Animated Thoughts: End of the Year Introspection

The year has come to an end and once again I find myself looking both backward and forward. What projects have I completed? What would I like to accomplish in the coming year? Well, in addition to updating my history class for it's new format, there were two main projects I worked on this year that I'm particularly proud of.

The first was a cookbook for my nephews. One graduated from high school and the other from college. So I spent over six months talking to my mother and other relatives in order to gather recipes that have been in the family for generations--a number of which my nephews would have tried out when they came to visit. Each recipe had a story (or just an anecdote) on why it was in the cookbook as well as snippets of our shared history. I also included as many stories of our family history as I could find--even going so far as to trace our family tree back seven generations, which included the geneology work performed by relatives who had done much of this research in the years leading up to my project. 

Sadly, due to the Bolshevek Revolution and the Vietnam War, I couldn't go back very far through the Shemko and Nguyen/Pham lineage since most of those records have been destroyed. But, we do have some very detailed records of the Wilson, Crotty, and Shults lines. One big surprise was the work that my cousin's family did in discovering who my Grandpa Wilson really was and where he came from. I never knew that six generations back, we have an ancestor who immigrated from Italy to Ireland. 

Well, I honestly doubt that the cookbook will mean much to my nephews right now, at their current ages and where they are in life. But in about fifteen to twenty years, when they have kids of their own and they start fielding questions of what it was like when they were kids and 'where do we come from', I think the Family Heritage Cookbook will mean something really special to them.

The second project was no less of an achievement, one years in the making and that has been on my mind since being furloughed during the economic crash of 2008.

On more than one occasion, I've stated that I want to make more films that are fun and uplifting. A lot of this comes from my work as a forensic animator. The rest comes from my trips to Ottawa. The Ottawa International Animation Festival is a very inspiring experience and yet at the same time it's a very humbling experience. I see the works of filmmakers like Michèle Cournoyer and Andreas Hykades. They are entertaining on one level, thought provoking on another, but overall they make me confront the fact that I don't yet have the ability to handle serious topics with the skill and delicacy that they do. I know that we shouldn't compare ourselves to other people, but I often find myself listening to podcasts and audiobooks about serious subjects (like the Rape of Nanking or the history of Russia) and wonder how I would portray such events in animated form--an attempt to convey the tragedy and the horror of the event without it devolving into a spectacle that robs the event of its meaning.

This all leads into the other thing I'm proud of this year: convincing my boss to let me do a little internet advertising towards our existing client base. Yeah, yeah, I know, how does this relate to the above, bear with me. I've worked for Investigative Mechanics for over twenty years now. During that time, I've been filming car wrecks (and animating a few) in order to document evidence for court cases. Sometimes, I even get to make these 'mini documentaries' that explain technical issues to non-technical judges and juries.

And for at least the past fifteen years, through the good and bad economic times, I've been trying to convince my boss to advertise the company. As he's somewhat old-school, he's always balked at my ideas, preferring to gain new business by word-of-mouth advertising through satisfied clients. However, we've got a rather sizable library of cases that we've worked on and some are pretty interesting. So, when I pitched the website update and redesign this year, I took a little time to write-up some cases and animated the following video about one of our more interesting cases -- complete with some new animations to explain the issue we discovered.

Now it's one thing to produce a short like this one: dry, technical, but interesting to its target audience. It's another thing entirely to produce a film that can tackle a more difficult subject and make it appeal to a much broader audience. This is where I really admire filmmakers like Cournoyer and Hykades. I've watched Hykades' film "The Runt" many times over the years and discussed it with a fair number of people. I keep coming back to the 'rite of passage' theme of guiding a boy into manhood by teaching him the lesson that 'for him to live, something must die'. Most people I've spoken to are stuck on being horrified by the death of bunnies. They stop there and don't seem to consider the deeper lessons that Hykades may have been trying to reveal to his audience--some that he may have learned as a boy himself. Cournoyer's film for the NFB "A Feather Tale" with its themes of sexual fetishism and objectification is a little easier to find common ground with people who've watched it. We tend to see the same themes in the metaphorical imagery of a man who objectifies his wife told through the visuals of a farmer and a chicken.

I'm honestly not sure if producing films like the aforementioned is a goal I should be working towards or if I should stay in my lane. Though films like "A Feather Tale" may not have the immediate payoff as a comedic animated short film does, I suspect that the serious animated film may have a longer term payoff as it's meant to affect us at a deeper level. Bears further thought.

I remember sitting in a Toronto theater in 2014, watching the annual TAIS Summer Screening. They had put out the call to their members for the yearly anijam. That particular year's topic was "robots". So I banged out something quick over an evening and submitted it. That night, knowing that I couldn't match the artistic skills of my fellow animators, I went for a simple one gag story with a 'subversion of expectations' event thrown in for good measure.

And it worked.

The crowd got a good chuckle out of the ten second animation and I heard someone in the audience say that it was clever. I had taken my roll of the dice and it paid off.

There are a lot of funny stories in my past that I'd like to share to a wider audience. But there are also some serious and poignant ones as well. The first step to take is to write them down--which I've been doing for several years now, if for no other reason than to get them out of my head. As I close the book on the 2023 projects and look at my free time for 2024, I'm left wondering which stories I should invest my limited time and energy into: those that will make people laugh in the moment or those that will make people think over the long term?

Well, enough rambling. Happy New Year, everyone. Time for me to get back to learning the latest upgrade to Moho Pro.

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Animated Thoughts: New year, New thoughts

After a disappointing and uncertain 2020, I started the year out strong: was brought back to teach Animation History at Central Michigan University and they're looking to bring me back in the Fall to teach again. The two-hour commute is a bit grating, but it's only once per week and I really enjoy the course material. That and I am having fun bonding with the students over our mutual love of animation. If you have the time, I highly recommend Maureen Furniss's book: A New History of Animation.

Conventions are still pretty much on hiatus, though even more seem to be going online this year. Gen Con is doing surveys to gauge public opinion, but a lot of us think that it's likely that Gen Con 2021 will be virtual like last year. It's nice that a lot of these con organizers are doing "something" but online cons are still not the same. I just don't feel the same sense of community from a virtual convention. But, I sheepishly must admit, it is nice to have more money to spend on games and such since you're not paying for travel and hotels.

It looks like ASIFA Hollywood has moved the date for the 2021 Annie Awards. It's now being held on Friday, April 16th and they've gone completely virtual this year. As I normally watch it online--streamed through their website--there's really no change for me this year. I'm just happy to watch the show any way that I can.

And TAIS workshops and courses are in full swing and scheduled out to April. I'm a little crestfallen that I missed out on the Animated Documentary workshop. I was just too busy getting ready for teaching at CMU. Hopefully I'll be able to carve out a little time this year to take a TAIS workshop or course (or two) and make that investment in my skillset and knowledgebase. Gotta keep moving forward no matter what the future looks like.

As the fortune cookie once told me: "May you live in interesting times."

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Animated Thoughts: TAIS Workshops in the time of COVID

Because of the lockdown, the Toronto Animated Image Society had moved all their workshops and courses online--with many of the workshops offered free to TAIS members. While there's nothing like an in-person workshop at the TAIS offices (and an "animation tour" visit to Toronto), taking a couple workshops online was a very cost-effective way to learn some new skills.

