tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-275011322024-03-13T05:34:14.193-04:00Mayerson on AnimationReflections on the art and business of animation.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.comBlogger1245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-37055782472252482712020-03-20T09:36:00.001-04:002020-03-20T09:36:43.427-04:00No longer activeThis blog is no longer being updated. My current work in comics and sculpture (as well as some articles not on this blog) can be found at https:/mayersoncreative.com.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-3071830896046541012018-06-13T18:00:00.000-04:002018-06-13T18:00:51.576-04:00Animation Master Class with Pixar's Michal Makarewicz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Click to enlarge.
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<br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-16832242639274244032018-06-13T06:29:00.000-04:002018-06-13T06:29:12.657-04:00Watch Brad Bird's talk at TIFFIf you missed Brad Bird's recent appearance in Toronto at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, you can watch it below. I was there, and it was an excellent talk.<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="230" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/njKzYTgKUKU" width="410"></iframe><br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-20825498582770117122018-02-27T17:50:00.000-05:002018-02-27T17:50:13.114-05:00Trailer for Sheridan College's 2018 Industry Day<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jv0_8V-vFsQ?rel=0" width="410"></iframe><br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-74820394490601272082018-02-26T19:25:00.001-05:002018-02-26T19:25:34.252-05:00John Canemaker Interviews Richard WilliamsFrom September 24, 2016 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1zED7aXuPI?rel=0" width="410"></iframe><br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-11741502980742264072017-11-21T21:28:00.000-05:002017-11-21T21:28:15.450-05:0019th Annual Animation Show of Shows in Toronto<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pQH9zrb6V9Q?rel=0" width="410"></iframe><br />
Starts December 1 at the Carleton Cinema and includes Glen Keane's <b>Dear Basketball</b> as well as films by Niki Lindroth von Bahr and David OReilly. Pete Docter's 1990 Cal Arts film <b>Next Door</b> is also featured.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-90400139740063936432017-11-07T17:27:00.000-05:002017-11-07T17:27:17.991-05:00Canadian Animation Studios Should Apply Pressure to End the Ontario College StrikeThere is currently a province-wide college strike in Ontario. The issues are larger than those affecting the animation programs at the various colleges, but those programs are being affected.<br />
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As the Canadian animation industry depends so heavily on graduates from colleges such as Sheridan, Seneca and Algonquin, it is in the industry's interests to apply pressure on college presidents and on the Ontario government to end the strike.<br />
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There is a strong possibility that the current semester may be lost. That may impact graduating animation students and animation students who are available for internships or summer jobs. It will potentially delay graduates moving into the workforce and may affect the quality of graduates for the next four years.<br />
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If you are a studio owner or manager, can you afford a delay in the pool of applicants or interns in 2018? I urge you to contact the presidents of the colleges you regularly hire from as well as your MPP and Premier Kathleen Wynn.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-91301985492196849852017-08-25T19:48:00.000-04:002017-08-25T19:48:27.074-04:00Jack Kirby, Charlie Chaplin and Louis Armstrong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQhiHj_sSB976rGu9qdp_po4Ypbk0AQ6kVFzhaHzdLO1ENQ2GSrKczuGjJL_XP067eJtfUHESY6COZLLoGpXkhahLFVPpvZfrHcGh5c49ZaWdoRQD9qI3U2OUK__8cAsiABDW/s1600/jack-kirby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQhiHj_sSB976rGu9qdp_po4Ypbk0AQ6kVFzhaHzdLO1ENQ2GSrKczuGjJL_XP067eJtfUHESY6COZLLoGpXkhahLFVPpvZfrHcGh5c49ZaWdoRQD9qI3U2OUK__8cAsiABDW/s400/jack-kirby.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
August 28 is the 100th birthday of comics great Jack Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg, whose work remains in print 23 years after his death and whose creations are more widely known than ever due to their adaptations in movies and TV. <br />
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In the days before World War II, the United States experienced an explosion of pop culture due to the invention of the movies, the phonograph and cheap colour printing. These media, with no pedigree, were developed by hardscrabble entrepreneurs who used them to appeal to the same lower classes that they came from themselves. Being disreputable, these media were open to anyone; talent and productivity were all that mattered. Kirby found a home in comic books, Chaplin in films and Armstrong in music.<br />
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The three had childhoods of poverty in common. Kirby grew up on Manhattan's lower east side, perhaps the most densely populated place on Earth at the time. Violence was a daily occurrence, as rival gangs of kids fought to protect what little they had. Kirby's parents were uneducated immigrants and Kirby's father worked in factories for the garment trade doing piece work. Chaplin was the son of two music hall entertainers in London. His parents divorced, his father died of alcoholism and his mother suffered from mental illness. Chaplin spent time living on the street and in a workhouse for the indigent. Armstrong's parents did not cohabit and he was born in the black ghetto of New Orleans during the worst days of institutionalized white supremacy. He spent some time in a reform school for black children.<br />
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Kirby benefited from a stable family, even if his father was not the best provider. However, while Chaplin and Armstrong had role models, Kirby was <i>sui generis</i>. Chaplin's parents and an aunt were all performers. Armstrong lived in a city where marching bands performed almost daily, publicising events and accompanying funerals. Even his reform school had a band. There were no artists in Kirby's family and the lower east side was not a place where art was valued. Kirby found a science fiction pulp magazine in the street. He was fascinated by the art and stories in it, but hid it, knowing his interest would mark him as different and make him a target.<br />
