Pixar exhibition Philip Hunt Studio AKA talk
Posted on May 25, 2006 |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation Mentor
Tonight we had a talk with Philip Hunt from StudioAKA regarding the work of their studio and mainly about how Pitches are handled in London for commercial work. I love StudioAKA work, it is so eclectic, so quirky, so character design led. SO AMAZING!!!! đ
Have you seen their latest National lottery commercial?
I had thousands of question but only managed to ask one regarding the eternal: all rounder against specialist 3d artist. I didn’t really get his answer to be honest đ the only thing that I remember is that he said people should focus on the audience. Sooo… should we be story tellers then? I guess that’s what he meant but can you tell stories by just being a rigger, can you?
My new assignment is about telling a story through an animation though, no lighting or texturing will be involved. I hope that’s what he meant. Being an all rounder to me those days is not possible anymore, 3d packages are getting sooooo complicated. One thing for sure is that I will never be involved in particules effect. Never say never đ
Time for a quick snack and let’s start my blocking I have to quickly make a decision and decided if I am gonna use Maya this time or 3dsmax, I have to admit that I had enough with Maya. The software is so counter-intuitive that it is not a tool anymore, it has become a burden! With the 6 month experience I have had with it, that should be enough to get me a job requiring Maya now. Provided I have the animation skills though.
Olive
Studio Soi: Computer Love
Posted on March 20, 2007 |
2 Comments
Filed under Animation
Ok this is old news but I hadn’t been checking Studio AKA’s website for quite a while and catching up with their latest work today I found “Computer Love”, a series of online adds from Studio Soi to promote instant messaging software ComBOTS.
Check them here (new link from Studio AKA website)
Animation with a moustache
Posted on December 14, 2025 |
Comments Off on Animation with a moustache
Filed under
Live action âSlow burnâ
Posted on June 16, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Acting, Animation
Great example of live action âslow burnâ from British TV show âEastenders.
The context of that sequence:
âVanessaâs fiancĂ© was cheating on her with his ex-wife (soap operaâs for you đ ). He booked a betsit for them to have their affair but she (Vanessa) found out, went to the bedsit and found a note on the table saying âbubblys in the fridgeâ basically telling the woman he was cheating with, that there was champagne in the fridge for her to help herself to.â
Albert Lozano âInside outâ
Posted on June 16, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation, Character design
I was lucky to have Albert Lozano as character design teacher while attending Animation Collaborative in 2011 but my drawing abilities didnât allow me to make the most of that great opportunity.
Albert rarely appears on social medias so it was great to find this little video insight into Albertâs thought process when designing characters, starting from simple shapes based on the personality of the characters.
Related posts:
Monsters at work
Posted on June 12, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation
Few month ago I was joining Dwarf animation in sunny Montpellier to work on the Monsters Inc TV series and today, Disney finally announced âMonsters at work, the TV series based on the Monsters inc universe.
The project is looking stunning and obviously I canât say more than what was made public so if you are eager to know more about it, head off to the Pixar Pod where T.J. and Julie did a brilliant detective work! đ
https://www.pixarpost.com/2019/06/monsters-at-work-logo.html
Lip sync observations Pixar âOnwardsâ
Posted on June 3, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation, Education
If you have liked my old Toy Story lip sync article, you will love this little video where I am studying the lip sync of a shot from Pixarâs forthcoming movie âOnwardâ.
Ideally, you want to download the video and play it frame by frame with a media player like KMPlayer, Keyframe MP or RV for the lucky ones.
Related post:
Disneyâs âMoanaâ behind the scene
Posted on May 1, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation
It looks like I never posted this.
Pretty short but interesting behind the scene video. I am mostly posting it as it features Mauiâs facial rig and GUI picker.
On a side note, I have the feeling the animator is navigating through the brow picker using the left right keys of his keyboard.
Related posts:
Pixar animation software part III
Posted on May 1, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation
I have just found a very old Pixar presentation where Pete Docter demonstrates an antique version of Pixarâs animation software Menv (Presto) running on Silicon Graphics.
The principle has changed much but the software allows much more finessing nowadays.
Have a look and compare to the latest iteration of the sofware featured in Part I and Part II below.
Related posts:
Pixar animation software Part I
Pixar animation software Part II
Joe Moshier interview
Posted on April 11, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation
I just found one of those rare Joe Moshier interviews. It is in French but Google Translate should do the job.
Joe Moshier is one of the greatest character designer but similarly to Paul Felix, his life is pretty secretive. If it wasnât for his credits on some of the most visually interesting Disney movies like âEmperorâs new grooveâ or âHome on the rangeâ, you wouldnât know about him.
