Puppet update

Second to last post on Prague puppet making, I believe. I have had a great couple of days in the magical world of the czech language, in colder than expected studios with inspiring sets, puppets and animators. Yesterday I went to the foam latex studio of puppet maker extraordinaire, Jarozlav Bezdek.

I spent the day making the hands for a puppet I have designed and will complete by the end of this week. The hands will be, in their final form, made out of a foam latex material, which is softer and lighter that the latex available in the plaster shed.
The process of making puppet hands is quite simple, as I learnt, but it requires some materials which might not be so easy or cheap to acquire. First, I experimented in clay to model the right hands for the puppet I had in mind. I went through a couple designs, finally deciding on some rougher larger hands that will hopefully look a bit more like wood than latex. The best way to model hands of of clay is by carving them out of a block. Making them through an additive process took a bit more time and resulted thinner than I expected, too thin for the wire that will be fitted inside.


After the hands were modeled, I stretched out a rectangular panel of clay, about 1/2 " thick or half the thickness of the hands I made, and I traced the outline of the hands on the sheet of clay. Use a different color than the hands, so you can better separate the two later. I carved out the shape of the hands following the outline and fitted them in there. Then, with L shaped metal corners surrounding the hands, I covered the hands in plaster. After it dried I flipped it over and removed the layer of clay. The hands remained attached to the plaster. I covered the other side of the hands in plaster in the same way as before, adding a layer of soap in between to separate the two sides. A couple pieces of clay are used also after the layer of soap to make it easier to get the hands out of the mould.
The puppets I was learning to make have only 4 fingers because of the mechanism that is used to attach them to the armature. The wire used for the fingers was made of very soft lead. Do not lick the lead, it will make you sick! When the mould is dry, the clay hands are removed and the wire is fitted into it. The latex mixture is poured into either side of the mould and eventually baked in an oven to complete the process. Contact me if you are interested in making some puppets or puppet hands out of foam latex in the near future, or if you have any questions about the process or the vague descriptions I wrote where I brush over important details !



I'll post soon on armature design and technical drawings.


Happy animating. Make some puppets and watch THIS!

-angela

Czech Puppet Animation

Hello SMFA Animation people!
The last couple of posts are an excellent introduction to my post! I am currently in Prague doing a workshop on Czech puppet design and puppet animation. Its a ten day schedule where we learn about the way that stop motion animation has been traditionally done in the Czech Republic. Well, all that we can fit in such a short time frame. For the last two days we have been making a short animated film with the same style of puppets that were used in Jan Balej's film "One night in one city". It has been an amazing experience to be able to work with these puppets. The are created with a special armature specially designed to allow the most controlled movement of the puppet. The armatures is made of two wooden parts and several metal joints and extremities. The wooden pieces are placed in the center of the puppet, at the chest and at the pelvic area. They join together the specially designed pieces that form the legs, arms, neck and torso of the puppet, which are mainly created as a series of joints.
This particular example does not have the top wooden part. But you can see that the puppet construction is much more sophisticated than a wire armature. The joints at the knees, the ankles, the elbows, etc., are set so there will be no discrepancy in the way the puppet bends his body when he moves.
Later in in the week I will have a lecture on puppet armatures, so I will be able to post a more detailed description of how it all works and where the parts are made. What I know for sure is that the professional armature is relatively expensive, priced at 15000 Kc, the equivalence of 882.5 USD.
For now, I am just enjoying the animation process, in the Hafan studio, where the Czech film, "Fimfarum" was shot.

Raoul Servais-Amelia D.

Haha, I bet some of you thought I was going to do my post on Jan Svankmajer, but I'm not. Suckers.
Raoul Servais was born in the Belgian city of Ostend in 1928. He is mainly known for the film "Harpya", which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in France in 1979. "Harpya" was also the first and last film to use the technique of mixing animation and live action together as one.
His work is surreal, with odd camera angles and strange subject matter, and it is really fun to watch. I recently saw one of his earlier films, "Sirene", and it looks like something that could have been made today. It has precise movements of the machines and the delicate form of humans rolled balanced in quite a harmonious way. Go watch it. You'll love it.

spike jonze film online

um this isn't exactly history of animation but I was just wanting to say that Spike Jonze made a short film (inexplicably paid for by Absolut) and it's online now. It's about robots falling in love and stuff.