As I was in the middle of  the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival, the timing of this TAIS event was very fortuitous as it provided a very nice break from the screenings. As much as I enjoy screenings and panels, sometimes you want to get your hands dirty and interact with the subject matter.

My current workspace

This particular workshop was really interesting and rather unique. Titled 'Stop-motion in Small Spaces: Setting up a home studio', Neil Burns ran a session dealing with the challenges of stop-motion animation production -- not of making a film on a limited budget, but of having a limited space where you could animate. So, in the preceding week, we all sent in photos of our home studios (or the spaces that we had to work with) and then Neil helped us come up with solutions that would allow us to best utilize the space that we had to film a stop-motion production -- both using a downshooter setup as well as using a 3d set.

Over the next three hours, Neil provided some excellent critiques of our workspaces based on the films we wanted to produce, the animation techniques/visual styles we were going to use, the equipment (and software) we had available to us, and the lighting issues we would most likely face in our setup. Unfortunately, while he had some good suggestions for (re)organizing my workspace, there was one issue none of us could solve during the workshop: my carpeting is really soft and plushy so it tends to make tripods, lights, and sets move slightly when I'm navigating a stop-motion set and animating.

A lot of workshops I see (and attend) deal primarily with filmmaking techniques: storyboarding, scriptwriting, animation software, and animation styles (2d hand drawn, replacement, etc). However, not too many deal with some of the peripheral (yet still very important) production issues, like financing your film, managing production assets, and--in the case of this workshop--designing an efficient workspace that meets the needs of your production. Workshops like this one hosted by TAIS helps fill in some of the gaps in our filmmaking knowledgebase. While trial-and-error can work, and the internet is a vast well of information, it's nice to talk to someone who has actually been there and can provide hands-on experience directly to your personal situation.

Animated Workshops: TAIS - Replacement Animation

So this June, Sunday the 2nd to be exact, the Toronto Animated Image Society held an online workshop dealing with replacement animation. Over the span of three hours, Cristal Buemi worked with us as we set up basic downshooters using our smartphones (and tablets) and filmed a short animation using the Stop Motion Studio app.

And while I already knew the technical side of filming with Stop Motion Studio on my iPhone--as well as all of the tips for migrating our filming setup to Dragonframe--where the workshop provided the most benefit for me was during all the pre-production and process information that Cristal provided. Needless to say, because you're going to be spending hours under the camera, swapping out similarly themed objects for one another, it adds an extra layer of complexity that can be best dealt with in pre-production (as most things can).

More than once, I thought about the early trickfilms of the silent film era, how objects "magically" appeared, disappeared, and transformed into other objects. I mused about how many of those early special effects were filmed organically on set with only a 'guy leans on chair, then chair disappears, then guy falls' outline and how many were meticulously planned out?

A thought for another day.

TAIS has done an excellent job migrating their workshops to cyberspace using video conferencing tools like Zoom. Whereas in the past, I was looking at around $300 to $500 USD to attend a TAIS workshop -- mainly given that I'd have to drive roughly five hours to Toronto, reserve a hotel, pay for food while I was there, and such. But now that they've gone virtual, the TAIS workshops are much more affordable as I can now attend from the privacy of my own studio. And many of them are free to TAIS members, another perk of that yearly membership fee even if you're not paying for that full-fledged "Studio" membership.

On the down side: no cool pics of Toronto in these TAIS workshop blog posts. Oh well, there's always a tradeoff.

But what made me want to spend a beautiful sunny summer day leaning over a downshooter inside a dark room, wishing I had dedicated more time that year to strengthening my abs and lower back?

I had become friends with animator Patrick Smith on Facebook a year or so ago. As a long-time fan of the independent films he's produced for his studio Blend Films (as well as the "Scribble Junkies" blog posts he did with fellow New York animator Bill Plympton), I've been following his recent short films with some interest. Y'see, Patrick has created four award winning films using the replacement animation technique: Board Shop, Candy Shop and Gun Shop released in 2019, and Beyond Noh which he released in 2020. You can watch the first three films on his Blend Films Vimeo page, however, as Beyond Noh is currently making it's way through the festival circuit, we'll have to be patient until it finishes it's festival run and he (hopefully) posts it online. However, Patrick does have the trailer for Beyond Noh on his Vimeo and YouTube pages for those interested. In each film, he uses this technique to flash through a series of images that are all related in one form or another to the overarching theme of the film. For example: in Gun Shop, Patrick explores the theme of American gun culture by cycling through a montage of 2,328 firearms. In Board Shop, same concept, just with skateboards, snowboards, and surfboards.

During a side-conversation on Facebook, we discovered a mutual respect and admiration for filmmaker Paul Bush, whose 2012 film Babeldom was one of my favorites from my days attending the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema. Paul has also done a couple films using the replacement animation technique, two of which I saw at the Ottawa International Animation Festival: While Darwin Sleeps... released in 2004 and the Five Minute Museum in 2015. You can see 'Darwin' on his Vimeo page, along with a trailer for a new film of his that uses replacement animation as well as more traditional stop-motion techniques: Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic. I patiently await its release.

Well, after seeing replacement animation so ably executed by both Paul and Patrick, I couldn't resist the opportunity to spend a morning playing around with my downshooter. After purchasing about $23 of candy and fruit at the local grocery store, I came up with the following film:

It took me a while to get the soundtrack right -- cycling 'mouth noises' that were recorded using my headset ended up being a little trickier that I had originally hoped. And I ended up just accepting the fact that my computer's fan was going to be white noise in the background, but I'm happy with the result.

It's nothing festival-worthy, just one of those fun little films where you experiment with a technique you're unfamiliar with. No real purpose other than to learn, explore, and have fun while you're playing in the sandbox.

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Women of Animated Film: Lotte Reiniger's Trick-Table

It's March 8th, which means it's both Women's History Month and International Women's Day. So let's start out with a little history about women animators!

Back in November 2018, I drove out to Toronto to see a special screening of films by Lotte Reiniger including the rarely seen English version of Aucassin and Nicolette (which she produced for the National Film Board) and the even rarer Ring and the Rose (independently produced for Gordon and Patricia Martin), from an old 16mm film copy.

The event was hosted by Jonathan Culp at the TAIS Studios on Dufferin Street. And after an introduction by Jonathan, and a showing of the latest silhouette animation workshop film by Lynn Dana Wilton, the following films were shown:

• The Art of Lotte Reiniger (the full documentary)
• The Rose and the Ring
• Carmen
• Jack and the Beanstalk
• Aucassin and Nicolette
• Thumbelina
• Grasshopper and the Ant

Lynn explaining the trick-table setup

Afterwards, we retired to the "Lotte Studio" where Jonathan talked about the history of Lotte's trick-table, how it came to be in his possession (along with a large amount of "animation artifacts" from Lotte's time in Canada) and what led up to his decision to donate the table to the Toronto Animated Image Society.

