Nov 23, 2009

Puppets in Prague
















Looking for inspiration and a great learning experience this summer? Puppets in Prague is an ongoing workshop for introducing animators and students of animation to the rich history of puppet-making and performance in Czechoslovakia.

For ten years, Mirek Trejtnar and Leah Gaffen have been organizing puppet workshops for students from around the world. Mirek heads the workshops - he is a puppet-maker himself and also a designer of toys, sculpture and much more with a special background in wood. Leah is an American who takes care of the organizational side of the workshops. Together Leah and Mirek bring together a team of leading Czech artists - woodcarvers, puppet designers, puppeteers, film animators, etc.- who bring the students into the world of puppetry in Prague.
Check out their program on their website: http://www.puppetsinprague.eu

Nov 7, 2009

11th Annual Animation Show of Shows


The 2009 Animation Show of Shows (ASOS) was hosted in the MFA Boston Remis Auditorium for a Boston appearance. Curator Ron Diamond was invited through the combined efforts of animation faculty at MassArt, AIB and the SMFA. A good crowd turned out for the screening, which was filled with 72 minutes of festival quality animation films.

The 2009 Animation Show of Shows (ASOS), curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder Ron Diamond, began touring the United States and selected international venues from October - November. Featuring the best animated short films produced worldwide in the past year, the Show of Shows will be screened at major studios including Pixar, Blue Sky, DreamWorks and Disney, as well as at Harvard, Rhode Island School of Design, New York University, UCLA and other universities. The program will also travel to a number of ASIFA chapters across the country.

The Animation Show of Shows was created by Diamond to give greater exposure to exceptional animated shorts that normally would receive only very limited, if any, distribution. Often these works are at the cutting edge of animation, pushing creative boundaries and using the latest technologies to achieve groundbreaking results. The Animation Show of Shows provides an opportunity for animation professionals and other artists to see these films, opening a window onto the most interesting and creative work being done around the world.

As in previous years, the 2009 program features films in a variety of styles from all over the world, most of which have won awards at major festivals. Highlights include:


The Spine - The new CGI film from Oscar® winner Chris Landreth (Ryan) continues the director's explorations into the dark side of human psychology with a harrowing portrait of a co-dependent couple. At once deeply disturbing and revelatory, The Spine pushes the boundaries of both subject matter and computer-generated character design.


Santa: The Fascist Years - Another satirical masterwork from veteran director Bill Plympton, Santa uncovers and explores a dark chapter in St. Nick's history. Featuring Plympton's trademark frenetic energy, eccentric characters, and in-your-face humor, the film ensures that no one will ever think of Santa in quite the same way again.


Chick - Michal Socha's graphically stunning Chick is a design tour de force that casts a jaundiced eye at male-female relations, all set to an irresistible neo-Klezmer score. Featuring enough visual imagination for half a dozen films, this compulsively watchable short demonstrates Socha's complete control of his medium.


Runaway
- Two-time Oscar® nominee Cordell Barker's new film about class war aboard an out-of-control train once again demonstrates the director's crisp, rhythmic style, talent for rapid-fire gag sequences and love of traditional animation. With an extraordinary score by Benoît Charest (The Triplets of Belleville), Runaway is both a pointed moral tale and a thoroughly engaging and very funny chronicle of love and death on the tracks.
FLAHERTY NYC: EXPERIMENTS IN ANIMATION

Monday, November 9, 7:30 pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The November installment of Flaherty NYC is entitled Experiments with Animation and will feature short works by a number of artists prominent in the field, including Phil Solomon, Martha Colburn, Signe Baumane, and Jeff Scher.

Select filmmakers will be taking part in a post-screening discussion of their work.


Animated films come in all shapes and sizes. In the Experiments with Animation program, The Flaherty will bring together a broad spectrum of animated works, ranging from quirky and humorous to dark and haunting, and often falling somewhere in-between. The program is sponsored in part by the Leo Dratfield Endowment, honoring the late Charles Samu, an ardent supporter of animation.

Featuring Works By:

· Jesse Epstein (in person)
Jesse Epstein was selected for "25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine, for her series of short films on physical perfection, the latest of which, 34x25x36, was broadcast on P.O.V. this summer.

· Steve Subotnick
Steven Subotnick's animated films are associative explorations of themes found in history, folklore, and his own unconscious. He has worked as an animator, director, illustrator, author, and has taught animation at numerous institutions, including Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard University.

· Jeff Scher (in person)
Jeff Scher lives and makes films in Brooklyn, NY. His films may be seen on The New York Times blog, The Animated Life. Time Out New York said his "quicksilver shorts are like Muybridge motion studies for the MTV generation."

· Phil Solomon
Phil Solomon is an American experimental filmmaker and professor at Colorado University. In 2007, The Village Voice named Rehearsals for Retirement one of the top ten experimental films of that year.

· Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung (in person)
Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung makes socially conscious art using Hi-Definition video animation, video game, net.art, digital graphics and mixed-media installations. In 2008, Ken Johnson of The New York Times described Hung as a "fierce, funny and inventive political satirist."

· Martha Colburn (in person)
Born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania (USA). Based in Holland and New York since 2000, Colburn is a self-taught filmmaker who has completed over 40 films since 1994. Her films have screened at Sundance, Rotterdam International and New York Film Festival, MoMA, and Cannes.