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Each of the three was professionally supported by mentors. Chaplin's half-brother Sydney helped negotiate his contracts, making Chaplin rich and owner of his films by 1918. Armstrong was mentored by King Oliver, one of the leading jazz cornet players. Armstrong later worked for decades under the management of Joe Glaser, a tough man who kept Armstrong in the good graces of the gangsters who ran the venues that Armstrong played and made sure that Armstrong was fairly compensated. Kirby partnered with Joe Simon, another comics creator a few years older and with a better head for business than Kirby had. These mentors allowed the three to focus on their art. <br />
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Each of the them changed their fields through the power of their work. Before Chaplin, film comedy was either the polite society comedy of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew or the raucous, high-speed slapstick of Mack Sennett. Chaplin kept the slapstick but slowed it down to focus more on character. Throughout his career, he introduced elements of pathos and social commentary that added further dimension to his character of the little tramp.<br />
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Jazz before Armstrong was an ensemble art. With his recordings in the 1920s, Armstrong made jazz the art of the soloist. His vocals added both humour and emotion to pop singing and influenced all the singers who came after him.<br />
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Kirby's initial innovation was his dynamic posing of characters, bringing a much greater sense of motion to the static comics medium. However, his innovations went beyond drawing. His working class roots powered series like <b>The Newsboy Legion</b> and the comics he did after the war, showing characters struggling against poverty and prejudice. Kirby's time in the infantry in World War II left him aware of
giant forces that buffeted individuals and threatened their survival. In the 1960s, he used that experience to expand comics' subject matter beyond Earth, reducing humanity from the dominant species to one beset by cosmic super beings with their own agendas. <br />
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With Simon, Kirby co-created <b>Captain America</b> and after being swindled out of profits by the publisher, they moved to a competitor where they got a better deal. After the war, Simon and Kirby had a studio employing other artists and sold work to a variety of publishers. During this time, the two created the genre of romance comics, as well as working on crime, horror, western and superhero comics. Kirby's work on these titles, though not as well known as his later work, is some of his best. He was free to write and draw what interested him, and his stories are filled with fully developed characters struggling against social forces.<br />
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After the war, the careers of Kirby, Chaplin and Armstrong diverged. Chaplin's politics alienated the public and the government during the cold war and he went into exile in the early 1950s, making just two more films. Armstrong continued to be popular until his death, touring the world and continuing to record. Kirby went through a fallow period in the 1950s when television and a panic over juvenile delinquency both reduced the demand for comic books. Simon and Kirby split up, leaving Kirby to freelance in a shrinking market.<br />
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Eventually, he landed at Marvel, where his best remembered work was done, designing and co-creating <b>The Fantastic Four</b>, <b>The Hulk</b>, <b>Iron Man</b>, <b>The X-Men</b>, <b>The Avengers</b>, <b>The Inhumans</b>, <b>The Black Panther</b>, <b>Nick Fury</b>, <b>S.H.I.E.L.D</b>, <b>Thor</b> and hundreds of villains and supporting characters. While Simon and Kirby's partnership was one of equals, Kirby's work with Stan Lee was not. Lee was Kirby's employer, and his position as editor and dialogue writer meant that he controlled Kirby's income and could alter Kirby's stories without Kirby's knowledge or approval. Lee's lack of interest in writing stories from scratch meant that Kirby created the characters and plotted the comics, but Lee's editorial changes eventually caused Kirby to leave.<br />
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At DC, Kirby created the purest work in his post-Simon career, writing and drawing <b>The Forever People</b>, <b>The New Gods</b>, and <b>Mr. Miracle</b>. The three series were part of a single epic, built on Kirby's recurring theme of gods interacting with the human world and explicitly dealing with the threat of fascism. After questionable editorial decisions cancelled those titles, Kirby created <b>Kamandi</b>, <b>The Demon</b> and <b>Omac</b>.<br />
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Returning to Marvel after being disappointed at DC, Kirby created <b>Machine Man</b>, <b>Devil Dinosaur</b>, and<b> The Eternals</b>, another series about humans witnessing gods in conflict. When editorial direction forced his hand yet again, Kirby moved into the animation business where, thanks to the union, he received vacation pay and benefits for the first time in his career. While Chaplin and Armstrong built up bodies of work that continued to generate income for them, Kirby did not own his comics work. He was paid once for each page he created. He received no bonuses for creating new series or characters. Only his last few comics series, done for new publishers, allowed
him to own his creations.<br />
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While movies and jazz were looked down on by cultural elites early in their existence, there were perceptive critics who saw the value of work by Chaplin and Armstrong. Eventually, the popularity of movies and jazz caused mainstream publications to pay attention to them. Comic books never achieved the level of popularity as those forms, so Kirby is not as well known. However, he is easily as influential and as important a creator.<br />
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The level of contemporary comics criticism has improved in recent years but no one has done Kirby justice yet. His art has attracted much comment, but Kirby is far more than the way he drew. Yes, his abstract conception of human anatomy is visually powerful, but his evolving style, compositions, panel-to-panel continuity and themes have yet to be fully plumbed. In truth, Kirby is too big for comics criticism as it currently exists, as few are equipped to deal with both the artistic and literary aspects of his work.<br />
