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Headline News

Here's an acting class for animators

Ed Hooks will teach a one-day acting for animators class in San Franciscoon September 25, from 10 am-5 pm. The class will include thinking-emotionconnections, thinking-physical action connections, character analysis,basic acting principles (the scene as a negotiation) and improvisations.Also, there will be discussion of shadow movement, psychological gesture,the "look" of memory, eye contact between characters, the importance ofempathy and how to achieve it. Clips from Charlie Chaplin movies will be

Animation Headline News

STEVE BLEVINS joins TIS/MAGNET

STEVE BLEVINS has joined New York-based TIS/MAGNET as seniordesigner/animator. Blevins' duties include designing and creating(primarily 2D) animation for broadcast and the web, art direction, creativedevelopment, and research. Besides free-lancing for Magnet, Blevins hasdone traditional 2D and 3D CGI art and animation for companies such as SanFrancisco-based Wild Brain, New York-based Blue Sky, and Connecticut-based,Ball&Chain.

Headline News

CYCLOTRON completes end tags for Heineken spots

New York City-based CYCLOTRON has completed a photo-real, CGI end tag for aseries of Heineken spots for creative company Vidal, Reynardus & Moya. Thecommercials are targeted for the US Hispanic market. The 10-second end tagfeatures a frosty cold bottle of Heineken. Cyclotron used Side EffectsHoudini software and wrote proprietary shaders for Renderman. Bruce Gionetwas the CGI supervisor.

Animation Headline News

Animation World Mag August Acrobat Edition On-line Now!

August is a full month for Animation World Magazine as we delve into thegrowing and constantly changing fields of Computer and Internet Animation.Bob Miller goes one on one with Brad Bird, director of "The Iron Giant."And Karl Cohen interviews Rob Coleman on the making of Star Wars Episode I:"The Phantom Menace." Looking to make your own computer animated short?Mike Amron discusses the cost effective software and set ups available forsuch an undertaking. On the Internet animation side of things Buzz Potamkin

Headline News

Check out the latest ASIFA San Francisco news!

Visit the ASIFA San Francisco site in the Animation Village and check outtheir latest news. The June and July '99 issues of the newsletter are nowavailable on line with regular columns on: Magazines, Books, National News,Employment Opportunities, Festivals and Events.--> http://www.awn.com/asifa-sf

Headline News

New Web Premier Toons and other Hot Stuff from CartoonNetwork.com!

Here's an overview of what's shaking on Cartoon Network's happening web site:

THIS MONTH'S NEXT BIG THING: New Web Premiere Toons! "Germtown" - Lookthrough the microscope at the wonderful world of germs. What do they do allday anyway? "Saturday Night Fred" - Help Fred and Barney choose what to doon a Saturday night in Bedrock! "The Marshmallow Money Show" - Hang outwith the kids on one city block and click to hear them give "shout-outs" orbreak into rap-style songs!

Film Headline News

Cinanima announces their 1999 program!

Cinanima International Animated Film Festival will happen from November8-14, 1999, in Espinho, Portugal. This year, the retrospectives and specialprograms include: a screening of Cinanima '98 winners; a compilation offilms from Portuguese studio Animanostra; a program of Irish films; aretrospective of Dusan Vukotic's body of work (Croatia); video clips fromMTV; and a special program from the ASIFA archives, featuring suchprestigious animators as Norman McLaren, Yuri Norstein, Fedor Khitruk,

Spot Headline News

GRAPHITI completes ThumsUp spot

Mumbai, India-based GRAPHITI MULTIMEDIA PVT. LTD. has completed a :20 spotfor ThumsUp soft drink, a Coca-Cola product. In the spot, a mosquito holdsa straw like a microphone and sings a 1970s Hindi love song until theThumsUp hero, played by a live model, squashes the insect. Graphiti usedCambridge Animation Systems' Animo software to composite the three mattelayers -- a highlight layer, a mid-tone layer, and a body shadow layer --making up the mosquito. The 3D environment was created with 3D Studio Max.Sunil Shetty directed the spot.

Animation Headline News

Don't miss these animation events at MoCA!

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) will host a two monthanimation festival. These are the scheduled events.

Saturday, July 10, 5 pm. John Canemaker will show and talk about a centuryof animation. The event is free.

Saturday, July 10, 8 pm. "The Birth of Walt Disney Pictures' DINOSAUR"presents a behind the scenes look at the work-in-progress.

Thursday, July 15, 8 pm. "The Making of MONSTERS OF GRACE" with JeffKleiser and Diana Walczak will explore the challenges of their

Spot Headline News

BERMUDA SHORTS completes Natwest spot

London-based BERMUDA SHORTS has completed "Rear Window," a spot for Natwestbank. The spot explores the things you can do in the privacy of your homeonce you own the property. The spot includes 2D animated people who sit bya stream, feeding fish, as well as a stop-motion animated man working onhis car. Phil Dale did the stop-motion animation. Run Wrake directed thespot for Agency TBWA.

