Ravi Shankar and the Freshman

News of the death of Ravi Shankar brought to mind a time when, as a CalArts student, I saw him perform live on campus.  It was 1981 and I was a freshman, straight out of South Jersey; meaning, I knew NOTHING.   I ran into my friend from the music school, Dave Coste.

Pinewood Studios, and the Secrets of Motion Capture Revealed

Pinewood Studios - home of 007

Yesterday FLIP visited the motion capture studio Centroid, based in Pinewood Studios, with a group of students from Buckinghamshire New University. Motion Capture, sometimes called "Performance Capture", is an animation technique which captures real-time actor's performances and turns them into digital data which can be used to create animated characters - like the character "Gollum" played by Andy Serkis in The Lord of The Rings.

Andy Serkis, Imaginarium and Animal Farm

David Davis is an animator who has just joined Andy Serkis' new motion capture studio Imaginarium, a digital animation studio based in Ealing, London, dedicated to the creation of digital characters using Performance Capture technology. On 20th October 2012 the studio acquired rights to The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon and also a new motion capture adaptation of Animal Farm, which Serkis will direct. FLIP asked David to tell us a little about his new job.

Andy Serkis will direct Orwell's classic totalitarian satire Animal Farm

Rusty's Memorial Service

As you most likely have heard, Rusty Mills passed away December 8th.  His wife, Andrea, has welcomed all to his memorial service tomorrow:

2:00 pm, Tuesday, December 11

Glen Haven and Sholom Memorial Park
Glen Haven Mortuary
13017 N. Lopez Canyon Road
Sylmar, California 91342
Phone: (818) 899-5211

And you can still donate to the relief fund.. Over $16.000 has been raised to help with medical costs.  

Click here to donate.

So long Rusty.  I'll always remember the fun times at CalArts.  

CalArts Halloween party, 1983.  Mike Show, Rusty (as Boris Badenov0, Rob Minkoff (Sammy Claus), Steve Moore (blue meanie), Leon Joosen, Mona and Brett Koth. 

The Hobbit - Some Unexpected Visual Effects

The Hobbit is in cinemas from Thursday

Film producer and friend of FLIP Bob Thompson went to a private screening of The Hobbit - an Unexpected Journey in London on Sunday, followed by a Q&A with the director. We invited Bob to share with us some of his thoughts about the film, and especially some technical notes on the highly unusual way in which it was made.

A Brief Plea for Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, also known as The Bill of Rights

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America states as follows:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Pups of Liberty now on DVD!

Hear ye!  Hear ye! A message of independence!  Friends of FLIP Bert and Jennifer Klein announce the DVD release of their independently animated film Pups of Liberty.  When I say 'independent', I don't mean 'small studio financing their own film', I mean 'animators working out of their living room for free'. Bert and Jennifer enlisted heavyweight animation talent such as Eric Goldberg, Mark Henn, Frans Vischer, Hyun Min Lee, Tony de Rosa,  Jay Jackson, and James Lopez to lend their skills to the cause.  The resulting film is  the top quality production you see here.....

Graphic Storytelling at the Animation Workshop

Gateway to the Animation Workshop

The Animation Workshop in Denmark has announced a new Graphic Storytelling Programme starting in September 2013. This is excellent news from a school that is already in my opinion among the very best English-language schools for animation anywhere in the world. They produce world-class talent; students who are pretty much production-ready as soon as they graduate.

The new programme aims to focus on "drawing, sequential storytelling, lay-out, scripting, story boarding for films, cross media and developing original graphic universes". Students will also learn about "working as a freelancer and starting up your own company focusing on graphic storytelling".

The Thief & The Cobbler - The Recobbled Cut - Part 2

Garrett Gilchrist's Recobbled Cut

Independent film maker Garrett Gilchrist has spent many years trying to re-assemble the original director's cut of one of the great might-have-been animated feature films - The Thief and the Cobbler. In this second part of our interview (you can see the first part here), Garrett explains what inspired him to create his latest version of The Thief: The  Recobbled Cut - Mark 4.

Film Review: The Hobbit - an Unexpectedly Long Journey

The Hobbit, part 1. But why three parts?

As anticipation builds for the December 14 release date of Peter Jackson's latest journey to Middle Earth, FLIP invited Animator Andreas Wessel-Therhorn to review The Hobbit - an Unexpected Journey. Andreas caught up with the first part of the new trilogy at a special Academy screening in Hollywood on Sunday.

Taking Care of Dad

Oscar H. Moore, a.k.a. Dad.

I spent the first 19 years of my professional career living in an industry Never Never Land, a place where my life could be all about animation.  My troubles were cartoon troubles.  I knew that heavy, grown-up problems existed in the world, but I had somehow dodged them for twenty years while pursuing  animation glory in Hollywood.

Film Review - Persistence of Vision; The Untold Story of the Greatest Animated Film Never Made

FLIP invited animator and storyboard artist Michael Schlingman to review Kevin Schreck's new documentary film Persistence of Vision - The Untold Story of the Greatest Animated Film Never Made, about the making of The Thief and The Cobbler. Michael worked on The Thief, and was also interviewed for Persistence of Vision. He went to a special screening of the film in Leeds last week.