Dedication Plaque

Jonathan then placed a plaque on Lotte's trick-table to commemorate both her and the Martin's contribution to animation. The dedication video is presented below:


Now, if you would like to have an animation experience that touches upon a part of animation history, specifically the history of women animators, I would like to recommend a trip out to the Toronto Animated Image Society (tais.ca). TAIS has made Lotte's trick-table available for members to rent for their own animated films. Located at the TAIS Studio on Dufferin Street, the table setup comes with a digital camera, a Macintosh computer running DragonFrame, and a bottom-mounted set of lights. Studio Membership costs at TAIS are reasonable as are the rental fees for using the Lotte Studio.

Back in September, I was blessed to spend a day working on a silhouette film using Lotte's table before driving to the Ottawa International Animation Festival. And while I wouldn't call it a "religious experience" per se, it certainly was a very gratifying experience to work on an animation using a piece of animation history that was built by and used by a titan of animated film. If you have the time, I highly recommend the experience.

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Animated Thoughts: Keeping up with the animation goals

Lotte's "trick-table"

As mentioned previously, for the year of 2018, I set a goal for myself to produce an animation every month. Again, nothing "festival worthy" or anything like that, just something to get me animating on personal projects, sharpen my skills, and expand my toolkit.

Well, February had me tinkering with one of my 3d animation programs but it produced nothing of merit. I wasn't worried about that since by the time the end of the month was coming into view, I already knew that I'd be in Toronto on the first of March at an animation workshop.

So the following is February's animation: my segment of the group animation that we created during Lynn Dana Wilton's Silhouette Animation Workshop for the Toronto Animated Image Society.

(background by Lynn Dana Wilton)

While working on this animation I had a couple thoughts regarding how to approach my segment:

Having made them in the past, this time I didn't want to create a 'jointed' puppet like the other attendees were doing. Rather, I had thoughts of the models in PES's stop-motion film: The Deep. In The Deep, PES combines replacement object animation along with stop-motion animation in the shot with the calipers (seen at 0:24 to 0:32 in his film). This conjunction of two animation techniques allows him to achieve the illusion of weightlessness: the use of slight movements using stop-motion animation provided the impression that his objects were "floating" in the ocean depths, and using replacement animation (by swapping out different sets of calipers), he changes what would've been a static, one-model character into a much more dynamic character. The addition of replacement animation in this sequence enhances the "illusion of life".

Additionally, there were six attendees at the workshop (including me), which meant that individual time with the animation workstation was limited. So, how could I approach the animation in such a way that I could maximize my animation time with a minimum of trial-and-error under the camera? Well, after creating my puppets and sketching out a rough dope sheet, I tested the motion on the table (not Lotte's trick-table).

Dope Sheet... kind of...

The motion looked okay in my mind's eye, but I still wasn't sure about the timing. So I turned to my trusty iPhone. I've got an app called Stop Motion Studio (which I used to create the time-lapse animation RITchie during last year's R.I.T. homecoming). Although I didn't have any camera stand with me to keep my iPhone steady, I was able to capture the motion clearly enough to test out my timing.



As you can see, the first test sequence was much closer to what I wanted. But, rather than assuming that I got it right on the first try, I animated the jellyfish a little faster in the second sequence... just to be sure. After that test, I decided to stick with the first one for my final animation (although I did tweak it slightly in the final version).

Well, not finished with the whole 'under the sea' motif, I decided to keep playing with the idea for March's animation.

As March is Women's History Month, and I post interviews with women animators on this blog, I decided to pair up with the Grand Rapids Community Media Center and ASIFA Central to present a day celebrating women animators--which included a Silhouette and Cut-out animation workshop.

After providing instructions and getting everyone working on their films, there was still enough time in the workshop for me to settle down and do a little animation of my own--my animation for the month of March.


I didn't follow any dope-sheet for the timing on the fish, choosing instead to wing-it. But I followed my earlier timing on the jellyfish, albeit at a faster overall frame rate--I was pressed for time and didn't want to leave the students to their own devices for too long.

All-in-all, if I played with this idea again, I would make the timing of the jellyfish totally independent from the other fish and much, much slower. Additionally, I'd take a page from PES's book and add one to two more models to the jellyfish--probably something that I could add as one or two frames in order to add a little more anticipation and follow-through to the jellyfish's action leading to the upward motion.

Might also switch to computer animation so I can play with the timing and run through multiple variations without having to go back and reanimate the figures by hand over-and-over. In my not so humble opinion, that's one of the strengths of computer animation: it facilitates rapid learning via the ability to cycle through multiple variations in a short period of time.

In the time it took me to animate the jellyfish in both films under-the-camera, I could've done multiple variations in Flash or After Effects just by copying-and-pasting the frames and tweaking the motion of the jellyfish, or the number of frames (filming on twos or threes), or both.

I love animating under the camera, mainly due to the tactile feeling of the models as you move them from position to position. And the greater challenge of tweaking the external lighting so you get the best possible shot. Frame-by-frame flicker removal and color correction is a pain in the ass though. Between that and my desire to do multiple tests for timing, it might lead me to do April's animation completely in the computer.

Food for thought...

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Women of Animation: Lotte's Desk

Life is full of adventures... if you know where to look.

I had heard from a friend of mine, Lynn Dana Wilton, that the Toronto Animated Image Society had acquired a light table used by Lotte Reiniger to produce her films during her short stay in Canada back in the 1970's (though Lotte called them "trick-tables").

Questions abounded: was this the desk that she used at the NFB? If so, did the NFB give it to TAIS, and if so, how did that come about? What did the desk look like? Did she have it built from one of her previous designs? Or from the diagrams in her book Shadow Theaters and Shadow Films? And most importantly, during Lynn's upcoming silhouette animation workshop, would I be allowed access to the desk in order to take photos and measurements?

Well, the only way to find the answers to my questions was to go there. So I registered for the event, gathered up my gear, made arrangements for lodging in Toronto, and drove to Ontario for the weekend.

Lotte Reiniger produced two films when she was in Canada. The first was Aucassin and Nicolette, which she created for the National Film Board of Canada. The second was The Rose and the Ring, produced for Gordon Martin and Associates Limited and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

This was the trick-table created for Lotte which she used to create The Rose and the Ring.

When I arrived at TAIS's production facility on Dufferin Street, Lynn escorted me back to Lotte's trick-table. She and I agreed that day: Lotte’s trick-table is both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.

It's underwhelming because it doesn’t look like anything special at first glance. But if you know the history of who it was built for, it leaves you standing there with a sense of awe. Lynn joked about how she was expecting little animation faeries flying around the trick-table. Personally, at the very least I was expecting a golden plaque with the words “Lotte Reiniger animated here” emblazoned on the side.

But there it was, and there we were. Face to table with a part of animation history.

Lotte Reiniger's Trick-Table

It wouldn't be until later that Lynn would introduce me to the table's previous owner: Jonathan Culp. Though it was over the internet, I had the pleasure of talking with him. Jonathan patiently fielded all of my questions regarding the table.

