the jam to a few festivals and screening 'round the country and beyond, so as to spread the monster madness far and wide. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I've been whipping up some art goodies meself. In addition to the previously mentioned Fishboy, there's this piece, done for a podcaster homie in Ohio. Can't say what it's fer, exactly...



Beyond that, Madi has sent me a quick update of events planned for the coming months, and we may have a lil' sumthin' else planned for the end of the year...along with screenings and special events. I'll get you the skinny just as soon as I have the details. Next TAIS board meet will be next week. See ya!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Sketchy Friday: Hepe the FishBoy


Workin' on a design or two for the fine folks over at the Video Game Show, who are in preparations to head off to PAX, and whipped this up in the process. A character from the mouth and mind of VGS show panelist Keith Paladino. Have yerselves the weekend, more next week...promise!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

MONSTERJAM: Part the Last.



Greetings, my monstrous minions. This one thanks you for your patience; would that I could say with an honest heart that matters of great import prevented my promised delivery of this two weeks ago, but, alas, 'twas more the matter of the weather than of work.

Recriminations aside, I have promised and I have (finally) delivered. The completing half of our monstrous whole lies above for your delectation. And for those who prefer YouTube, it lies below.



Special thanks to one and all, the TAIS board, the animators, NFB staff, Monster Factory, The Beguiling, and everyone else who had a hand in making this a truly monumental event in TAIS history.

A special note: MyToons currently has the film featured on the main page, and I have it on good authority that Channel Frederator will be programming the films into episodes coming very soon. Thanks, thanks, a thousand times thanks once again to our terrific sponsors...you, gentlemen and ladies, as they say in the vernacular, rock.

I'll leave you on this note: what will we do for an encore in the New Year? The mind fairly boggles. Good morrow, one and all...may your pencils never dull.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Nicktoons Festival: Deadline August 1st!



Again with the Monster delays...sorry folks, it's comin' don't you worry. Meanwhile, the NickToons Festival entry period ends at the end of the week, so if you want a chance to get your stuff aired online and on TV, send in them shorts. I'll be shipping off a copy of my film tanight...wish me the luck. Later!

Friday, July 25, 2008

MONSTER my bad...



I promise you guys the second part of MONSTERJAM, then vanish for a week...I'm a real bad pooch. My bad, it's been, well, one of them weeks where nothin' seems to get accomplished for no good reason.

At least the fellas over at MyToons are on the job. They've got a new contest going to promote their hi-def content...go have a gander, and I'll be sure to post the remaining monster madness next week. Honest. Meanwhile, have a look at this week's winner, and go over to MyToons and enter and/or vote!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Stefan G. Bucher



Sorry, my loyal yet lascivious lovers of monster mayhem...MONSTERJAM: Part the Second will have to wait 'til the coming of the next week. Many apologies. You'll be happy to note, however, that Part the First is currently the 2nd featured animation on the MyToons main page. Thanks to my monstrous minions for making such marvelous motions. More to come.

In the meantime, gaze in awe at the fine works of master monster maker Stefan G. Bucher, and while you're at it, go purchase his fine yet fuzzy tome "100 Days of Monsters". A book and a DVD for a mere twenty...bargain, says I. Go, enjoy, and stay cool. Special thanks to MyToons for their support and for the excellent article on Mr. Bucher. Cheers!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Splashworks at Casual Connect '08



Just a quick note to let y'all know that Rob and Jen from Splashworks.com, my lovely lovely day job, will be in Seattle next week for the Casual Connect '08 games conference. Come on by and get some Splashy swag!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Simon's Cat



A new cartoon from the catty Simon Tofield, a man who's really into his pussy. Cat. Courtesy of Aaron Simpson over at Cold Hard Flash.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

MONSTERJAM pt. 1-YouTube edition



Apologies to all you blog-goers out there having trouble with the MyToons embed. If you can't get it to run in your browser, you need to install Adobe Flash Player 9 (MyToons updated it to the latest when they went HD!). I've also uploaded a copy of the MJ to my YouTube page if yer still havin' troubles. Enjoy!

Friday, July 11, 2008

MONSTERJAM: Part the First

Witness the fruits of monstrous labors. No more words.



Part the Last comes in one week. Prepare yourselves!

Blogger's Choice 1st place: Anuwat Vongtanee

The day has arrived, my fine freaky brethren. My next post will contain what you've all been waiting for, MONSTERJAM Part the First. Uploading to Channel Frederator's submission servers as I type this, I'll be sending it to the TAIS MyToon's page before afternoon's end. Be ready.

