The upward trend of animation students solely pursuing 3D animation was upsetting to me at first.
Next, the introduction of motion capture made me red in the face because it killed numerous jobs in the 3D field and because it then made it possible to call a live action sequence filmed in front of motion capture cameras "animation", which people have undoubtedly been swallowing.
At least then, the person performing the actions was forced to feel like a complete asshole by wearing a spandex suit full of reflective markers.
But now we're looking at a new era where anyone can jump in front of a camera in street clothes, capture the motion, apply it, and PRESTO you're an animator? WAIT WHAT?!
What's next? Give it time and we won't even need a 3D scanner, all that these studio executives will need is a brainchild locked in a cage pumping ideas directly from his cranium into a machine...
Watch it and weep... HERE
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
DreamWorms: THE NEW DIMENSION OF ANIMATION
If 3d movies weren’t bad enough, DreamWorks animation has announced that in 2009 all of their CGI animated films will be presented in a new format, Stereoscopic 3D. Apparently they have seen the downward trend in people rushing out to see the next new CGI animated feature and need a new gimmick to draw in the masses.
I have to admit it surprised me at first, I had once thought for sure Disney would be the first to make this leap. Seeing that hey have been using this type of technology in their theme park for years... Maybe they foresaw the damage this format could do to the animation art form or maybe I'm giving them a little too much credit, only time will tell us that.
DreamWorks still hasn’t figured out that it is not the flashy 3D models that make a good movie, but it’s the story. Now not only do we have to sit through a shitty movie I have to dodge dumb props and garbage 3D character devices.
Other than people grabbing randomly in the air like wild monkeys, what will this new format bring?
Let’s make a list of 3D movie clichés that you know will not only be included in the DreamWorks movies, but ones that all the other studios animated features that will undoubtedly follow suit.
Clichés:
-Random flying characters that fly around the audience. (GREAT! NOW not only will I want to throw up while going to see SharkTale, but now I get to be molested by fish!)
-Scary objects flopping into the audience...(This could come in handy if I want a hummer from the Monster House.)
-Anything that pokes, prods, swings or gets thrown, makes its way to the audience. I'm guessing watching Pinnochio's nose grow isn't good enough these days.
- Bubbles, fluff, sparkles, building debris, snot, some more of that air grabbing
- Characters looking, pointing, talking directly at you! So it gives it that more personal feel! (Let's get these kids prepared for what acid does to you years in advance!)
This new format might seem “amazing” or “cool” at first. It might seem to open new doors on how a studio can tell a story, but it won’t. In fact it will close more doors then it will open. Studios will have to write or remake movies that have explosions, flying characters, pixy dust and oblong objects. The story will take a 3rd seat behind the CGI models and the Stereoscopic 3d format. They will have to write in the big scare scene and the funny finger pointing and all the other bullshit that goes into making 3d movies. Now I guess John K. is really going to be pissed off when the giant index finger finds itself at DreamWorks infiltrating the stereoscopic anus of the average theatergoer.
Now that we have this new amazing air grabbingly awesome 3d format that will make million at the box offices, how will it make millions in the home? Do you have a Stereoscopic 3D compliant TV? Or is HD going out the door and is S-3D in? Will the same cheap laughs, jumps and air grabbing have the same feel on your home television screen? HELL NO, it will look like shit and force people to watch the movie in the standard format. It will expose the movie for what it is, A SHITTY MOVIE!
There is a reason this type of movie only exist in theme parks, and that is no matter what theme park you see them in or the story they have, it’s all the same formula. It gets boring and the overly used clichés are never original and hardly funny the first time. Sure you could speculate that a studio could take advantage and create a mind blowing experience, but that’s doubtful, studios will stick to what they know. They will have the same shitty characters voiced by the same shitty actors and the shallow story that seems to go nowhere, but this time you’re trying to grab it.
Brace yourselves and check it out HERE
This new format will undoubtedly open a new can of worms for feature animation; the problem is that for each can it opens, all the worms look the same.
Which brings us to the next thing to discuss... Computers consuming our jobs, and with sensor-less motion capture now available that era is rapidly closing in...
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
SEE JANE...KILL OUR TRADE
Cartoonbrew.com covered the Geena Davis speech at the National Conference for Media Reform. Now that the steam has run out on the subject I would like to put a number of things into perspective without taking sides on the matter and really talk about what her new crusade might mean for television cartoons.