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Like Chaplin and Armstrong, Kirby's work transcends pop culture due to his perception, his technique, and the depth of his emotional involvement. One hundred years after his birth, Kirby's work is there for anyone with a desire to be entertained or for anyone who cares to go deeper and understand that Jack Kirby was one of the most important creators of the 20th century.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-10291966024772886672017-08-18T20:59:00.000-04:002017-08-22T08:38:13.909-04:00Animation's Lack of ConsequencesI recently read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Wednesday-Theater-Drive-Near/dp/1632868180/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503104083&sr=1-1&keywords=opening+wednesday+at+a+theater+or+drive-in+near+you" target="_blank"><b>Opening Wednesday at a Theater or Drive-In Near You: The Shadow Cinema of the American '70s</b></a> by Charles Taylor. The following quote from the introduction struck me for how it relates to animated features, though Taylor ignores animation entirely.<br />
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"The best genre movies, no matter how rooted in the conventions of Westerns, detective stories, adventure stories or noir, have always involved adult emotions: temptation, guilt, sexual desire, the pull of responsibility. The violence in those films is wrought and suffered on a scale far more direct than the explosions and anonymous mass killings of today's big-budget action spectaculars. In the best genre films, we're immersed in a world where decisions have to be made and consequences have to be endured."</blockquote>
Family films are also a genre. And they're defined, in large part, by the lack of consequences that have to be endured. It is this lack of consequences that ultimately make family films so lightweight. No matter what danger the characters are exposed to, in the end there are no consequences. Since the majority of animated features are family films, they are caught in this trap.<br />
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This isn't true of every animated feature. <b>Bambi</b>, <b>Princess Mononoke</b>, <b>Pom Poko</b>, <b>The Wind Rises</b>, <b>Princess Kaguya</b> (sense a pattern here?) don't conform. Some Pixar films develop consequences early (<b>Finding Nemo</b>'s death of the family, <b>Up</b>'s death of Ellie) but they occur so early in the film, they're more inciting incidents that consequences that must be endured. By the time the films end, the survivors have triumphed and all's right with the world.<br />
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Audiences are happy with the genre as it is. It's light entertainment, safe for the kids. Executives are happy with the status quo as the films are lucrative. So animation artists are stuck honing their craft rather than expanding their content. While people change intellectually and emotionally as they age, animation artists have to put their evolving perspectives on life on the shelf. They have to deny their own experience and manufacture fictions where truth may seep into the cracks but can't be central to the stories they tell.<br />
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It's hard for me to stay an animation fan as I age. I want entertainment that speaks to my experience of life, not the experiences of a child. For me, craft is not enough. Yes, I can admire the design, the direction, and the animation. I can admire the construction of a story (though not often enough these days), but the story itself fails to connect to me. <br />
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Not every genre is for everyone, but the family film starts out excluding adult concerns. Charles Taylor thinks that the modern tentpole blockbuster has done the same, so maybe the family film is just being pulled along with the general drift. While cable and streaming TV have created drama series that have captured large audiences and critical acclaim, TV animation hasn't even dipped a toe into that water. <br />
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Young animation artists are happy to create work similar to the work they loved growing up. But as they age, there's nowhere for them to grow in their medium. I don't see that changing, though I wish it would.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-33167951750709084512017-08-06T09:47:00.001-04:002017-08-06T09:47:26.357-04:00Studio Ghibli's Toshio Suzuki<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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NHK World has posted a <a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/directtalk/20170801/" target="_blank">video interview</a> with Studio Ghibli's producer Toshio Suzuki. The interview is only available until August 15, so don't dally.<br />
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I was deeply impressed with Suzuki after seeing the documentary <b>The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness</b>, which I reviewed <a href="http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-kingdom-of-dreams-and-madness.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The NHK piece has more on Suzuki's background in publishing and how he and Miyazaki established their relationship.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-88658929890315142542017-06-22T19:55:00.000-04:002017-06-22T19:55:29.199-04:00Oskar Fischinger's 117th BirthdayWhile there's nothing particularly special about the number 117 when celebrating events, Google has taken the opportunity of abstract animator Oskar Fischinger's 117th birthday to honour him with an interactive Google doodle. By clicking and dragging your mouse, you can quickly create a faux-Fischinger <a href="https://www.google.com/logos/doodles/2017/fischinger/fischinger17.8.html?hl=en&doodle=undefined" target="_blank">animation</a>. It's nowhere near as good as Fischinger's own work, but it's fun.<br />
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If you are interested in some of the real article, here's an excerpt from <b>Studie Number 8</b>, set to the music of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." As Fischinger spent a short time at the Disney studio and contributed to <b>Fantasia</b>, perhaps this is his answer to Disney's lack of comfort with abstraction.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/35735682" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="410"></iframe><br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-86050577033250202472017-04-09T19:40:00.001-04:002017-04-09T19:40:59.084-04:00My Life as a Courgette<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For me, the most interesting animated features being made today are not from North America. Europe has come on strong, both in terms of subject matter and technique. Drawn animation is still alive there and now there is an excellent stop motion film called <b>My Life as a Courgette</b> (the French word for zucchini).<br />