What he told me was how his grandfather, Donald Carman of Carman Educational Associates was one of the main people in bringing Lotte to the National Film Board of Canada back in the 1970's. Although, it was one of the producers of Lotte's two films, Gordon Martin, who had the table built for Lotte. Gordon was also a family friend of Jonathan's. And before they died, Gordon and his wife Patricia gave the trick-table to Jonathan. Patricia herself was an animation assistant on Lotte's film the Rose and the Ring and she created her own silhouette animation on the trick-table, titled the Princess and the Pig Boy. Though he didn't know for sure, he believes that the trick-table was built by the Martin family--however he's going to ask one of the Martin's children for more details in the not too distant future.

Well, Jonathan, being a member of TAIS, generously donated Lotte's table to the organization.

"Lotte Animated Here"

And there it sits. A piece of animation history that has been given a new life with a new generation of animators using it to create their films…

While everyone else was making their silhouette puppets--and during my turn to animate on the table--I was crawling all over Lotte's trick-table with a camera and a couple of tape measures, taking photographs and making sketches, measurements, and designs of her trick-table... my intention being for it to be the subject of a future blog post.

Well, rather than put together an elaborate puppet with hinged joints, I've had visions of PES's deep sea animation running through my head, so I decided to do a little substitution animation instead of using a fully-jointed silhouette puppet. That and I wanted to spend more time sketching and measuring the table.



After I left the studio that evening, I already had future plans running through my head.

Membership at the Toronto Animated Image Society, a Studio Membership, costs $50 Canadian per year. But with this membership level, it offers you the perk that you can rent their studio facilities to work on your own films. In this case: the "Lotte" Studio which costs $20 per day.

I’ve already planned a return trip to Toronto in the Fall. And as I’m a member of TAIS, I can rent Lotte’s trick-table for the day for the measly sum of $20 Canadian.

Life is full of adventures... if you know where to look.

Animated Thoughts: Festival Season part two: TAIS Summer Anijam

A month after TAAFI, it was time for the Toronto Animated Image Society's annual screening.

This time, I was fortunate enough to get one of the rooms that the Novotel holds in reserve for Expedia.com. Fortunate in that Radical Sheep Productions is only one block away from the hotel.

Okay, background is necessary. At TAAFI, I asked Michelle Melanson-Cuperus for permission to record the WiA roundtable discussion. I wanted it for personal reasons, but also because I believe that every time Women in Animation does an event like this this--where they have women animators discussing their careers--it should be recorded and put up on the website as a value-add for members (and would become a valuable resource for researchers). Well, after multiple fiascos of me trying to e-mail/Dropbox/Sendthisfile the audio file to Michelle, I just burned the files on a CD-ROM and figured I'd drop it off at her office.

The drop off went well. Unfortunately, I missed Michelle by 15 minutes. So, undaunted, I went book hunting instead and found a copy of "A Century of Stop Motion Animation" by Ray Harryhausen... 240 pages and only two pages reference Virginia May, one of the first woman animators! Kind of typical I suppose, but am still glad to have that reference material in my library. As good as the internet may be, Toronto remains one of my best sources for finding used books.

Janice Schulman

Later that evening, I met up with fellow TAIS member and former woman animator interviewee, Janice Schulman, for dinner. Was a fantastic evening! The conversation ranged from her new projects and inspirations for her old projects, to funding sources in Canada, freelancing, and TAIS and WiA project development. One of those nights that you wish could go on a lot longer... or at least could be transplanted to Michigan!

The next day found me visiting the Royal Ontario Museum as they had a special exhibit on China called 'The Royal Family of the Forbidden City'. There were a lot of objects on display ranging from tableware to ornately embroidered robes to military garb, bells, and paintings. But what was of particular interest to me was how the curators had integrated animation into the exhibit. There were several worthy of note: the first was a multi-panel video display that depicted the emperor and his entourage being led into the Forbidden City via a military procession--all painted on a handscroll--which can be seen at time marker 1:38 to 1:43 in the YouTube video below. As you looked closer, the figures in the painting would move as it slowly panned across the scene. The other videos were in adjoining rooms and they depicted the daily life of the Emperor and the tale of a Chinese citizen advancing in social rank. Both stories were presented in a black-and-white silhouette animation style that mimicked traditional Chinese shadow-puppet theater. Unfortunately, as cameras were not allowed in this exhibit, I was unable to record any footage of these last two videos.



Shortly after leaving the Forbidden City exhibit, I made the rounds to capture some visual references for future art projects. As fate would have it, Lynn Dana Wilton was in the prehistoric mammals room with a friend, doing some drawing before the TAIS screening.
 

Vickie and Lynn (l to r)

Not one to miss an opportunity to screw with Lynn, I took a candid photo of her and Vickie, then sat down on the bench next to them--waiting for a moment to enter the conversation and reveal my presence to the two animators who were intently drawing a fossil. The joke paid off rather well a few moments later--though now I'm left wondering how Lynn is going to get me back...

That evening, Madi and the TAIS board tried something new as they held a barbecue in the back lot behind the Cinecycle before the screening. It was a great decision as it really promoted a sense of camaraderie between the attendees and provided an opportunity to network with our peers. Though afflicted with social anxiety, I still had the opportunity to chat with Lynn, Madi & Tom, Hugo, Patrick and Bryce at the cookout before the films were shown. Fortunately for me, the back lot never got so loud that I could not understand what people were saying--regrettably, a problem that I've had my entire life which usually forces me to retreat somewhere quiet in order to refocus my thoughts. Needless to say, I find museums and libraries much more enjoyable than the club scene.

TAIS at the Cinecycle

The screening was a mixed bag. This year, the AniJam subject was "Robots", which I had a lot of fun with and figured that many people around the world would too. Unfortunately there weren't many submissions this year.

I hate to say it but even though I very much enjoyed Patrick Jenkins' new film Circle Game, I found the rest of the program to be a touch underwhelming. There were just too many non-narrative, abstract films.

One thing that I was pleasantly surprised by was that the film selection was almost equally split between films produced by woman animators and those produced by men. And there were a couple standout films in the selection, like A Life With Aspergers by Jamie Ekkens, Blackout by Sharron Mirsky, Choir Tour by Edmunds Jansons, and Robin by Yuval Nathan. But overall, the selection left me feeling crestfallen. As the TAIS screenings have been moving in this direction for a while, one where films with cohesive narrative structure appear to be eschewed in the name of those with eyestrain-inducing visuals, well, I'm sorry to say that I'll probably think twice before I go to another TAIS screening. Animation is a visual medium and I expect to see well produced abstract animations (like Circle Game or Robin), but to program your screening in such a way that the number of abstract films drastically overwhelm the narrative? Unless it's a program specifically designed for abstract films (like the one held by the Ann Arbor Film Festival every year) then it's just not for me. It would be different if I lived in Toronto, but when you have to shoulder the expenses of a nine-hour round trip visit, one has to wonder if you're allocating your resources as wisely as you could be. Looking back on the experience, I think that I'd be better off reallocating that money towards attending the TAIS workshops instead and really sharpening my skill-set.

The following day saw my first visit to the new TAIS offices--and I was duly impressed. TAIS continues to flourish under Madi Pilar's leadership. Though a bit out of the way from what I'm used to with the old location, the new office has multiple workstations suitable for digital filmmaking, stop-motion puppetry, and under-the-camera techniques along with a small library and conference area. As Bryce Hallett continues to teach hand-drawn animation workshops, I look forward to taking one of his classes in the new building in the future.

