Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Time, time, time...

I completely forgot about this and the fact that I promised to post it weeks ago.



Bob Lyons was so excited that my partner, Chris Farinella and I were tackling some strata-cut animation for his class Animated Camera he decided to recorded the process. This is the result.

There are any number of folks who walk by the camera at some point - Stephanie Yuhas, Adam Cusack, Lauren Cipollo Etkins, Stephen Murphy, Kea Alcock, Justin Hillman, etc. Chris and I take turns shooting and handling the log of clay, though I think he spent most of his time behind the camera.

Look how cool I was with my shoulder-less black top. The final strata-cut is at the end, cut together from bits taken out of 'Take 5'. I'm sure I have the original footage somewhere on 16mm.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Once Upon a Pair of Wheels

I love having a car in the city. Means I'm not restricted to the subway, can avoid walking in the snow and, once in a while, play chauffeur/PA to Richard O'Connor of Asterisk Animation.

For example, last Friday Richard and cameraman, Ben Shapiro needed a lift to New Haven. Specifically to the Yale campus to interview Helen A. Cooper and get some first-hand footage of Thomas Eakins' watercolor "John Biglin in a Single Scull".


While they headed up to the conference room to set up the cameras and prep for the interview, I was given the task of parking the car. When I finally got back, the painting had already been unveiled. Somehow, this in no way mitigated the feeling of seeing such a work for the first time in person.



When I was younger, I was obsessed with Salvador Dali. Not so much his philosophy (I feel he was more a salesman then an artist) but his technique. The tiniest brush strokes for the most minuet details.

When I was introduced to Eakins in college, it was as though I had truly matured as an appreciator of the arts. Here was an artist and a scientist, two of my favorite subjects wrapped up in one.


There are few experiences in my life I can liken to those several hours spent at Yale and it's all thanks to a couple of talented folks and one Ford Focus in need of an oil change.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

With two arms and two legs...

Due to certain events that took place last Sunday, I haven't been able to draw, do dishes, shave, shower or do much of anything else properly. Believe me, I've tried.

As a result today's post will be fairly simple.


Here's the puppets to date.




Rabbit, Possum and Bear are done. Rat's half-way there. Problem is, I've gone about as far as I can since I need to start cutting fabric and using scissors at the moment is basically impossible.


I'm also not entirely happy with the Cat character. I think it's mostly because he's kind of unnecessary. I think I'll end up nixing him altogether; 8 characters is more than enough.

More to come soon...

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Some familiar faces...

I'm stealing this post from Matt over at ALTJapan. It's too good not to post (and animation-related to boot!)

Below each image is a translation of the Japanese.


"The Simpsons: a family of idiots from Australia. (Actually, only the dad is an idiot.) This is Bart-kun. He's cool. He skateboards into his house."


"The terrifying Yoda-zombie. Gyahhhhhh!"


"Very popular with children! A no-brainer of a gift."


"Best of Pixar Pez! Huh!? Is this Nemo? I think it's Nemo..."

It's nice to see that even in Japan, retail workers can have a bit of fun and get away with it.

Monday, February 8, 2010

If I could, I would....

... furnish my entire apartment with finds from the Meeker St. Flea Market.


I don't know where we'd put this (or how we'd get it up the stairs) but how could I not entertain the idea of a retro-bar in our kitchen.


Upstairs is where you find the real treasures.


I want this chair-


This telephone table/chair/cat-hide-away -


And this cabinet set.





And even the things I have absolute no use for are enticing (that last one is a mortician's table).


Part of me wants to believe I'd have use for this but it would probably just end up collect dust.


The best though has to be the collection of dis-guarded paintings downstairs, apparently all by the same hopeful artist. This is the best and also the most unfinished. It's still there if any of you want to color it in.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Ancient History

I came across this last night while ransacking my DVD collection, looking for a missing Paranoia Agent volume.



The video quality isn't the best and the watermark is unfortunate, but I'm cheap and don't feel like buying the proper software just yet.

The whole thing was shot using a good ol' fashion Bolex with some under-the-camera shots using an Oxberry. Most of the effects are done in camera, though most of the tinting was added in post, editing in After Effects.

Chris Farinella (the spastic face that keeps popping up) did the lion's share of the editing while I stepped out to a Simon & Garfunkel concert. Then I took all the credit. Lauren Cipollo (now Etkins) and Adam Cusack are also seen in some of the clips, mostly the ones shot in a park off of South St. Stephen Murphy is the man who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. I think his performance is hilarious and he was a good sport about us dragging him all over Philly. I'm the chick in the baseball cap with the serious biceps.

Towards the end of the video is the part I'm really proud of - some simple, yet still mind-boggling strata-cut animation. I'm pretty sure Chris and I are some of the only folks at UArts to have tried the technique.

At some point, I'll post the timelapse Bob Lyon's shot of us creating the strata-cut animation.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Hooray For YouTube

I've been pretty lazy when it comes to blogging lately. I'll try to remedy this.

For now, here's some rough sketches I had to do for work. We needed ideas on how to illustrate the "infusion of rose petals and cucumber" into HENDRICK'S gin. I suggested a Busby Berkley-style dance number with girls dressed in cucumber bathing-suits.



Everyone in the meeting stared blankly. "Busby Berkley?"

Thank you, YouTube, for having a ridiculous number of Berkley numbers online.