I can't figure out how the computer-headed robot's mouth is being animated, but I feel like it's probably something really simple.

http://www.imheremovie.com/

oh and here's the trailer, I think:

Walt Disney of the East- Stephen Bevilacqua

Jiri Trnka was consider to be Disney of the east. Through his provoctive puppet animation, Trnka became one of the most infulenical animators of our time. He graduated from the Prague School of Arts and Crafts. He created a puppet theater in 1936. This group was dissolved when World War 2 began, and he instead designed stage sets and illustrated books for children throughout the war. After the end of the war, Trnka started an animation unit at the Prague film studio. Trnka soon became very recognized as the world's greatest puppet animator in the traditional Czech method, and he won several awards including Cannes in 1959 and 1964 for Best Short. The last film Trnka work on earned him an BAFTA was RUKA (The Hand). It was a tragicomic story of a little man who hopes to make a flower-pot for his beloved flower and present hand that forces the man to create a portrait celebrating it. It is a horrifying protest against any violence restraining human freedom, emotions, creative force or life. It is one of the milestones of Czech and world animation. In 1984 the American Film Academy declared it the fifth best animated picture in history. Jaroslav Bocek, and admire of Trnka, points out

"Walt Disney had, in fact, dominated animated cartoons throughout the thirties. It was not only that the market was flooded with films from his own studios, but also that he had influenced the technique and style all over the world. A cartoon film was automatically thought of as a Disney film, and any work in Europe in this field was always along his lines….Then came Trnka and the Trick Brothers. Years later, Stephen Bosustow, the American critic, was to call Trnka ‘the first rebel against Disney’s omnipotence.’

Disney’s omnipotence had helped other animators to learn the basic elements of the craft. His cartoons had given them technique and skill. But what they lacked was a style and concept of their own. These Trnka was to supply in his very first film, made immediately after the war."

Talk to The Hand! Anthony Bevilacqua

Born in 1912, Jiri Trnka's stop-motion animated short film The Hand is a harrowingly gorgeous and tragically whimsical political statement in regards to his own personal disgust as both a freethinker and artist who is grappling with the severe effects of oppression and censorship while under narrow-minded, tyranical rule. Completed just three years before his death in 1969, Czech animator Jiri Trnka released this controversial work in 1965, cleverly disguising the underlining themes of The Hand with intricately detailed visuals as well as an adorably sympathetic central character. As the most simplistic version of the story goes, A humble little man who wishes to make a flowerpot for his most cherished flower is continuously bombarded by an ever present and disruptively intrusive giant hand. Perceived within the art community as fearless, provocative and humanistically relevant, The Hand quickly made animation history and eventually received worldwide acclaim, being called a milestone for Czech expressionism and even one of the greatest animated films of all time.

This is a link to The Hand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Dw09LVNm4

How The Grinch Stole My Heart

Chuck Jones's "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" is a favorite among the Gorals, and its viewing on Christmas Eve has been a family tradition for years. Personally, I think the cartoon is a too-often overlooked Chuck Jones gem.

The short was originally aired on December 18, 1966 on CBS. It was telecast annually until 1987 by CBS until its ownership was acquired by TBS, who still broadcast the cartoon every year. The short has also appeared on Cartoon Network and The WB.

The short was produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios and The Cat in the Hat Productions. I am unable to find a whole lot of information on The Cat in the Hat Productions, like whether or not Dr. Seuss was involved, but what I did find is that the company was formed in 1966, their first short film being "The Grinch." "The Cat in the Hat" was their third film and was not produced until 1971. TCitHP doesn't seem to be around anymore, although I can't confirm that, but one would think this to be true seeing as their last film was "The Hoober-Bloob Highway," made in 1975.