Joe joined Dreamworks few years ago to work on several projects. Here is the French article followed by a quick video interview. Sorry the new version of WordPress breaks the layout of my blog đ
http://www.effets-speciaux.info/article?id=175
Related post:
The Sweat box
John Carter of Mars â Patrick Giusianoâs process
Posted on April 6, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Acting, Animation
Many red moons ago, Disney partnered with Double Negative to bring to the screen Edgar Rice Burroughsâs novel âJohn Carter of Marsâ and more specifically the character animation of the Tharks under the helm of Pixar brain trustee/ âFinding Nemoâsâ director Andrew Stanton.
Here are few behind the scenes videos and a great animation process walkthrough by Patrick Giusiano followed by a series of related articles.
https://www.fxguide.com/featured/a-world-away-john-carter/
https://digitalmediaworld.tv/in-depth/467-john-carter-and-the-creatures-of-mars
Full-Fidelity Hair for âIncredibles 2â
Posted on March 27, 2019Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation
I just came across that video which was a teaser for a Siggraph talk last year .
Â
Related posts:
The Pixar animation software part I
The Pixar animation software part II
Raph breaks the internet â Behind the scenes
Posted on December 1, 2018Â |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Acting, Animation, Animation Mentor, Education, Story
Behind the scenes are very rare those days compared to 10 years ago where you could get 10 hours of extra features on the additional DVDs so letâs celebrate the ones available.
As an animator and hopeful storyboard artist, I am mostly interested in the nitty gritty of animation related stuff and storyboarding and this video happens to have a bit of both.
I find it interesting to see storyboard artist (mostly female yay) working together in a room, with Sharpies on paper, but this makes sense as it probably is a brainstorming session to work on a specific scene. I wonder if they will scan the drawings next or just redraw them on the computer, probably the latter.
Animation wise, except few seconds with fellow Animation Mentor graduate Kira Lehtomaki, there isnât much to see however, I am still finding some material worth a look. In feature animation it is not rare for animators to use footage from actors reading their dialogue for their acting so I canât wait to see how much the animators derived from it as the hand gestures here in the video are mostly contrived, symmetrical and unappealing due to the fact the actor are just focusing on their lines.
Â
Â
Â
Related posts:
Rich Moore âWreck it Ralphâ talk a Google
L.A. Times Roundtable Discussion: Animation
Annecy 2012
Have you ever been tempted to useâŠ
Â
Â
-
Search
-
-
Recent Comments:
- Olivier Ladeuix: hehe thanks Brendan, yeah lately I have been trying to think how cartoon and realistic animation…
- Brendan Body: This is funny to see. I worked on the film and lead animator Tim Pixton gave the animators a talk on…
- Martin PoĆĄta: and btw, I believe its local eyes
- Martin PoĆĄta: Hi, thanks for noting this. Its been some time since I animated eyes and totaly forgot about it! ;)…
- Olivier Ladeuix: thanks Mirac, great work on your Vimeo channel and that Hobo shot is really entertaining!
Recent Trackbacks:
- Raph breaks the internet â Behind the scenes :Animation with a moustache: 30;] Rich Moore âWreck it…
- World space head :Animation with a moustache: 30;] World orient head and shoulders [âŠ]
- Allison Rutland âOn Animationâ interview :Animation with a moustache: 30;] What is AAU? [âŠ]
- Mouth corners in CG animation :Animation with a moustache: 30;] Angry Birds the movie [âŠ]
- Local Eyes vs Word Eyes :Animation with a moustache: 30;] Related posts: Cartoony eyes, how to So you want to be a…
-
Links
- A Commentary
- Alberto Cerriteno
- Alfo S.
- Alison
- Andrea Blasich
- Andy Thomas
- Animation archive
- Animation mentor
- Anna Yamazoe
- Arte y AnimaciĂłn.