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This film has racked up awards, including an Oscar nomination, and fully deserves whatever praise it's received. The story is about a group of children who are victims of neglect or tragedy living in a state-run institution. While the subject matter sounds depressing, the film avoids being dreary or maudlin. This is not a story by Charles Dickens. The institution is a haven from their former lives, and while the children are marked by their experiences, they don't dwell on them. They go on being children who laugh, play, learn, fight, question and who are eager to experience new things. <br />
<br />
The script, based on a novel by Gilles Paris with the screenplay by Celine Sciammo, Germano Zullo, Claude Barras and Morgan Navarro, and the direction by Barras are perfect, maintaining a balance between the emotions of the children's pasts and their present. The stop motion puppets are not as flexible as those made by Mackinnon and Saunders for films like <b>The Corpse Bride</b>, but the animators evoke a wide range of emotions with them, helped enormously by the tasteful script and direction. The film successfully develops the characters and their relationships. The events grow out of the dynamics of the group and are never less than believable. <br />
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There are no big set pieces as there typically are in North American films. It is not anywhere near as elaborate as Laika's work, but I found it to be far more satisfying. The characters simply try to live their lives and it is surprisingly interesting to watch.<br />
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I caught the film at the TIFF Kids International Film Festival. So far, the film has not received a release in Canada, though it opened in the U.S. in February. I don't know where Canadians will next have an opportunity to see this film, but don't miss it when it becomes available. <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4d9N5Y_sN8Q?rel=0" width="410"></iframe><br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-62653493300814950702017-03-23T20:31:00.000-04:002017-03-23T20:31:13.798-04:00Toronto Screening of The Animation Show of Shows<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/182118126?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="410"></iframe><br /><a href="https://vimeo.com/182118126">The 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows Trailer - Coming Soon</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/acmefilmworks">Acme Filmworks</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
The 18th annual Animation Show of Shows will be screening at the Carlton Cinema, 20 Carlton Street, from March 31 to April 6. The films are:<br />
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_5257" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6484"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6483" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Stems</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_5256" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Ainslie Hendersen (Scotland)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6489" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6488"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6487" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Shift</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6490" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Cecilia Puglesi & Yijun Liu (U.S.)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6462" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6492"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6491" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pearl</span></b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Patrick Osborne (U.S.)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6481" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6494"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6493" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Crin-crin</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6495" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Iris Alexandre (Belgium)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6480" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6479"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6478" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Mirror</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6482" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Chris Ware, John Kuramoto, Ira Glass (U.S.)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6477" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6476"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6475" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Last summer in the garden</span></b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - bekky O¹Neil (Canada)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6474" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6473"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6472" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Waiting for the New Year</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6496" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Vladimir Leschiov (Latvia)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Piper</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6497" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Alan Barillaro (U.S.)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bøygen</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6498" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Kristian Pedersen (Norway)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6469" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Afternoon Class</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6499" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Seoro Oh (Korea)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6468" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">About a Mother</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6500" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Dina Velikovskaya (Russia)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6467" style="text-align: center;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6466"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6465" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Exploozy</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6501" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Joshua Gunn, Trevor Piecham, & John McGowan (U.S.)