I know you've all been hard at work on your films this past week, so just in case it's slipped your mind I thought it best to remind you that the deadline for next week's Leica/Animatic screening is Monday morning (March 3) at 8 am. Mario has created a special folder on the HANDIN Server specifically for the screening.
The screening itself will begin promptly at 10 am on Wednesday morning, March 5, in SCAET S235.
Please be aware that this screening is an important part of the 4th Year curriculum and participation is both required and graded.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Interview with Legendary Stop-Motion Animator Phil Tippet
Prof. Chris Walsh has just published an interview in the online magazine Fangoria with the legendary stop-motion animator Phil Tippet (Jurassic Park, HellBoy, Robocop, Empire Strikes Back, etc.) Tippet has a lot of interesting things to say about the joy of actually making things with your hands and the challenge of the transition to a digital workflow. Check it out at.
Phil Tippett on Experimental Stop Motion Passion, “MAD GOD”
Financial Troubles in the Visual Effects and Animation Industry
The link below is to a well-informed news item describing structural troubles in the Visual Effects/Animation industry in the USA (possibly to the advantage of the industry in Canada.) Dreamworks is mentioned for laying off 350 Visual FX workers/Animators (about halfway down.)
Also mentioned is the planned protest by Visual FX/Animators at the coming Oscars.
REVEALED: MPAA’s latest anti-piracy move accidentally, completely screws Hollywood studios
http://pando.com/2014/02/25/revenge-of-the-nerds-how-tech-geeks-found-a-secret-weapon-in-their-fight-against-big-hollywood/
Also mentioned is the planned protest by Visual FX/Animators at the coming Oscars.
REVEALED: MPAA’s latest anti-piracy move accidentally, completely screws Hollywood studios
http://pando.com/2014/02/25/revenge-of-the-nerds-how-tech-geeks-found-a-secret-weapon-in-their-fight-against-big-hollywood/
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
4th Year BAA -- Week 7 - Special Events
Greetings, 4th Year BAA!
This is a big week, because in addition to the usual Guest Lecture and Workshop, there are two important events pertaining to your film production.
Animation Guest Critique
The first is the Animation Guest Critique, which takes place during your Mentor Group meeting. Every Mentor invites an Industry Guest to review and comment on your film's rough animation (2D), posing (3D) or partial animation (Stop Motion.) This is an important meeting, so please show up to your Mentor Group this week with a well prepared Leica/Pose reel.
Demo Music Delivery Deadline
The second production highlight this week applies to those of you working with a U of T Musician (roughly half the cohort.) This week is the deadline for delivery of their demo version of music. The idea is that this allows you to ensure that your musician understands the dramatic & musical requirements of your film and is developing in the right direction. Now is the time to offer comments and criticism, and to change the direction of the music if necessary. I know from speaking to several of you that you are already well into this process.
The Business of Animation - Networking
Of course we also have the Wednesday Lecture and Workshop, both of which are this week hosted by Ben McEvoy, who continues our emphasis on "The Business of Animation" with his discussion of the importance of forging friends, contacts and networks in the animation industry.
COMING UP: Week 8 Screening
After the Reading Week break we will screen the Leica/Pose Reels for the third time this year. The screening will take place in S235, 10 am Wednesday March 5. (Note that this is one hour earlier than our usual start time on Wednesday, which is necessary to allow enough time for everyone's film.)
The submission deadline is Monday March 3, 8 am. Mario will provide a special folder on the HANDIN server for this.
Note that participation in this screening is required and contributes toward your final mark for the year.
This is a big week, because in addition to the usual Guest Lecture and Workshop, there are two important events pertaining to your film production.
Animation Guest Critique
The first is the Animation Guest Critique, which takes place during your Mentor Group meeting. Every Mentor invites an Industry Guest to review and comment on your film's rough animation (2D), posing (3D) or partial animation (Stop Motion.) This is an important meeting, so please show up to your Mentor Group this week with a well prepared Leica/Pose reel.