- Asifa Hollywood
- Avalanche Software
- Big Screen Animation blog
- Bobby Chiu
- Bonvoyage airlines – Bonvoyage airlines webdesign agency
- Box Office Mojo
- Brad Kinley
- Brandon Beckstead
- Brock Gallagher
- Brock-O-Rama
- Carmelo
- Cartoon Brew
- CGIndia
- Chad Sellers
- Char Blarg blog
- Character animation studio
- Character design blog
- Character design notes
- Chicken Toast
- Chris Davis
- Chronicles of an animator – David Martinez blog
- Conceptart.org – messy forum as usual but you can find some gems
- Deja View
- DJ – He is not a real DJ but thatâs his name anyway
- DMCA
- DNA guys
- Drawn
- Enrico Casarosa
- Erlend
- FEED
- Feng Zhu
- Florian Satzinger
- Framefilter
- fxguide
- Golgoth13
- Henry Sanchez
- Jamaal Bradley
- Jason Schleifer
- JimHillMedia
- John K – this is not John Khars here but Ren and Stimpy John Kricfalusi. I am not too fan of the cartoon but
- Joost
- Keith Lango
- Kenny Roy
- Kris Staber
- Kris Staber
- leif jeffers
- Lines and colors
- Maciek Gliwa
- Manfred Ragossnig
- Mark Behm
- Martin K
- Matt Williames
- Mayerson on Animation
- Micha
- MichaelBarrier.com
- Mike Stern
- Milo
- Morgan Kelly
- Nikola Tamindzic – Party photographer
- Passion Pictures
- Peer Lemmers
- Rad How To
- Ray Chase
- Rebecca’s blog
- Richie Prado
- Robert Barros
- Rok Andic
- Ross Burt
- Saddington & Baynes
- Sebastien Lasserre
- Spline Bomb
- Spline doctors – They are not really doctors but they will help you cure all your spline problems
- Spungella – Jean Denis Haas blog
- Stephen Silver
- Studio AKA
- Studio Soi
- Subdivision modeling
- Syndicat des producteurs de films d’animation newsletter
- TAG blog
- the A files
- The Art Center
- The art of Dave Pimentel
- The Berzerker
- The CA Blog
- the Plausible Impossible
- Timbo
- Timbo
- Toby Shelton – Dreamworks storyboard artist
- TWEAK!
- Uli Meyer
- Vincil
- Visual news
- Vulcan studios
- Wesley Louis
- WireImage
- Zbrush central
- Ziggy
Gena the Crocodile and Cheburashka
Posted on April 27, 2014 |
7 Comments
Filed under Animation, Education
Over the years I have come across many great TV series and short films produced in the former Eastern bloc, “Pat a Mat” being one of them, but I can’t believe it took me so long to come across 1969 “Cheburashka”.
Cheburashka, is a series of four Russian stop motion shortfilms made in the early 70s, featuring Gena, a Crocodile in suit officiating at the local Zoo, and Cheburashka (“tumble” in Russian), the baby bear/monkey looking character that fell into an orange crate to wake up in a Russia town.
The short films are a pure joy to watch. The characters and accompanying music are so sweet and the stories so funny and sad at the same time that you can only empathize with the characters. As a side note, Shapoklyak, the third short film of the series is definitely the one with the darkest moments. That sequence when Cheburashka, seeing how Gena is tired from their long walk back home on the train tracks after they had their train tickets stolen and suggests Gena that instead he could carry the heavy luggages while being carried by Gena is both hilarious and heart-wrenching.
I really love that series at it reminds me of the quirkiness and tenderness of Studio AKA’s short film “Lost and Found”, the sadness of RenĂ© Clements, 1952 “Forbidden games” and the great physical acting from Jacques Tati’s “Mr Hulot”. There is also some “Sitting Ducks” (the first TV show animated in 3dsmax) in it but that is probably just because we see a civilized Crocodile đ
Unsurprisingly the series was immensely popular in the Eastern Bloc and Cheburashka was the mascot of the Russian Olympic team several times.
What could be surprising is the fact that the series was brought to Japan by non other than legendary Japanese film director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. The first episode, or second one appearing in the entire compilation below, was animated by Miyasaki’s friend and inspirational director, Yuriy Norshteyn. The series gained a lot of popularity in Japan and a feature produced by both Ffango Entertoyment of South Korea and Frontier Works of Japan, supposedly came out in 2010 but I wasn’t able to find any footage of it, just the movie poster and some wonderful screenshots.
If you don’t have time to watch the four shorts, I would at least recommend watching the great pantomime animation in the following sequence.
The script probably said something like “Gena signs form and postal worker returns to his van”. What the animators added to it is just wonderful. Keep an eye on that hat, a lot of nice little touches made the characters so alive. There is definitely some Mr Hulot in there.
Here is the link to the exact sequence => postal worker deliver birthday package
And here is the the entire series with English subtitles. You definitely want to hear the original Russian song and sweet voice over work.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOZpUDMj9t8&t=0m00s[/youtube]
Related post:
Amandine Pecharman “Lost and Found”
“Kuky se vraci”, Kuky is coming back
Aardman “Pythagasaurus”
Posted on October 26, 2011 |
Leave a Comment
Filed under Animation, Character design
Check out that great and probably new Aardman CG shortfilm, it is so funny! Great visuals, funny quirky dialogues and sounds (cavemen with zippers, who would have thought!). I hope they do more like that one.
“Outside a volcano has happened!”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5cab4NMHsY&noredirect=1[/youtube]
This reminds me a bit of an old but great shorfilm by an other British studio “Studio AKA”, for the Natwest campaign.
I can’t stand Flash websites…. how am I supposed to embed anything?