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6464" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">Inner Workings</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6502" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Leo Matsuda (U.S.)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6463" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #032d99; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">CORPUS</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6503" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Marc Héricher (France)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6504" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #032d99; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">BLUE</span></b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Daniela Sherer (Israel)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv5354533592MsoNormal" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6505" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #032d99; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">MANOMAN</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6506" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Simon Cartwright (England)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #032d99; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;">ALL THEIR SHADES</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1490315061184_6508" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt;"> - Chloé Alliez (Belgium)</span></div>
Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-40496026809098955152017-03-09T21:53:00.000-05:002017-03-09T21:53:57.851-05:00Toronto Screenings of My Life as a Courgette<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvfpRdGfHf216D1pckw6eCGWQYVU8ODUiaiP252ScAvYxKSWK7xAYcURjYAC4UIbvcYiaB7r5tocOGzlEoStTsrUC58bQUrWqUZJ8btZoUebQbjDgjnSGqNosnVtFaghFe9PN/s1600/My-Life-as-a-Courgette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvfpRdGfHf216D1pckw6eCGWQYVU8ODUiaiP252ScAvYxKSWK7xAYcURjYAC4UIbvcYiaB7r5tocOGzlEoStTsrUC58bQUrWqUZJ8btZoUebQbjDgjnSGqNosnVtFaghFe9PN/s400/My-Life-as-a-Courgette.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b>My Life as a Courgette</b> (<i>aka</i> <b>My Life as a Zucchini</b>) is a Swiss-French stop motion feature that was nominated for an Oscar and has won prizes at festivals all over the world.<br />
<br />
While it is playing in theatres in the U.S. and Canada, it has no release date for a run in Toronto. However, it will screen twice at the TIFF Kids International Film Festival, once on April 9 at 10:45 a.m. and once on April 17 at 3:45 p.m.<br />
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Information about the film can be found <a href="http://www.tiff.net/films/my-life-as-a-courgette/" target="_blank">here</a> and information about the festival is <a href="http://www.tiff.net/kids/" target="_blank">here</a>.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-13513475709700342462017-03-03T07:14:00.000-05:002017-03-03T07:14:42.923-05:00Laika SpeculationI am thousands of miles from Laika's studio and have no inside information. However, I've been interested in following the company's fortunes as it is one of the few companies making stop motion features.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://deadline.com/2017/03/bumblebee-movie-travis-knight-director-kubo-and-the-two-strings-1202034882/" target="_blank">Travis Knight, CEO, animator and director, is going to direct a Transformers spinoff for Paramount.</a><br />
<br />
This is unexpected and raises many questions about the future of Laika. It's clear from the budgets and grosses of Laika's films that the company is not self-supporting. I've always thought that it has survived because Travis Knight wanted it to, and because his father, Phil Knight of Nike, was willing to financially support the company on his son's behalf.<br />
<br />
What does Travis Knight's latest move mean? Is he just looking for a change of pace with the intention of returning to Laika? Was there an understanding between father and son that Laika had to become profitable after some amount of time or number of films, and if it didn't the subsidy would end?<br />
<br />
Travis Knight is the reason that Laika exists. Without him, there is no reason for Phil Knight to finance a money-losing company. Perhaps this is nothing more than an opportunity that popped up and was hard to resist, but Travis Knight's plans and the box office success of the Transformer's spinoff could have a major impact on the continued existence of Laika.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-27209093060254615852017-02-23T07:15:00.000-05:002017-02-23T07:15:18.118-05:00Trailer for Sheridan College's Upcoming Industry Day<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cF0IGuY4G5g?rel=0" width="410"></iframe><br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-83331708286499441632017-02-15T06:59:00.000-05:002017-02-15T06:59:26.784-05:00Floyd Norman: An Animated Life Screening in Toronto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/On_MkygQi2U?rel=0" width="410"></iframe></div>
Floyd Norman, animator and story artist, was one of the first African-Americans to work at Disney and in the animation industry. A documentary on his life is showing at the Hot Docs cinema on Bloor Street on Sunday, February 19 at 11 a.m. It's a one-time screening.<br />
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Floyd will be present via Skype after the film.<br />