Let me list a few thoughts that popped into my head while watching the video clip of her speech.
-1st of all, what gives Geena Davis and the SeeJane foundation the authority to condemn an art form? It is an atrocity that a group of non-animators, non-artists, and non-writers are trying to tell our community how to operate and create content that we love creating. When viewing her speech all I could see was an angry feminist using her clout as an actress to try and influence a medium that she needs to keep her nose out of. And for that reason I feel that anything she has to say about animation should be taken as a grain of salt.
2ndly ,Where did she get her information, does she not know how to use Google? It is apparent to me that based on her lack of knowledge, that all of this "research" was all done by her assistants. I would like to just add here, if you wish to be taken seriously, REALLY get to know what you are talking about. The fact that we are dealing with an organization with a feminist agenda, any information which would conflict with their interests is going to be pushed aside like anything that might slow the process of attaining their goals.
3rd , The Animation industry is an industry in where most viewers are male, likely due to the high number of male and androgynous characters. However a study conducted in 1981 by the Society for Research in Child Development found that boys developed a lack of interest for characters of the opposite sex. Therefore, to say we need more female leads in cartoons is a bad marketing strategy. For decades males have been the subjected targets to these marketing strategies when the female population outnumbered that of males. NOW though is a different ball game, the male population is beginning to outnumber that of females, so to suddenly switch strategies and almost force animators, artists and writers to focus on creating solely female roles is just asking to decimate an industry which is already in a state of distress. The radical change that Davis chooses to pursue is a form artistic genocide which should be prevented.
4th SHE HAS ALREADY HAD MEETINGS WITH PRODUCERS AND HEAD EXCUTIVES! GREAT, THIS IS JUST WHAT WE NEED RIGHT NOW.
5th Are you joking!?, of all the things in this depraved world she calls for cartoons to “CHANGE”? For the 4 years her daughter will watch animation, male cartoon characters fighting monsters are somehow going to directly impact her daughters’ well-being because the lead character isn’t female? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I guess "The Powerpuff Girls" being a televised show is simply myth and it's existence hearsay...
Her actions, if you agree with her or not will most definitely have a NEGATIVE effect on cartoons. Now that the clueless animation executives have a celebrity to hold their hand and show them the light of how cartoons should be, it’s all over.
I’m not going to bother to name the countless female leads in animation. You can find them for yourself, and we all know that beefing up the number or female leads will not do anything other than oppress artists to feel as though it is necessary to censor themselves further because only female roles are on demand.
It’s obvious that male characters are a lot easier to create; a male character can be thrown into a fight and be brutalized, then brought back with no problems at all. If this were done with a female character, feminists groups would have a field day and say the show advocates domestic abuse against women. So to say female's need equal leads in animation, it's a double standard because to put female characters through the same scenarios as male characters would only cause more controversy.
When you create a female character there is unspoken check list you have to go through, a check list that end ups making your female character FLAT and boring. A check list that has to be followed in order to appease organizations like See Jane and every other woman’s lib group from condemning your character and cartoon. Let’s list some dos and don’ts when creating a female character.
DO's
Smart
Witty (not too much)
Strong willed
Independent
Not to drastic of a character design
DONT's
Clumsy
Dumb
Inadvertently funny
Dependent on any other characters
Too skinny
Keep in mind when creating a female character you are required to use all the said ‘DO’s” not just some of them. If you don’t believe me turn on Cartoon network or Nickelodeon every female character is almost identical in their look and character.
So it seems to me that what Geena and the See Jane crew are calling for is a stacked deck. It's no longer OK to create a series with a male lead, let alone a female lead that might fit the bill as a "goof" or attractive. Because I am sure the only kinds of women that were born into this world since 1970 are all seeds of Einstein who are destined to rule the world. No longer is alright to create a female character and accentuate the characteristics that innately read to any viewer as being female. We are on the verge from drawing an occasional large breast or two to having our arms twisted and forced to drawing androgynous women with an occasional beer gut. Maybe it would benefit all men working in the industry to have sex change operations now...What do you think?
Let me list a few thoughts that popped into my head while watching the video clip of her speech.
-1st of all, what gives Geena Davis and the SeeJane foundation the authority to condemn an art form? It is an atrocity that a group of non-animators, non-artists, and non-writers are trying to tell our community how to operate and create content that we love creating. When viewing her speech all I could see was an angry feminist using her clout as an actress to try and influence a medium that she needs to keep her nose out of. And for that reason I feel that anything she has to say about animation should be taken as a grain of salt.