Million Headline News

THE SIXTH SENSE remains on top

Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects byDreamQuest, finished first at the US weekend boxoffice for the thirdconsecutive week, grossing an estimated $24.1 million, which is onlyslightly below last week's $26.1 million, for a total of $106.7 million;The Walt Disney Company's INSPECTOR GADGET, with digital effects byDreamQuest, finished eighth, grossing an estimated $4.3 million for a totalof $83.1 million; and Warner Bros.' shark thriller, DEEP BLUE SEA, with

Headline News

MIXIN PIXLS creates Warner logo

Santa Monica, California-based MIXIN PIXLS created the opening Warner Bros.logo sequence for DEEP BLUE SEA. The computer animated sequence presentsthe Warner shield flying through the sky. As the logo comes into full view,the sky undulates and the logo goes underwater, and transforms in the logoof Mirage Productions. Harri Paakkonen directed the animation usingAlias|Wavefront Composer and Sapphire Tools.

Color Headline News

SIMON GOODCHILD completes his first commercial

SIMON GOODCHILD, recently signed by London-based SHERBERT, has completedhis first commercial, "Colour Screams," a :40 spot for Procter and Gamble'snew washing powder, Vibrant. The agency was Grey Advertising. The spot,which uses abstract shapes and pure color to create a mood of vibrant,non-bleeding color, was designed with Truespace and Adobe Photoshop.

Headline News

LOCONTE GOLDMAN completes "Hearts on Fire"

Boston, Massachusetts-based LOCONTE GOLDMAN has completed "Hearts on Fire"which consists of three :30 spots, and one :60 spot, for Grant Marketing, aProvidence, Rhode Island-based diamond company. The promos are for a tapethat will be used in a direct mail campaign, as well as for walk-incustomers. Maria LoConte directed the spots, and New York City-basedKLEISER WALCZAK did the 3D animation.

Spot Headline News

RHYTHM & HUES completes cereal spot

West Los Angeles-based RHYTHM & HUES has completed "Father and Daughter," a:30 spot for General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. The spot featuresan alien pre-teen and her alien father discussing the out-of-this worldtaste and looks of the cereal. For the spot, real actors were videotaped asreferences. This reference footage was then used as inspiration whenplotting the animation curves in Maya. The spot was made for Minneapolis,Minnesota-based Agency Campbell Mithun Esty. Micheal Patterson directed for

Festival Headline News

Prepare yourself for a new Sick and Twisted Festival

The 1999 edition of SPIKE AND MIKE'S SICK AND TWISTED FESTIVAL OF ANIMATIONincludes NO NECK JOE III by DNA Productions, DIE HARD IN UNDER TWO MINUTESby Konstantin Bronzit, TYSON: I AM NOT AN ANIMAL by David Lipson, BALLETBLUES by Thomas Kung, BOWLIN' FER SOULS by SuperGenius, HORNED GRAMMA byDave Foss, LEGEND OF RAGGOT by Sean Scottm, GRIMM'S HUMPTY DUMPTY by RyanMontrucchio, SWING SLUTS by Brett Johnson, BILLY'S BALLOON by DonHertzfeldt, BEYOND GRANDPA II by Breehn John Burns, BODY PARTS by Jonas

Headline News

Alias|Wavefront announces Maya Paint Effects and Maya Builder

Alias/Wavefront has announced Maya Paint Effects. Paint Effects is a toolfor the instantaneous creation and animation of organic and painterlyeffects. Completely integrated inside of Maya, Paint Effects comes with amyriad of editable pressure-sensitive preset brushes including: EffectsBrushes which can create complete environments with trees, grass, andflowers, characters with realistic hair, eyebrows and beards, and specialeffects such as lightning, clouds, rain, fire, fireworks, starfields and

Time Headline News

BEANY AND CECIL come to DVD

Image Entertainment is releasing BOB CLAMPETT'S BEANY AND CECIL: THESPECIAL EDITION DVD on October 12, 1999 in the US. Created by RobertClampett, BEANY AND CECIL, about the adventures of a sea sick sea serpentand his pal, Beany, began as a live broadcast puppet show, TIME FOR BEANY,in the 1950s, before being re-done as an animated series in the early1960s. There was also a brief revival for Saturday morning television inthe 1980s. The DVD will include a dozen of the original Beany and Cecil

Disney Headline News

John Libbey publishes WALT DISNEY AND EUROPE

John Libbey & Company Ltd. has published WALT DISNEY AND EUROPE by RobinAllan. The work is a study of the way Europe and European cultureinfluenced Walt Disney and his artists in the making of the Disney animatedfeature films from SNOW WHITE to THE JUNGLE BOOK. The book is 368 pages,and lavishly illustrated in black and white and color with manyillustrations that have never been published. Paperback: ISBN1-86462-041-2; £22.50; Hardback: ISBN 1-86462-040-4; £40.00. Robin Allan

Film Headline News

New York International Children's Film Festival calls for entries

The East Coast's largest film festival for young people seeks works forages 3-16. The festival takes place February 4-13, 2000 in New York City.It accepts shorts, features, animation, documentary, narrative andexperimental film and video. To qualify, works must be completed no earlierthan July 1, 1997. Foreign language films must be dubbed or subtitled inEnglish. The festival is looking for passionate, creative, intelligent,entertaining film and video for ages 3-16. The entry deadline is October 1,

Headline News

Meet Maurice Noble!

Noble is responsible for the great backgrounds of the Road Runner cartoons,DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24 1/2 CENTURY, DUCK AMUCK, WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?, etc.(He is also credited as co-director with Chuck Jones on several late WarnerBros. shorts, including the odd NOW HEAR THIS!) Between screenings of thecartoons (the way they were meant to be seen...on the BIG SCREEN), Mr.Noble will talk about his work and his approach to layout. The event takesplace Saturday, August 21 at The Grand Lake Theater at 3200 Grand Avenue in

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