· Signe Baumane
Signe Baumane began her New York career working in the studio of Bill Plympton before starting her own studio in 2002. She has produced and co-produced, written, directed and designed more than 9 independent animated shorts, which have screened at such prestigious festivals as Tribeca, Sundance, Berlin, and Venice.

TICKET INFORMATION:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General admission tickets to the Flaherty NYC series at the Anthology Film Archives are $9. Tickets are $7 for students with valid I.D., and $6 for Anthology members with membership card.

Tickets can be purchased at the Anthology box office the day of the show. For more information, call the Flaherty at 212-448-0457.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anthology Film Archives is located in the old Second Avenue Courthouse building in the East Village at 32 Second Ave. at the corner of 2nd Street.
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Flaherty/International Film Seminars
email: ifs@flahertyseminar.org
phone: 212-448-0458
web: www.flahertyseminar.org

Sep 20, 2009

Own a Pal!


re-blogged from Cartoon Brew post today:

Auctioneers Profiles In History are currently having an incredible entertainment memorabilia sale which is including a Lot of 100 puppets and pieces-of-puppets from the George Pal’s Jasper Puppetoons. The bids start at $1,000 (and go much, much higher.) Here’s the link.

There are also separate lots for puppets from individual non-Jasper films such as The Gay Knighties, Rhythm In The Ranks, Two-Gun Rusty, John Henry, Tubby The Tuba and on and on! This lot was part of the estate of William Nassour who, with his brother, produced several Hollywood movies and experimented in stop motion animation. Apparently they took over the Puppetoon shop when Pal moved on into feature production - and held onto these puppets until now!

Sep 19, 2009

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

OPENING SOON! Watch the TRAILER!
This trailer includes a "behind the scenes" look at the production.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is a fantastic creature, but his food foraging forays tangle him up with some of the the "meanest, ugliest, nastiest" farmers, and that's the root of Mr. Fox's trials. And what makes it a tangibly tantalizing tidbit is that it's stop-motion puppetry!

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Royal Tennenbaums, Aquatic Life) and was looking to sign on Henry Selick (Coraline, James and the Giant Peach, Nightmare Before Christmas) as a co-director. But, Selick was pulled away when his own project' Coraline" was given the green light by the studios. Anderson tapped Mark Gustafson, another Oregon / Will Vinton Studio stop-motion director to join him instead.

Sep 7, 2009

Too Art for TV


In January of 2006 [Stay Gold Gallery, Williamsburg], Too Art for TV opened as New York's first large scale fine art exhibition for the artists who work in the animation industry. Drawing in an excited, elbow-to-elbow crowd of artists, illustrators, filmmakers, animators, gallery goers, and fans of the animation genre, Too Art for TV, was the beginning of what became an annual event started by animation painter Liz Artinian, Too Art for TV's mission is simple: to foster, promote, encourage, and organize the talented many whose collective efforts bring television cartoons alive.

Too Art for TV, due to its multi faceted and pop origins, is an umbrella movement inviting pop surrealism, geek-core, graffiti, low-brow, and the finer arts into its shade.

Featuring the artists who brought you; Venture Bros. (Adult Swim), Superjail! (Adult Swim), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fox Network), Ice Age (Blue Sky Studios), A Scanner Darkly (directed by Richard Linklater), SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon), Fairly Odd Parents (Nickelodeon), Samurai Jack (Cartoon Network), Star Wars: Clone Wars (Lucasfilm Animation), Metalocolypse (Adult Swim), Powerpuff Girls (Cartoon Network), Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends (Cartoon Network), TV Funhouse (SNL/NBC), Beavis and Butthead (MTV Animation), Home Movies (Adult Swim), Daria (MTV Animation), Pale Force (Conan O'Brien/NBC), Code Name: Kids Next Door (Cartoon Network), Stanley (Disney TV), Daria (MTV Animation), Blue's Clues (Nick JR), and more.

Ralph Bakshi: Surviving in Tough Times

Ralph Bakshi made his name in the 70s and 80s by coming up with his own frisky and controversial features like "Fritz the Cat" and "Wizards," to name only 2 out of many. He appeared at the San Diego ComiCon this summer, and answered the question: what advice can you give to the animators trying to survive in this awful economy?

Aug 29, 2009

Ponyo



The amazing Hiyao Miyazaki and his animation team at Studio Ghibli agreed to work with the Disney Animation Studios to create Miyazaki's re-telling of the traditional fairytale of the Little Mermaid.
It is the tale of a magical goldfish (voiced by Noah Cyrus) that wishes to break free from her overbearing, wizard of a father (voiced by Liam Neeson), and become human to maintain a friendship with a five-year-old boy (Frankie Jonas) in a nearby seaside village. Although he has loving parents (Tina Fey and Matt Damon) his father is rarely home so they have their own issues to work out.

Interview segment from AWN.COM's Bill Desowitz

AWN: How do come up with your worlds?

Hayao Miyazaki: I do all my work on storyboard, so as I draw my storyboard, the world gets more and more complex. And as a result, my north, south, east, west sense of direction kind of shift and go off base. But it seems like my staff as well as the audience don't quite realize that this is happening. Don't tell them about it.

AWN: How important is it to get elements [about preserving the environment] into your films?

HM: The most important thing is, I think, that even within such an environment, children grow up, they learn to love and they enjoy living in that environment.

AWN: What was the original inspiration for Ponyo?

HM: I think John Lasseter knows as well, but it's really hard to explain what becomes the motivation or the instigation to do a film. I feel like I'm searching in my subconscious with a fishing net and I happened upon catching a goldfish in that net and that was the inspiration for starting to make this movie.

read more here...


