Saturday Inspiration: Joao Ruas

Joao Ruas needs little introduction, his primarily figurative paintings speak louder than anything I could write in form of praise. To say his content is interesting and his technique is quality would be massive understatements. One of the many elements of his work that stand out to me are his color choices.. for example above, the calculated use of red within a monochromatic piece, gives it life and mystery.. it doesn't let go of the viewer. Enjoy.. wussies.

New Studio..

A bit of a personal blog entry for today... After the premiere last June of "Masks" I spent my time building an animation/painting studio behind my house in Montauk, NY. I think that separation of church and state is key when it comes to your life and art.. and I didn't like my work stuff being in my living space. I now have a new respect for any type of builder, it is just so much more difficult than I could have imagined.. but.. it's pretty much done now. My highlights were figuring how to do the electric (i'm still so happy that the light came on when i flicked the switch the first time), learning how to frame ceilings and floors, hanging doors, insulation, etc... and finally creating special storage for the thousands of drawings that I have from my films.Above, I made a series of shelves out of scrap wood, and they came out pretty good.
New place above for my film prints, art supplies and sketchbooks. I built the place specifically to avoid humidity damaging artwork and film. Below, new home for one of my last "columns".

Moving in, above, I positioned my light table facing the wall, AWAY from looking at the water. We'll see if I can actually get any work done in this new place. later geeks.

Idiots' Diary #4

I've narrowed my list of available NYC indie cinemas to 2: IFC Center and Cinema Village. Both are quite good and have a history of showing animated films.

I've done a number of events at the IFC Center; they showed a bunch of my shorts before features. Also, I did a very successful Don Hertzfeldt and Bill Plympton show there as well as a special “Night with Bill Plympton” where I screened “Hair High” and bunch of my shorts. Just two months ago, Signe Baumann and I did an extremely successful “Animated Battle of the Sexes” show/competition there, too, so I have good memories of the theater.

Cinema Village has also been a big supporter of my films. My Sci-Fi film “Mutant Aliens” premiered there to a good crowd, and they've also screened a lot of my shorts with compilations such as “Tournes of Animation” and “The Animation Show” by Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt.

Both theaters seemed interested in “Idiots & Angels”, so I sent each booker a screener of the film plus the great reviews it got from Variety and The Village Voice. My plan, and I do have a plan, everybody should have a plan, is this: It plays to good reviews and crowds in NYC, then it opens in LA to ESPECIALLY good response. I will open the film with my brand new short “The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger” and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be so blown away by my extreme talent and the wonderful box office that the film is reaping that they'll be forced to nominate both films for Oscars. Now how cool is that? I don't think it's ever been done in the history of the Academy, that the same person gets nominated for directing both a short and a feature film in the same year. If you know of anyone who has please let me know – I'd love to find out.

In my next installment, you will find out the cinema in NYC that is going to premier “Idiots & Angels” this fall.

Epic Sketchbook: Jessamyn Patterson

This EPIC SKETCHBOOK epic-sode is about Chicago based illustrator Jessamyn Patterson. There's something about the organic feel of her drawings that do it for me. It's like her world is made up of subtle strings of muscle, vines, and feathers. Sometimes adorned with odd objects. Enjoy. I can't get enough!

Idiots' Diary #3

So I've decided to self destribute “Idiots & Angels”. The biggest hurdle is finding a cinema in NYC. There are a whole lot of films looking for cinemas and not a whole lot of cinemas, so the trick is the find one that suites my audience. Animation fans.

A lot of people say that back in the 70's was the Golden Age of indie cinema in NYC, with venues like The Thalia, The New Yorker, The Elgin and Bleeker Street Cinema. Certainly it's sad that all those cinemas are now gone, but they've been replaced by a wider selection of film exhibitors; you have The Angelika, The Sunshine, Film Forum, IFC, Cinema Village, The Quad, The Anthology Film Archive and Village East Cinemas. These are just the downtown cinemas, so I believe there is a much wider selection now than ever before.

Another roadblock that I've run up against is the fact that most these cinemas prefer to deal with established distributors, because they're professional, dependable, and have other films in the pipeline. I however do not, as a habit, distribute films, and my next film in the “pipeline” will not be ready for another 3 years. So why should a theater show my film? Good question. Maybe because I've been in the business awhile, proved that I have a well-established fan base and they hope I can bring all the animation fans to their cinema.

