I cannot think of a better tribute to the memory of Michael Jackson than Eternal Moonwalk. So long as it’s not taken over by people trying to peddle their own products. (I have seen more than a few)

-Matt

Disney is soon to be releasing a new film entitled: The Princess and The Frog. It is a gorgeous looking film which marks Disney’s triumphant return to traditional animation. And while that should be the focus of media attention, it appears that more and more stories are popping up around the topic of the African-American cast. Is Disney quietly inserting stereotypical characters into it’s film as a covert form of racism?

Friends, don’t believe the hype. Some filmmakers may play with racism as if it is all a big joke for kids, but Disney is far more careful about such things. Heck, if they could, I am sure they would have removed Song of the South from the history books long ago.

Bottom line: You don’t make the star of your film an African-American if you intend to undermine such progressive moves with subtle racism. This is a period film set in Louisiana, People of that time dressed and spoke and behaved in a manor that was uniquely Cajun. And if someone doesn’t care for characterization of the culture of that period, then I submit that perhaps they should take a look within themselves and examine why they are so uncomfortable. We as Americans should be embracing our diverse cultural background and should not be running and hiding from it.

Let us celebrate Disney for finally creating a beautiful, lavish, and romantic film starring African-Americans, not demonize them for doing so.

When I was in college I had stumbled across a short film on the web that just left me in awe. The film was called More and it really served to shape my feelings of what great animation could be.

I was thrilled to find that Dan Trachtenberg and someone over at slashfilm feels the same way I do about this wonderful film.

Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub under-produced a four part series about the making of PVP: The Series, an animated series based on the webcomic by Scott….series.

The videos are a bit on the amateur side of things, but I think it adds to the charm. The rest of the videos can be found here.

Some advice for young artists:

Learn how to draw at the table with good posture.

Y’know, sit up straight and don’t lean over the artwork, like Mom used to tell ya…

…Think about the amount of wear and tear that your back will have to endure if you have bad posture and you become a successful comic book artist - we’re talking about 10-30 years of sitting hunched over a drawing board, day in and day out. That’s gonna to do some major damage, kiddo. I’ve seen many old timers (and not so old timers) walking around looking like they’re next in line to ring the bells at Notre Dame, and it’s mostly thanks to bad posture.

Some sage advice we should all heed.

This Video pretty well sums up my feelings about the overuse of lens flares and shakey cam in the new Star Trek movie.

Jim Ferolo pointed me to an article about the hot lens flare action.

Also, this was found in the comment seciton of slashfilm.com:

Kirk: Bridge to Engineering
Scotty (off camera): Ay, Cap’n
Kirk: Mr. Scott. I need…those lens flares, andIneedthem…ten minutes ago.
Scotty: I’m giving her all she’s got Cap’n. There just aren’t any more lights on the ship. All we’ve got left are Uhura’s scented candles.
Kirk: Mr. Spock. Suggestions.
Spock: Sir, I do not understand your course of action. It is already so bright in here that I fear we may all suffer retinal damage. Would it not be more logical to turn off some of the lights before we go blind?
Kirk: Damn your eyes, Spock. I…MUST…have more lens flares. I’ve…gotadisease…and the only cure…ismorelensflares.
Spock: Perhaps Dr. McCoy can prescribe something for you.
Kirk: Bridge to Sick Bay. Bones are you there?
McCoy: I’m here, and I’m busy. What do you want?
Kirk: Bones, Spock is worried these lens flares might make us all go blind. Any suggestions?
McCoy: Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor not an opthomologist! Oh, wait. I guess I am. I’ll bring you guys some sunglasses.

Man, his style translates so beautifully into animation doesn’t it?

The song in this video is “Eugene” by Andrew Bird. Animation by John Kuramoto. Written and Drawn by Chris Ware.

The video was deleted from teh internets. If I find it again, I’ll be sure to update this post. Sorry! IT’S BACK!

Thanks Steve!

I have been very quite for a while now. Podcasts have slowed down to a trickle. Blog posts have been pretty much non-existent. It is as if there is nothing new worth talking about with the film. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. We have been engrossed with so much work, that stopping to record and edit a podcast or simple taking a moment to write a post have been far from our minds. It’s crunch time baby! And this film ain’t gonna animate itself.

As of this posting, we are nearly finished with all of the 3D work. From here it’s on to facial animation in After Effects. Of which, 90% of that has been completed by yours truely. We are getting very close to the point where it will be simply a matter of slapping all the renders together, editing them down, color correcting them, and calling it a day. Just a few more weeks and Annabelle’s Bistro will be ready to release out into the world!

I have a couple of renders set aside. If I find some time in the next few days, I will put together a little write-up about how they were accomplished, however, I have a feeling that most of the cool behind-the-scenes stuff will be written up after the film is complete. Stick around though! Cool stuff is coming soon!

So much charm and life from something so darn simple. This is where it’s at folks.

Love the outakes at the end.

Thanks Steve!

By the time I post this, everyone will have already seen it on twitter.

This is a hilarious look at one of my favorite web… thingies… Man, do I love Twitter.

-Matt