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Russell Bekins's Recent Posts

Drawing ANIMATIONWorld

Drawing and Thinking with Koji Yamamura

"Many people ask me whether I use 3D techniques." The filmmaker gave a half-grin. "The answer is no. The way I get the 3D effect is that I draw a shade drawing at the same time as the normal drawing." As one of the festival judges, filmmaker Koji Yamamura (Mt. Head, Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor) presented a lecture on his working methodologies. He also had an extensive graphic art show and a retrospective of his films.

Mainly drawing directly on paper with a myriad of colored pencils, Koji scans the artwork and arranges the layers -- sometimes 10-20 -- using Japanese animation software....

Film ANIMATIONWorld

The Trouble with Jimmy

The first hint should have been the name of the Norwegian TV series the film was based on: Two Wasted Wankers.

The CG animation feature Free Jimmy has been touring the festivals of Europe since its premiere in 2006, racking up such prestigious awards as the Annecy Cristal. At the same time, it has struggled to find distribution because of its uncompromisingly dark themes, including drugs, sex, and some hilarious grotesque violence. The production itself seemed cursed by this dark vision: it took six years to make and featured a series of misadventures worthy of a film in themselves.

It...

Animation ANIMATIONWorld

'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time': Interview with Director Mamoru Hosoda

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time won the award of Special Distinction, one of the three awards for features at Annecy this year. Its merit lies in the execution of the time jumping story which, instead of dealing with vast movements of history, concentrates in the small movements in the emotional lives of its Japanese urban high school protagonists over several days. Trivial moments in a triangle of high school students are lived and re-lived in an attempt by the heroine, Makoto, to get it right in the simple choice of which she will have for a boyfriend or a friend.

The distances we place...

ANIMATIONWorld

An Embarrassment of Riches for RAI

First a word about Rai in general, because one tends to confuse the waving and sinewy arms of this vast and multi-headed beast which smells of lavender and politics.

There are three RAI channels, RAI 1, RAI 2 and RAI 3. Rai Fiction is the producing arm, Rai Trade is the merchandising and distribution arm, which organizes the Cartoons on the Bay festival. There are two RAI satellite channels: Rai Sat Yoyo, for children up to six years old and Rai Sat Smash, which focuses on an audience, ages 6-10.

The heads of the various stations have traditionally been assigned by a political spoils...

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