Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Environmental Film Festival
I've been to the wonderful Environmental Film Festival 2 other times and always enjoyed myself. This year I was invited again to show all my most recent work.
It was one of those beautiful spring days -- the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the tourists were on a rampage. I had a big crowd at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Springs, Maryland. Afterwords they all wanted to talk about my revitalization of Winsor McCay's "The Flying House".
Later I got a tour of Washington DC in its prime in a Chevy Volt -- they were one of the sponsors of the festival, obviously because of its green energy powered battery engine.
On Saturday, Sandrine and I had a free day to explore, and even though the weather sucked, we were able to visit Congress, the National Gallery of Art, and the Air Space Museum.
I was particularly interested in the National Gallery of Art -- terrific work by Ed Hopper, Edward Hicks, Andrew Wyeth, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Jacques Louis David, and Van Gogh. There was also a great exhibition of Picasso's very early work when he was a teen that puts my early work to shame.
I hope to visit the National Gallery again, but next time spend some quality time with the paintings.
I give the Environmental FF a green B+.
It was one of those beautiful spring days -- the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the tourists were on a rampage. I had a big crowd at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Springs, Maryland. Afterwords they all wanted to talk about my revitalization of Winsor McCay's "The Flying House".
Later I got a tour of Washington DC in its prime in a Chevy Volt -- they were one of the sponsors of the festival, obviously because of its green energy powered battery engine.
On Saturday, Sandrine and I had a free day to explore, and even though the weather sucked, we were able to visit Congress, the National Gallery of Art, and the Air Space Museum.
I was particularly interested in the National Gallery of Art -- terrific work by Ed Hopper, Edward Hicks, Andrew Wyeth, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Jacques Louis David, and Van Gogh. There was also a great exhibition of Picasso's very early work when he was a teen that puts my early work to shame.
I hope to visit the National Gallery again, but next time spend some quality time with the paintings.
I give the Environmental FF a green B+.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Lee Ho Ryon..
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Cortoons Festival
As much as I've traveled, I'd never visited Rome the Eternal City. I've been to Italy 10 times but never seen the sights of the home of the Roman Empire. So when I got the invitation to do a master class there, I began packing my bags.
I was met at the Rome airport by Alessandro, the head of the 9 year old festival. He's a great guy, and was justly proud of the fact that the festival takes no government money -- it's truly an independent, like me.
They held the festival in a wonderful old cinema from the Mussolini era. The large deco theater was packed with 600 adoring fans for my show. It seems it's very difficult to be an animator in Italy -- apparently Berlusconi is not so hot for animation. Consequently, a lot of young artists move to France, or the States.
On my day off, Alessandro and Noemi took me for a grand tour of Circus Maximus and the Colosseum. The ruins were truly magnificent.
The closing ceremonies were a lot of fun. All the films were excellent. But Alessandro stated that there was a problem with the submissions -- too many dark, depressing films. So come on all you funny Americans, send all those hilarious shorts to Cortoons in Roma -- the Italians are waiting!
I give the Cortoons Festival a B+.
I was met at the Rome airport by Alessandro, the head of the 9 year old festival. He's a great guy, and was justly proud of the fact that the festival takes no government money -- it's truly an independent, like me.
They held the festival in a wonderful old cinema from the Mussolini era. The large deco theater was packed with 600 adoring fans for my show. It seems it's very difficult to be an animator in Italy -- apparently Berlusconi is not so hot for animation. Consequently, a lot of young artists move to France, or the States.
On my day off, Alessandro and Noemi took me for a grand tour of Circus Maximus and the Colosseum. The ruins were truly magnificent.
The closing ceremonies were a lot of fun. All the films were excellent. But Alessandro stated that there was a problem with the submissions -- too many dark, depressing films. So come on all you funny Americans, send all those hilarious shorts to Cortoons in Roma -- the Italians are waiting!
I give the Cortoons Festival a B+.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
John Carter
I've known Andrew Stanton since his early days at Pixar-- he and John Lasseter, the late Joe Ranft, and Pete Docter would show up at various festivals with their award winning shorts.
Obviously, I loved his feature work for Pixar. "Wall-E" and "Finding Nemo" are both fantastic films, so I was very excited when I heard he was tackling the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs story "John Carter of Mars".
However, I kept hearing nasty rumors that the production was having problems -- re-editing, rewriting and such. I decided to go out and see it for myself the opening weekend.
Well it's a beautiful film, with fun action scenes and great visuals. My only problem was that it was too much sword and sorcery. All these magical emblems and glowing amulets and glowing erector set body appendages. I like whimsy and fantasy in my films but I didn't really see the need for all the hocus pocus. The characters and story were interesting enough without all the abracadabra.
The unfortunate issue of the film is that it cost a quarter of a billion dollars (plus another 100 million for marketing) and the reviews have not been good. It looks like the film will be a box office disaster, which is not good for Andrew. My prayer is that he'll return to Pixar and continue making terrific animated films.
I myself also had a very rough time with live action -- "J. Lyle" and "Guns on the Clackamas" were box office disasters. So I'm happily back in my comfort zone creating animated shorts and features.
My review for John Carter is a C+.
Obviously, I loved his feature work for Pixar. "Wall-E" and "Finding Nemo" are both fantastic films, so I was very excited when I heard he was tackling the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs story "John Carter of Mars".
However, I kept hearing nasty rumors that the production was having problems -- re-editing, rewriting and such. I decided to go out and see it for myself the opening weekend.
Well it's a beautiful film, with fun action scenes and great visuals. My only problem was that it was too much sword and sorcery. All these magical emblems and glowing amulets and glowing erector set body appendages. I like whimsy and fantasy in my films but I didn't really see the need for all the hocus pocus. The characters and story were interesting enough without all the abracadabra.
The unfortunate issue of the film is that it cost a quarter of a billion dollars (plus another 100 million for marketing) and the reviews have not been good. It looks like the film will be a box office disaster, which is not good for Andrew. My prayer is that he'll return to Pixar and continue making terrific animated films.
I myself also had a very rough time with live action -- "J. Lyle" and "Guns on the Clackamas" were box office disasters. So I'm happily back in my comfort zone creating animated shorts and features.
My review for John Carter is a C+.
João Ruas.. a new inspiration..
Stumbled upon João Ruas's work today.. too many images to post! There's an overall tranquility that I love at work here.. it's like that silence when you're sleeping.. roaring silence.. too far? Enjoy.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Niels Kalk..
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