New AstroBoy Poster!

The Playhouse project

what will you draw on Dublin’s Liberty Hall?

re-blogged from http://www.culch.ie/2009/08/26/playhouse/
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009


What would you draw on one of Dublin’s most recognizable buildings? Your name in lights? A giant tetris animation? A stickman walking? A giant pen? Is that unrealistic? It’s basically filling in lots of squares! It’s your canvas and you can do as you wish with it.

Daft.ie and the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival – September 24 to October 11 – are taking one of Dublin’s tallest buildings and allowing you to play with it. All you have to do is download their software and animate your thoughts to be broadcast onto the city skyline.

Just head on over to here and use playhousefan as password. That’s pre-launch information, that.

It’s easy enough, honest. Who knows what you could put up there!

Basically Liberty Hall will be a a 50 metre, low resolution, TV screen. You can create animations with sounds and music via the website and get them onto the building. Powering the display are 100,000 low-energy LED lights, installed into 330 windows on the south and west faces of the building. These lights can illuminate each window as a solid colour turning it into a tiny pixel that’s part of a giant display.

A narrow strip of ultra-bright LEDs were installed into every window frame along with a small controller box. The controllers connect to the central computer using existing CAT5 network cabling in the building – meaning the team didn’t need to install any additional wiring.

Peter Donegan will no doubt be glad to hear that the LEDs used are super-efficient. Each floor of the installation uses less energy than a standard kettle. Overall the lighting technology carried a tiny footprint, meaning it could be installed for a full two months before the project started without impacting the people that work there.

There’s a big team behind the project, born from a series of conversations and connections made in the Science Gallery . Originally inspired by the Blinkenlights installation in Berlin, Playhouse raises the technological bar with the ability to produce colour animations. SOme of the people involved include Adrián Acosta, Brian Fallon, founder of Daft,ie, Carina McGrail, Tim Redfern, Jack Phelan, Jonny McCauley and Ruaidhrí Devery from Fluid.ie.

You can find out all this over on the Playhouse website or follow the Playhouse project on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/playhousedublin

Here’s a look at what they did at Blinkenlights in Berlin:

School Starts Once Again

Hi SMFA animation folks! It's time for the 2009-10 school year to kick in, and we're looking forward to some great new changes. There are new state-of-the-art digital cameras in our studio, so be sure to check them out. Many thanks to Joel and Greg for taking care of that for us!

A REMINDER to all SMFA animation students: YOU can post on this blog site. Check the studio for password and ID.

Jun 10, 2009

VANCOUVER OPERA LAUNCHES ANIMATION CONTEST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 1, 2009
Contact: Ling Chan, 604-682-2871 x 4842
lchan@vancouveropera.ca

Vancouver Opera’s extensive network of social media sites as well as official contest rules can be found on their homepage at http://www.vancouveropera.ca.


VANCOUVER OPERA LAUNCHES ANIMATION CONTEST
Opera teams up with animation studios to reach next generation of fans

VANCOUVER, BC ~Vancouver Opera announces Operabot, an animation contest for their Golden Anniversary Season. Contestants are challenged to create animated shorts from one of the four operas from the VO 2009/2010 season. Entries will be posted to YouTube and open to voting, with the final winners chosen by a panel of judges from leading Vancouver-area animation studios. Prizes include animation software computer gear, gaming packages, mp3 players and digital cameras

The contest is found here: http://www.youtube.com/group/vancouveropera

“With the long-running success of our opera manga series by Roy Husada and Fiona Meng, we thought this was the logical next step,” said General Director Jim Wright. “We can’t wait to see what people come up with!”

The contest runs June 1, 2009 to Nov 1, 2009 and is open to residents of Canada and United States. Official rules can be found at www.vancouveropera.ca. All entrants will receive tickets to the opera, so everyone is a winner!

The contest was inspired by the active animation industry in Vancouver and a similar contest run by Chicago Opera Theater in 2008. VO has included one of the Chicago finalists that inspired the Vancouver contest as a sample on their blog, www.vancouveropera.blogspo
t.com and at the contest website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XahS-rjEDL8

Vancouver Opera is a leader in social media initiatives, including Operalive.ca multimedia site, Blogger Night at the Opera, Opera Ninja a live backstage twitterer and Operagator an opera news aggregator.

Utilizing Web 2.0 channels, including an active blog, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube channel, Vancouver Opera is committed to reaching the next generation of opera lovers using the media of the times.

Vancouver Opera is also a leader in using visual arts as a medium for opera, including a long running Opera Manga series by Roy Husada and Fiona Meng, and commissioning of award-winning visual artists like Edel Rodriguez and Michael Abraham to create original artwork for VO season productions.

Vancouver Opera’s extensive network of social media sites as well as official contest rules can be found on their homepage at http://www.vancouveropera.ca.

May 5, 2009

Quay Brothers at the Coolidge


Puppet Masters

By GREG COOK | April 29, 2009

If you don't know the films of the Quay Brothers, you don't know animation. Three decades ago, identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay developed a cult following with eerie stop-motion puppet shorts, such as 1986's Street of Crocodiles, which Terry Gilliam has called "one of the 10 best animated films of all time," and clips on MTV. Their style resembles a musty toy box and a rusty toolbox come to life. Everything on the Quays' screen moves with an uncanny, unfathomable, haunting, insect-like logic.