Afterwards, I went to visit Patrick Jenkins at his studio to see the progress on his latest Noirland film. Patrick continues to push beyond the boundaries of what he has produced in the past using the paint-on-glass technique, seen in his previous films Labyrinth and Sorceress. Every time I visit Patrick and see his film continue to grow and coalesce under the camera, I leave his studio encouraged and looking forward to the day when I get to see it on the big screen. If you haven't seen them yet, the first two films in his Noirland series are available for free viewing on page 3 of his section of the Bitlanders website.

As it had just opened up, I couldn't leave Toronto without visiting the new Ripleys Aquarium  adjacent to the CN Tower. It appears that no expense was spared when building this new attraction. As you walked through the aquarium, they had the traditional 'fishtank-style' exhibits as well as a moving sidewalk that took you though an aquarium, though you don't realize that you're surrounded by water until a shadow falls over you and you look up just in time to see a large shark or stingray swim overhead. I especially enjoyed the horseshoe crab and shark petting ponds, even though I spent considerably more time photographing jellyfish as they drifted along.

I would love to see the Ripley's Aquarium added to the sites available through the Toronto CityPass system--especially given that the Toronto Zoo is outside of the downtown Toronto area and the Science Museum is more geared to families with little kids.

Well, no Summer trip to Ontario would be complete without a visit to Niagara, so on my last day, I drove down to the Falls. Unfortunately, they didn't have a fireworks display that night, but I still got some great photographs while I was there.

The next day, it was time to go home to Michigan, but I didn't want to leave Niagara without a quick side-trip to the best Butterfly Conservatory in the Great Lakes region. And I even found time to make a new friend.

Next stop: the Ottawa International Animation Festival!

Women in Animation: TAIS and the importance of being seen

I'd like to close this year's Women in Animation interviews by summarizing a portion of my discussion with Janice that did not get included in her interview: namely the importance of having your work seen.

National Film Board of Canada Director Michael Fukushima once gave me this advice: "Make a ten-second film, and send it to the festivals. Next, make a 30-second film, and send it to the festivals. Then, make a sixty-second film... and send it to the festivals...". My interpretation of his point, given the context of our discussion, is that you should start with a film-making goal that is small and attainable, then get that film before an audience--hopefully gaining feedback. Then, apply what you learned to your next film, and make a longer film... and get that film before an audience, etc.

Often, budding filmmakers (and even experienced ones too) will fall into the trap of wanting to produce an epic film that is clearly beyond their reach--clear to everyone but themselves, that is (and I'm just as guilty as everyone else). And while the idea may be exciting, the filmmaker is more than likely caught up in the emotional rush that comes with a new idea. Incidentally, this is part of the reason why I stress working on your drawing skills--so that you can sketch out your idea and get an impression of how much work it will take to bring your grand vision to the screen. No idea is perfect right out of the gate. Every idea will need to be refined and brought into the realm of what is achievable with your available resources (for example: your current skill level, your free time, or the finances you can dedicate to your project). This sounds like common sense, but how many times have we experienced this in our own projects be it producing a short film or painting a room? Everything looks amazing, easy, and achievable with little effort in our ofttimes deceptive imagination. But when it comes time to put our pencils to paper, we quickly learn that our imagination wasn't being entirely honest with us!

Getting back to Michael's advice: when you're starting out, start small. Animation can be a very solitary experience, especially when working on your own films. So make a film that you can achieve--both within the skill level that you have and within a reasonable amount of production time--so you won't get discouraged halfway through the project and abandon it when it turns out to be more work than your imagination had led you to believe.

Which, in turn, brings us back to my conversation with Janice. One of the things that we talked about is the importance of groups like the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS). Even though the cost of computers, software, and digital filmmaking equipment is coming down in price to such a degree that it makes film/animation projects very affordable to most people, that doesn't change the fact that you can't "buy" experience or knowledge--both have to be earned through study, practice, hard work, and feedback. One look at YouTube will show you that there's a lot of people out there who 'think' that they're filmmakers, but in reality, they're just novices playing at being serious filmmakers. And if they're having a good time, hey, more power to them. I've spent more than my fair share of time watching cat videos on the internet. However, if you want to stretch beyond an audience of family and friends, there will come a point in time when you realize that you need to step up your game.

And that's where organizations like TAIS come in. You see, animation (and filmmaking) isn't rocket science. It isn't some nebulous thing that only people with "innate talent" can do. It's actually a skill that can be learned. And organizations like TAIS are good environments where you can get access to equipment and expertise. Janice stated during her interview that when people join TAIS, she likes to pair them up with an experienced filmmaker who is working (or has worked) in the medium that the person is working in. That way, they have someone to bounce questions or ideas off of--something that cuts down the time required to learn a new skill considerably.

TAIS's Patrick Jenkins is my 'go to' guy for questions regarding paint on glass animation.(1) I wouldn't dream of starting a cut-out animation project without first passing it by Lynn Dana Wilton. Digital camera and live-action filming issues? Grayden Laing. Character and story development? That's easy: Ellen Besen. Classical hand-drawn character animation: Bryce Hallett. 3D CGI character animation: Barry Sanders. More than just a shout-out, these members of TAIS are experts in their field with many successful projects under their belt who gladly share their expertise with the animation community.

Additionally, every year, TAIS puts out the call for ten-second films. This "Anijam" is open to members and non-members alike and is a way for people to get their work seen by an audience. How it works is, the board sets a ten-second duration for animated films on a specific theme, then filmmakers around the world make their ten-second films using any animation technique they want and submit them to TAIS. All the submitted ten-second films are then edited together to form one big film which is screened during the annual TAIS Summer screening and later uploaded to the TAIS YouTube channel.

Assuming a frame rate of thirty frames per second, then ten seconds of footage works out to be 300 individual frames of animation if you're filming on 1's. If you're filming on 2's, that's 150 individual frames. And it's 75 if you're filming on 3's.(2) The point here is, you CAN produce a ten-second film in a day, depending on how complex you make the visuals and audio.

This year, the theme is 'Robots' and you can find all the technical details, along with the film submission link on the TAIS Robot Anijam 2014 webpage.

So whether you're in the Toronto area or not, make a ten-second film using the theme of "Robots" and submit it to the TAIS Anijam. You'll get some experience making a film, hopefully get some feedback, figure out what you learned making that ten-second film, and then apply this newfound knowledge and experience to making another ten-second film... or maybe a thirty-second film... and then send it into the festivals... then make a sixty-second film... and send it into the festivals...

Footnotes:
1. Using the method of mixing paint with glycerine.
2. For those who aren't familiar with the lingo, "1's" refers to filming one single image, one time, before moving to the next image. 2's refers to filming one single image twice before moving to the next image, etc. So, filming on 1's can give you very smooth motion but it's very labor intensive when compared to filming on 3's where every single image is filmed three times before moving to the second image. Fortunately, our eyes don't normally have an issue processing animation that's filmed on 3's, so it's a great labor saving device.