But first, our last prize must be awarded. That prize? P.A.X., one of the Monster Factory 'Monsternauts'. Monster Factory makes the greatest hand-crafted monster stuffies in the known universe, and they make 'em right here in Toronto. They're also proud sponsors of this TAIS event, so let's hear it for 'em! They're debuting new monsters at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this weekend, so go get you one!



P.A.X. goes to Anuwat Vongtanee, who submitted this damn clever composite peice...you'll never hit your sink to do the dishes without flinching again. A great reveal, great effects and a terrific monster...all round goodness. Great work, Anuwat!



Thanks to all the animators far and wide who heard the call and took the time to create these amazing lil' monster films. As I said before, I'll be shouting your names far and wide on them there internets for all to see. Thanks to you, the TAIS MONSTERJAM was the crowing glory of the 2008 Animation Showcase. You, sirs and ladies, rock.

Now, don't go too far. Later this afternoon, the big show. Until then.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Blogger's Choice Hon. Mention: Jonathan Cheeseman

Today I want to give out a special 'Honorable Mention' prize for what I feel was the creepiest film in the MONSTERJAM...you'll see what I means.

The prize is a signed copy of Scott Chantler's excellent 'Northwest Passage' graphic novel. While not a monster story per se, it certainly details some monstrous human behavior when a fort in Rupert's Land is beset by French Privateers. It's a historically-based tale, but it's one heckuva knock-down drag-out adventure story too!



The winner is Jonathan Cheeseman. His creepy imagery, composite flames and spooky sound all come together into my personal pick as creepiest moment of the jam. Well done, sir! Looking forward to seeing more of his work in the future.



O.k., one prize left! Tomorrow I give out the first place TAIS BLogger's Choice prize, then you'll get to see the final product...or the first half, at any rate. It's the anijam so big, it comes in two parts. Part the First of the TAIS MONSTERJAM tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Blogger's Choice Awards- 2nd place: Rafa Toro

I'm back with the next installment of the MONSTERJAM Blogger's Choice Awards. Oh, and you'll be happy to note that the export went smoothly last night, so you'll all be able to see the full part 1 of the jam when I upload it to MyToons this Friday!

Now, on to business. 2nd place prize is a copy of Kazu Kibuishi's awesome 'Amulet: Volume 1', signed with a sketch by the author.



The winner? Spain's Rafa Toro, a most excellent Flash character designer and animator who's been profiled on Drawn before. Here, he shows us in just ten seconds why animated potatoes and ancient Greek monsters don't mix. Great design and execution, and some great sound work too!



I'll be announcing my 'Honorable Mention' prize tomorrow, then we'll wrap up the week by announcing the 1st place winner, and seeing the 1st part of the full MONSTERJAM film! Woot! Meanwhile, stay frosty, people.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Blogger's Choice Awards- 3rd place: Raphael Rosenwald

Greetings, my monstrous minions. I'm in the process of doing a final render of the MONSTERJAM part the first...I want it to look as sharp as possible before submitting it to Channel Frederator, so you'll have to wait a while longer. Meanwhile, I have four prizes to give out, the final awards for the MONSTERJAM...the TAIS Blogger's Choice Awards!



3rd place, a signed copy of Kean Soo's excellent Jellaby graphic novel (courtesy of our friends at The Beguiling, goes to Raphael Rosenwald, for his 10 seconds of stand-up that goes from bad to worse.



The audience lost it when this one came on...great audio, love the expressions on the club patron's faces, and a great, totally unexpected twist gag. Really great execution! I'll be sending out your prize just as soon as I can get yer address, Raphael...nice work! Tomorrow, 2nd place. Meanwhile, enjoy Raph's submission.

Monday, July 7, 2008

MONSTERJAM: Edits n' stuff



Sorry for the delay, folks...getting all them logos together. Plus, Christian Nelson's entry still won't work, dammit! Meanwhile, here's a teaser...Joseph Troy's entry. He's worked on My Friend Rabbit and Max n' Ruby, among others. Here, he takes a breather from bunnies and shows us who he thinks the real monster is. More to come...

Friday, July 4, 2008

TAIS Showcase 2008: Monster, baby...monster.


Find more artwork like this on Channel Frederator RAW

First off, apologies for not posting sooner, but the whole thang left me a lil' wore out. Trust me when I say this thang was huge...so huge we had to pull chairs in from the foyer (thanks to the NFB staffers!) to accomodate the extra folks wanting to see the show, and we still had to turn people away!