Through April, the Coolidge Corner Theatre has been screening a retrospective of Quay films and projects featuring, among others, an animated dream sequence they put together for Julie Taymor's 2002 movie Frida and their own live-action feature flicks Institute Benjamenta and The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. The tribute will culminate with the brothers coming to town next week to receive the 2009 Coolidge Award (past winners: Meryl Streep and Zhang Yimou) on May 6, and to screen and discuss excerpts of their films the following day. "Dormitorium," a companion exhibit of their animation sets, will be at the Fourth Wall Project through May 21.

The 61-year-old brothers grew up in suburban Philadelphia, but they've long lived in London, where the Phoenix reached them by phone. "We were artists who could actually draw and paint, and we got frustrated with that medium because there's no depth to it, there's no sound, no movement, light," they told me, as one voice got confused with the other. "So we thought naturally that we wanted to discover cinema. And the best way to do that would not be live action, but to do it on the tabletop, where you could control everything, and if you failed no one would have noticed.

"Having grown up in America," they said, "we would not have gone the route of Disney and the cartoon as comedy and entertainment. We [instead] felt [animation] had its roots in fairy tales, blood, Brothers Grimm on a more savage level, psychosis, sexuality. That became territory we felt puppets had not quite charted. And that's something we wanted to do. You know, in a quiet way."


The 2009 Coolidge Award will be presented on May 6, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, in Brookline. For general-admission tickets, go to coolidge.org/award or call 617.734.2500.

"Dormitorium" will be on display Monday through Saturday until May 21, from 1 to 7 pm, at the Fourth Wall Project, 132 Brookline Avenue, in Boston. For more information, go to fourthwallproject.com/index.html or e-mail info@fourthwallproject.com.


The ICA Boston "NEW ENGLAND ANIMATORS" 2nd Screening

The SMFA has THREE participants in this special screening event of regional animation filmmakers: visiting faculty Lorelei Pepi and SMFA graduate Norah Solarzano are both screening their animated films. Faculty member Joel Frenzer will be the screening event host on Thursday night. Ticket prices to the event are listed below. The collection of work of all participating filmmakers is quite strong and engaging, and definitely worth the trip.

On Thursdays the admission to the ICA EXHIBITIONS is FREE! You and your friends and family can come prior to the New England Animators show (7:30pm,) and enjoy the interesting and controversial Shepard Fairey exhibition.


ICA Boston "NEW ENGLAND ANIMATORS " 2nd Screening
Thursday, May 7, 7:30 pm


TICKETS
$10 general admission; $8 members, students, and seniors.

NEW ENGLAND ANIMATORS
Karen Aqua, 'Twist of Fate'
Steven Gentile, 'My Girlfriend Sleeps Like Superman'
Chip Moore and Jon Goldman, 'Swim'
Gina Kamentsky, 'Lil’Basenji'
Lorelei Pepi, 'Happy & Gay'
Norah Solorzano, 'Blindspot'
Steven Subotnick, 'Jelly Fishers'
Daniel Sousa, 'Drift'
Kara Nasdor-Jones, I 'Slept with Cookie Monster'
Bryan Papciak, 'Steeple'
Jerry and Orrin Zucker, 'Speed Date'
Julie Zammarchi, 'The Passenger'
Agnieszka Woznicka, 'Birdy'

ICA
100 Northern Ave
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 478-3100
www.icaboston.org

Apr 12, 2009

"Handmade Puppet Dreams Vol. I"


Heather Henson's "Handmade Puppet Dreams Vol. I"

film screening and artist appearance

April 27, 2009, 7pm, FREE

RISD MUSEUM - CHACE CENTER - MICHAEL P. METCALF AUDITORIUM
From the humorous to the horrifying, this zany collection of film shorts showcases the rising stars of cutting-edge puppetry. As part of our year-round programming, FirstWorks welcomes RISD alums Heather Henson and Emmy nominated puppet designer Paul Andrejco for an Artist-Up-Close screening of “Handmade Puppet Dreams, Vol. I”. Daughter of the beloved puppetry pioneer Jim Henson, Heather introduces a new generation of puppeteers through her handpicked series of independently produced film shorts, exploring unique approaches to animation through a spectrum of puppetry styles.

Produced by Providence's FirstWorks! An Arts organization. Contact us to reserve your seat!

Waltz With Bashir: Behind the Scenes


Behind the Scenes Look: The Making of Waltz with Bashir

Monday, April 13

6:30 PM Artist Talk: David Polonsky, Art Director

7:15 PM Screening of Waltz with Bashir

RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Street

NFBC Films Online


The NFBC (National Film Board of Canada) has made a wide collection of their of films available for online viewing. It includes lots of animation, documentary, fiction and trailers. Find still image collections downloadable wallpaper for your desktop and media for purchase. The NFBC is THE VITAL and very important supporter for animation filmmaking in Canada.



Also, check out HOTHOUSE. Hothouse is an extension of the NFBC that is geared towards developing new talent. New filmmakers are brought in to make a film under the guidance of more experienced producers and mentors. Their program is a 12-week paid apprenticeship in full-on, all-inclusive, real-world animation filmmaking. Watch out for their announcement for the next round of Hothouse Workshop. it could be YOU going for 3 months to Canada to make a 1-minute film!

