Help Comes Along
Posted on | September 19, 2011 | Comments Off
The “Happy & Gay” animation production has been given a wonderful chance to move ahead and pay for some help to get this done!
A truly lovely benefactor has granted H&G with a donation. This is spectacular, as it just kind of came out of the blue… After the news arrived, my head was spinning, pondering the significance. It has moved me deeply, I am so very thankful. I was truly out of funds a while ago, and it’s sooooo very hard to do this project “solo.” Thank you, friend.
This project has definitely taken much, much longer than I ever thought possible. But, I’m still plugging away. I’ve definitely had breaks where I just had to step away from it, but I’ve been committed to getting it done. I think that most festivals/other filmmakers have somewhat written me off and all that, but it’ll arrive and be a surprise. That is the day I look forward to, and the day everyone will hear a sonic cheer. 
End of the Summer Good-Bye
Posted on | September 19, 2011 | Comments Off
Well, at the end of the summer it was time for everyone to go their separate ways and take a breather before school started up again. I invited my wonderful gang of animation interns to come and share a meal together at my house as a way to celebrate. (The weird legs beneath me are NOT mine, but our “we must be in the middle of everything” dogs, Django and Savannah.)
It was great to have the company during the summer, as well as help getting some work done! Everyone learned enough about the process to be able to help the production effectively. The interns each had some experience with animation, clean-up and ink & paint. All the glorious things that we must do to get a film done during production time.
Thank you to all, Sarah, Ana, Stephanie and Nivedita!
And GREAT NEWS! Sarah and Niv are going to be staying on through the Fall semester, helping out with ink & paint. Hooray!
RISD Library’s Asian Puppets
Posted on | July 26, 2011 | No Comments
The RISD Library has a small exhibition on classical Asian Puppetry. There are some lovely pieces. Full stage performance in the Bunraku tradition (multiple handlers wearing all black are visible, manipulating large puppets) is so enticing to my animator’s and performer’s instincts. It’s a fully transformate fantasy world where magical things happen. My whole entire Inner-Child goes nuts. I often think about starting a puppetry group…
The Best Dance Ever
Posted on | July 25, 2011 | No Comments
One of my most favorite animation sequences ever in a Mickey Mouse cartoon is the cakewalk strut that Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow perform in “The Birthday,” from 1931. The cartoon as a whole is not particularly memorable, but this dance sequence is so fantastic! The cartoon was directed by Bert Gillette, and animator Norm Ferguson (Fergy) brought this particular sequence to realization. I love the personality and joyfulness that just exudes from these characters as they strut their stuff. The attitudes and gestures are just so perfect! Supposedly Ferguson was an avid vaudeville fan, and this regularly fueled his approach to acting and gags in animation. I’ve watched it over and over. It takes place near the end, at about 04:20 minutes in to the short. You can find it in DVD form on “Mickey Mouse in Black and White: Volume 1″ or watch it here!
An historical note is that the music is known as the “Darktown Strutter’s Ball,” which was a very popular song performed in the vaudeville circuit. Composer Shelton Brooks was of African America and Native American parents, and his music was popular in the dance halls. Because “Darktown” is so catchy, it even made it into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006. One explanation for the song’s inspiration is that in the 20′s – 30′s, there was a grand dress ball held for the outcasts of society, particularly for all the ladies that were “of the evening.”
Shelton Brooks
The title of Darktown is pretty direct slang for where the Blacks and “lowlife” lived in the cities. Being that Blacks were anything but appreciated or accepted by the majority White population, White performers would take these songs and perform them in the notorious “black-face” as a way to enjoy the “musicality” of Blacks, without getting to scarily close to them. This was considered much more palatable than having any actual Black person on stage. The cover for the original sheet music says it all, picturing the dandified, caricatured Blacks dancing away.
Oddly enough, my very first listening of this song came from the old tv series, Mary Tyler Moore! I recall that she, Lou and Murray were maybe a bit tipsy, and were linked arm in arm singing this song. It had probably long been disassociated with it’s history due to collective forgetfulness, so I don’t believe that they were thinking of it’s origins when they chose to include it. At any rate, it’s a really catchy tune and I have an old ukulele song sheet of it, which I was trying to learn a bit ago…
In-Between Degrees
Posted on | July 22, 2011 | No Comments
It’s sooooo hot today, but the humidity is worse. Inside, it’s nice and cool! Hooray! This is an example of what my animation process looks like as it begins in Flash. I fade the background (photoshop tiff file) so I can see the line drawings better. Then I animate the keyframes, which are the main poses that define the timing, acting and composition of the shot.
In this particular shot, the main characters are dodging things being thrown at them by the angry congregation. Those objects aren’t animated in this shot yet. Ther will be more characters behind them, like the Bishop and the altar boys.
H&G shot, keyframes animation
Hot Dog!
Posted on | July 21, 2011 | No Comments
Alongside the Providence Canal at Market House
Verrrrry lucky to be in an air-conditioned studio, as today’s heat is rising to 100 F. No lunch outside today.
Tuesday In-Betweens
Posted on | July 20, 2011 | No Comments
Nivedita's animating Bruce's face
Today we’re a gang of 4, with Nivedita, Ana, Stephanie and me. They’re doing “repair work” on some of the shots that were done quite a while ago, improving some of the technique so it matches the quality of the more recent animation. I’m doing some fun key poses of the two main couples dodging the trash that the angry congregation is throwing at them. You don’t see the trash yet except for one stand in piece. The key poses are just to figure out acting, composition, and timing. Later, in-betweens are added in, things are put “on model,” and then cleaned and painted.
I say tom-AY-toe
Posted on | July 19, 2011 | No Comments
I do use my digital drawing tablet quite a bit. But does anyone know how “Wacom” is pronounced? Is it (WAY-com) or is it (WAH-kum)?? I hope it’s the first…
Monday, Monday
Posted on | July 18, 2011 | No Comments
Sarah thinks that animation is FUN!
Monday, back at the studio with Sarah and Stephanie. I’m working on keyframes for shots, and then moving on the next, etc.. I decided that ‘ll plow through the rest of the film like this, and then go back for in-betweens and stuff. If I get some cash windfall, this method would also allow me to be able to easily pass these shots off to an assistant animator. Right now, it’s very much about speed and efficiency (and quality.)
Sarah and Stephanie are going back into shots that I finished a while ago, but have needed some fix-it work. This usually is because a portion of a character that’s moving didn’t have enough of the “redrawn” look, and was too much of a copy/paste of a previous drawing, resulting in what is derisively termed “computer-looking animation.” Yech. Can’t have that. I need to add IN human frailties, making sure that the look of a drawing is sustained. Computers don’t do this on their own. So essentially, I am purposefully adding in variability, mistakes and inconsistencies, and lack of control, in many instamnces. oops. see?
Stephanie thinks that animation is FUN!
Lorelei thinks that animation is...fun TOO!
Summer Studio
Posted on | July 16, 2011 | No Comments
I’m at RISD this summer, with the generous support of the film-animation-video (fav) department. I have use of their nifty lab (with ac!) which allows for speedier and more powerful rendering, work process, and computers for all of my RISD interns!!
Here they are at the start of our summer. Stephanie, Sarah, Ana, and Nivedita are all talented students, and have joined me to help in the production of my film “Happy & Gay.”
This news blog will focus most of its efforts on updating the film’s progress as we haul ourselves over the coals.