Women In Animation: Janice Schulman

Although a member of the Toronto Animated Image Society for six years, I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting independent animator Janice Schulman until she recently replaced the previous Administrator Coordinator. Part of the problem when you live five hours away from an organization is that you can only show up for major events like the yearly AniJam and the occasional workshop. Unfortunately, it limits the people you meet to a select few individuals. Since then, however, it's been a real joy to get to know Janice and discover another person in this digital age who still has a passion for producing hand-drawn animation. As we sat down for this interview over Skype, what I expected would be a fifteen to twenty minute interview quickly became a discussion lasting over an hour as we expressed many of the same frustrations with digital technology and (limited) nostalgia about analog filmmaking. But rather than paraphrase our conversation, the following is Janice in her own words.

Janice Schulman

Q: What is your current job description?

A: I'm an independent animator. I specialize in 2d animation. I'm kind of like a one-stop shop, if someone needs something done from start to finish, from concept to completion, I can do it. But they have to want my style, right? So I do that on a freelance basis. I do 2d, I use Flash some of the time. I use a combination of digital and traditional inks—hand-drawn, digital and collage. I'm [also] working part time for the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) as Administrator Coordinator, so I help plan events and do member outreach and whatever else they want me to do around the studio.

Q: How long have you worked in the animation industry?

A: On and off since about '95. I wouldn't say twenty years, because there were some years I wasn't working as an animator. You could say I have fifteen years experience.

Q: What roles have you performed during your career in animation?

A: In the early days, my first job was working on interactive CD-ROMs. I started doing multimedia; doing animation for "edutainment" or educational CD-ROMs for kids. Then I did animation work for pixelboards--for jumbotrons--in Montreal. That was a fun job, I worked within a marketing department, I had to come up with little ads and animate them and then get them in the right format and export them so they could be on display on the electronic signs. And then I was also in charge of changing the copy and scheduling the signs. But I was the only artist working at the place so it was kind of a little odd. There was nowhere to go, I was the "in-house" artist, right? Anyways, I left that job after two years.

After that, eventually I managed to do some work in television. Working as an independent, I did some work for Discovery Channel. That was almost full time, but I was working from home. I had to officially register a company name at that point, so I registered "Janimations". I did a bunch of stuff for this show called "The Sex Files". It ran for five years, I think, and I animated for them for three years. I also animated some title sequences for a couple of different specials that they had.

Q: What made you choose animation as a major course of study?

A: I kind of fell in to it, truthfully. I started in film production, but my films were very cartoony, I didn't get accepted back into year two of the program. So I needed to find something else to do. I always liked to draw and a teacher recommended I try out for the animation program—that was at Concordia. I guess it was a better fit for me.

Q: Have you have worked for studios and as an independent? If so, which do you prefer and why?

A: I worked very briefly at Cuppa Coffee, but for the most part I’ve worked from home. Whatever animation work I've managed to get has been on a freelance basis. That’s just sort of the way it worked out. I guess there are advantages and disadvantages. It was kind of tough working alone at home and actually having to produce quite a bit of animation as one person. You need to figure out your capacity. You have to figure out your own creative rhythms, when you’re going to be most productive. I haven’t really had a traditional career.


"Nice Jewish Boys" by Janice Schulman
Q: Your previous work spans short narrative animations (Great Canadian Inventions, Nice Jewish Boys) and commercial animation (CallBack and The Sex Files). Which story format do you prefer to work with—short vignettes where you control the content or commercial work where you’re handed the story?

A: They have both have advantages and disadvantages, like when it's someone else's idea that they want you to illustrate, you're given certain parameters and usually you're given a tighter deadline so you're forced to work. It can be an interesting challenge to kind of work within a story that someone else has given you, I do enjoy that. It's like you're figuring out the pieces of the puzzle and how are you going to get their message across in a clear way, and in a way that they usually find amusing--because that’s usually why they're bringing me in--to create something entertaining for them.

And then working on my own stuff, I mean that's more of a labor of love. I'm the one doing it so, of course that's satisfying if I’ve had an idea in my head for a while and I finally start to make the thing. But it's a different kind of satisfaction.

Q: Given that we've seen the NFB closing their Mediatheque location in Toronto and funding for the arts is being reduced all across Canada, what do you see as the future for independent, non-commercial animation in Ontario?

A: First of all, I still think that the technology has become so much more accessible than it was even twenty years ago that if someone wants to make animation today as an independent, it's easier for them to do it than it ever was before. You don’t need that much technology. You don't have to shoot on film anymore--the way it was when I got out of school and I was trying to budget to make a short film. Well, I wasn't thinking about using a digital camera, right? So that was way more complicated. And now even, say, TAIS is a great resource in the city, at least in Toronto, and it's affordable and it’s accessible.

Q: You’re currently involved in the Toronto Animated Image Society, what role do you see societies like TAIS and QAS (1) fulfilling within the animation community? And with the greater accessibility to animation tools (cheaper computers, animation software with more affordable options: Adobe’s Creative Cloud), do you see a future where younger animators continue to take advantage of animation societies like TAIS?

A: Yeah, I think if they're smart, they’ll come to TAIS. [Laughs] It's amazing that people now have the choice that they don't have to work from home. We can provide them with affordable access to studio space and equipment and we also provide community. It's a chance to work with other people working on their projects within the same space so that there can be an exchange of ideas, an exchange of energy, and knowledge. I mean, really, it was through meeting people at TAIS over the years, they filled in some information for me that I hadn't received in university. Some knowledge--how to improve my timing in animation, squash and stretch, anticipation--I've met some people along the way who have been mentors to me and I met those people through TAIS. Coming out to an event is a great way to start to meet people and also by committing to actually joining the group. We do try to connect people. If there's somebody who comes along and they're interested in a specific form of animation and there's another person who's more experienced in the group, we do try to connect those people. And it doesn't have to happen in a very formal way. Even if it's just to introduce them at a certain event, if I know that someone is interested in doing puppet animation and we’ve got someone who is experienced in it, I'll try to put those people in touch with each other


"Great Canadian Inventions" Storyboard & animation by Janice Schulman Written & created by Allan Kane
Q: How have opportunities changed for women pursuing a career in animation today as opposed to when you started your career?

A: I think it's probably easier today to make connections with people through social media, for example, that didn't exist when I graduated. When I graduated if you were going to network you had to actually pick up the phone. I had to do a lot of cold calling to get anywhere. I don't know if it’s changed so much to actually get into any of the larger studios, I really think you have to have the specific skills they’re looking for either today--probably like some high end knowledge of 3d animation or if you want to do 2d animation you really have to have a knock-out looking portfolio. There are some houses that are doing some of the more boutique style animation, like producing commercials, who are open to people who work in different mediums. I had better luck with them, but yeah, there was no LinkedIn. There was no Facebook when I got out of school, so it was tough to break in. But I'm certainly seeing a lot of animation still being produced. There's still a lot of it on T.V. The main thing is the commercial studios still want versatile artists who are able to copy character designs and who have classical training. So I don't know if it's changed for women, I think if you are a good enough artist, you’ll get your foot in the door whether you are a woman or a man, I really don't think it makes a difference.

Q: What do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation?