So I began to call up all the distributors I know: Karen Cooper, who I worked with long ago when I first arrived in NYC in the 70's. She said her schedule is all filled up until the winter, but that's too late to qualify “Idiots & Angels” for the Oscars, which is another one of my goals with this film.

I'm afraid The Anthology is not quite my crowd. They cater to the more Avante Guard clientele, so I don't think my film will fit in. I was hoping to show it at Pioneer Cinema in the East Village (that's where I had a nice run with Hair High), but they shut down last year; a sad loss. The Village East Cinema had a strange message on their phone that said if you have a film to distribute describe the Title and Subject, and leave it on their machine. Bizarre! So I did, and never heard back from them. I think they preferred to have an established distributor talk to them. Dead End. I called the booker at The Quad where my film “The Tune” showed back in 1993, but again they needed to connect with an established distributor unless I wanted to four wall it for $8,000. That's my entire PR budget for NY and LA so I had to back out of that one.

That left me two options: IFC Center on 6^th Ave in the Village, and the Cinema Village, also in the Village.

Epic Sketchbook: Irina Vinnik

EPIC SKETCHBOOK will be a recurring posting on Scribblejunkies. For episode one I'd like to draw your attention to the very talented artist from St. Petersburg, Irina Vinnik. Her graphic sensibilities with ink are truly worth a look and a comment. I also really like her more tonal pencil drawings. Enjoy sucka's.

Photoshop evolution..

Interesting image to share with y'all.... geeks.

Idiots' Diary #2

Many people think that if you can't get the Weinsteins or Sony Picture Classics to distribute your film then it must be crap. Perhaps for some films that may be the case, but let me talk about the differences between indie distribution and self distribution.

I showed “Idiots & Angels” to all the big guys in indie distribution and they all passed on it. They said they liked the film but weren't sure how they could distribute the film. Valid point. All of the indie distributors are geared for films that are live action, have name actors, and have big talent agencies behind them. I have none of those: it's animated, no voices actors, and no talent agencies or investors involved in the film. I simply made it myself. So a lot of distributors are reluctant to handle a film with so little going for it, in traditional terms.

So if no one wants to take my film to the cinemas, what options do I have?

1. Put it on the internet for free and got a lot of publicity but no money.

2. Put it on the shelf and forget about it.

3. Find a distributor who will get your film out to a good number of cinemas, but because it was so expensive to distribute the film, all the royalties that I was to receive end up being spent of publicity.

4. Self distribution. Now, I know that's a dirty word. It's supposedly for filmmakers who have crap films. But hold on Bucko! There are a lot of wonderful films that have done quite well with self-distribution, and sometimes it's really the only option if you want to make your investment back.

Here's the downside: it's a helluva lot of work. You have to learn how to become a distributor. You must make trailers, posters, flyers, postcards, press kits, hire a PR person, take out ads, make personal appearances, talk to all the press that's available and on and on. It's a never-ending chore that consumes all your time and most of your money. But you know what? If you want your film to be seen, and hopefully make some money, it's the only way to go!

Next “Idiots' Diary”, I look for a cinema.

Ready for Guard Dog Global Jam?

The clock is ticking, sports fans. The deadline is fast approaching. We're nearing the D-Day for submission to Guard Dog Global Jam.

Just to remind people who aren't aware of what I'm talking about: On September 1^st at noon EST – and not one second sooner-- we'll throw open our Plymptoons site to accept applications from around the world for artists who want to create a short shot for “Guard Dog Global Jam”.

This is a very exciting experiment for me-- to totally recreate my Oscar nominated short, as seen through the eyes of other artists.

I'm very anxious to see the dog as other people see him, especially in a wide range of styles-- drawn, CG, stop motion, claymation, etc.

In fact, it's very similar to having someone do your portrait; you get to see yourself through others' eyes. Well, the Dog is an extension of myself, so it's close to how I see myself.

The final result could be a total disaster, or it could be a totally amazing experience. Who knows how it will look, but whatever it is, it will be different.