Back to "The Grinch," and for all you cinephiles out there, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" was narrated by none other than Boris Karloff. Oh, what a silly person to narrate a children's story. Boris Karloff is probably best know for his roles as Frankenstein's Monster in "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein," as well as The Mummy in "The Mummy." Surely, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" added some color and humor to Karloff's dark and macabre resume. A quote:

"uuuuuuuuuunnnnnggghhhhh"

-Boris Karloff as "The Mummy"

Also, the song "Fahoo Forays," sung by the Whos, was written to sound as though it were being sung in Latin. My top secret infiltrators at IMDB tell me that letters were received by MGM from viewers asking for the Latin to English translation. Fooled!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPBS7dVrE1U&feature=related

Jim Carrey sucks.

"Looney Tunes" Frame by Frame

When I took a character animation class last semester, we often looked at John K's blog (creator of Ren & Stimpy), primarily because he posts frame-by-frame analyses of many Looney Tunes moments, dissecting how extreme exaggerations and motion smears look individually. Often times, the animation is so well executed and smooth that the extreme drawings of certain frames don't seem all that noticeable when watching them in motion. Through this, the animation is far more interesting and exciting when seemingly strange techniques are used. He also provides a link to the actual animated scene at the end of each post, so you can see what these images look like when animated.

Here are a handful of great frame-by-frame examples:

Analysis of a scene from the short The Great Piggy Bank Robbery

The emphasis of "accents" in a Bob Clampett short

The Hep Cat - various techniques analyzed!

Great motion takes!

And my favorite, motion smears & poses!!

These are all really inspiring to look at, especially because the Looney Tunes classics are amazing examples of character animation loaded with great humor. Understanding the techniques that great animators used is so informative and makes character animation much more exciting.

Definitely check out more analyses on his blog; you can find them listed by the director's last name if you look through the listing on the right side of the page.

Please ignore the horrible 5-second introduction to this, it seems to be the best upload of The Great Piggy Bank Robbery!

& The Dover Boys:

--Phylicia

The History of a fictional land... Wackyland! -Yael

Since the discovery of Wackyland in the year 1938 , it has been a choice locale for the Looney Tunes.

Wackyland was first discovered by Porky Pig in his effort to find a Dodo.

When this animation was remade in color, it was dubbed " dough for the dodo." in 1949.

A company known as terrytoons supposedly ripped off the idea creating a place known as "dingbatland." the name just doesn't roll off the tongue!

Wackyland became frequently visited in the early 90's by the Tiny Toons. An iconic batch of characters for my generation, some people find them endearing while others want to drop an acme anvil on their candy colored heads. Babs bunny takes a wild trip to wackyland, a fun animation I must say. Unfortunately the only video I could recover of it was a horrible youtube fandub.

(blegh!)

Wackyland is an amusing, surreal, and colorful place, so naturally it became a venue for some looney tunes video games. Adventures in Wackyland 2 was released in 1993 for the NES. Wackyland also appears in a newer looney tunes game for the Wii. Now anyone can visit wackyland, even if it's just pixelated! Sadly, neither of the games got high ratings, and are only mildly amusing. Also! You can race through wackyland in looney tunes racing (ps2.)

Wackyland: Prime vacation spot for 2010.

Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits-Elmer Fudd

We all recognize Elmer Fudd because of his familiar gullibility, short temper, big head, and double barrel gun. His never ending goal of hunting "wabbits" kept and still manages to keep viewers captivated because they know that he will lose, and they know why he will lose, but they don't know how it's going to happen. Bugs always has another trick up his sleeve. Though Elmer is considered the villain of the cartoons, he lacks the essential characteristics of a potential villain. He's relatively slow, has terrible aim, and a short attention span.