Apr 4, 2009

Matin Ramirez- exhibition in Boston

For those of you that find appeal in the art of the insane, Martin Ramirez (1895-1963) spent the last 15 years of his life confined in a California state hospital, suffering from schizophrenia. Many have come to think of him as a vital and very important contributor to art of the 20th century. He is known for the obsessive drawings of trains, tunnels, fantasy creatures and Latin cowboys all framed by the pulsing zig-zag patterns of walls and doorways. Here is a slide show of his drawings.

“Martin Ramirez: At the Center, In the Eye"

Through May 2
Nielsen Gallery
179 Newbury St.
Boston, MA

Apr 2, 2009


Rhode Island College is presenting a Festival of Contemporary Animation as part of the year’s Spring Celebration of the Arts presentation. The two-night event in the Nazarian Center’s Sapinsley Hall will feature recent animated films by regional and international artists.

April 17, at 7pm: International Program
April 18 2009, at 7pm: Four New England Animators

Rhode Island College
"Festival of Contemporary Animation"

The Nazarian Center Bldg 15
600 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI
map link



The festival kicks off on Friday, April 17, with the International Program. The two-hour screening begins at 7 p.m. with a 45-minute selection of the “best of” the Ottawa Animation Festival 2008 – one of the top animation festivals in the world.

The second half of the international program will showcase the festival curators’ picks, including the charcoal drawings that come to life in Automatic Writing by renowned South African artist William Kentridge; the surreal tale of Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor by Academy Award-winning Japanese animator Koji Yamamura; a psychedelic mash-up of Rambo in Untitled (Pink Dot) by digital artist Takeshi Murata; a hand-drawn and cut-out animation titled How She Slept at Night by the Chicago-based comic artist Lilli Carre; and the poignant, sometimes shocking, line drawings of British artist David Shrigley in Who I Am and What I Want.



On Saturday, April 18, starting at 7 p.m., audiences will get an in-depth look at the work of four award-winning animators from New England, who will show short films and discuss excerpts from their work. The animators are Jo Dery, RIC film instructor and artist known for her expressive paper-cut style of animation; Dan Sousa, a RISD professor who uses a combination of drawing, etching, painting, and computer programs to animate dream-like fables; Lorelei Pepi, whose work includes experimental and traditional animation styles; and Nancy Andrews who combines drawn animation, live-action and puppetry.

The Festival of Contemporary Animation is organized by the Film Studies Program and curated by Maya Allison and Jo Dery. Allison is a curator of moving image-based art, and director of the 5 Traverse Gallery in Providence. Dery is an animation artist and curator of past Magic Lantern experimental film series at the Cable Car Cinema in Providence.

The Spring Celebration of the Arts is sponsored by the Performing and Fine Arts Commission at Rhode Island College

Free admission.

Upgrade! Boston


DATE: April 14, 2009
TIME: 7:00-9:00 pm
VENUE: North 181 - entrance on Evans Way [map],
Massachusetts College of Art + Design
621 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts.
Follow the signs posted on the outside of the Tower Building (black glass)
[Green Line "E"]

:: Joseph Farbrook + Joshua Rosenstock ::

Multi-media artist Joseph Farbrook focused on performance and narrative while studying at the University of Colorado, where he wrote electronic music, poetry, and fiction. As he became interested in a more immersive approach to narrative, he began using computers and the Internet as creative media. After graduating with a degree in creative writing, he pursued an MFA in digital art. Farbrook began creating electronic installations, interactive video, and virtual reality narratives. His latest work is in the emerging field of Machinima (machine animated cinema) where he shoots movies from within his custom-made 3D environments. More >>

Joshua Pablo Rosenstock is a multimedia artist, musician, and educator currently based in Boston. He employs an ever- expanding variety of traditional and electronic media techniques to create works incorporating moving images, sound, sculptural installation, and interactive performance. Rosenstock earned a BA in Visual Art & Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA in Art & Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In between, he worked to launch ZEUM, an art and technology museum in San Francisco, creating interactive exhibits and developing digital art curricula for students and teachers. He has presented work in venues as diverse as the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich, Switzerland, the Dislocate festival in Yokohama, Japan. More >>

Apr 1, 2009

The Women In Animation Phyllis Craig Scholarship Fund

The Women In Animation Phyllis Craig Scholarship Fund

Deadline: April 29, 2009


This is a $1,000 scholarship
for a female student who demonstrates artistic talent and desires to make animation her career. Winner will also receive a one-year membership to Women In Animation. Applicants must be enrolled full or part-time in an accredited animation program, must be U.S. citizens, and must be in financial need. Submissions must include a portfolio or reel, a 500-word essay outlining education and career goals and explaining financial need, a written recommendation from a teacher or mentor, and copy of student I.D., in addition to an application form (available on website).

All materials must be submitted together and labeled with name and contact information.

Women In Animation

Phyllis Craig Scholarship
P.O. Box 17706, Encino, CA 91416
(818) 759-9596

http://womeninanimation.org/. Deadline: April 29, 2009


Boston CyberArts Festival 2009
Uniting the worlds of art + technology for
10 years! Celebrate the 2009 festival with us
April 24 - May 10.


Insights and Info
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2009 Festival is just around the corner, and we know you're looking for some behind-the-scenes scoop about events and exhibitions. Our Cyber-correspondents have been busy interviewing some of the artists who are participating in this year's Festival, and you can read the results on our Artist Blog. This is a great way to get insights into the artistic process, and help you decide which of the dozens of events and exhibitions you want to see.

We'll be posting more interviews every couple of days from now through the Festival, so be sure to check back often.