So everybody out there who ever wanted to be in a Bill Plympton film, now's your chance to sign up on September 1^st at noon! Time's a-wasting, only 7 more days, tick, tick, tick.

EKUNDAYO for this Wednesday...

Ekundayo is a great artist. The more of his imagery I flip through the more I get an appreciation for his distinct graphic graffiti style. I often tell my students not to worry about the entire drawing.. some areas will just kind of figure themselves out. If you look at any classic animator, their drawings are filled with invisible lines that the viewers eye just fills in. Ekundayo is a great example of someone who takes advantage of our eyes tendency to do this to an extreme. Below is one of my favorites.. it works despite over half the drawing missing. weird right? Ekundayo has quite an interesting bio as well, give it and a slew of other images a view over at Thinkspace. Later wussies.

Idiots' Diary #1

A lot of you people have been following my travails with “Idiots & Angels”. First, making the film, then, then in distributing the film. In fact, I always say there are 3 major steps in the success of a film.

Step 1. Raising the Money. This is a very formidable step, simply because it takes a lot of money to finance a feature film, and even though the script may be terrific, convincing the money people to invest if very difficult. This is usually the phase where most films fail. I self finance so I'm able to get through that barrier.

Step 2. Making the Film. Even though this is also a very dangerous part of the process, it's probably the most enjoyable. This is the fun part. It took 2 years to get “Idiots & Angels” made.

Step 3. Getting the Film in Cinemas. This is by far the most difficult and defeating part of the process. Getting the film in cinemas and getting money from the buyers. Only rarely have I been fortunate enough to get proper distribution and then miraculously get the money. If you've ever gone to a festival you're aware that there are thousands of good films out there that never get distribution, simply because there aren't that many cinemas that show indie films. The trick is to find places that will show the film and then actually make out a check to you.

Relevant to Step 3, I have some good news: I've just secured cinema screenings of “Idiots & Angels” in NYC and LA: the two most difficult (and expensive) of cities to premier a feature film in. So what I've decided to do is write a diary of the whole experience of getting “Idiot's & Angels” out to the cinemas and getting people to watch the film. So please watch this blog and the AWN blog for my up-to-date installments of “Idiots' Diary” by Bill Plympton.

More influences.. Nic Klein

Okay, to be honest this semi-pervy image below is what caught my eye.. but then i dug up a lot more stuff of Nic's that I like..
I'm not sure what's going on, i'm not typically impressed by sexy comic book style design, or comic book stuff in general, but lately i'm just digging it! Nic Klein combines a subtle painterly style to his illustrations that really works well... There's also some decent elements of motion/time features within his drawings (ie below) Also, some of the content is beyond plain interesting.. (yeah.. that works). The very often violent imagery tells some crazy stories. Dig.

Legendary Graphic Design..

I don't want to be that guy who always says it was better long ago.. but.. I'm going to have to be for a second. Enjoy images from classic design that we probably couldn't do today, and they did out of habit and for the mundane back in the day.

Idiots' Diary

My new animated feature, “Idiots and Angels” is being released theatrically around the country starting this October. My big worry is no one will come to the screening. I have nightmares that it will be a cricket chirping cinema like in “One Froggy Evening”. So to prevent that from happening, we're looking to you, my audience, to come up with ideas to help promote the film. As you may know, I have an extremely small (embarrassingly small) publicity budget, so I'm forced to come up with unique and imaginative ways to spread the word.

One of the ideas that came from Ron Diamond is to create a diary of my experiences in self distribution of “Idiots and Angels.” I believe it could be very instructional and helpful for other filmmakers who lack big distribution opportunities. So watch this blog for the next few months for my “Idiots' Diary”.

So tell your friends to check out my Dist Diary on AWN and on my blog, and be sure to come see “Idiots & Angels” with my newest short as an opener, “The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger”.

Tissa David notes on Asterisk...

Richard over at Asterisk has posted some great notes from animation master Tissa David (bio via michael sporn). When I first moved to New York, and was desperately trying to teach myself animation, Tissa's notes were legend.. she taught me a lot about the basics of movement. I specifically remember her saying that a droplet is round.. i had never considered it being anything else but a tear drop shape, but it's only that shape when it's hanging onto something. very obvious, but when you're starting out it helps to have someone point out these things:)