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For more information, go <a href="http://boxoffice.hotdocs.ca/WebSales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=56449~fff311b7-cdad-4e14-9ae4-a9905e1b9cb0&" target="_blank">here</a>.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-11434668802210246332017-02-09T07:01:00.001-05:002017-02-09T07:01:08.528-05:00John Canemaker's New Blog<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLDIxo9dGYrUOSI7gKgx8EbywwiuQzX-V7GupN6YGpGmP4M9DnTcoAwazxhlM3wt8FLilC_2tnNzGSbM8n2Bzov81MFsGc-DIv6Z1tLBbFUSKK_t2XDgOaXvuz5NbO0-7aLndo/s1600/J_Feiffer_4-1024x576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLDIxo9dGYrUOSI7gKgx8EbywwiuQzX-V7GupN6YGpGmP4M9DnTcoAwazxhlM3wt8FLilC_2tnNzGSbM8n2Bzov81MFsGc-DIv6Z1tLBbFUSKK_t2XDgOaXvuz5NbO0-7aLndo/s400/J_Feiffer_4-1024x576.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Canemaker (left) with Jules Feiffer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Animation historian and Academy Award winning filmmaker John Canemaker has started a <a href="http://animatedeye.johncanemaker.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>. His first entry features an event last November with the multi-talented cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter and author Jules Feiffer. Anyone familiar with Canemaker's work knows that anything he writes is worth reading. Included is a letter Feiffer wrote to his daughters, providing political perspective on today's world.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-76369585754838233132017-01-27T11:33:00.000-05:002017-01-27T11:33:19.056-05:00Michael Dudok de Wit and The Red Turtle<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiDGEEdg8Iw7R2lGrZ2h0U1MqsSexzwzbpvpPMx-nlPnrbI3KcRNkB1UWn0uZsq1rchAjp3kNTOCVMpZSBlwCHZMwdb38NDd_Kk9AaX6AgQYTJjqAsR80hgZz8FlKZUUnYnL43/s1600/The-Red-Turtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiDGEEdg8Iw7R2lGrZ2h0U1MqsSexzwzbpvpPMx-nlPnrbI3KcRNkB1UWn0uZsq1rchAjp3kNTOCVMpZSBlwCHZMwdb38NDd_Kk9AaX6AgQYTJjqAsR80hgZz8FlKZUUnYnL43/s400/The-Red-Turtle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Michael Dudok de Wit's film <b>The Red Turtle</b> is playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto as of January 27. Some Sheridan animation students and I had the pleasure of spending an hour with Michael Dudok de Wit when he was in Toronto to publicize the film last September as part of the Toronto International Film Festival.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4GWx0RkDo9GHcCbU1IWIIYlrXsDHWCC-RzeL4tCriYNB2oEbH21ocQeq2wZFLuBTu1Kz_qF5kXU1a7qNzAEQO9o-4AeqmA6kCaWkWDw7CeerWJfX_40Mo168vNWDrwDSFPFZ/s1600/IMG_3703+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4GWx0RkDo9GHcCbU1IWIIYlrXsDHWCC-RzeL4tCriYNB2oEbH21ocQeq2wZFLuBTu1Kz_qF5kXU1a7qNzAEQO9o-4AeqmA6kCaWkWDw7CeerWJfX_40Mo168vNWDrwDSFPFZ/s320/IMG_3703+copy.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>
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After the success of his Oscar winning short <b>Father and Daughter</b>, Dudok de Wit was approached by Studio Ghibli and asked if he had a feature idea that they could produce for him. He told us that when he was a student, just getting laughs was
enough but as he's gotten older, he wants his films to be built on more
substantial emotions.<br />
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Creating the story reel was a case of two steps forward and one step backwards. His feeling is that without a good storyboard, it's impossible to make a good film. He sought out feedback from the Ghibli producers and praised
Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata for their input. Their goal was to be as ego-free
as possible and just look for the best idea.<br />
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In creating the story reel, he felt he benefited from working with an editor. He said that rhythms and flow are far
more important in a feature than in a short and the editor, who
regularly cuts live action, was able to help.<br />
<br />
For the production, done entirely in Europe with TV Paint software, live action reference was shot. There was no rotoscoping, but as Dudok de Wit was interested in realistic motion, various gestures from the live action were used. <br />
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Dudok de Wit's preference for long shots has to do with his interest in the environment the characters live in. He also prefers to communicate using a character's whole body. He talked about how subtle human expressions are and how difficult it is to duplicate that subtlety in animation, especially when you're trying to communicate to a crew. Therefore, long shots work best.<br />
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He worked 80-100 hour weeks because he wanted the film to be as good as
possible. He's too close to the film to know if he wants to make
another feature or if he will return to shorts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP4cBBdHcVV1NoSHrc-NBF4eMLtVdVuEGx5pFTO4n1aFq_uHJCvehieTVY6ixozUFVccxpquhEud85YSUa6gqauFnn6Tcf4QTjlFr0I6L1QfwLT_4WbYbS0ebFzjSuy3s3aZz/s1600/redturtle_uncertainregard-900x620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP4cBBdHcVV1NoSHrc-NBF4eMLtVdVuEGx5pFTO4n1aFq_uHJCvehieTVY6ixozUFVccxpquhEud85YSUa6gqauFnn6Tcf4QTjlFr0I6L1QfwLT_4WbYbS0ebFzjSuy3s3aZz/s400/redturtle_uncertainregard-900x620.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
(There are spoilers below.) <br />
<br />
I have mixed feelings about the film. In some ways, it reminds me of Pete Docter's work at Pixar in that Dudok de Wit is excellent at evoking emotions, particularly those that come from familial relationships, but like Docter he seems to have problems with story logic. <br />
<br />
Fantasies are delicate things. The audience must understand what is
possible and what's isn't in a story in order to believe the film's events. The opening of <b>The Red Turtle</b> is brutally
realistic. A man is lost at sea, being battered by stormy waves
with nothing to hold onto. Once he reaches an island, the film
maintains the realism. The flora and fauna are real and the man's
struggle to leave the island is completely believable. He tries several
times and each time his raft is destroyed by a red turtle. There is no
hint at the turtle's motivation for this. As the film shows baby turtles hatching
on the beach, it makes more sense that the turtle would be glad to get
the man off the island as his presence might threaten the turtle's
spawn. When the turtle comes to the beach to lay eggs, the man is
justifiably angry at the creature who has foiled his escape. He flips
the turtle onto its back and it appears to die.<br />
<br />
Earlier
in the film, the man dreamed or hallucinated the presence of a string
quartet on the island. It's clear to the audience that this is not
real. The man himself realizes it. So when the dead turtle turns into a
woman, the audience has not been prepared for the possibility that the
transformation could be real. The earlier dreams led me to believe that the man
was once again hallucinating. But within the
film, it most certainly is real.<br />
<br />
The lack of
preparation for this moment took me out of the film. I kept waiting for
some sort of explanation after the fact, but there was none. The
turtle's destruction of the rafts and the man's murder of the turtle in
no way suggest the eventual transformation or relationship. For me, the
film never recovered from this.<br />
<br />
Visually, the film is
lovely. There are bravura sequences of the storm at sea and a later
tsunami. The environment of the island is portrayed in great detail.
