The on-line character animation school, AnimationMentor.com, celebrates its fifth birthday tomorrow. How the years have flown by! I’ve been a mentor for 70% of that time, and I’m certain I’ve learned and grown at least as much as my students have. It’s been a privilege to be part of the school, and to see so […]
Pete Emslie made an interesting point in the comments section on a recent post:
“I particularly believe that films set in exotic locales like South America have a great deal of appeal . . .”
This is consistent with what most of us believe — Variety is the spice of life. We consciously crave variety — at […]
We’ve established that I don’t think story is the end all and be all for successful animated films, and that it might not even be crucial. And I’ve written that I think storytelling is one factor that is absolutely crucial. But is there more? Yeah, I think so, and I think both of these things […]
So last week we watched that new CG feature, Kung Fu Wormy, and were disappointed. Why didn’t we love it as much as Kung Fu Panda? They had virtually identical stories, and that fat, funny lead worm, Pi, was expertly voiced by the very best Jack Black imitator in all of Iceland. How could it […]
As I’ve discussed before, there’s a common joke-slash-truism in the animation community: What are the three most important things in a great animated movie? It’s a variation on the old real-estate saw: What are the three most important things in selling a house? Location, location, location. In the world of animation, the axiomatic answer is […]
One of my favorite places in town is the beautifully restored Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, run by the wonderful American Cinematheque. It’s generally a great place to see rare, obscure, and underrated live action films, but this weekend the Cinematheque is hosting a program by AniMazing Spotlight, an excellent two-day program on animated short film […]
. . . and it is this:
I recently saw an animation student’s summary of the Principles of Animation from The Illusion of Life. Here’s the one for secondary action:
Secondary actions are almost like follow through and overlapping actions.
This is a common misconception that a lot of people make. But it’s incorrect. Take a look back at The Illusion of Life. […]
I’ve been hearing from some quarters that there is a new day dawning for animators, that the big animation studios are collapsing or not worth working for, and that we need to look to musicians to show us the way. Musicians are embracing self marketing and self production amidst the ruins of the big labels. […]
Here’s the summary of a fascinating little study from Princeton that warms my animator/neuroscientist’s heart.
Yes, those are some scary macaques. Apparently , real rhesus monkeys don’t like to look at them, either. As the study summary states,
In the experiments, the monkeys, which normally coo and smack their lips to engage each other, quickly avert their […]