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
Our local staff consists of exactly four people, so there's no earthly way we can pull this off without the assistance of our volunteers. If you'd like to help us out, please contact Jennifer at info@bostoncyberarts.org. In exchange for your time, you'll receive a fabulous t-shirt with this year's logo on it, PLUS ... well ... our undying gratitude, which must be worth something.

STALK US!
In addition to the articles and interviews being posted on our Artist Blog this month, you may also want to set yourself up now to follow us on Twitter -- we're not tweeting yet, but we're putting together a Twitter team of artists who will be tweeting from various events and exhibitions once the Festival gets going, and you don't want to miss anything. social network

And don't forget that you can start right now communicating with other fans of cyberart through our own conversational network. Or friend us on Facebook. In the coming weeks we're also planning to set up a Flickr center where you'll be able to upload your favorite photos from the Festival -- or the world of cyberart in general.

We'll be adding more ways to be in touch as the Festival gets closer, and we want to hear from YOU.

Mar 31, 2009

1st Annual Online New England Film Festival


Submissions Open!

The 1st Annual Online New England Film Festival, presented by NewEnglandFilm.com, will launch as an online showcase of selected films from September 1, 2009 through October 15, 2009.

In addition, the festival has partnered with Women in Film Video New England (WIFVNE) who will jury the special category New England Women Above the Line for films under 30 minute produced, directed, or written by a woman or women based in New England.

Submit today and save! $20 Early Deadline: April 1, 2009 $25 Regular Deadline: May 15, 2009

For more information visit: www.newenglandfilm.com

Free Seminar! Breaking into the Business

NEIA and WIFV/NE present a Free Seminar!
Breaking into the Business with Eve Light Honthaner

Thursday, April 2
7:00pm
Pine Manor College
Room: Halden 217
400 Heath Street
Chestnut Hill, MA

New England Institute of Art, Boston, in partnership with Women in Film and Video/New England,
is sponsoring a free event featuring Eve Light Honthaner.

Honthaner is the author of "Hollywood Drive--What it Takes to Break in, Hang in, and Make it in the Entertainment Industry." She also wrote "The Complete Film Production Handbook", which is used in production classes nationwide. She has worked at film companies such as Orion Pictures, DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox and New Regency and most recently served as production coordinator for Ben Stiller's film, "Tropic Thunder."

Mar 26, 2009

Brooklyn's Animation Block Party annual summer event pulls together a traveling show of new, funny, weird animation from all over.

March 27 and 28, midnight
$7 tix
Coolidge Corner Theater

209 Harvard St
Brookline. MA

www.coolidge.com
MBTA Green C line to Coolidge Corner

Feb 25, 2009

TV Academy of Arts & Sciences Internships


Television Academy Foundation internships are designed to give qualified full-time students (undergraduate and graduate) pursuing degrees at colleges and universities in the United States in-depth exposure to professional television production, techniques and practices.

The postmark deadline for the TV Academy Foundation Internship Program is March 15, 2009.

Download the flyer APPLY NOW!!! The deadline is approaching quickly!

Students can apply directly online by clicking here.


Some EXAMPLES of internships that were awarded in 2008:
ANIMATION, NON-TRADITIONAL
Cesar Tafoya - Art Institute of Phoenix/AnimationMentor.com
Sony Pictures Imageworks

ANIMATION, TRADITIONAL
Sarah Johnson - Rochester Institute of Technology
Film Roman – “King of the Hill”

Sascha Sims - Savannah College of Art and Design
Film Roman – “Goode Family”

ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN

Joe O'Neil - Carnegie Mellon University
CBS Television – “The Bold and the Beautiful”

Students who have completed college or graduate school prior to December 31, 2008 ARE NOT eligible. Seniors who are graduating in 2009 ARE eligible to apply.

Administrative and/or production duties will be assigned to all interns, however, collective bargaining agreements within the industry preclude some internships from "hands-on" experience in certain areas.

*ALL POSITIONS ARE FULL-TIME FOR 6 TO 8 WEEKS.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation pays a stipend of approximately $4,000 to each intern accepted into the program, which will be allocated every two weeks. Applicable payroll deductions are made from payments. Interns will be responsible for their own housing, transportation, and living expenses.

All Television Academy Foundation internships are located in the Los Angeles area. Interns must have a car for transportation. In most cases, it is not possible to rent a car without incurring a surcharge if you are under the age of 25. In all cases, a major credit card is required for rental.

Feb 24, 2009

New York Spawned a Monster: The Animation of Ben Levin and Patrick Smith


New York Spawned a Monster: The Animation of Ben Levin and Patrick Smith
23 February 2009

Join the animation filmmakers on Friday, February 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Space 242!

Patrick Smith's animated oddities parallel our lives in innovative ways. Watch a destructive sock puppet take over its creator in "Puppet." In "Handshake," an innocent greeting between two people transforms into a struggle. See a boy imbibe a potion that allows him to explore the universe within himself in "Drink" and much more.

Ben Levin's hilarious animations address topics such as modern love, movies, role playing games and Republicans run amok. We're featuring titles such as the "GOP PSA" series, the "Ronin Dojo Community College DX: The Digital Pirates of Dark Water Saga," "H.P. Papercraft," "She She She She's A Bombshell," and more.