The Thief and the Cobbler - The Recobbled Cut Mk 4

Cover artwork for Garrett Gilchrist's Recobbled Cut

Garrett Gilchrist is an independent film-maker with a passion for animation. He has spent many years attempting to rebuild the original director's cut of one of animation's greatest might-have-been epic films: The Thief and the Cobbler. In a two-part interview, FLIP asked Garrett to talk a little about his latest edit - The Recobbled Cut (Mark 4).

For Rusty

Rusty Mills needs your help.  He is near the end, suffering from cancer, but is leaving behind a wife and a lot of hospital bills.  A fundraiser has been set up on his behalf.  Please help.

Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design

The Noble Approach - Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design

Animation designer and director Tod Polson has been working for over a year on a new book about the life and art of legendary designer Maurice Noble, who had a 60 year career in the animation business and was responsible for the look of some of the most famous Looney Tunes shorts, including What's Opera Doc?, Duck Dodgers and the Road Runner series. FLIP caught up with Tod at the Animation Workshop in Denmark and asked him a few questions about his new project.

Some Unique Gifts to Fight Over

In the United States, unless your TV has been broken, your newspaper shut down, and your internet connection failed, you know all about "Black Friday".  This term is not in reference to post-Thanksgiving bowel movements.  This is the day, the awful day, when media advertisers rile people into such a frenzy as to act out as a mob of deal-hunting vigilantes.

So what's a mild mannered, somewhat sane, hunched and goofy person to do?  Well, let FLIP rile you  into a geek frenzy with some cool, unique gifts from people who have been featured in this year's FLIP!

Ready?

The day the Chancellor of the Exchequer called me a Luddite

Me in my 2D days

Years ago, back in 1999, I was working at DreamWorks in Los Angeles when some old University friends came to stay. They were Frances Osbourne and her new husband, George. At the time George was a wannabe Tory MP, working his way up the greasy political pole and hoping to get elected, far from the financial and political power he wields today.

Happy Thanksgiving from Papu

Here's an oldie from our pal Xeth Feinberg.  Have a smashing Thanksgiving!

Mickey & Me in the 21st Century

Red pants day at D-World, July '74.

I share the same birthday as Mickey Mouse - November 18th.  He is a cartoon character.  I draw cartoon characters.  I am 50 and aging.  He is 84 and not - though you could argue that he's been dead for decades.

When I was 27, I worked with a guy who had been a clean-up artist on Sleeping Beauty.  I remember thinking, "Old-timer."  Now that I have screen credits older than 27,  the term must now apply to me.

I'm an old-timer.

The birth of Queen's Counsel, plus a very nasty letter

In 1993 I was a law student in London, working occasionally at Disney during my summer vacations to pay my way through school. I also had a part-time job working for a Member of Parliament, a kind man called Peter Thurnham, who let me run loose in the Palace of Westminster pretending to be on important business.

Why do animators hate Motion Capture?

Andy Serkis at Comic Con 2011, photographed by Gerald Geronimo

Animators hate Motion Capture. We hate it because it threatens us, threatens to replace what we do so carefully and painstakingly and slowly with fast, inexpensive, automated technology. I first heard about it way back in 1987 on the set of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" when it was rumoured that a technology existed whereby a computer could capture an actor's motion and express it instantly as a piece of 3D animation. Well, that'll never catch on, I thought (or hoped, more likely). Phil Nibbelink, one of the most talented animators on The Rabbit, called Motion Capture "the battle cry of the untalented". How we laughed.

Zoom Rockman takes on the world of comics

Zooming ahead - a new force in comics

Move over Marvel, DC and The Beano - Zoom Rockman is in town. His new comic, appropriately titled "Zoom", has been on sale at newstands in the UK since 2009. This award-winning cartoonist has created new characters such as Crasher, Grumpa Grouch, The Nutters, Freezer Man, a Yorkshire terrier called Rocky, and an annoying little brother named Ace. Zoom has an agent, distribution outlets and a growing fan club. But, most surprising of all, Zoom is just 11 years old. Back in 2009 when he published his first comic, he was nine.

TRON 30th: Memories From the Grid (and Beyond!)

by Jerry Rees

TRON dropped audiences into a glowing realm of Bits, Programs, Systems and Game Grids – the unseen computer world manipulated by its Users. As one of the Users on the original crew I still feel that glow in memories that refuse to fade.

Pixar, Brave, Mark Andrews and The Importance of Wearing a Kilt

Last night I went to a screening in Soho of Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman's charming celtic romp - Brave - which features a red-haired heroine in a Scottish setting (Readers of Flip will already know something of the origins of Merida's fiery hair).

Enough of the Blade Runner Future Already!

by Aurelio O'Brien

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 1950-60’s. I was 11 years old when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I rode GE’s “Carousel of Progress” and Monsanto’s “Adventures through Inner Space” in Disneyland, humming along with it’s theme songs, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” and “Miracles through Molecules.” The view of my future back then was bright and rosy, with the promise of abundant clean energy, candy-colored plastic everything, marvelous, genetically-enhanced foods, and the best thing of all, personal hovercrafts.

The future yesterday.