Puppet fabber Jared_Hart wants you to touch his spider. With a lil' luck, we might have him up on this side of the lake to share his mojo on the art of spider-puppet building. And other stop-motion goodness as well, of course.
Curse you, Tickled Pink toystore. Can't walk past that joint (it's in the Byward Market) without picking up a puppet from Diabolo_Puppets...a most excellent penguin, in this case. I now have two puppets with which to eventually create my puppet podcast project...mebbe I'll have time this Christmas?
Yuichi Ito thinks bunnies rock...I concur. Ito-san (that's right, isn't it?) is the
proud papa of the NoRabbits...featured in the kid's competition, although he swears they're not just for the chillins'. Oh, and to answer your enevitable question, no, I din't get no NoRabbits stuffies...nuts.
Here's my shot of the show, the kid's from Art_Institute_Pittsburgh go all vogue on my ass. The book they're holding is "Oranges and Pliers", a cookbook assembled from recipes gleaned from different animators between 2006-2007. Ten bucks for John K.'s Meat recipe? Bargain. Here's the commercial they done put up on the YouTubes. Go get yerself a copy...'member, it's got MEAT.
People linin' up outside the Bytowne Cinema on the opening night. The feature that night was Persepolis, based on Marjane Satrapi's autobio graphic novel of her life growing up in revolutionary Iran, and the fallout of having to deal with lovin' a country in the grips of a bunch of extremist asshats. A film that manages to be profound and screamingly funny and bleak and hopeful all without comin' across like an idealogical sledgehammer. Go. Watch.
The Evil Universe J.J. Sedelmeier demands that you bow before his sartorial might. Besides workin' on a serious southern-fried 'stache, J.J.'s studio is still crankin' out commercial goodness, as well as Tek Jansen episodes. Two of 'em were in competition.
Here's Joann Quinn, she of Charmin' fame with a 35 mm reel of her short, "Dreams and Desires: Family Ties". I got some great footage of Joanna amidst assembled awestruck animation junkies at the National Gallery...after her retrospective, she spread out the collected bounty of her animation drawings on the stage for all to peruse, then fielded questions from one and all. She, of course, rocks.
One last pic from before I left, actually...this is the schwag I concocted for the show, 10 256-meg Sandisk USB keys with plastic sleeves to hold my contact info and compass carabiners to complete the package. Each one has a 218-meg Quicktime of my finished short, as well as a title card talkin' bout the production isself. Din't give 'em all away, but lucky recipients were Lev Polyakov, Pilar Newton, my profs Don Perro and Paul West, a rep from AniBoom and the Saguenay fest (which I'll talk about later) and Jerry Beck of Cartoon Brew fame. Next, I'll be submitting the short to Giraf3 (organized by Quickdraw) and Platform.
Hookay, 'nuff said fer now. I'll be posting video goodness over the next few weeks, and probably be compiling all my goodies into a DVD for the TAIS xmas party. Meanwhile, head on over to the OIAF site and check out the prize winners! Late.
Friday, August 17, 2007
OIAF events: Meet the Filmmakers
For TAIS members, this one's a no-brainer...a chance to sit down in a posh suite at the Novotel with a bagel and tea (or coffee, if that's yer thang) early the morning after a screening and have a chance to pose a few questions to the filmmakers. Animators Nathaniel Akin, Angela Steffen, Dan Sousa, J.J. Sedelmaier and Sam MacKinnon, amongst others, were nice enough to get theyselves up after a heavy night of kibitzing and drinks (not all were downin' the adult beverages...is Sam even 18 yet?) and share their experiences in making their cartoons. Had a chance to chat with J.J. hisself last year, and yep, that's the dood behind the original Harvey Birdman and Cartoon Funhouse shorts. Damn funny guy, and damn smart as well...you'd have to be. If yer a young upstart lookin' to make his first film, a new or experienced animator workin' on something or not, or just a film lover who wants to cordially pick the brains of some of the finest talents in the land (not being asskissy, Ottawa hosts some gooduns), then yer gonna wanna be there for this. Besides, Novotel gets them some good pastry.
I can tell you it'll be worth your while, without hesitation. What I can't tell you is who is gonna be there...not all the filmmaker's will be present, that goes without saying. But a lot of the guys and gals who are going to be there might have stuff still on the go or prior commitment or hangovers. Either way, show up, grab a coffee and a muffin and bring some good questions.
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