Demo Music Delivery Deadline
The second production highlight this week applies to those of you working with a U of T Musician (roughly half the cohort.) This week is the deadline for delivery of their demo version of music. The idea is that this allows you to ensure that your musician understands the dramatic & musical requirements of your film and is developing in the right direction. Now is the time to offer comments and criticism, and to change the direction of the music if necessary. I know from speaking to several of you that you are already well into this process.
The Business of Animation - Networking
Of course we also have the Wednesday Lecture and Workshop, both of which are this week hosted by Ben McEvoy, who continues our emphasis on "The Business of Animation" with his discussion of the importance of forging friends, contacts and networks in the animation industry.
COMING UP: Week 8 Screening
After the Reading Week break we will screen the Leica/Pose Reels for the third time this year. The screening will take place in S235, 10 am Wednesday March 5. (Note that this is one hour earlier than our usual start time on Wednesday, which is necessary to allow enough time for everyone's film.)
The submission deadline is Monday March 3, 8 am. Mario will provide a special folder on the HANDIN server for this.
Note that participation in this screening is required and contributes toward your final mark for the year.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Flash Workshop - Exercise files and completed animation files
Animator Amir Avni gave a great workshop yesterday showing the quality of animation that Flash is capable of in the right hands.
Amir prepared a couple of exercise files that you might be interested in reviewing. He posed a different animation problem in each one, which I'll leave to you to figure out. In case that proves too difficult, he also provided the solutions:
The Exercises:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/13uvagrzdh4iml3/Phone-exercise-for-students.fla
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pnxxcuzi035qrn5/Alien-exercise-for-students.fla
The Answers:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9ajc9rhl43xtcs/phone-excercise-COMPLETE.fla
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0j6ykd5hf5bncs/Alien-excercise-COMPLETE.fla
Amir prepared a couple of exercise files that you might be interested in reviewing. He posed a different animation problem in each one, which I'll leave to you to figure out. In case that proves too difficult, he also provided the solutions:
The Exercises:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/13uvagrzdh4iml3/Phone-exercise-for-students.fla
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pnxxcuzi035qrn5/Alien-exercise-for-students.fla
The Answers:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9ajc9rhl43xtcs/phone-excercise-COMPLETE.fla
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0j6ykd5hf5bncs/Alien-excercise-COMPLETE.fla
Online Music for Media - Free, Cheap & Otherwise....
I get regular inquiries from students regarding internet sites that offer free or cheap-to-license music for use in your films. Here are a few which have been useful in the past couple of years. I list them roughly in order of preference.
PS - Please let me know if any of these links have gone dead since I put this list together last year.
Jamendo - Jamendo has a LOT of free stuff. Try it first.
Vimeo Music Store - mostly commercial ($99 for a festival license) but also has free (Creative Commons Share-Alike License)
SoundCloud - online file locker for audio. Nice player software, and many items licensable for the asking.
Overview | Music | Musopen - recent site with only copyright-free material. Mostly old recordings and/or government produced.
With Etiquette - collective of alternative musicians who make their music available for low license fee.
songfreedom.com - commercial stock music site
UniqueTracks Inc. - commercial stock music site, good selection, low rates ($40)
Royalty Free Music Library from premiumbeat.com - commercial stock music site
Stock Music - Royalty Free Music with an Edge - commercial stock music site
Of course, there is also the Cyclops server, where Mario and Rick Andersen maintain a library of approximately 10,000 titles of stick music, for which the college pays a flat fee each year on your behalf.
Feel free to email me or drop into my office in A160 if you'd like to discuss further. My usual office hours are Tuesdays 3-4 pm, and Thursdays 12-2 pm.
best
Bruno
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Brass and Steel -- Music performed by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra
The concert starts at 8 pm, and takes place at St. Paul’s L’Amoreaux Anglican Church on Finch Ave.E.