He first began his life as "Egghead", created by Tax Avery as a bizarre figure with an egg like head, and a big nose. Chuck Jones re-drew Elmer for "Elmers Candid Camera" in 1940 with the baby voice of Arthur Bryan, who truly did have a lisp. In "A Wild Hare"(1940), we see Elmer as he appears today for the first time.

What could have made Elmer so bitter that he feels the need to poach Bugs? He is a vegetarian and hunts purely for sport. I would originally say that he was so bitter because he had tried time after time to catch this dumb wabbit and felt defeated, but it turns out that in his first appearances, he "wikes wabbits" and just wants to photograph Bugs and adopt him as a pet. Eventually Bugs must have had vulnerable Elmer so frustrated that it drove him to huntin'.

After Arthur Bryans death, Hal Smith took over Elmer Fudd for two cartoons, but eventually Fudd had no voice at all, retired for almost three decades.

---amanda

What’s Opera, Doc? -Bryan DiBlasi

Perhaps one of my favorite cartoons by Chuck Jones (and of all time, for that matter) is his “What’s Opera, Doc?” Perhaps it’s a simple question of nostalgia, but I always find myself enjoying the short more and more after each subsequent viewing. One reason I enjoy it is because of the many ties it has to various Wagner operas (e.g. The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, The Valkyrie, etc…) Maybe I like the short simply for it’s idea of teaching kids about things they might not know about at that stage (in this case opera). I know that after I saw this, it prompted me to go and find out about what the short was parodying. The short truly stands on its own. It can do everything from teach you, to make you roll on the floor laughing. This is why it has held up so well compared to other things throughout the years. In this magnum opus by Chuck Jones, he lampoons everything from Richard Wagner to Disney’s “Fantasia”. Perhaps this is why I like this particular one so much; the diversity.

"Gotcha"

Watching all these American classics of animation last week, was a great experience. They are so deeply ingraned in people's memories and are part of the culture. Most of these animations were totally new to me. I grew up watching Hungarian folktale adaptations on TV and occasionally a Czech or Slovak or Russian (from the Soviet era) animation. As I got older, more and more programs from the West started popping up on TV. Sunday afternoon, 3 to 4 pm was Disney hour. And I watched it every weekend. And I had to take a nap beforehand, which I hated. But, it was worth it just to see Ducktales, Captain Balu otherwise known as TaleSpin, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers and Aladdin... (any of this familiar to anyone besides Aladdin? Just wondering...The links lead to the Hungarian versions of the intros.)
And then when I was in fourth grade (or somewhere around that time), my mom and I got a satelite dish. Now, this thing was very sensitive. It was on our roof and it had to be turned with a clicker from the room the TV was in. As you clicked the clicker, left or right, the dish would follow. And that dish could get amazing channels! Like Eurosport and BBC. One day as I was playing around with the clicker and was trying desperately to get it back to where I started from, I stumbled onto Cartoon Network. And I was smitten with Cartoon Network. Someone told me a story about this girl, who learned English just by watching it. I told my mom that so she would let me watch more if it, but she didn't go for it... Anyhow, it was then that I saw Tom and Jerry, and Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd the first time. I loved them all! Especially the ones with lots of visual gags, because my English at the time constituted of "Vatsi yor neim?" and "Tank yu". Later on, after hearing "Gotcha" a hundred times and a dozen futile attempts to find it in my dictionary, I finally got it!
Just last night, I had one of those "gotcha" moments that made me ridiculously happy. I watched an early episode of 30 Rock and Liz Lemon's phone goes off and it is the "Kill the Wabbit" song! The joke is on the snobbish art dealer because she is not familiar with the reference and asks her if she likes Wagner. And I got it. And the joke wasn't on me. (It made me almost as happy when I read the Phantom Tollbooth and was figuring out the wordplays. Pretty exciting if I think about how I first read Goodnight Moon when I was a freshman and halfway through "Make way for ducklings" I had to finally ask if these Mr and Mrs Mallard were birds, and I am still not through all the Dr. Seuss books.)

Posted by Eszter