Anijam tests for IAD '18

The task it to morph between two sets of eyes for this year's poster.  Set #17 goes to #1.

The tests are ....

#1 - 11 drawings to check for color balance and registration, run through Sony Vegas, looped front to back, shot on twos.

And an animated gif test on the first frame for background layering...

And, blending the first second or so...

Typing on a Manual Anything....

Presenting the opportunity to hash out random noggin noises, a typewriter is faster than legible handwritten notes — and creates an immediate, organic record, without interruption for “improvement.” It allows me to argue with my thoughts instead of those of an algorithm-designed program.
These gatherings allow for tactile experimentation – perhaps an unusual example will become a new extension of these fingertips. We all become percussion performers in the process.

 At work...

On the road...

 With Oswald

With a beer...remember, write drunk but edit sober...

ASIFA Central and Green Screen Frolix

June 9, 2018 - a rainy afternoon in Grand Rapids, with streets flooding in Battle Creek, and orange pumpkins heading to Singapore.  That calls for some video experimentation:

Part One - Melies as Mentor

Part Two - Koko Kicks Krazy

 Some guy with an old T-shirt and bad color sense

 Things quickly became surreal

 New guard, old glasses...

 A virtual Gary... we had to take a picture

Avatars abounding

ASIFA Central and IAD Anijam Concept - for discussion on June 9 2018

From our noble ASIFA Central President, Brad Yarhouse:

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to get your opinion on the ANI-JAM event happening this week. I am wondering about having the event be a starter for the jam. Those who want to gather locally can come to the Community Media Center, those who wish to Skype in remotely can connect with us there. We announce the ANI-JAM theme, goal, and elements and discuss among the participants the how to share files, whose piece links to whose, and then the participants go off to work on their segments. 

Here is the Theme and particulars:

The theme will be based on the IAD 18 poster which will be revealed on Friday this week. The poster is made up of a series of images of characters faces in extreme closeup with different expressions. Each face is done in a different style of animation. For the ANI-JAM each participant will be organized with a start expression and an end expression that links up with another persons start or end expression. The execution and interpretation of the expressions will be solely up to the participants. Which expressions and who does what will be determined at the start of the jam. Each participant has 3 seconds to animate their expression transforming to the other expression through whatever means they determine. A click track for the beat will be provided, a final soundtrack will be custom created by a member, I am hoping to get Andrew Zesiger, a recent KCAD graduate to do the music, but there could be others. 

The pieces would be due on July 1st, the debut of the completed jam would be at our Retreat. The completed jam would be used as a proof of concept for the other chapters in ASIFA to create their own ANI-JAMS that could be used as openings to IAD or as interstices between films on IAD. 

SO, this Saturday’s event would be less about making something during the event and more about launching the event. The core goal of the event (in my opinion) is to get animators from throughout our wide region connected and working together. The hope is that this would seed and lead to other collaborations.

What do you all think?

Brad

(watch this space for updates after Saturday's gathering...)

The assignments have been assigned - the challenge is presented!  Let the morphing (not morphine) begin!

ASIFA Central August Retreat Planning Notes

A Charge Towards a Retreat - Organizational Meeting Notes

ASIFA Central Subcommittee on Retreats and Elegant Corpses

Phone Conference Call/Zoom: Steve Leeper, Jim Middleton (secty), and Gary Schwartz

Wednesday, May 30, 2018:  8-9pm

Steve and Jim coordinated the general outline, Gary was able to call in during the latter portions of the Zoom experience and contributed several options on workshop activities.  Bob and Gretchen were unable to phone in, so specifics were tabled to our next meeting time, TBA.

The Autumnal Retreat:
Location: Grand Rapids
Dates: Saturday, August 11 and Sunday August 12, 2018

Proposed Outline:
Saturday, August 11
11am - rousing, stretching, arriving at the theatrical location with snacks in hand for general consumption and minimizing distractions due to hypoglycemia
Opening remarks by Brad Yarhouse, ASIFA Central President - let the mayhem BEGIN!

Noon - 3pm
Workshop
Specifics depending on spaces and material - Notions from Gary include, but are not limited to:
metamorphosis, meat puppetry, sand, exquisite corpsing/Anijamming, paper collage, shadow puppets, white boarding with dry erasery, and lip sychronism. 
The thought of animating food, possibly the result of hypoglycemia, brought up a Movable Feast, or Paschkemation, idea - as a Michigan tribute to Hemingway

3pm-5/5:30pm
Show and Tell, aka “Whatever the Hell We Just Made” (official ASIFA Central Sanctioned Term)
Beginning with the fruits of paschkemation and the workshop, moving to individual show and tell projects, with liberal time for not just the showing of, but the How It Was Done - what software, what production pipeline, what elaborate ruse for obtaining adequate funding was necessary...
Exhausted from the experience, this calls for

5/5:30pm - 7pm
FOOD - on one’s own recognizances - such a variety, perhaps a deli, perhaps a bag of pork rinds

7pm - the end of the night as we know it
Ottawa showreel - Steve may be able to obtain, Jim will be glad to provide funding for the bootleggery

Sunday, August 12
Exhausted from animation and food, the only recourse for Sunday will be –
an 11am barbeque - perhaps with leftovers of Paschkemation!

Jim will provide Steve with meeting notes, to be shared with rest of committee and other interested parties for input and comment.

Linkage test between sites

Just a test to see if blogger connects with this creaky website.  It is a Flash animation, so a Flash player is needed to view it in all its glitchy glory:


http://animatingapothecary.com/SWF%20Animation/AVIANFLUInternet.html


And that, is that...

1940 - Night time CBS comes to Kalamazoo

After nearly a decade on the air in Kalamazoo, WKZO was granted evening broadcast permission in 1940 - and they produced this memento to celebrate.  CBS came to western Michigan!

Edward R. Murrow, a very young Eric Sevareid, Conrad Nagle, Helen Hayes, Kate Smith, Dale Evans, Amos and Andy, and Gene Autry crackled forth with high fidelity and 1000 watts of broadcast power!