Animopus : Animation and Film Treasure Trove

Animopus

Animopus is a treasure trove of information for the discerning animator, filmaker, and fan of the industry. Consisting of video clips, articles, keynote speeches and interviews among other informations, this blog is highly recommended to those interested in animation, visual effects and films.

The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation

The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation: History of Stop-Motion Feature Films: Part 1

Ken A. Priebe gives readers a history of stop-motion features in this excerpt from his book The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation.

This is an interesting article. Although focus is on Stop-motion, the content is applicable to every form of animation and storytelling.


The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation: Character Animation - Part 2

In the latest excerpt from The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation, Ken A. Priebe finishes up his discussion of character animation.

Continuing from Part 1, Part 2 focuses on character animation and acting. A MUST READ for the animators out there.

Interesting Read - The Core Skills of VFX

UK media sector body Skillset has produced a free guide to the skills needed to work in today’s VFX industry.

The handbook is relevant to both students and staff; it is designed to assist universities and colleges to raise the standard of VFX courses available and therefore the new talents that graduate and head out into the industry. The guide functions equally as a ready-made outline for academics planning training courses or a checklist for students, and includes a detailed reading list for each ‘module’.

It makes for a great read, pass it on to your students too. Click the pic to go to the download page [its in PDF format].

Mini Report: Artist Talk by Jax Deluca

The Media Art Living Laboratory (M.A.L.L) and the Animation & Visual Effects program (in short AFX; formerly Film & Animation) proudly bring you an artist talk and performance by Jax Deluca (U.S). The talk was held at AFX’s Beta Studio, Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) while the performance space was provided by M.A.L.L just next door.

Jax prepping up her presentation (top) before taking the floor.

Jax Deluca is an experimental sound and video artist and her works revolve mainly around video, sound, film, painting and performance art. So if you’re talking stuff on video installations, multi-dimensional sound layering (sound sandwich-ing), utilizing analogue & video synthesizer, pure abstract video art and sound experimentations, Jax is the person you're looking for. She is currently the Director of Programming at Squeaky Wheel/Buffalo Media Resources, a non-profit, artist-run media arts center in Buffalo, New York.

Jax getting her show underway.

Still only in her late 20s, the experienced independent artist has performed at Big Orbit’s Soundlab, Alfred University, Buffalo Arts Studio and more DIY performance spaces across the states. Her work has been showcased and exhibited internationally at CEPA Gallery (2010), ArtSpace Buffalo (2009) and Smackmellon (2008), just to name a few.

Jax introducing Squeaky Wheel.

It was a decent crowd of 30 plus with majority of the audience were students from the AFX program and we managed to spot a few from the Media Arts program. This talk itself was part of a Film Studies class conducted by FCM’s Kok Siew Wai,who is also a good friend of Jax.

"July 5^th 2010", one of Jax's showcased works.

Jax (and her loyal orange) shortly before the M.A.L.L performance.

Jax arrived in Malaysia mid-May and it was her first visit here. When asked of her brief stay and the warm weather, the energetic presenter swiftly replied "Oh, I LOVE it!".

Jax was one of the performers at KLPac along with a group of other local independent artists the previous Friday. When she arrived at FCM, it was her last few days in Malaysia (before her long flight back home to New York) so it was somewhat a fitting farewell that she was given the opportunity to inspire a group of students and enthusiasts through a showcase of selected works followed by an impromptu but equally impressive performance.

Crowd filling up the M.A.L.L.

Jax showcased six of her works which include the dark, disturbing interpretation of one’s self-esteem “Kill Your Lovers”, and the psychedelic flowing pastel colors of “Solus Quale” before ending it with “July 5^th 2010” that left the audience dumbstruck with awe. Other selected works include “Young Swan at a Party”, “Power Struggle” and “Waterwind”.

Jax performing “July 5^th 2010”

It was 4.00 pm when the event took us to the M.A.L.L.: a small but comfortable presentation/performance space owned by the Media Arts program and the Aesthetic Media Special Interest Group. Here, Jax set up a simple rig of her equipments with several other musical equipments all lined up. With “July 5^th 2010” playing on the projector, she combined looping (and distorted) sound(s) of vocals, guitar, saxophone and small percussions. The combination of hand-painted patterns and the resulting audio is quite an out-of-this-world experience for any first-timer. For the enthusiasts, it's definitely one to appreciate and to talk about.

Awesome show!

Overall, it has been a very casual, relaxed session and quite a way to kickstart your semester. The audience loved Jax’s easygoing and happy-go-lucky attitude. The animated presenter even managed to casually improvise her performance as she exclaimed, "I had to replay that video all over again (mid-way through) cause it's the wrong version (of “July 5^th 2010")”.

The event closed with a group photograph of everyone followed by a short networking session. From us over here in FCM and Malaysia: Jax Deluca, we look forward to your next visit. It has been an eye-opening experience and it was truly exciting to have you here. Cheerio!