The animators will be in attendance. They will also be participating in a Q&A the next day, Saturday, 2/28 at noon (same location). Don't miss this!
RSVP is required for attendance. email anna@bostonunderground.org

SPACE 242 is located in Boston's South End at 242 East Berkeley Street, 2nd floor, between Albany Street and Harrison Avenue in Boston (The Medieval Manor Building). It is accessible via the MBTA Silver Line: E. Berkeley Street; Red Line: Broadway Station; Orange Line: Back Bay Station; and Green Line: Arlington Street Station. Street parkingis available on E. Berkeley Street. See a MAP.

Feb 19, 2009

Officially Starting Your Own Business

Want to officially start your own "sole proprietor" business as an animation artist? A jewelry designer? Graphic artist? Something else? Well, here are some easy steps to take to officially get the ball rolling. These tips are generated from an interview by RISD president John Maeda of the Providence Chamber of Commerce Laurie White asking her how to get RISD students started with an “ultra-light” creative business in Providence, RI. Laurie said she could do it in 59 seconds, and although they went a little bit over you can see how simple it really is.

Starting in Rhode Island:
  1. Register your biz at City Hall at www.providenceri.com.
  2. Contact www.tax.ri.gov to get your State Tax application.
  3. Get your federal tax ID number www.irs.gov.
  4. Get some biz insurance at www.provchamber.com.

Starting in Massachusetts:
  1. Register your biz at City Hall at www.cityofboston.gov.
  2. Contact www.mass.gov to get your State Tax application.
  3. Get your federal tax ID number www.irs.gov.
  4. Get some biz insurance at www.bostonchamber.com


You can watch the interview here.


How to Start a Business in Providence for RISD folks from John Maeda on Vimeo.

Feb 17, 2009

David Polonsky at RISD and Brown


David Polonsky, Art Director of Waltz with Bashir will be an artist-in-residence on the RISD and Brown campuses for spring semester, from February 9 – May 1, 2009. The Brown University / Rhode Island School of Design Hillel has arranged Polonsky's residency, and are coordinating the events.

The movie has received numerous awards including the Golden Globe Award for best foreign language film, the top prize at the Cannes film festival, and the Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics.


Scheduled Events that are open to the public:

Screening of Waltz with Bashir, the Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film
Followed by Q & A with Art Director, David Polonsky
Wednesday, February 18, 5:00 PM
Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer Street
Free admission with a student ID ($5 for non-students)
Hosted by Brown Israeli Film Festival and Ivy Film Festival


Gallery Exhibition: Imaginative Worlds - Book Illustrations by David Polonsky
Opening Reception and Artist Talk
Thursday, March 12, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
On Exhibition from March 12th - 26th
Brown RISD Hillel, 80 Brown Street
Hosted by Brown RISD Hillel Gallery Project, Brown Creative Arts Council, and the RISD Student Gallery Board


From Film to Graphic Novel: David Polonsky Book signing following the lecture
Thursday, March 19, 7:00 PM
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
20 North Main Street, Providence
$8 non-Museum-members, contact Arttix at 401-621-6123 or www.arttixri.com;
free tickets for Museum members by contacting Deb Clemons at dclemons@risd.edu
For directions: www.risdmuseum.org

Stroboscope Animation Project

























The SMFA Animation Integration class has been working on doing animation STROBOSCOPES. This is a collection of replacement animation sculptures/images that are mounted onto a fast, rotating turntable and flashed by a high-powered strobe light. This combination creates what appears to be animating sculpture.

The class worked on a small preparatory exercise, and then a larger group project. We held a mini-exhibition of the group stroboscope and our motorized thaumatropes. We had visitors, and they were excited and said that it all was very super cool and amazing.

You can check out our pictures online, and we'll be digitizing and posting some video of the animation soon (we hope!)

Squealing Pegs at the MFA : A Six Year Retrospective

still from "I Slept With Cookie Monster"

Squealing Pegs at the MFA : A Six Year Retrospective


Massachusetts College of Art and Design presents
MassArt Animated Films
at the Museum of Fine Arts Remis Auditorium

Thursday, February 19, at 6:00 p.m.


The program includes 32 animated films demonstrating a myriad of styles
created by 28 different filmmakers. These selections highlight the work by
animation students from six years of MassArt Animation's annual screening,
"Squealing Pegs." Some filmmakers will be present for Q & A.

Featured works include:

Alex Butera's "Baman Piderman" is only twenty-eight seconds long, yet it has received
over 1.2 million hits on YouTube and other related sites. It has spawned dozens of copycat
videos which can also be seen posted on YouTube.
Alan Jennings' "Running In Darkness" was in competition at Ottawa International
Animation Festival in 2007. The film explores different perspectives on Alzheimer's Disease
through interviews with affected people and family members.

Kara Nasdor-Jones' "I Slept with Cookie Monster" won the internationally coveted "Grand
Prize for Best Student Animation" sponsored by Mytoons and also "Best Undergraduate
Animation Award" at the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Laura Piraino's "ECT: The Story of Two Women" examines the experiences of Kitty
Dukakis and Laura's grandmother, Lois Denis, who were treated for serious depression with
electroconvulsive therapy. The film was awarded Best Documentary Short at the Animation
Block Party Film Festival 2008.

Museum of Fine Arts
Remis Auditorium
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston.


Admission: Students $8; General Admission $10

(Please note that a few of the films contain adult language and content.)

Games of Culture | Art of Games

Emerson College and Turbulence.org are pleased to announce Floating Points 6: Game of Culture | Art of Games, a Film Screening, Symposium and Workshops with Asi Burak, Anita Fontaine, Jesper Juul, Friedrich Kirschner, Marcin Ramocki, Jason Rohrer, Adriana de Souza Silva, Mushon Zer-Aviv.