A: I really think it comes down to getting the right skills, and you really need the appetite to do it. It has been an ongoing challenge that the technology keeps changing so fast. That's something I've found where I would finally master a new program, like Flash or whatever it was, then Flash wasn't hot anymore. You know what I mean? It has been a struggle feeling like you're always one step behind of "the" software that's in demand. Like for a while it was Flash and then they wanted you to learn ActionScripting. Now I'm seeing... I don't really see people asking for Flash anymore. So it's just sort of like 'where do you put your time in?' And unless you’re already working within a studio where you’re going to get trained on the job or you're going to learn on the job because you’re working on a specific project, then you're going to have to really be driven and committed to learning it on your own time. And it just sort of feels like a bit of a gamble, like, which direction do I go in? How long is this particular software going to be popular for? That's been a frustration of mine. It's been a challenge. But I guess the nice thing though is that if you know how to animate, you're not going to lose that skill. If you know how to animate and/or you know how to draw, those skills are still valuable. You’re just going to have to find out how to fit them in and make your skills work with the latest software.

Composer Maria Molinari and Janice Schulman (2)

Q: If your daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her?

A: Pick a different career! [Laughs] No, I would tell her you better work on your drawing and you better talk to people who work in the industry. Find out what their hours are like. And try to visit some studios and really go and see if the work appeals to you. A piece of advice that someone gave me years ago was 'make sure that you are always doing some of your own work.' It doesn’t have to be animation but just continue doing your own side art projects, however small they may be. Otherwise things can get boring or you can get burned out. It's good to just play and try working in a different medium, because it refreshes you.

Q: What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation?

A: Take them seriously and pay attention when they want to show you their work in progress or their ideas. Y'know? Encourage them, find some sort of extracurricular art class or maybe find a way to connect them to a group like TAIS. But I think it would be to try to point them in the direction of someone who could be some kind of mentor where they could go and sit down for an informational interview with someone who works in the industry--someone who would take a look at their portfolio before they considered applying to art school and give them some feedback. I think it’s definitely helpful to connect them with another artist who’s more experienced--if you’re not an artist, if you know little to nothing about the industry, try to use your connections. Take the girl’s ambition seriously and interest seriously and maybe get her to check out some of the different colleges.

* * *

Janice's work can be viewed on her company website "Janimations" at www.janimations.com and she has uploaded several of her completed films on her YouTube channel.

Footnotes:
1. QAS - The Quickdraw Animation Society located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2. Photograph copyright Grayden Laing and the Canadian Animation Blog and used with permission.

Animated Inspiration: TAIS UFO Jam

I apologize for being a little lax as of late, I've had this animation on deck for a couple months now but am just now posting it. Here's the ten second films that we created for this year's Toronto Animated Image Society "UFO Jam" summer screening.

Animated Thoughts: TAIS 2013 AniJam or "what I did on my pre-summer vacation..."

After submitting a short on the subject of "UFO's" to the annual TAIS AniJam, it was finally time for the drive to Toronto to see if the ten-second gag would get a laugh or not. A couple chuckles is really the most I can hope for. Every year, the TAIS ten-second film topic is announced and every year I wrack my brain until I figure out one good idea--which usually morphs into at least three or four really funny ideas--before I procrastinate, set aside the project in favor of billable work, or simply pass out due to exhaustion. And yet, a day or two before the film is due, something goes off in my brain telling me that I have to create a silly little gag film that reflects my off-kilter sense of humor, all so I can represent as the only American member of TAIS by driving to Toronto for the weekend. The ten-second shorts that I produce never live up to the raucous, gut-busting films that I see in my imagination as I invariably accept ten-seconds of animation that is far, far less then it could be since I'm only spending a few hours working on them the night before they're due. On the one hand, I'm reminded that this is why I did so poorly in undergrad, but on the other hand, I fool myself into thinking that I'm prioritizing my projects since the paying gigs are what helps me pay off the student loans with a little left over for that monthly Adobe Creative Cloud membership. However, these little ten-second gag films are what allows me to maintain whatever artistic sensibilities I have, so if ten-seconds every Spring is all it takes, who am I to complain? Especially since it means a weekend trip to Toronto where I can be a part of the most vibrant animation community in the Great Lakes region.

Friday began as it usually did, with me leaving home around 7 a.m. and making the five hour drive to Canada's largest city with a list of stuff to do over the weekend. After arrival and check-in at my hotel (and receiving yet more proof at the border that my purchase of a NEXUS pass was an extremely wise one when I was waived right through security), I braved the construction in downtown Toronto to arrive at the St. Lawrence Market for lunch. A jar of gourmet mustard purchased for my brother and a pea-bacon sandwich later, I reviewed my list of used books and bookstores and then started walking through the underground city. This year, the plan was to continue the research started at the MSU and R.I.T. libraries and save myself overdue library book fines by hunting down my own copies.

The first find of the day was at 'BMV Books' just north of the Eaton Centre: the 2004 printing of "Animation Now". I have the hardback 2007 reprint, unfortunately, that printing removed sections on CalArts, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, La Poudrière, and Supinfocom nor did it come with the sample DVD of animators' films. While I like the smaller footprint of the hardback 2007 copy, still I wanted the earlier printing to fill in the gaps left from the later printing. I also discovered a near-mint copy of the "Nelvana Story" and the hardback "Animation Magazine: the 20-Year Collection".

The good thing was that they were very reasonably priced--only one or two dollars more than what I could get online and all were in excellent condition. The bad thing is that two were hardback copies, all three books were a combined eight pounds, and together were the size of a large dictionary. Still elated from my discoveries, I made the admittedly poor decision to not go back to the hotel and drop the books off before continuing my search through all the used bookstores in Downtown Toronto that I could find. My visits to 'Silver Snail', 'ABC Books', 'She Said Boom Books and Records', and a couple others not on my list were fruitless--some good finds, but nothing I didn't already have. Had hoped to find something good at 'She Said Boom' since that was where I found Karen Mazurkewich's "Cartoon Capers" a couple years back, but there wasn't anything there and the girl working the counter was pretty rude, so I went on my way.

The Bloor Street location of 'BMV Books' was much more rewarding as it was there that I found a slightly-used copy of Giannalberto Bendazzi's "Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation". Knowing that Bendazzi is going to be releasing an updated copy of this book later this year, I didn't want to encounter the same issue as I did with "Animation Now". I'm confident that the additional information that Bendazzi is going to add in the updated version will be worth it, however, just in case he has to remove existing pages to make it all fit within a reasonable page count, I'd rather have my own copy now.

Satisfied with the day's deals, I returned to the hotel for a change of clothes. Needless to say, sitting in front of the computer for over ten hours a day over the past four years isn't a very good workout to prepare yourself for a day of walking all around downtown Toronto in close to 80 degree weather!

