Cartoon Australia

The Creative Spark

"Red tape!" he exclaimed, shaking his fist in mock rage. "It's a huge obstacle for us. We are getting so big so fast that we always seem to need a few more rules here, a bit more paperwork there.

Lipsum test entry

Blue Screen of Death tees

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a nerd when it comes to all things geeky. Ever since owning the first Commodore computers I've had that streak of nerdity in my veins. There seems to be a renaissance of retro design shirts making their way back in to fashion again.

Henry Selick is back, with Neil Gaiman's Coraline

Henry Selick, the stop motion animation director that made it big with Nightmare before Christmas, is heading back to the big screen with a new film - Neil Gaiman's Coraline!

iPhones

I'm usually one of the early adopters of Apple product, but the release of the iPhone in Australia recently didn't encourage me to make that jump.

How to Hook Up Your Home Theater with the Goof

It was first released with Disney's Enchanted theatrical release, but How to Hook Up Your Home Theater with the Goof is a positive return to traditional animation. And with some of the industry legends animating the short!

Winners of the AWGIE Awards, Melbourne 2008

Attended the Australian Writers' Guild (Screenwriters) awards night at the Regal Theatre in Melbourne on the 15th August.

Women are fiends in animation

Amy Winfrey has been animating mainly online but was picked up by Nickelodeon after its three year web debut.

Honourable Mention for Evil Genius Academy

Animation Magazine's Pitch Party '08 is over and the results are in!

Attention all Evil Geniuses

Okay so I'm going to need your help on this one, I'm participating in the annual Animation Magazine Pitch Party 2008!

My kids TV show I've been developing is Evil Genius Academy (as you can see on the left) and I need your help to spread the word and get the votes. The winners of the Pitch get to nominate the Studio Executive of their choice!

Voting closes soon, please point your browser to the voting page:

http://www.animationmagazine.net/pitch_party_08_vote.html

And spread the word to your friends, global domination!

Thank you !

Is it IATSE or Yahtzee?

Nikki Fenke reports that the writers of Sony's new animated series walk out because of Union rulings. Strangely it's a show based on an axed Australian TV show that only made 13 live action episodes.

2008 AWGIE AWARD NOMINATIONS

And the nominations for best categories are...

Flying Bark bought by Belgians?

It appears what was once known as Yoram Gross Studios (now known as Flying Bark) in Camperdown (Sydney) then bought in error by EM (Germany) are now to be owned by Studio 100 (Belgium). A company that actually has a focus on children's entertainment!

The transaction is subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities in Germany and Austria, as well as the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (BLM) and the Commission on Concentration in the Media (KEK).

Incredible that EM are the group who bought the Jim Henson Company for $680 million and the Henson family later bought it back for $78 million three years later.

Disney forms kingdom comics to create graphic novels leading to film projects

In a supreme case of "oh, we get it now!" it seems that the hierarchy at the mouse house have spawned a new demon it seems. May be it will be something we can all look forward to rather than with the anticipation we all have for direct to DVD sequels of their animated features. Original stories would be great to read, if only they'd initiate what they used to do so well.

Investment in screenwriting

An issue foreseen by many has been that many of Australia's films are by writer/directors, something the industry it seems is trying to note that this is not a rule but an exception as there have been many successful writer/directors make it big commercially here.

One of the issues I see is that it has over the years created a lack of respect to both individual roles. Here is the full article from the Australian Writers' Guild

AWG article.

Star Wars - The Clone Wars

Star Wars Clone Wars is an animated CG film being released in to Cinema from August 2008. This fills the gap between Episode II and III respectively. It's heavily stylised and suitably fulfilling to the imagination and fans of the whole saga to date.

Not to be confused with the Clone Wars animated series that was done in traditional 2D style, this explores more of the story of Anakin during the Clone Wars. Jabba's son is taken hostage and Anakin and Obi Wan are off in chase of the Hutt's son.