Saturday - 8 p.m.
St. Paul’s L’Amoreaux Anglican Church,
3333 Finch Avenue East (at Warden)
For more details: http://www.spo.ca/10-concerts/113-brass-and-steel
Monday, February 10, 2014
U of T Composers looking for more animations to score...
According to U of T TA Laura Silberberg, two composers from the U of T Film Composition course have already finished their animation projects and are looking for other projects to work on.
If anyone (not previously associated with the U of T Composing class) is interested in getting in touch with one of these musicians, please let me know.
- bruno
If anyone (not previously associated with the U of T Composing class) is interested in getting in touch with one of these musicians, please let me know.
- bruno
Entertaining angry tirade on getting paid from Sci-Fi author Harlan Ellison
You might find this video tirade (3:24) from Harlan Ellison amusing, especially if you change "writer" to "animator." The topic is "getting paid for creative work."
From the web page:
If you’re a science fiction fan ... you might have heard of Harlan Ellison. He’s an award winning writer who wrote for TV series such as Star Trek, The Outer Limits, Babylon 5, and many more. Ellison is very good at what he does, and more importantly, he’s very outspoken about professionalism among writers. I use the word “outspoken” lightly here, and you’ll soon find out why.During an interview he gave, for the filming of Dreams with Sharp Teeth, an autobiography film about himself, Harlan Ellison gave a passionate speech about something that’s important to people in the creative field, GETTING PAID. (note: the following clip contains strong language)
http://www.8164.org/pay-the-designer/
From the web page:
If you’re a science fiction fan ... you might have heard of Harlan Ellison. He’s an award winning writer who wrote for TV series such as Star Trek, The Outer Limits, Babylon 5, and many more. Ellison is very good at what he does, and more importantly, he’s very outspoken about professionalism among writers. I use the word “outspoken” lightly here, and you’ll soon find out why.During an interview he gave, for the filming of Dreams with Sharp Teeth, an autobiography film about himself, Harlan Ellison gave a passionate speech about something that’s important to people in the creative field, GETTING PAID. (note: the following clip contains strong language)
http://www.8164.org/pay-the-designer/
Fourth Year Animation, Week 6: Three Events on Wednesday
This Wednesday's Lecture is a little unusual because it is broken into two separate hour long events. We also have our usual Wednesday Workshop. Read on for details.
11 am to noon - Screen your Workflow shot on the Christie Projector
The first hour will be dedicated to an informal work screening of your Workflow shots on the Christie Projector in S235.
As you probably know, this projector is an $80,000 industrial monster and it is a real privilege to be able to screen work on it. It is an excellent way to test the colour and brightness of your film image. And because it's the same system that will be used on Industry Day you can be sure that you'll be seeing exactly what our Industry guests will see on that day.
To screen your workflow shots (or any other finished/painted background or animation), send me the material by email (degazio@sheridancollege.ca) before 9 am Wednesday morning. I'll compile the material and display it on the Christie Projector from my laptop.
Noon to 12:50 - Spooky Squid Games, Miguel Sternberg
Following the work screening, our guest of the day is Miguel Sternberg of Spooky Squid Games, an independent computer game entrepreneur from Toronto. Miguel will be offering us his insights into the Indie Game industry and what it's like to make a career there.
Special Surprise - Academy Award screeners!
As you might know, Professor Nancy Beiman, as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, receives screening DVDs of the nominees for the year's Academy Award for Best Short Animated Film. If they arrive from Los Angeles before Wednesday, we'll screen as many of these as time allows. Cross your fingers!
2 pm to 4 pm - Flash Q&A with Amir Avni
After Miguel's talk there will be a workshop with Pipeline animator and Sheridan alum Amir Avni, who has become quite an expert in Flash since his graduation a few years ago. Amir has generously offered to host this Q&A session on Flash, with the intention of helping you through any software problems you might be encountering as you carry out your animation in Flash. Bring your Flash problem to A150 and let Amir try to figure it out!
