Because typing is always good therapy!
Here lies the residue of "The Animating Apothecary," a source of obscure ephemera and thoughts. Instagram? see - https://www.instagram.com/animating_apothecary/ also check out asifa.org and asifa.net - content (c) 2006-2026 Jim Middleton (一個古怪的老頭，總是揮舞著雙手，哈哈大笑。or -手を振りながらよく笑うクレイジーな老人 or 손을 흔들며 웃는 미친 노인 )
Showing posts with label International Animation Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Animation Day. Show all posts
Sunday, March 14, 2021
Thursday, May 07, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
ASIFA Central Notes - 22 February 2020
So IAD is coming in October, we have up to 15 international participants, a deadline of 1 June 2020, and what are the rambling notes to that effect?
Wooden Denture Day 2020 - Saturday group chat Google land, beginning at 3pm and running to about 3:45pm. 22 February 2020
Present: Jim and Brad, Deanna and Gretchen, Mike Long, Josh, Christine Veras, Steve Leeper in between storyboard discussions,
THE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT OF 2 MINUTES IN DURATION FOR THIS ASIFA YEAR OF ANIMATION
Think in terms of the Swiss IAD project, a 50 minute epic with various styles and stories linked by a common thread.
Great Recreation of an animation that was lost
In the past the through line was the poster…
Maybe a line connects us
To this day, a spoken word piece, poetry jam the Mi
To this day Shane Koyzan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa1iS1MqUy4
Think of a project that represents the region, but can be expanded to represent the interests of ASIFA internationally.
Food, music. Art - what is regional to us in the midwest? Tater tot hot dish?
Well, that brings up - Memories of food
While 2 minutes is short, it is also 4 tv commercials - the 2 minute limit is a strict limit, so if 120 seconds for ASIFA Central is the limit, and there are a dozen participants, that means each one will only get a 10 second spot to get the thought across.
Think of a Pot Luck - Pick Your Poison - MOVEABLE FEAST
A List of Notions
Theme and structure - In the past, we have used the poster, and this time we can go of on our own with the interconnection. (We don’t have access to the poster as yet)
We create a through-line (Steve L) - maybe it’s a literal line... Steve thinks of a film To This Day, Shane Koyzan (above) - spoken word artist, poetry jam - but the through line is provided by the spoken piece. Covers the gamut - it doesn’t matter, as long as the artist sticks to the soundtrack.
What’s it like to live in the midwest? (We’ll include Texas/Brazil in this - we are an extended family, this ASIFA central)
Potholes - Corn Cars and Cows...
The questions asked and we see the animated response.
At the end, the spoken and read words - a la Norman McLaren and the end of “Neighbors”
Recipes from the home land
Tater tot hot dish.... the food and how it’s made
Break it down into sequences - if we can get 12 sequences into the 2 minutes - 10 seconds each
Is there a common recipe? Corn?
Is a shared canvas a possibility - food to a dinner – and each one creates
With the ending being a long buffet of the individual sequences - can we run with a theme of a particular food?
5pm on March 7th - bring the ideas to THE TABLE!!!! Remember - It’s a hard two minute limit.
Distinctive, yet universal - so the local and the international ideas are satisfied!!!!
Steve: there is a poem by Christine Rosetti - what can I bring?
There is a wonderful spirit to that - at the end, we are serving up the film
Get links to applicable animation and poetry and add to the document -
Check out ASMR Korean animations
(an FYI for the benefit of your humble typist) ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) - noun - a feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.
"ASMR is triggered by things like whispering voices, paper tearing, and scalp massage"
(Check out Brad’s link to Swiss 50 minute piece) - (he has sent the link in an earlier email)
Again, back to food, 10 seconds each, straight visuals…?
Coney dogs, Moveable feast, shared feast, potluck
Links:
Corgi Christmas Feast (ASMR)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JszWL2IpCOA
Brazilian Animation, recreation of “O Kaiser”
https://vimeo.com/117124801
Georges Schwizgebel sequence at 50:50 video starts at 25min.
https://vimeo.com/294903960
PW: H****
(Shared by Brad on the email)
Wooden Denture Day 2020 - Saturday group chat Google land, beginning at 3pm and running to about 3:45pm. 22 February 2020
Present: Jim and Brad, Deanna and Gretchen, Mike Long, Josh, Christine Veras, Steve Leeper in between storyboard discussions,
THE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT OF 2 MINUTES IN DURATION FOR THIS ASIFA YEAR OF ANIMATION
Think in terms of the Swiss IAD project, a 50 minute epic with various styles and stories linked by a common thread.
Great Recreation of an animation that was lost
In the past the through line was the poster…
Maybe a line connects us
To this day, a spoken word piece, poetry jam the Mi
To this day Shane Koyzan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa1iS1MqUy4
Think of a project that represents the region, but can be expanded to represent the interests of ASIFA internationally.