2ndly ,Where did she get her information, does she not know how to use Google? It is apparent to me that based on her lack of knowledge, that all of this "research" was all done by her assistants. I would like to just add here, if you wish to be taken seriously, REALLY get to know what you are talking about. The fact that we are dealing with an organization with a feminist agenda, any information which would conflict with their interests is going to be pushed aside like anything that might slow the process of attaining their goals.
3rd , The Animation industry is an industry in where most viewers are male, likely due to the high number of male and androgynous characters. However a study conducted in 1981 by the Society for Research in Child Development found that boys developed a lack of interest for characters of the opposite sex. Therefore, to say we need more female leads in cartoons is a bad marketing strategy. For decades males have been the subjected targets to these marketing strategies when the female population outnumbered that of males. NOW though is a different ball game, the male population is beginning to outnumber that of females, so to suddenly switch strategies and almost force animators, artists and writers to focus on creating solely female roles is just asking to decimate an industry which is already in a state of distress. The radical change that Davis chooses to pursue is a form artistic genocide which should be prevented.
4th SHE HAS ALREADY HAD MEETINGS WITH PRODUCERS AND HEAD EXCUTIVES! GREAT, THIS IS JUST WHAT WE NEED RIGHT NOW.
5th Are you joking!?, of all the things in this depraved world she calls for cartoons to “CHANGE”? For the 4 years her daughter will watch animation, male cartoon characters fighting monsters are somehow going to directly impact her daughters’ well-being because the lead character isn’t female? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I guess "The Powerpuff Girls" being a televised show is simply myth and it's existence hearsay...
Her actions, if you agree with her or not will most definitely have a NEGATIVE effect on cartoons. Now that the clueless animation executives have a celebrity to hold their hand and show them the light of how cartoons should be, it’s all over.
I’m not going to bother to name the countless female leads in animation. You can find them for yourself, and we all know that beefing up the number or female leads will not do anything other than oppress artists to feel as though it is necessary to censor themselves further because only female roles are on demand.
It’s obvious that male characters are a lot easier to create; a male character can be thrown into a fight and be brutalized, then brought back with no problems at all. If this were done with a female character, feminists groups would have a field day and say the show advocates domestic abuse against women. So to say female's need equal leads in animation, it's a double standard because to put female characters through the same scenarios as male characters would only cause more controversy.
When you create a female character there is unspoken check list you have to go through, a check list that end ups making your female character FLAT and boring. A check list that has to be followed in order to appease organizations like See Jane and every other woman’s lib group from condemning your character and cartoon. Let’s list some dos and don’ts when creating a female character.
DO's
Smart
Witty (not too much)
Strong willed
Independent
Not to drastic of a character design
DONT's
Clumsy
Dumb
Inadvertently funny
Dependent on any other characters
Too skinny
Keep in mind when creating a female character you are required to use all the said ‘DO’s” not just some of them. If you don’t believe me turn on Cartoon network or Nickelodeon every female character is almost identical in their look and character.
So it seems to me that what Geena and the See Jane crew are calling for is a stacked deck. It's no longer OK to create a series with a male lead, let alone a female lead that might fit the bill as a "goof" or attractive. Because I am sure the only kinds of women that were born into this world since 1970 are all seeds of Einstein who are destined to rule the world. No longer is alright to create a female character and accentuate the characteristics that innately read to any viewer as being female. We are on the verge from drawing an occasional large breast or two to having our arms twisted and forced to drawing androgynous women with an occasional beer gut. Maybe it would benefit all men working in the industry to have sex change operations now...What do you think?
Sunday, March 4, 2007
What good did it do?
NOTHING!
One of the main reasons I started the blog was to inspire lots of other people to start similar no-holds-barred blogs wherein people could rant and debate.
Power of numbers and all that.
But it became very clear that as long as I was doing it, no one else was going to bother. A few splinter sites have popped up here and there, but they all moderate their comments
I had always maintained that I would take the site down as soon as I felt like it without notice, and that’s exactly what I did.
I read on countless comments on animation blogs how "great" the Anibation Fantasy blog was, and then it ends at that. Start your own!
Obviously this is the sort of blog the industry needs, if so many artist are clamoring about it.