The film release will shortly follow with the release of the 3D animated series for show on Cartoon Network. Interestingly, Fox are not distributing the film Warner Bros are.

From Flash to Toon Boom Studio

It's probably been a long time coming. I recall starting animations in Flash back when it was version 2 and I managed to trick getting version 3 from the supplier (I actually used it when it was called SmartSketch, but that's showing my age). At the time, it was a perfect and economic way to begin animating on a budget. And it had so many opportunities to develop cross platform and multiple media applications using the libraries built for production. But Flash had a downside I was always aware of, it wasn't being designed for animators. And to this day it has grown to become the behemoth of a program it is today, with so many bells and whistles it's mind blowing. Far from the days of simple animation and action scripting. It's now bloated with large MB's of unused indented applications. The new versions of Flash only introduce new bugs.

Time for change. Step in ...

Toon Boom Studio
It really does make a difference to have a program built by people who understand your needs and don't inflate the size of the application with unnecessary things. I made the decision to convert to using Toon Boom only recently as I found myself preparing to animate after a long break. The thought of going back to using Flash after such a time was daunting. The program has changed and the interface as well. I thought if I was going to have to train myself again, I'd rather make it for a change. So with the release of version 4 I decided to commit to learn and develop with Toon Boom Studio 4. Goodbye to the bugs of Flash. Hello to a world of animation software with support.

It has been an interesting time after receiving the software, the interface is staggering to get over and locating and familiarising myself with the whole animation process in a digital fashion with the program. I'll post some noticeable differences here shortly.

Back on deck

It's been a while since I last wrote on the blog, mainly because I changed Webhost and I hadn't prepared to transfer the MT files across. The other issue is that Movabletype underwent some major changes and in turn has stuffed me around. Finally after having to modify the code to MT, I've been able to get it all running again. Back to normal !

Digital lettering Comics

I wrote an article some time ago with Richard Starkings, it was an interview about himself and the coming of age of digital lettering in comics. Here is the unedited version of the article that appeared in the Australian Cartoonists’ Association magazine Inkspot #52. Here goes …

Lettering is a fine art form, one that can enhance the look of finished art. Some people didn’t find my lettering very appealing and I made the decision to use digital lettering and was criticized for it. I interviewed a well known industry letterer and founder of ComicBookFonts.com, Richard Starkings to find out more about fonts and lettering.

AFTRS - Screenwriting

Been occupied of recent doing a course at AFTRS. The Australian Film Television Radio School is a reputable location for producing and training some of Australia's talented entertainment industry heroes. So i'm proud to be in attendance at one of Australia's finest education facilities. I'll keep you posted on what my travels are like.

What kind of paper do you use

Frequently asked about what paper do I use, it's often answered with photocopying paper. I don't use any flash surface to draw upon. I just use whatever is cheapest and readily available to draw with. However I have recently changed to using 100gsm instead of 80gsm A4 paper. It's kind of heavier and smoother to draw on.

Paper sizing and weights has always been an issue as Australia uses the DIN international standard which is based on a single aspect ratio of the square root of two. Or for the layman it's the A4 sizing system. This has always created havoc as most instructional art books over the years have always referred to pounds or sizes we do not understand. England and North America are notorious for maintaining measures and sizing based on old imperial schemes. Apparently international standards aren't up to scratch for them (tongue in cheek). Hopefully the above links will help you translate weights and sizes and give you an understanding about the beginnings of the system. I had heard previously that the Chinese were actually the ones who developed the square root formula sizing, for use in origami or paper folding exercises.

Wookieepedia

You know i've seen some strange things on the internet. But has anyone ever thought of looking or researching Star Wars facts using Wookieepedia? I was actually trying to find some samples of the Star Wars webstrips. But alas, not even an example.

Have you ever wondered how Tom Hodges became a Lucasfilm-approved artist?

JK Rowling

I've just been watching a documentary on Ovation Channel called JK Rowling: Harry Potter and Me. I haven't seen this woman with a smile on her face. Such a shame that it seems she can't seem to be happy. And yet it has nothing to do with her success. There was a photo shown of her in a graduation gown from college with the downward smile, a depressive state. Her natural appearance seems to show such sadness on her face.