Food, music. Art - what is regional to us in the midwest? Tater tot hot dish?
Well, that brings up - Memories of food
While 2 minutes is short, it is also 4 tv commercials - the 2 minute limit is a strict limit, so if 120 seconds for ASIFA Central is the limit, and there are a dozen participants, that means each one will only get a 10 second spot to get the thought across.
Think of a Pot Luck - Pick Your Poison - MOVEABLE FEAST
A List of Notions
Theme and structure - In the past, we have used the poster, and this time we can go of on our own with the interconnection. (We don’t have access to the poster as yet)
We create a through-line (Steve L) - maybe it’s a literal line... Steve thinks of a film To This Day, Shane Koyzan (above) - spoken word artist, poetry jam - but the through line is provided by the spoken piece. Covers the gamut - it doesn’t matter, as long as the artist sticks to the soundtrack.
What’s it like to live in the midwest? (We’ll include Texas/Brazil in this - we are an extended family, this ASIFA central)
Potholes - Corn Cars and Cows...
The questions asked and we see the animated response.
At the end, the spoken and read words - a la Norman McLaren and the end of “Neighbors”
Recipes from the home land
Tater tot hot dish.... the food and how it’s made
Break it down into sequences - if we can get 12 sequences into the 2 minutes - 10 seconds each
Is there a common recipe? Corn?
Is a shared canvas a possibility - food to a dinner – and each one creates
With the ending being a long buffet of the individual sequences - can we run with a theme of a particular food?
5pm on March 7th - bring the ideas to THE TABLE!!!! Remember - It’s a hard two minute limit.
Distinctive, yet universal - so the local and the international ideas are satisfied!!!!
Steve: there is a poem by Christine Rosetti - what can I bring?
There is a wonderful spirit to that - at the end, we are serving up the film
Get links to applicable animation and poetry and add to the document -
Check out ASMR Korean animations
(an FYI for the benefit of your humble typist) ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) - noun - a feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.
"ASMR is triggered by things like whispering voices, paper tearing, and scalp massage"
(Check out Brad’s link to Swiss 50 minute piece) - (he has sent the link in an earlier email)
Again, back to food, 10 seconds each, straight visuals…?
Coney dogs, Moveable feast, shared feast, potluck
Links:
Corgi Christmas Feast (ASMR)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JszWL2IpCOA
Brazilian Animation, recreation of “O Kaiser”
https://vimeo.com/117124801
Georges Schwizgebel sequence at 50:50 video starts at 25min.
https://vimeo.com/294903960
PW: H****
(Shared by Brad on the email)
Saturday, March 09, 2019
Really Rough Pencil tests
Experiment with importing, exporting, and editing - using inexpensive and outdated software, knock-off technology and wrinkled, yellowing tracing paper, because after all, I'm cheap.... an upcoming group project in the guise of an AniJam.
Version #1:
Work process:
The original image is a painting, on canvas, that has been roughed out in 3D for a 10 sequence template. This permits a right-to-left tracking shot for the project.
It was provided as an mp4, with a 1920x1080 resolution.
I wanted to make the contribution a 2D animation, so.... some work-arounds....
In keeping with my habit of doing things in the most convoluted, irrational method possible with outdated technology, I was able to dissect the animation template provided by inputting it into Sony Vegas (v14, I kept that somewhat up to date), then exporting it as sequential images in four formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, just to have all bases covered), then importing those images into (gasp) FLASH CS3 to build a reference layer. In effect, a panning motion rotoscope.
My use of FLASH these days is not to build a "Flash Animation," but rather, to construct the animated sequences for input into Vegas or some other video editor (I have used Premiere in the past, but it went a bit wonky on its codec, a problem that has reportedly been corrected from Those Who Know Better, but I'm at a stage where my time is spent more in doing instead of twiddling....)
An additional layer atop that was created, with the intention of drawing my 3-second sequence as a test using an "Artist 12" digital tablet.
The tablet worked well, at least for the higher-resolution FLASH environment the project required. The FLASH pencil tool was used for this portion of the project.
Scribble time - about 90 minutes.
The under-neath, background later will be removed on completion, to create a "green screen" with an export of the Flash sequence as a series of 1920 x 1080 images. That'll go to the ASIFA coordinator for assembly,
And, after this, ready to collapse by 9pm, such a party animal am I!
Test #2 - first clean up
And, finally with some more detail and color:
And, some more details while experimenting with color splashing at the end:
And some more details:
And some background tests for the second sequence --
After this, time to shuffle frames, adjust timing, and do a Photoshop run on the drawings....
Well, there are ALWAYS retakes, you know....
Like this one, so Andrew Z's segment doesn't get obliterated....
