ASIFA-Colorado NewsOct 8, 2003 Volume 1, Number 5 |
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New & NoteworthyAlejandro Bermann
New ASIFA Organization
International Animation Day - Oct 28th!
Board Excerpts Upcoming EventsAugust September Thereafter Festivals & ConferencesOurs/ Others Non-Sequiturs
Brouhaha, Babble and Balderdash
Web Site:http:/www.asifa-colorado.org
ASIFA/Colorado Volunteers and BoardDan A. Seely President
Carmella Rodriguez Treasurer and Business Manager cmr@cinetek.com Anne Elizabeth
Liaison to Post-Secondary Students and Scribe
David Mesple
Emissary to Secondary Education
Kevin Ryan
Vice President of Marketing
Evert Brown Membership Chair Judy Gardner Publicity Coordinator Todd Debreceni Vice President of Allied Fields Tom Ward Director of Communications Ed Desroches News Letter Editor ed@imagescribe.com
Mission Statement“ASIFA – Colorado was established in 2001 as a non-profit corporation devoted to cultivating and promoting the art, craft and profession of Animation. Together, our membership and Board of Directors are developing a far-reaching range of programs and special events to meet the following goals:
Ø Stimulate discussion among professional and non-professional animation enthusiasts about concepts and technologies evolving in the industry. Ø Increase the visibility of Colorado Region animation companies available to serve the growing demand for commercial animation productions across the nation and around the world. Ø Establish a tradition of local, public events including seminars, panel discussions, special screenings, festivals and workshops devoted to more broadly acquainting the population with the power, diversity, and application of animation in all media. Ø Increase the connections between animation education programs and professionals in the industry. Ø Enrich the experience of animation students by bringing the diversity of the international animation scene to their doorstep.”
To join ASIFA-Colorado: go to http:/www.asifa-colorado.org or send a check; $30 for Students, $55 for Professionals (payable to ASIFA-Colorado) to: ASIFA-Colorado 6585 W. 62nd Place Arvada, CO 80003 include your Name, Address, and phone number. Student include a photocopied id.
To contribute or volunteer contact: Evert Brown at Phone: eMail:evertbrn@comcast.net
Comments, questions, articles and suggestions are always welcome. Reply-To: asifacolorado@yahoo.com |
RUN, don't walk, BUTHis reach into the international world of animation is incredible, his understanding of the art and craft of animation is vastly enlightened, and his knowledge of the trends is unmatchable. AE Wednesday, Oct. 8: Mr. Hooks'
will discuss: Acting, Animation, the Theatre Arts & Our World.
Location:
$15 General
Admission; $10 for ASIFA-Colorado Members; $7 for middle and high school
students. Thursday, Oct. 9: Acting
for Animators 3-day
intensive workshop Location:
Rocky
Acting for Animators intensive workshop
Acting for Animators intensive workshop
Overflow seats available all 3 days for observers at a special registration fee range from $25-$45.
Call
for details 1-877-233-2274 or email immediately to inside@centralvectors.com
or visit www.asifa-colorado.org,
but don't delay! New & Noteworthy· Alejandro Bermann - Alex came to speak on September 24th at the new event center at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design. Alex is from Argentina where he runs his company Framex which services many clients such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi/BAESA, Motorola, Shell, Clorox, and Citibank. Much of his talk focused on what work they had done and how they did it. But once the questions and answers portion was entered the discussion centered around the difference between the animation scene in Argentina versus the United States. This talk lasted for quite some time and the group as well as Alex seemed to be interested in continuing the discussion. · ASIFA International is moving ahead with its new organization. In order to have a strong start of the New ASIFA Board all ASIFA Groups
are required to send a representative - the ASIFA-Colorado Board voted to send
Ed Desroches. At Cinanima 2003 in Esphino, Portugal, the New ASIFA International Board will meet and will also elect the Executive ASIFA Board. · International
Animation Day! - Following the idea of the former ASIFA President, Abi Feijo from Portugal, ASIFA started the project of INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION DAY. Upcoming Events· October Mighty Fudge - October 29 th at 7 pm They are currently producing a follow up video for Dressy Bessy's new album. They will focus on making an animated music video and producing their own "Saturday Morning Cartoons for Adults". At the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design Theater, NEW LOCATION - 1600 Pierce St. Lakewood, CO 80214 Festivals & Conferences·
SEND YOUR FLICKS TO ROTTERDAM. ·
GAMING STUDENT CAN WIN $25,000! Non-SequitursEric Deuel is a
graduate of the Art Institutes of
Colorado. He recently acquired
full-time work with PDI/Dreamworks and I was able to catch up with him about
this opportunity. Ed: I heard you recently got a job at PDI/Dreamworks? Eric: Yes! Ed: What will you do at PDI/Dreamworks? Eric: At first
I train in Ed: Did you use your Art Institutes school demo reel to get into PDI/Dreamworks? Eric: No, although I value my education at the Art Institute very much. For the last year and I half I had learned so much, and my work had become so much stronger that I didn't need to use it. Coming out of the Art Institute I decided I wanted to work for a smaller studio. So my reel had a little bit of everything on it; lighting, texturing, modeling, compositing, rigging, and animation. But I finally made the decision to be a character animator and focused on that for the past year. Ed: When did you graduate from Art Institutes and what have you done since school? Eric: March
2002. Besides working part-time at a cemetery, I got an internship at