Of coarse this is ANIBATION FANTASY II (and we all know how good sequels can be). It's up to all of you to carry this blog and start new blogs with the similar intent.
So if you commented on the 1st Anibation Fantasy, re-comment here, like the 1st blog you will not be censored or condemned for your comments if you agree or disagree.
Remember I will take this down at any moment so take your 2nd dose of anibation fantasy, but don't expect a 3rd.
One of the main reasons I started the blog was to inspire lots of other people to start similar no-holds-barred blogs wherein people could rant and debate.
Power of numbers and all that.
But it became very clear that as long as I was doing it, no one else was going to bother. A few splinter sites have popped up here and there, but they all moderate their comments
I had always maintained that I would take the site down as soon as I felt like it without notice, and that’s exactly what I did.
I read on countless comments on animation blogs how "great" the Anibation Fantasy blog was, and then it ends at that. Start your own!
Obviously this is the sort of blog the industry needs, if so many artist are clamoring about it.
Of coarse this is ANIBATION FANTASY II (and we all know how good sequels can be). It's up to all of you to carry this blog and start new blogs with the similar intent.
So if you commented on the 1st Anibation Fantasy, re-comment here, like the 1st blog you will not be censored or condemned for your comments if you agree or disagree.
Remember I will take this down at any moment so take your 2nd dose of anibation fantasy, but don't expect a 3rd.
WANTED: NEW 'ANIBATOR'
Somebody (or several people) please start a new blog with a name and 'mission' like this one... I'm far too old for this.
Someone out there must be younger and angrier than me who will do a better job.
To qualify, you must be willing to be a "ghost" that represents many people and many different points of view - some of which you may disagree with.
Just start it up and put the link here.
See the union rep about your benefits package
Thank you.
Anibator
P.S. You will be tempted many times to reveal yourself or censor people who tear into you... DON'T do it.
Someone out there must be younger and angrier than me who will do a better job.
To qualify, you must be willing to be a "ghost" that represents many people and many different points of view - some of which you may disagree with.
Just start it up and put the link here.
See the union rep about your benefits package
Thank you.
Anibator
P.S. You will be tempted many times to reveal yourself or censor people who tear into you... DON'T do it.
ANIMATION MAGAZINE and ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK: I DARE YOU!
I know you've both been here...
Who will be the first (if either) to report on the goings-on here? Who will be the first to recognize the amount of sheer frustration let loose by so many in the animation community? Who will be the first to analyze it with a journalistic objective?
Probably neither. But it was worth a shot.
By the way... for the record:
ALL CONTENT ON 'ANIBATION FANTASY' IS ENTIRELY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND HOLDS NO COPYRIGHT OR TRADEMARK... YOU MAY PRINT OR REPRINT ANY AND ALL OF ITS CONTENTS WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM ANYONE.
Steal it and pretend you made it all up. I don't care.
Who will be the first (if either) to report on the goings-on here? Who will be the first to recognize the amount of sheer frustration let loose by so many in the animation community? Who will be the first to analyze it with a journalistic objective?
Probably neither. But it was worth a shot.
By the way... for the record:
ALL CONTENT ON 'ANIBATION FANTASY' IS ENTIRELY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND HOLDS NO COPYRIGHT OR TRADEMARK... YOU MAY PRINT OR REPRINT ANY AND ALL OF ITS CONTENTS WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM ANYONE.
Steal it and pretend you made it all up. I don't care.
THE OSCARS: An Insult to our Craft
Animation as a form of filmmaking died an ugly death the day they created the 'Best Animated Feature' catagory for the Oscars.
Suddenly, we were all sat at the kiddie table, and 'Shrek' became an Oscar-winning film.
The category implies that animation can't possibly compete with 'real' movies (like 'Pirates of the Carribean'????????) and so, out of sheer contempt, they created a category to acknowledge us while shutting us up at the same time
This category will never go away, and consequently, animation will never (in this country) be looked upon as a serious medium.
Suddenly, we were all sat at the kiddie table, and 'Shrek' became an Oscar-winning film.
The category implies that animation can't possibly compete with 'real' movies (like 'Pirates of the Carribean'????????) and so, out of sheer contempt, they created a category to acknowledge us while shutting us up at the same time
This category will never go away, and consequently, animation will never (in this country) be looked upon as a serious medium.
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