Here is a link then… very sexy…:
Related posts:
Studio AKA keyword search
“There is no such thing as a Gruffalo”
Posted on December 20, 2009 |
1 Comment
Filed under Animation, Character design
Gruffalo
Some of the best European Animation Mentor graduates worked on that great looking Christmas short film done for the BBC by Studio Soi in Germany. The Gruffalo is a very charming child story books created by Julia Donaldson.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq1ddK-Rlng[/youtube]
[…] Read more
“Lost and found” Amandine Pecharman
Posted on December 3, 2009 |
5 Comments
Filed under Animation, Character design
Amandine Pecharman
Amandine Pecharman, production designer on Studio AKA “lost and found” posted some really cool concept designs on her blog. Check it out it is really really nice.
[…] Read more
Modern Martin by Naomi Zahl and Matt Morris
Posted on September 11, 2009 |
1 Comment
Filed under Animation, Friends
Modern Martin
My friend CG artist/AM alumni Matt Morris and stop motion feature animator Naomi Zahl just completed a short film for a competition organized by the english Health System organisation, NHS.
If you like quirky and stylistic animation (think Studio AKA), rush to see that really cool short film and give your vote!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmvOCCOMKlw
Annecy 2009
Posted on June 23, 2009 |
2 Comments
Filed under Animation
Peter Sohn
As usual Annecy 2009 was a blast and once again there wasn’t enough time to see all the great short films and features or attend all the parties but one of the highlights was to see “Partly cloudy” and get to know what went into the making of the short film which was presented by Peter Sohn, the director himself.
I also managed to ask Peter few questions about storyboarding and I could have asked him few more if only I had thought about preparing some. Something interesting is that he kept talking about showing the emotion the character is going through when storyboarding. I am not sure what he exactly meant but that was still an interesting little chat and I will go through Ratatouille again to try to figure this out. […] Read more
The Lost Thing
Posted on September 23, 2010 |
3 Comments
Filed under Animation
Look what I just found on the “Lines and colors” website.
There is only a trailer at the moment but check out that that gorgeous looking short film with a very appealing painterly rendering. You will also find some nice pastel colorscript thumbnails. I thought it was a StudioAKA production at first but it is not.
Related post:
Applying painterly concepts in a CG Film – Bolt
-
Search
-
-
Links (mostly outdated)
- A Commentary
- Alberto Cerriteno
- Alfo S.
- Alison
- Andrea Blasich
- Andy Thomas
- Animation archive
- Animation mentor
- Anna Yamazoe
- Arte y AnimaciĂłn.
- Asifa Hollywood
- Avalanche Software
- Big Screen Animation blog
- Bobby Chiu
- Bonvoyage airlines - Bonvoyage airlines webdesign agency
- Box Office Mojo
- Brad Kinley
- Brandon Beckstead
- Brock Gallagher
- Brock-O-Rama
- Carmelo
- Cartoon Brew
- CGIndia
- Chad Sellers
- Char Blarg blog
- Character animation studio
- Character design blog
- Character design notes
- Chicken Toast
- Chris Davis
- Chronicles of an animator - David Martinez blog
- Conceptart.org - messy forum as usual but you can find some gems
- Deja View
- DJ - He is not a real DJ but that’s his name anyway
- DMCA
- DNA guys
- Drawn
- Enrico Casarosa
- Erlend
- FEED
- Feng Zhu
- Florian Satzinger
- Framefilter
- fxguide
- Golgoth13
- Henry Sanchez
- Jamaal Bradley
- Jason Schleifer
- JimHillMedia
- John K - this is not John Khars here but Ren and Stimpy John Kricfalusi. I am not too fan of the cartoon but
- Joost
- Keith Lango
- Kenny Roy
- Kris Staber
- Kris Staber
- leif jeffers
- Lines and colors
- Maciek Gliwa
- Manfred Ragossnig
- Mark Behm
- Martin K
- Matt Williames
- Mayerson on Animation
- Micha
- MichaelBarrier.com
- Mike Stern
- Milo
- Morgan Kelly
- Nikola Tamindzic - Party photographer
- Passion Pictures
- Peer Lemmers
- Rad How To
- Ray Chase
- Rebecca's blog
- Richie Prado
- Robert Barros
- Rok Andic
- Ross Burt
- Saddington & Baynes
- Sebastien Lasserre
- Spline Bomb
- Spline doctors - They are not really doctors but they will help you cure all your spline problems
- Spungella - Jean Denis Haas blog
- Stephen Silver
- Studio AKA
- Studio Soi
- Subdivision modeling
- Syndicat des producteurs de films d'animation newsletter
- TAG blog
- the A files
- The Art Center
- The art of Dave Pimentel
- The Berzerker
- The CA Blog
- the Plausible Impossible
- Timbo
- Timbo
- Toby Shelton - Dreamworks storyboard artist
- TWEAK!
- Uli Meyer
- Vincil
- Visual news
- Vulcan studios
- Wesley Louis
- WireImage
- Zbrush central
- Ziggy