Whirligig Animation Studios in Ed: How did you apply for work at PDI/Dreamworks? Eric: When the
commercial at !mpossible Pictures finished in May, I knew SIGGRAPH was coming
up in July. And I knew a lot of companies like to interview and hire at
SIGGRAPH. So for the next couple months I animated everyday and all day long
to make my reel as strong as possible. I got critiques from friends and
family, and showed it on the web at forums like www.cg-char.com
and www.cgtalk.com and I entered an animation at www.10secondclub.org. I got
to SIGGRAPH with about 20 demo tapes. In Ed: Tell us about the interview process? Eric: The interview process went just about as smooth as possible. All the studios made me feel real comfortable. We talked about my work and then what I've been doing for the past year and a half since graduation. I must say that the interview is definitely the easy part. You don't have to be the most elegant, confident speaker, you just need to be yourself and have fun. You're being interviewed by the best artists in the industry so it can be a little intimidating. But just try and relax and definitely have some questions ready to ask them, about their studio, what work weeks are like, software, training, their production pipeline, anything so when they ask you if you have any questions, you don't feel dumb when you don't. Ed: What were your childhood aspirations? Eric: To own a pet store, be a professional baseball player, and a Disney Animator. Ed: When did first know you wanted to animate? Eric: I have drawn my whole life, and I used to watch the classic Disney cartoons, Loony Toons, and tons of other cartoons. When I was 12 or so I did some pencil tests, and flip books, but I didn't think they turned out very good so I kind of gave up on becoming an animator. But I kept drawing and watching cartoons. Ed: What do
you think about the Eric: I love Ed: Thanks for your time, Eric. Eric: Ed, thanks. eD
· Brouhaha, Babble and Balderdash Brouhaha, Babble and
Balderdash What’s with all the
talk about terms? There’s Animation. There’s Anime and Manga. And there’s Cartoons.
Not much though, is there? A lot of talk and a lot
of words yet only conjuncture. So
where does it go? Where should it
go? What are the words leading to? And why do we care? To start things off let
me provide a few definitions. Some of you may know these, some may not, but
I’ll provide this overview to level the playing field.
Manga is a comic book. So
what is the difference between manga and a comic book?
Well, manga mostly provides a deeper story and that story may last for
years. And is that the only difference?
Well, the characters may have more romance and more feelings and more
action. So,
manga is like a graphic novel, right?
Well, yes and no. Manga
seems to suggest that it is a graphic novel albeit one from And then there is anime.
Anime is like Japanese slang for the word ‘animation’. And the difference between anime and animation is? Nothing.
Nothing? Well… here again
anime, like manga, tries to develop real characters with more emotions.
In fact anime is typically based on manga. Manga characters that have
stood the test of time may find themselves as anime characters sooner or
later. And, there is actually quite a debate about whether anime or manga is
the better. But that’s another
argument. Can
say that anime is more geared toward the adult viewer?
Well, you could - but you’d probably be lying.
Here’s where the lines get blurred.
Something like Pokemon (clearly a children’s animation) is
called anime, yet something like Fritz the Cat (definitely not for
children) is not. Here again it
seems the difference may be only geographical and not based on any specific
definition. Anime is from And cartoons?
This term seems to cover everything that is animation, although some
folks may get offended if you call anime, cartoons.
But I do like where the Japanese folks have gone with this terminology
line. One of the largest obstacles
facing the animation industry in the But again, there is
anime. The term anime, that is.
"Yes, there is," you may say. But,
then again, movies like Pokemon are associated with anime.
As long as children’s movies are associated with a genre then adults
associate that genre with a kid’s flick.
End of story. My oh my, what do we do?
I know, let’s add terms. Let’s
have cool terms like anime and manga to describe what we really mean. Let’s
add so many terms no one knows what we’re talking about.
But seriously, we do need to distinguish between the different types of
animation. There are terms like
sci-fi but is Metropolis called sci-fi?
No, it’s animation. So we
need new terms, terms to define the intended audience and genre perhaps.
Comics have done it. Comics have provided an adult version- you know,
graphic novels just sounds cool. Adults
may actually read graphic novels. Now, if we can only get past the snobs who
think serious fiction should not have pictures. It’s not so much that
serious fiction should or shouldn’t have pictures it’s that a graphic
novel is a different medium, it is not like a novel.
The pictures and words work together to create an entirely different
experience. But without new words and
phrases to define what is being shown we don’t have the split. We can say,
“But this animation is different
from a kid’s animation!” But
no one would listen. Here are a few new words or term suggestions to really
show the difference:
Zoetic or
Artoons for animation that is purely for art. Sciemation could be used to
describe science fiction animation. Or
Talemation or Graphimotion to describe adventure animation.
Then there could be Maturemation for animation like Fritz the Cat or other adult animation.
But we’re supposed to be creative folk, let’s come up with more
powerful words, words that can grab those uninterested snobs by the attention
span. Let’s come up with words
that fit the emotions or motions. Go
ahead, I dare you! Let’s give
anime some new company with which to contend. eD
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