There are moments of powerful suspense and there is comedy provided by a
population of crabs. The musical score is lovely and emotionally
evocative. The bulk of the film is about the loving relationship between the man and the woman, the birth of their child, and their life as a family on the island as they deal with the unpredictable natural world. But the flaws in the first act are never addressed.<br />
<br />
Another
issue is the lack of dialogue. I have no problem with a film
that doesn't have talking, but the characters do yell. The
director has given them voices, yet they say nothing intelligible to
each other. At the TIFF screening, Dudok de Wit said that they tried
writing dialogue for key moments but couldn't find words that seemed to
fit the style of the film. As the film relies heavily on sound effects,
he could not have natural sound and keep his characters completely
mute. But by allowing them to make sounds yet not talk, he's created an
artificial constraint that doesn't work in my view.<br />
<br />
There are other inconsistencies that are minor, but still forced me out of the story. The man builds a small
shelter to protect the woman from the sun before she wakes for the first time. Yet when they have a child later, the family builds no shelter. There are sudden,
heavy downpours on the island, yet the family seems to have no problem
being constantly exposed to the elements.<br />
<br />
After the
tsunami, the family burns all the uprooted trees. This is the only time
fire is present in the film. The family never builds a fire for light,
warmth or to cook with. As shelter and fire are not present except for these
two occasions, it is every bit as odd as the characters yelling but not
talking. They have the knowledge, but don't use it.<br />
<br />
Feature
scripts are difficult. There's no shortage of films whose scripts
don't work. For a director who is moving from shorts to features, there
are many new challenges in terms of story, characterization and
pacing. Dudok de Wit spoke a great deal about using intuition to find
what worked for him. And while his intuition has created a film with
excellent parts, it failed him in constructing the whole.<br />
<br />
While Dudok de Wit was undecided about future films, I hope that he makes more features as he has much to contribute. The film has great sequences and strong emotional moments. It broadens animated features' range and nudges the medium a bit more towards adult content. I'm glad the film received an Oscar nomination and hope that it makes the film profitable and motivates Dudok de Wit to continue.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-25118907328292139722016-12-15T15:44:00.001-05:002016-12-15T15:44:36.244-05:00Happy Holidays from Sheridan Animation's Class of 2017<iframe width="410" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jaAm9C8h_WM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-45445847277585010332016-10-23T19:58:00.001-04:002016-10-23T20:03:37.017-04:00Long Way North is a Great Film<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzzhg-kAChQ3P6OT8zdB8mQYjYhbRf-E91VvaeKqmI94E9JhRtwkWkcMtEbzjlhaotm8wyzFuU11WKRrszVBHByXiygswnSUvniyG8ro49BtO9IKDtv2l2jLYAn9SREKdjgEv/s1600/UDI_longwaynorth-1170x486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzzhg-kAChQ3P6OT8zdB8mQYjYhbRf-E91VvaeKqmI94E9JhRtwkWkcMtEbzjlhaotm8wyzFuU11WKRrszVBHByXiygswnSUvniyG8ro49BtO9IKDtv2l2jLYAn9SREKdjgEv/s400/UDI_longwaynorth-1170x486.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b>Long Way North</b> is a dramatic adventure film, devoid of the comic relief and musical numbers all too common in North American animated features. While artists and fans are constantly calling for animation to expand its horizons, <b>Long Way North</b> has done it, but its botched release in Canada will keep it hidden from the people who would champion it.<br />
<br />
With Canada's recent hunt for Sir John Franklin's two ships, the Erebus and the Terror lost during the search for the Northwest Passage, there was a natural Canadian marketing hook for this film. Set in Czarist Russia, an explorer sets out to find the Northeast Passage across the pole. When the ship doesn't return, everyone assumes that it sank. A search turns up nothing. But Sasha, the granddaughter of the explorer, finds some notes in her grandfather's study indicating he took a different route than expected. She argues for another search mission, but is not only refused, she damages her family's position with the royal court.<br />
<br />
Vilified by her father, Sasha takes off on her own to prove her theory correct. Connecting with the crew of a ship thanks to the reward offered by the Czar as well as an obligation a crew member owes her, they take off following her suggested route.<br />
<br />
What follows is a rigorous adventure, where she and the crew undergo storms, ice avalanches, bitter cold, hunger and injury. It is an uncompromising look at a difficult journey and the film pulls no punches.<br />
<br />
The script, direction and art direction are all excellent. The story has echoes of <b>Captains Courageous</b> and what might be an homage to a moment in Chaplin's <b>The Gold Rush</b>. The characterizations are realistic.<br />
<br />
The film, a French-Danish co-production, has an insane number of partners. Pulling together the financing for this must have been hell. And for all the film's excellence, the budget is the weak link. Act 1 is full of animation done on threes, fours and maybe sixes. The resolution of various story threads is done with stills during the end credits instead of being animated. However, director Remé Chayé has put the money where it counted. The search is doesn't skimp on animation or effects.<br />
<br />
I can't think of another animated feature I can compare this to directly. It is like <b>The Iron Giant</b> in that the release has shortchanged it and people who eventually find this film will like it. It's like <b>Castle in the Sky</b> as it is a straight up adventure without the cuteness that plagues so many animated features. <br />
<br />
In its second week in Toronto, it's showing just once a day on a single screen at Canada Square. The Sunday screening I attended had maybe 8 people in the audience. It was preceded by trailers for <b>Trolls</b>, <b>Sing</b> and <b>Moana</b>. The three reeked of formula, which made <b>Long Way North</b> that much more impressive. I'm afraid the film will be gone by October 28.<br />
<br />