11 am to noon - Screen your Workflow shot on the Christie Projector
The first hour will be dedicated to an informal work screening of your Workflow shots on the Christie Projector in S235.
As you probably know, this projector is an $80,000 industrial monster and it is a real privilege to be able to screen work on it. It is an excellent way to test the colour and brightness of your film image. And because it's the same system that will be used on Industry Day you can be sure that you'll be seeing exactly what our Industry guests will see on that day.
To screen your workflow shots (or any other finished/painted background or animation), send me the material by email (degazio@sheridancollege.ca) before 9 am Wednesday morning. I'll compile the material and display it on the Christie Projector from my laptop.
Noon to 12:50 - Spooky Squid Games, Miguel Sternberg
Following the work screening, our guest of the day is Miguel Sternberg of Spooky Squid Games, an independent computer game entrepreneur from Toronto. Miguel will be offering us his insights into the Indie Game industry and what it's like to make a career there.
Special Surprise - Academy Award screeners!
As you might know, Professor Nancy Beiman, as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, receives screening DVDs of the nominees for the year's Academy Award for Best Short Animated Film. If they arrive from Los Angeles before Wednesday, we'll screen as many of these as time allows. Cross your fingers!
After Miguel's talk there will be a workshop with Pipeline animator and Sheridan alum Amir Avni, who has become quite an expert in Flash since his graduation a few years ago. Amir has generously offered to host this Q&A session on Flash, with the intention of helping you through any software problems you might be encountering as you carry out your animation in Flash. Bring your Flash problem to A150 and let Amir try to figure it out!
Monday, February 3, 2014
This Week: Focus on Character Animation & Acting with Stephen Barnes and Mike Kitchen
This week the focus is on Acting and Character Animation, with two great guests: our own Stephen Barnes, (mentor , animator, director, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life,Monsters, Inc., and Geri's Game) and Mike Kitchen, (lately of Toonbox & Starz, animator of The Nut Job, ‘ 9' and Hellboy.)
Steve will take over the lecture on Wednesday morning, (11 am, S235), with a new installment of his talk "Inspired Acting PART 2: A Study of Great Moments From Great Actors," while Mike will apply his animation eye to review and critique your own character animation in the afternoon workshop, ( 2-4 pm in Lab A150.)
With 100 percent of your rough animation due in two weeks (2D projects), 20 percent of your final animation (Stop Motion projects) and key character poses (3D projects), this is the ideal time to refine your character animation and acting skills. For the workshop, remember to bring your work-in-progress in an easily viewable format such as a Quicktime file on a memory stick. Be sure to take advantage of the presence of these two great animators at Sheridan on Wednesday.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Professional Actor available for Character Voice work.
The following email was recently received by our program administrative assistant, Barb Mathieu. She has asked me to let you all know about the offer from actor Matthew Lawrence.
Take a look at Mathew's website, (address below.) He has a strong, mature, masculine voice, but I think his reel shows a range of characters that he can project. Give him a listen, he might be just what you need.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Ms. Mathieu,
I posted a question on Sheridan’s Facebook page this morning, looking for the person who might help me garner some more voice over opportunities. I was given your name as the Bachelor of Animation Program Support Specialist.
I am a professional actor who loves doing voice work. Sadly, I haven’t had as many opportunities as I would like. I can do a range of voices and am dedicated to my craft.
I would be happy to work with your students on their projects to gain even more experience.
If there is anything you can do to help me do just that, I would be very happy indeed and in your debt.
Thank you very much. I have a website listed below where my career may be explored.
Sincerely,
Matthew R. Lawrence
905-967-0141
mrl@matthewrlawrence.com
www.matthewrlawrence.com
"Without wonder and insight, acting is just a business. With it, it becomes creation."
Bette Davis
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