DATE: March 20-21, 2009

VENUE: Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts

Video games extend beyond the gaming console into nearly every aspect of contemporary life. They are fun. They drive innovation, consumer engagement and employee productivity. Is our culture turning everything into a game?

Video Games have had a greater impact on narrative form than any medium since film. They are altering our experience of both virtual and physical space. Gamespace is everywhere and nowhere (McKenzie Wark, "Gamer Theory"). In "Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds," Michael Nitsche introduces five analytical layers — rule-based space, mediated space, fictional space, play space, and social space. How do artists and game designers use these spaces in their creative practice? How does structured play impact our engagement with other people, both online and in urban space? What are the political and cultural implications of gaming practices?

Please join us for a lively discussion. More information here.

Job & Internship Opportunities

2D animator/video editor
2D animator/video editor for contract work with new web company. Should be experienced editing video using Adobe Premier or similar. Comfortable with Adobe After Effects and Photo Shop. Familiar with recording video voiceovers. Start immediately.
Contact: roshni.cw@gmail.com


Science Documentary Intern
Veriscope Pictures is seeking interns to work on astronomy related projects for nationally broadcast programs. Duties will include assisting in general office support, production tasks in the office, and research. Interns should have strong research skills, some familiarity with science, and an interest in science.

Hours will be tailored to accommodate the intern's schedule, but a firm time commitment is expected. Office is within walking distance from Watertown Square.
Please send a resume to intern.veriscope@gmail.com

Job & Internship Opportunities

2D animator/video editor
2D animator/video editor for contract work with new web company. Should be experienced editing video using Adobe Premier or similar. Comfortable with Adobe After Effects and Photo Shop. Familiar with recording video voiceovers. Start immediately.
Contact: roshni.cw@gmail.com


Science Documentary Intern
Veriscope Pictures is seeking interns to work on astronomy related projects for nationally broadcast programs. Duties will include assisting in general office support, production tasks in the office, and research. Interns should have strong research skills, some familiarity with science, and an interest in science.

Hours will be tailored to accommodate the intern's schedule, but a firm time commitment is expected. Office is within walking distance from Watertown Square.
Please send a resume to intern.veriscope@gmail.com.

Capturing Unusual Sounds For Movies & Video Games*

The Boston Audio Engineering Society, Women In Film & Video New England and The New England Institute of Art Presents:

Ann Kroeber
"Capturing Unusual Sounds For Movies & Video Games"

March 10, 2009 at 7:00pm

Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle Street

Cambridge, MA
Admission is $5.00

Please come to hear from Academy Award winner Anne Kroeber and learn the secrets behind the sound to some of the most famous movies of the past 30 years. Ann shares her techniques and philosophies of creating sound to support the visual medium.

Ann Kroeber has had a extensive career in world of Sound Effects. She has worked on many critically acclaimed films like The Elephant Man, Dune, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Mountains of the Moon, Henry and June, The Mosquito Coast, and Dead Poets Society and Black Stallion which she won an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing.

For more information, please go to www.BostonAES.org

Feb 13, 2009

Watching You, Watching Me

Our Animation Integration class is making preparations for a public "Time-Lapse Performance/Installation" that will take place in the Atrium at the SMFA. We're going to be utilizing a collection of specifically selected (theme-based) webcams to project live feeds, and we'll execute a study of time by systematic tracing of incremental units of these projections over the course of time, as well as executing a practical study of the drawings themselves.

For the course resource, I'm posting an interesting way to access "private" security cameras using some interesting search parameters. A few of these camera systems are private, but most are public. What makes them available is that they are on the internet network. You'll see some malls, some offices, some labs, and you'll see them from around the world.

Use any of these search strings in Google to bring up a collection of security camera URLS.

inurl:/view.shtml
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS” | inurl:view/view.shtml^
inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=
inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=Refresh
inurl:axis-cgi/jpg
inurl:axis-cgi/mjpg (motion-JPEG)
inurl:view/indexFrame.shtml
inurl:view/index.shtml
inurl:view/view.shtml
liveapplet
intitle:”live view” intitle:axis
intitle:liveapplet
allintitle:”Network Camera NetworkCamera”
intitle:axis intitle:”video server”
intitle:liveapplet inurl:LvAppl
intitle:”EvoCam” inurl:”webcam.html”
intitle:”Live NetSnap Cam-Server feed”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 206M”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 206W”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 210″
inurl:indexFrame.shtml Axis
inurl:”MultiCameraFrame?Mode=Motion”
intitle:start inurl:cgistart
intitle:”WJ-NT104 Main Page”
intext:”MOBOTIX M1″ intext:”Open Menu”
intext:”MOBOTIX M10″ intext:”Open Menu”
intext:”MOBOTIX D10″ intext:”Open Menu”
intitle:snc-z20 inurl:home/
intitle:snc-cs3 inurl:home/
intitle:snc-rz30 inurl:home/
intitle:”sony network camera snc-p1″
intitle:”sony network camera snc-m1″
site:.viewnetcam.com -www.viewnetcam.com
intitle:”Toshiba Network Camera” user login
intitle:”netcam live image”
intitle:”i-Catcher Console - Web Monitor”


Here are some other random, but interesting webcams online:

live feed of the cargo crossing point, Gaza-Israel point

LochNess Cam

Giant Fish in a little Tank

Naked Mole Rat Cam

Microscopic Things Swimming Around Cam