Channel Frederator Blog

When you’re busy animating your character, it is easy to get absorbed by the main action of the scene. You should also pay attention to the things that follow your main action. Things like ears, tails, loose fitting clothing, and long hair are all excellent examples of places where you will have some overlapping action and follow through.

A great example of this principle would be Goofy’s ears and vest. Have a look at the above short, Mickey’s Trailer. Have a closer look at Goofy’s ears from 2:09 - 2:15. Do you see how they lag behind the motion of his head, with their motion overlapping the action of his head? These are the types of things that can really help sell the physical properties of the thing you are trying to animate. How heavy is your object? What is it made out of? What type of setting is it in? [Read more…]

Masstransiscope has been restored! And if you ride the NYC subway, you should go see it.

Bill Brand’s Masstransiscope was installed in the abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, New York in September 1980. It has been seen by millions of commuters for over twenty-five years. The 228 hand-painted panels are viewed through a series of vertical slits set into a specially constructed housing. The piece works on the principle of the Zoetrope, a 19th century optical toy.

Basically, it is a series of paintings that are animated by the movement of passing trains. Creator Bill Brand also makes experimental films and video. His site is here.

To observe the beauty, take the B or Q train from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The Masstransiscope will be visible between the DeKalb Avenue stop and Manhattan. (I enjoyed seeing it every day for about a year when I worked in a jewelry factory out in Sunset Park. That, [Read more…]

This excerpt from Mars and Beyond is one of the oddest cartoon sequences ever produced by Disney. A bizarre bevy of fantastic and imaginative Martians cavort in a speculative exploration of what might lurk on Mars. Too bad it didn’t turn out that way; I’d be first in line to visit if these silly creatures were actually in residence. The animation was aired in 1957 and directed by Ward Kimball.

The entire program is available on the DVD set Walt Disney Treasures - Tomorrowland: Disney in Space and Beyond.

And for a timely connection: check out this great piece of Ward Kimball Martian art which is up for auction in February at Heritage Auction.

—Anne D. Bernstein

Calling all animators!

Channel Frederator is hosting a 2-second animation contest for Saint Patrick’s Day. We want your stop-motion, flash, cartoons, flip books, or any other kind of animation to help us celebrate the day of Irish green cheer. We’ll be featuring the best submissions in our Saint Patrick’s Day episode on March 17th.
One lucky winner will receive a Nintendo DS!

[Read more…]

Joel Trussell has been a long-time contributor to Channel Frederator. In fact, Joel’s film War Photographer was in the second episode to ever air! Every time we show one of his shorts we get a great response. This month, you guys really did your duty!

Joel’s animated music video for Morcheeba’s “Enjoy the Ride” is the winner of our January Cartoon of the Month prize, which means that out of all of the cartoons to run in December, you guys voted his the very best. Because of you, Joel will receive a totally awesome $100 prize pack of extra special Cartoon of the Month Channel Frederator merchandise.

I asked Joel a few questions about the making of the video. Check it out after the jump, and don’t forget to get voting on next month’s Cartoon of the Month! [Read more…]

Emily Hubley’s new animation-and-live-action film The Toe Tactic will be screened tonight at MOMA at 6 PM—it’s the theatrical premiere of her first full-length feature! Other showings are Thursday at 8, Friday at 4, and Saturday at 2, Sunday at 3, Monday at 5. The impressive voice cast includes Eli Wallach, Marian Seldes, Andrea Martin, Mary Kay Place, David Cross, Kevin Corrigan and young Lily Rabe (daughter of actress Jill Clayburgh and playwright David Rabe.) Score by Yo La Tengo. FREE for MOMA members. $10 for non-members.

Mona Peek is a young woman engulfed by loss. Her father recently passed away, her wallet disappears, and she is isolated from those around her. Her life, and the lives of her neighbors, are manipulated by four capricious dogs playing a game of cards. Winsome newcomer Lily Rabe interacts with animated forms that push, pull, and caress the film’s flesh-and-blood cohabitants through a journey of renewal.

After the jump, hear a radio interview with Emily Hubley… [Read more…]

Alexander Blue recently created a series of characters and illustrations that were turned into animation for a corporate Coca Cola event in Buenos Aires. The artwork was commissioned by the South American ad agency Gazz. The illustrations were then animated by the agency’s design team into a final 2-minute short called “Vivir Postitivamente” (Live Positively). Eventually, the animation should pop up on the Coca Cola Argentina website, but for now you can view it at the Magnet Reps site on this page.

PS: Alexander Blue is a artistic alter-ego for illustrator Nate Williams. To learn more, check out this Communication Arts interview or his Drawger Page.

—Anne D. Bernstein

The 3rd Pictoplasma Conference, Berlin will be held in March 2009. They are accepting entries for the animation portion of the festival right now!

We are continuously on the search for fresh and convincing character design out there in the world of moving images! If you are responsible for high-grade characters in animation, narration, music visuals or motion graphics, please don’t hesitate to share them with us.

Go here to enter. Hurry! The deadline is January 22nd.

The city of Berlin will host exhibits and other special events related to the conference:

In March and April, this multidisciplinary event location will be transformed into a character biotope and a meeting point for an international scene of designers, artists, producers and an interested public. At the heart of the festival is an exhibition which explores the huge diversity of the character universe, where artists remix and sample, condense the surreal and uncanny, inflate all [Read more…]

New York Comicon (February 6-9 at The Javits Center) has posted most of its schedule and here are some top events for animation addicts. (Just my own personal picks. Complete schedule here.)

Friday 3:15-4:15: WILDBRAIN: Head of Creative Bob Higgins, CMO Mike Polis, and some artists showcase W!LDBRAIN’s animation work, including Yo Gabba Gabba!

Friday 4:45-5:45: SUPERJAIL: Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick, the creators and executive producers “speak about the most intense, violent, and complicated jail in the universe.”

Friday 8:39-10:30: WONDER WOMAN: Big screen premiere. Panel with Bruce Timm and some stars after the film.

Saturday 1:45-2:45: MARVEL ANIMATION: Iconic heroes; you know the drill. Wolverine and Iron Man become Nicktoons. A Black Panther show for BET. Thor is awarded his own animated series. Get yer hype here!

Saturday 1:45-2:45: ROBOT CHICKEN: Can you believe this is up against the Marvel event? The weird folk (I mean, cool people) will be in attendance.

Saturday 4:00-5:00: J.J. SEDELMAIER: With Howard [Read more…]

The Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco (655 Mission Street) has just announced that it will present an exhibition of original artwork from the feature film Coraline from January 24-February 15.

“The exhibition features drawings, storyboards, puppets, sets, costumes and more from this groundbreaking movie, the first ever stop-motion animated film to be shot in 3D…this exhibit includes almost 80 pieces from the extraordinary world of Coraline, created by a team of over 300 artists bringing to life the vision of the world’s foremost stop-motion animation director, Henry Selick.”

For more on Coraline, you can check out the official website. (The image above is from a cool collection of behind-the-scenes stills on that site.) The movie opens February 6th, so the CAM exhibit will make for a great sneak peek.

Here are few other interesting museum shows in SF this month (not about animation, just generally cool):

1000 Journals at SFMOMA

Harlem of the West at the [Read more…]