The TAIS Showcase 2008 Monster Edition was just that, monster. A huge crowd, special prizes (thanks to Monster Factory, they were a huge hit!), some incredible films, and then there's the MONSTERJAM, the piece de resistance of the night. 45 entries, an incredible 8+ minutes of animation from around the world. Special thanks to TAIS judges Patrick Jenkins and Jeff Baker for taking the time out to pick us some winners.

The prizes for the night went to:

Best Monster Category:

1st Prize Monster : Mateus Acioli & Naima Almeida from Brazil
2dn Prize Monster : Alex Novitsky form Toronto
3rd Prize Monster : Ceri Watling From UK

Best TAIS SHOWCASE 2008 Category :

1st Prize : Vladimir Kooperman from Toronto, Film: C- Block
2nd Prize : Elise Simard from Montreal, Film: The Occupant
3rd Prize : Marc Beurteaux from Toronto, Film: The Last Feast

Audience Award :

Best Monster : Mateus Acioli & Naima Almeida from Brazil
Best TAIS Showcase 2008 : Brian Sinasac from Toronto , Film : Headwinds

I'll be expounding on the virtues of our winners more come Monday, as well as picking my three fave monster films for the TAIS Blogger's Choice awards! As for the MONSTERJAM, I'll be submitting it to Frederator hopefully next week, but it's so huge, I'll be sending it in two parts...more on that later. Meanwhile, enjoy the photo slideshow of the event. Photos by our own Madi Piller and hosting courtesy of Fred Raw. Enjoy that there weekend!

Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin: No Bullshit, he's dead. Phnark.



One of my comedy patron saints died (not passed away, you jerks) on Sunday. Heart failure. If there's any justice, they'll take the body, put it on top of a pile of explosives and blow it the fuck up...or shoot it out of a cannon onto the White House lawn. Here's a cartoon with George doin' v.o., courtesy of Drawn! I'm gonna go punch a wall now. Enjoy.

Friday, June 20, 2008

TAIS Showcase Monster Edition 2008


It's almost time! The TAIS Animation Showcase will be held on Friday of next week, featuring the MONSTERJAM! We'll be giving away prizes, there's a special jury awarding a lil' sumpin' to the best films in the showcase and the 'jam, and a sweet reception afterwards. All that for 5 bucks...cheep! Double-special night for me, cuz my film 'First Time Out' will be screening as well as the jam film I've help organize...nice! So come on out, and show your support for independant animation!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

MyToons goes HD


The guys from MyToons have slapped a major upgrade onto the site, with toons in glorious High-Def now, thanks to an updated player and site layout. From the Animation Snack newsletter:

"MyToons has been redesigned and is now the first global animation community to offer you the ability to upload and view your animation in High Definition – the top of the line, all digital format for broadcasting, streaming and viewing video. Consider this the new age “black and white to color” transition – and it’s all at your fingertips. Find out more about HD here.

MyToons is here to make your life fun and easy – check out our other new features!

Channels: Watch up to 19 different animation channels, add animation tags, and share with your friends – all without leaving the homepage!

Filter Feature: Play the animations, artwork, and games you’re craving with our new filtering feature – just organize by “Time,” “Sorting,” “Category,” and “Style.”

Rating System: Rate animation, artwork, and games on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Gold Star or No Star? Let ‘em know what you think!

Start Page: Get a fresh start with our new, one-stop control board! Manage, edit, and personalize your stuff – all from the “My Start Page” button on the homepage!"


Noice. Go and check out all the hi-def goodness.

Cold Hard Flash: Top 10 Flash Cartoons



Aaron Simpson and a cadre of his animation homies have got together and came up with a list of what they consider the best o' the best of flash animated films on them there interwebnets, and they're all available to view on the Cold Hard Flash site. Along with the shorts themselves, Aaron's serving up in-depth interviews with the creators. Go, watch, learn, enjoy. And big kudos to MyToons for continuing to support independent animation on the web!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

MONSTERJAMmers: Rafa Toro



Now that the MONSTERJAM submission deadline has come and gone, I'll be spending my time in June profiling some of the filmmakers who sent us animated monster goodness. Meet our first monster-mator, Rafa Toro. Hailing from Spain, he's a graphic artist, animator and character designer with a serious monster fetish...here is but a sample of what Rafa is dishing up. John Martz profiled Rafa's creepy-groovy takes on Batman's villains in 2006. Ya gotta see what Rafa sent us, it's 10 seconds of pure awesome. More monster-mator's in the coming days!