If you get a chance to see this in a theatre, don't pass it up. Eventually it will turn up on other screens. When it does, watch it. I wish that GKids was distributing this, as they are great at marketing independent animated features. I've seen <b>The Red Turtle</b> and will see <b>Miss Hokusai</b> shortly. I'm betting that either those films or <b>Long Way North</b> will get a Best Animated Feature nomination as the art film this year. Should <b>Long Way North</b> get it, know that it deserves it.<br />
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Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-41633649203022867642016-10-14T19:13:00.000-04:002016-10-14T19:13:22.436-04:00Long Way North Playing in Toronto<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="231" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pW7JDw2Qimo?rel=0" width="410"></iframe><br />
<b>Long Way North</b>, a French-Danish animated feature, has arrived in Toronto playing on a single screen. Three of the five papers in town have not reviewed it. None of this bodes well for its box office prospects or for people in the animation industry being aware of it.<br />
<br />
If you want to see this film, head to Canada Square at Yonge and Eglinton. Who knows if it will last more than a week.<br />
<br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-34070604769127430342016-09-07T08:18:00.001-04:002016-09-07T08:18:30.182-04:00Copyright Craziness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Iy5VZKqRAgxxvH6QeshFpAMs2smr7LNOZ3Utlm7JDdyJ8G_m5HYk0hV9xKwKBVtZAZX_T-mpbyUiHfRd5lTJz1wxZnaccs5D8hsb8LekHUXV_W-98HhFD2djUDUS3Uwexqfz/s1600/Warner_Bros._Pictures_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Iy5VZKqRAgxxvH6QeshFpAMs2smr7LNOZ3Utlm7JDdyJ8G_m5HYk0hV9xKwKBVtZAZX_T-mpbyUiHfRd5lTJz1wxZnaccs5D8hsb8LekHUXV_W-98HhFD2djUDUS3Uwexqfz/s400/Warner_Bros._Pictures_logo.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Warner Bros. is accusing itself of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-flags-website-piracy-portal-160904/" target="_blank">pirating its own copyrights</a>. If this doesn't prove that modern copyright enforcement is hopelessly broken, I don't know what does.<br />
<br />
Warner Bros hired Vobile to search the web for sites that violate Warner copyrights and to send notices to Google to prevent the sites from being listed in searches. The only problem is that Vobile listed the following sites as pirates:<br />
<br />
http://www.warnerbros.com/dark-knight<br />
http://www.warnerbros.com/matrix<br />
http://www.warnerbros.com/lucky-one<br />
<br />
I hope that Vobile will become even more aggressive, listing every Warner site so that eventually Warner Bros. is completely invisible to search engines. At that point, maybe somebody will realize that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its take down notices are not workable and that some sort of reasonable balance between copyright owners and the public has to be established.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-13092187607657898862016-08-23T06:47:00.000-04:002016-08-23T06:47:07.739-04:00Jam Filled Purchases Arc<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirG2qCGa7LFJX15ZGthMcNjFuo7rN4BiumA4lm0sXGlDHPKteOQPKBJWhd55CbwFqBOm9HzHqSQFCgAZvufiCRIUjIEVbDEdr5Rca2HhTsBPbkvJr2OpPVOl3pZzLdIg6wD84f/s1600/jam_eats_arc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirG2qCGa7LFJX15ZGthMcNjFuo7rN4BiumA4lm0sXGlDHPKteOQPKBJWhd55CbwFqBOm9HzHqSQFCgAZvufiCRIUjIEVbDEdr5Rca2HhTsBPbkvJr2OpPVOl3pZzLdIg6wD84f/s320/jam_eats_arc.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
According to <a href="http://www.c21media.net/jam-filled-boards-torontos-arc/" target="_blank"><b>C21 Media</b></a>, Jam Filled has completed the purchase of Arc's assets. There are about 200 employees returning to a facility in Toronto. While the article specifies that the company will "take over production of current Arc projects," it does not specify what they are. No word on whether <b>Blazing Samurai</b>, a feature that was in production, is still in-house or, if rumours are true, has moved to another company.Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501132.post-3792395866234486992016-08-11T08:59:00.001-04:002016-08-11T08:59:56.665-04:00Jam Filled Entertainment Negotiates to Buy Arc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>The Globe and Mail</b> has another <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/torontos-arc-productions-strikes-tentative-deal-to-sell-film-television-projects/article31353362/" target="_blank">article</a> behind a pay wall, providing some details. Deloitte, the receiver, ran an auction to purchase the rights to Arc's continuing projects. Jam Filled Entertainment, an Ottawa studio bought just weeks ago by Boat Rocker Media, won the auction. However, the deal has to be approved by the court and Jam Filled will be doing additional due diligence before the deal is concluded.<br />
<br />
One part of the deal is that enough of Arc's former employees are willing to return to the projects they were working on. The hope is that the deal can be finalized within the next two weeks.<br />
<br />
As of now, there are many questions. I assume that the work will stay in Toronto. If they're looking to rehire Arc employees, it's going to be easier to do this without asking them to move to Ottawa.<br />
<br />
While the deal obviously includes contracts for the work and the files created so far, does it include the hardware that the files are sitting on? Will they occupy Arc's former space or move to another location? Software licenses are not always transferrable. Will Jam Filled get rights to the licenses as part of the deal or will they have to purchase new ones? Which clients will be willing to continue their projects with Jam Filled and which will prefer to move them elsewhere?<br />
<br />
Will there be pay cuts for returning employees? How much? Will they be across the board, meaning that everyone rehired gets the same percentage of their former salary, or will salaries be negotiated from scratch?<br />
<br />
Who will be managing all this? As Jam Filled is located in Ottawa, will they be sending a management team to Toronto? Will they be hiring local management talent? As management was the source of Arc's problems, hiring the right team will be critical to the success of the salvage operation.<br />
<br />
Will Jam Filled continue the facility, assuming it is in Toronto, once the existing contracts are completed? That may not be decided until projects are delivered and the balance sheet is scrutinized.<br />
<br />
While Jam Filled's acquisition, assuming it goes through, is certainly good news, much more will have to be answered before this can be called a success or failure. Good luck to everyone.<br />
<br />Mark Mayersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00065971589878678848noreply@blogger.com26