Version #1:
The original image is a painting, on canvas, that has been roughed out in 3D for a 10 sequence template. This permits a right-to-left tracking shot for the project.
It was provided as an mp4, with a 1920x1080 resolution.
I wanted to make the contribution a 2D animation, so.... some work-arounds....
In keeping with my habit of doing things in the most convoluted, irrational method possible with outdated technology, I was able to dissect the animation template provided by inputting it into Sony Vegas (v14, I kept that somewhat up to date), then exporting it as sequential images in four formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, just to have all bases covered), then importing those images into (gasp) FLASH CS3 to build a reference layer. In effect, a panning motion rotoscope.
My use of FLASH these days is not to build a "Flash Animation," but rather, to construct the animated sequences for input into Vegas or some other video editor (I have used Premiere in the past, but it went a bit wonky on its codec, a problem that has reportedly been corrected from Those Who Know Better, but I'm at a stage where my time is spent more in doing instead of twiddling....)
An additional layer atop that was created, with the intention of drawing my 3-second sequence as a test using an "Artist 12" digital tablet.
The tablet worked well, at least for the higher-resolution FLASH environment the project required. The FLASH pencil tool was used for this portion of the project.
Scribble time - about 90 minutes.
The under-neath, background later will be removed on completion, to create a "green screen" with an export of the Flash sequence as a series of 1920 x 1080 images. That'll go to the ASIFA coordinator for assembly,
And, after this, ready to collapse by 9pm, such a party animal am I!
Test #2 - first clean up
And, finally with some more detail and color:
And, some more details while experimenting with color splashing at the end:
And some more details:
And this should be "it" - 18 May, 2019
Well, there are ALWAYS retakes, you know....
Like this one, so Andrew Z's segment doesn't get obliterated....
And, for the final product, assembled by the phenomenal W. Brad Yarhouse, here is the Vimeo link to cut and paste:
https://vimeo.com/350186551
or click on the bit of linkery below!
Vimeo Link to ASIFA Central AniJam for 2019
Or a dumbed-down mp4 version that may play below:
or click on the bit of linkery below!
Vimeo Link to ASIFA Central AniJam for 2019
Or a dumbed-down mp4 version that may play below:
Wednesday, February 06, 2019
ASIFA Central Meeting Notes - 4 February 2019
ASIFA Board Agenda and Meeting - February 4, 2019, a Conference Call Collossus!
Chatting up a storm, after a storm, waiting for the thermal inversions to make a mockery of Monday moodiness and frigid fiasca. Bleary-eyed participants dialed in at 8pm, Monday, February 4.
A proper communion of puppetry began the celebration of new home ownership, knotty pines, radiation survival, and film stripping.
Present: Deanna, Gretchen, Julie (her first time as setting up!), Chuck, Chris, Brad, Bob S, and some half-blind pharmacist in Battle Creek
Topics:
ASIFA IAD Central Review
From 50 attendants in 2017 to 125 in 2018; from 2 screening sites in 2017 to 7 in 2018. 26 chapters participated in the IAD, and 15 chapters exchanged film reels for the occasion. By 2020, ASIFA Central will spread animation to all corners of the globe! Well, a globe by definition doesn’t really have any corners, does it? That would be squaring the circle, which ignores pi, and a culture that ignores pi can only find culture in yogurt, which is not an ideal animation medium.
President Brad has been musing on the timing for future IAD showings, namely by pulling submission deadlines to the first of June, with this first challenge representing a best of compilation from the hours of material on the 15 programs already exchanged by the international chapters. Then, by 2020, the reset schedule should allow for plenty of programming without the current concerns about last minute arrangements, which can contribute to a low level of animator and audience participation.
The new! Improving! ASIFA Website has some needs, mainly technical, with challenges on viewing the site based on the browser used (clipping on Firefox, trimming on Opera, and who knows what Netscape thinks of it). Julie is working on links, Jim is prepping some mp3s to flood the fields of public domain (1924 - “Rhapsody in Blue” is up for grabs, and how one can salivate...), until then, some nice Edison masters of Felix Arndt. Brad is working on the main header for the site.
And an earlier release of the IAD poster can improve participation (and again, reduce the rushed sense of wrapping up rapt contributions). This year, Saturday February 23 begins ANI-JAM 19! The Grand Rapids Community Media Center will host, or members can participate via SKYPE at 1:00 EST.
Brad offered the following notes for the ANI-JAM:
Crazy idea 1: Proliferation and exuberance of life!
Pitch: The landscape constantly scrolls belching out strange bugs till the last bug (the one on the poster appears)
Rules ideas:
One person creates the rolling landscape (it just scrolls)
The amount of landscape depends on the number of participants.
Each person gets a copy of their portion of the rolling landscape. The landscape scrolls 3 sec per person
Each person can make the animated belching bug volcanos act as they desire but the must keep moving at the same pace and match up with the next segment of the scroll. In other words during the 3 seconds, much can happen but the landscape must move consistently to the pace that you were given, and your end volcanos and holes must match the start of the next volcanos and holes.