Some of the greatest modern talent has come from England. But there seem to be other connections that are shared from that talent. Depression is one of them. I sometimes wonder whether the environment or climate has been of some influence. So many seem to be attracted to England, and it has fascinating history and culture. But something in my mind tells me that there are other influences to the great minds that find their muse there.

I'd love to see her smile.

Seth Godin

The long, tough slog through mediocre-ville. To be the best, Seth Godin explains, you must concentrate your effort, push a little harder, commit a few more resources and leave mediocre to those willing to be average.

Once again he gives the most amazing advice in a simple and easy to follow manner.

The flight attendant

My flight was being served by an obviously gay flight attendant, who seemed to put everyone in a good mood as he served us food and drinks.

As the plane prepared to descend, he came swishing down the aisle and told us that "Captain ‘Hunk’ Marvey has asked me to announce that he'll be landing the big scary plane shortly, so lovely people, if you could just put your trays up, that would be sssuper."

On his trip back up the aisle, he noticed this well-dressed and rather Arabic looking woman hadn't moved a muscle. "Perhaps you didn't hear me over those big brute engines but I asked you to raise your trazy-poo, so the main man can pitty-pat us on the ground."

She calmly turned her head and said, "In my country, I am called a Princess and I take orders from no one."

To which the flight attendant replied, without missing a beat, "Well, sweet- cheeks, in my country I'm called a Queen, so I outrank you. Tray up Bitch."

Branson's Virgin Comics

Seldom heard about here in Australia, unless you have your ear close to the ground. But did you know about Virgin Comics?

Virgin Comics is creating original stories and epic myths for worldwide audiences. The company was founded in Nov. 2005 by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Enterprises Ltd., alongside author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and Gotham Ent. Group, South Asia's leading publisher of comic magazines. Among their titles are new comics and graphic novels: DEVI, RAMAYAN 3392 AD, WALK IN, JOHN WOO'S SEVEN BROTHERS and GUY RITCHIE'S GAMEKEEPER. Feature films based on virgin Comics' characters are also in the works: an animated feature, THE SECRETS OF THE SEVEN SOUNDS and THE SADHU with Nicolas Cage.

The first key to writing is

Visits to conferences, going to workshops, attending launches, networking in the local comic book store or just simply talking to a colleague. You always have the intention of just interacting, or with one thing in mind. And yet you come away with more than what you went for in the first place. Many times had I gone to a conference, given a talk at a conference or seminar with the intention of learning or teaching one thing. Yet I leave with something else. These are lessons that come well after school, after college, apprenticeships, training or even University. They're not full courses, they're a few sentences long. It feels like getting a mini degree in a matter of a few minutes.

Here's an example, and it's from a DVD I bought some time ago as I enjoyed it so much.

No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!
Sean Connery, Finding Forrester

Even a film can give you a mini degree. These few lines from the movie have provided me inspiration when i've needed the most.

Mac and Phones

A while ago I wrote about synching your Mac with your Mobile (Cell Phone). I thought I'd add an update as there have since been more reported success with new applications made. Here are a few sites you can get more information on it :

Salling Clicker
Romeo
Wired.com's article on mating a Mac with a Cell Phone

And as the domain sugggest :

Macncell.com

Dream on Silly Dreamer

Dream on Silly Dreamer is a Documentary about the death of Disney’s hand-drawn animated films. On March 25, 2002, 200 artists were told they were being replaced with computers and that Disney was going to follow the money instead of leading with tradition.

Disney investors annual reports 2006

It's always interesting reading the background information to a company so you know what you are dealing with. Here is an example for you to look at, Disney investors annual reports 2006. You're not going to get any gossip from it, but it's a read to sift through. If you're up to corporate politics you'll understand the financial position and gain they've had since Pixar and Steve Jobs came on board.