If you wish further evidence of your own lack of smartness, sit through a SIGGRAPH technical paper Fast Forward presentation. This was not your typical gathering of wily-old geezer scientists in smocks and meerschaum pipes, ruefully rubbing their beards while thoughtfully using 10 sentences to explain things where one sentence would completely suffice.
18 hours in planes, 8 hours in airports, 2 hours in shuttles, all in the quest for a chance to meet some of Asia’s brightest computer graphic technologists and to once again eat roast pork overlooking the majestic Hong Kong harbor. A worthy goal, I must say.
"Are you insane?” "Have you lost your mind?" "Are you not afraid?" "Don't you realize this is the worse time to go there?" This is just a sampling of the polite examples of reactions and comments my plans for a trip to Japan had triggered. And yet, based on my own life’s journey, I understood early on that, sometimes the worse time could be the best, the most raw, sincere, revealing and insightful.
We are excited to announce the date for FMX 2012, the 17th Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia: May 8-11, 2012.
In Ukrainian, KROK means “step”, but to animators, KROK means watching animation, making music, dancing and meeting friends, both old and new. For me KROK is summer camp for animators and the best ten days of my life every year.
Joel and Alan sit down with the very Linda Beck, newly inaugurated ASIFA East President, Animator, Producer, Actress, and Former Temp, to talk about those roles and birthing a human. Plus a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, which, if you are reading this online, trumps it's impact: the new Frenzer Foreman Animation Forum website revealed at long last!
ANIMATION VOLDA is a unique festival run by animation students at Volda University College in Norway. Volda is a town of roughly 7,000 people of which 3,000 are students and the festival is primarily for students and festival guests.
Call of Duty is much more than a video game; it’s a cultural phenomenon. Nowhere was that more evident than at Raleigh Studios in Playa Vista, Calif., where Activision threw a shindig unlike anything ever done in the game industry. For three days in early September, Call of Duty invaded the 12-acre compound Howard Hughes created, the Spruce Goose. Unlike the world’s largest plane, which failed miserably in flight, Call of Duty has soared to new heights with each successive game.
Weta Digital’s Wayne Stables, Digital Domain’s Eric Nash, Pixar's Sharon Calahan, ILM's Scott Farrar, ILM's Roger Guyett, DNeg's Gavin Graham and PDI Founder Glenn Entis are some of the speakers slated to present next week at VIEW, Italy's largest computer graphics conference.
Coming November 18-20, 2011 to Burbank, California, CTN brings you a variety of business, creative, technical and inspirational presenters from various walks of life to reaffirm that CTN-X as that jewel in the crown, that "one of a kind" show where we get to rise out of the production trenches for 3 whole days to experience visual stimulation, fantastic connections and powerful inspiration.
Wayne Stables, visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin has chosen to give the world’s first presentation of that studio’s work on the film at the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy.
The festival brings together everything uniquely interesting about the animation industry. Art, commerce, tattoos, the best and worst of kids cartoons, unintelligible films from Asia, alcohol, great student films and big studios walking hand in hand with little studios, agreeing they'll refrain from poaching talent except at the parties. The Ottawa festival brings together big and small, have and have not, legend and newbie together in a unique way - cozy, intimate, unpretentious, inviting.
Last week I attended the Korea Media and Content Market sponsored by the Korean Trade-Investment Agency (Kotra).The event was held at the Hollywood & Highland Center and was designed to introduce a number of Korean animation and media companies and their projects to interested investors and potential partners.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) came to an end with the highly anticipated closing ceremonies which were held this evening at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. OIAF organizers announced the 2011 winners of the official competition during the ceremonies.
The Animator’s Picnic is inspired event programming – stop all proceedings, go to a park, eat, drink, see and be seen. On this unseasonably beautiful Autumn day, as I gaze out on the crowd of young animators, I can’t help but think…I feel so old. Nothing like a large gathering of energetic young hipsters, free from the burdens of metabolic decline and hearing loss, to remind you just what a sorry-ass geez you are. The crowd gets younger, the walk to the Bytowne Cinema gets longer and no amount of Advil or Scotch can change that. Sometimes I wonder, if I start talking to a young female animation student, am I perceived as someone who has something useful to say, or just a perve? Can one be both?
I know it must be Ottawa Animation Festival time because it’s been roughly a year since my last verbal manhandling by an airport customs agent. Happy Anniversary! I seem to be a magnet for every disaffected flak vested agent looking to brush up on their 12-step time mismanagement drill.
Filmmaker Junction and Hype join forces to host an evening of Visual Effects for indie filmmakers.
I have been going to Comic-Con on and off since ’94 and I have seen the change. Up to a few years ago, the Con, as it is now know, was the celebration of the comic book artist and writer. It celebrated a genre that had sustained since the turn of the last century.
IMAX Corporation today announced that Shaw Theatres Pte Ltd, a leading exhibitor in Singapore, has signed an agreement to install a digital IMAX(R) theatre system in the new JCube entertainment complex in Singapore.
Few FFAF episodes have challenged the potent potential of what a jam-packed powder-keg of animation multilarities can elicit in the burgeoning minds of those seeking more lore and eternal wisdom of this frame-by-frame La Bamba than number 24. This show is huge. Ron Diamond + Dan Sarto = how to invent and maintain an international animation archive and animation short distribution empire while enjoying the best of Scotch and olive canning. The Animation Room + The Animation Room = how to create an animation studio boyband right out of college. And finally, Billy + Bill + William Frenzer = how to develop treasured American comedy songs into animated music videos that change the course of human history. Perfection, sometimes, does not take time.
Recently, the Executive Director of the VES delivered an open letter to the VFX community describing what he believes are a number of issues currently facing the VFX industry. The letter was passionate, but is his approach to the issue of globalization potentially damaging?
The 2011 Annecy International Animation Festival was so full of films, business, friends, special events, and parties this year that it was impossible to do and see everything. Here's a breakdown of a crazy week by the lake...
So what exactly have we learned at MIFA? Have we gained something meaningful? I have to admit I need more time to answer such a question, to see if an event of this kind brings along something worth the effort invested into just coming over. After all, if the animation business is about relationships / partnerships, then there needs to be a lot more work done after the event beside the initial quick flirting.
You may find a trade show to be a common gathering event that any industry has. But what I saw and experienced at MIFA is that this gathering is more than unique. How friendly and open minded everybody is, considering that most of the people are competitors one way or another. It’s actually pretty unbelievable.
The Annecy International Animation Festival just concluded its 51st edition this evening, June 11, 2011. Patrick Jean’s PIXELS Took home the Annecy Cristal as the top short film, while THE RABBI'S CAT, by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux, took the top prize for feature film.