You can interpret the scrolling landscape in other mediums keeping consistent colors and basic shapes. (stop-motion, 3D, paint, etc.)
Within your 3 seconds you can go wild with creative insects
animators can combine their segments to make larger segments and have interaction between their bugs and interpretations of the world
Specifics will be worked out before the 23rd day of February gets nibbled away.
Deanna Morse also let slip that she is one of four new ASIFA International vice presidents. She discussed her projects for the newly repurposed website, with US chapter profiles, overviews of ASIFA prize recipients for the past 20 years, and a celebration of ASIFA’s 60th anniversary. Deanna wants writers to sharpen their pencils on behalf of the projects, offering prize money to stimulate the process. April submissions with September deadlines for those projects. Deanna and Brad will continue discussions between ASIFA Central conference calls.
Here is her official "release" -
Elected (re-elected) as a V.P. for ASIFA International, 3 year term. Working with Sayoko Kinoshita (President, Japan), VPs: Johnchill Li (China), Mohamed Ghazala (Egypt), Thomas Rendolder (Austria), and the many ASIFA chapter representatives around the globe. Working for peace and mutual understanding, connecting through our shared love of the art of animation. Celebrating 60 years in 2020 for this organization.
And a preliminary discussion for this year’s ASIFA Central retreat focused on St. Louis, Missouri for the location, with details being sent “to committee” for the next meeting. A July 20 weekend is being proposed for the retreat, to allow for scheduling access to other summer events. We understand St. Louis in July is a specialized treat for those who enjoy heat and humidity on a professional scale. RETREAT Committee: Chris, Gretchen, Bob; with details by next meeting
ASIFA Central is a non-profit group, and as a non-profit, members may be able to take advantage of certain special considerations for software access and promotional partnerships. Nina Paley’s creative-commons “Seder Masochism” is certainly worthy of an afternoon showing and discussion in its own right.
The Ann Arbor film festival is also slated for March 26-31, with at least one major session concentrating on animation, with other films being scattered among the competitors. Other local retreats were discussed, based on availability of material, topics, and creators. Those, too, went into a committee for consideration.
Jim Middleton
ASFIA Central Secretary
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Anijam tests for IAD '18
The Poster Challenge:
First of all, to have a poster challenge, you need a poster:
Then take an asisgnment:
The task is to morph between two sets of eyes for this year's poster. Set #17 goes to #1.
First of all, to have a poster challenge, you need a poster:
Then take an asisgnment:
The task is 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...
And now with the final frames, for the background...
Press Release Notes:
ASIFA Central - IAD October Project and Poster
The eyes have it - 18 visions gaze upon the viewer, just as the viewer is drawn to the variety of imagined expressions they represent. Rene Castillo of ASIFA Mexico, along with nine other animators at his Mandaraka studios, created these emotions, frozen in time, practically begging for life beyond their storyboarded existence.
Castillo noted that “every animator has a unique and personal point of view, with different styles, techniques, themes, colors... if we celebrate world animation, we must celebrate the diversity of looks.”
With this philosophy, he created his poster celebrating International Animation Day, expressing passion he has embraced since a serious auto accident gave him appreciation for the brevity of life. Better to mold life into clay than a life of molded management.
ASIFA Central in the United States took Castillo’s vision one step further, molding each image into an animated continuum. Their Anijam project will be completed in time to present at its August retreat in Grand Rapids.
Le fin, enfin:
...and the whole thing, assembled by the MASTER, R. Brad Yarhouse:
And an animated gif test on the first frame for background layering...
And, blending the first second or so...
And now with the final frames, for the background...
Unassembled frames, waiting for layering and final edit to a 3 second opus:
Press Release Notes:
ASIFA Central - IAD October Project and Poster
The eyes have it - 18 visions gaze upon the viewer, just as the viewer is drawn to the variety of imagined expressions they represent. Rene Castillo of ASIFA Mexico, along with nine other animators at his Mandaraka studios, created these emotions, frozen in time, practically begging for life beyond their storyboarded existence.
Castillo noted that “every animator has a unique and personal point of view, with different styles, techniques, themes, colors... if we celebrate world animation, we must celebrate the diversity of looks.”
With this philosophy, he created his poster celebrating International Animation Day, expressing passion he has embraced since a serious auto accident gave him appreciation for the brevity of life. Better to mold life into clay than a life of molded management.
ASIFA Central in the United States took Castillo’s vision one step further, molding each image into an animated continuum. Their Anijam project will be completed in time to present at its August retreat in Grand Rapids.
Le fin, enfin:
...and the whole thing, assembled by the MASTER, R. Brad Yarhouse:
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