After a shower and nursing some blisters, I discovered that it had started raining. Even with an umbrella, I was going to get all wet again. So I stopped by the local Anime store (no love there, but admittedly the DVDs I'm looking for are pretty hard to find) then trudged through the rain to dinner at Hero Burger, and finally returned to the Grange Hotel. I spent the rest of the evening watching the last four episodes of "BTOOOM!" before doing some work in my production journal on the paint-on-glass film that I 'owe my Auntie Martine'. The Grange Hotel may be spartan, but their rooms have wireless routers. Makes for easy, uninterrupted streaming of anime over my iPad. "BTOOOM!" is another example of how far ahead of the game the Japanese are when compared to my American bretheren when it comes to breaking out of the animation age ghetto. The story may be slightly recycled from "Battle Royale", but it's still filled with solid storytelling geared for a more mature audience. Afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to solve a couple problems with my storyboards. I guess sometimes all you need is a change of scenery to jar your creativity and allow the ideas to flow through your pencil.

Saturday was research day for new material for my sister blog "Animated Women" (no pun intended). After breakfast, I went to the Toronto Reference Library to scour their film and animation section, much like I did at R.I.T. and MSU. Having been warned ahead of time by Patrick Jenkins that the Toronto Comic Arts Festival was in full swing, I tried to arrive as early as possible. But even then, there were hundreds of people mulling around, buying product and getting autographs from independent (and some not-so-independent) artists in the comic book scene, like the Hernandez brothers and J. Scott Campbell.

Was kind of unimpressed with all the crowds of people at the TCAF tables set up on the Library's main floor, so I went up to the fifth floor, which was much quieter and far less crowded! Still, it was five flights of stairs after being sore from all the previous day's walking. Again, not one of my more well thought out plans, but that's where the film and animation section was. There wasn't a whole lot there that I hadn't seen before, but I was able to review a couple books that are on my short-list: "British Animation: The Channel 4 Factor" by Clare Kitson, "French Animation History", by Richard Newpert and "The World History of Animation" by Stephen Cavalier. It was in Cavalier's book that I discovered a reference to the only book on cut-out animation that Terry Gilliam wrote: "Animations of Mortality". Gilliam, while still working with Monty Python, wrote this surreal little book in the United Kingdom back in 1978 and it only had one print run. It was also a book that I had seen on Friday as I searched through used bookstores--but I couldn't remember which one. Nightmares of running around Toronto a second time swam through my head and the clock was ticking as I was meeting Lynn Dana Wilton for dinner at 4:30 p.m.

As the cosplayers and furries were starting to increase in number, I needed no greater reason to leave the throngs of TCAF attendees behind. So, I hastily exited the library and retraced my previous day's path in nearly reverse order starting with 'She Said Boom'. The book was not there, however, a different yet equally rude employee was. After deciding never to darken their doorstep again, I went back to' BMV Books' on Bloor Street. And sure enough, there it was. Turns out I had passed it over when I saw the slightly-used copy of Bendazzi's "Cartoons" on the shelf below. The copy purchased, I returned to the hotel for another shower. After two candy bars, some serious hydration, and watching a guilty pleasure, the latest simulcasted episode of "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute" (season two) streamed via CrunchyRoll's iPad app, I went to meet up with Lynn for dinner at the Kit Kat before we attended the TAIS AniJam screening.

Time flew by as we talked about our films, the motivations behind our projects, the state of the industry, and traveling to festivals. It was only through dumb luck that I checked the time on my phone during one of the very few lapses in conversation. We had talked through dinner and were left with only ten minutes to walk to the Cinecycle before the TAIS program began! Not more than once on the brisk walk up Spadina did I wish that I had more opportunities to break bread with colleagues--if for no other reason than the conversation.

There were some great films during the screening, and I loved how there was a wide variety of media and technique, but my favorites had to be the following:

"Hula Hoop" by Tess Martin was ninety seconds of visual wow! The story is a metaphor for the age old 'circle of life' tale animated with sand. But, in several places, the fluidity of the animation and precision with which the characters stayed on model left both Lynn and I wondering if some parts of this film were rotoscoped or if she had snuck in some computer animation. It's really refreshing to see some of the older, non-digital media used, but even more so when it's executed as well as this.
Hula Hoop from Tess Martin on Vimeo.


"The McIntosh Apple" by Janice Schulman was only a minute long, but this cute little mini-documentary about a "Great Canadian Invention" told the origin story of the McIntosh apple using a palette of bold lines and colored pencil textures.


Directed by Astra Burka and animated by Pasquale La Montagna, "My Titanic Uncle" was a wonderful "drawn on glass" documentary that told the tragic story of Burka's great-great-uncle Adolphe Saalfeld--a man who survived the sinking of the Titanic but was never able to overcome the stigma of being a survivor.


The screening ended on a high note with "Like Rabbits", the sequel to Osman Cerfon's delightfully twisted "Sticky Ends". A trailer for the continuing tale of the 'fish headed man' can be seen on Vimeo.



Madi Piller and Chuck Wilson

Special notice must be made for TAIS President Madi Piller's film "Animated Self-Portraits" where she contacted a plethora of Canadian animators with the instruction of creating an animated self-portrait using a cycle of only twelve drawings. While the film has not been released online, Acme Art and Works has posted the DVD packaging artwork on their website.

Afterwards, it was time to have a drink at the Cinecycle's bar and chat with fellow animators before dropping Lynn off at her home, driving back to my hotel, and falling asleep before my head hit the pillow. As nice as it was to see everyone again, the highlight of the meet-and-greet after the screening had to be bumping into Graydon Liang of the Canadian Animation Blog who has been advising me as I make the transition to shooting traditional animation with a DSLR camera. Walking away with another two pieces of the image-flicker puzzle, hopefully, I'll get to start filming my paint-on-glass film sooner rather than later.



Sunday arrived way too soon and immediately became a mixed bag for me. My plan to visit the Toronto Zoo was almost thwarted by a marathon that shut down nearly every entrance to the Gardiner expressway around Spadina Avenue. But, after finally making it to the Zoo, an hour behind schedule, the beautiful weather broke and it started to hail as I walked up to the admissions booth. The rest of the trip to the zoo consisted of me leaning into my umbrella against the rain and wind as I rushed from one enclosed display to the next. But, the critters inside the displays seemed to be a lot more active than the ones outside, and the weather kept most of the people away, so I had some time to collect photo and video references for animals that I usually only get to see in passing. My main reason for visiting the zoo was thwarted when I discovered that the newly renovated Asia section had been shut down to finish preparations for the giant panda display which would be opening in six days. Doom on me.

One of the more interesting things that happened there was when I encountered a girl who was drawing a peacock. A short chat revealed that she was a student who wanted to go to CalArts. So, at her request, I looked at her portfolio and gave her encouragement on her drawings--which displayed an excellent grasp of perspective, proportion and gesture. But as I walked away, I was angry at myself for not having a card that I could hand her to promote the interviews on my AnimatedWomen.info blog--the interviews being far more encouraging and informative than anything I could muster in a five minute conversation.

So, slightly crestfallen, I drove back to the hotel figuring that I'd walk around Kensington Market and maybe visit the chocolatier before going to dinner.

Patrick Jenkins

However, as fate would have it, when I returned to the Grange and checked my e-mail it turned out that Patrick Jenkins had sent me an invitation to come up and see his studio if I was still in town. A short jaunt on Toronto's public transportation later, and I got to spend the better part of the afternoon visiting with Patrick as he showed me his animation setup and provided me some first-hand advice on how he solved the flicker issue with his DSLR camera setup. Afterwards, he showed me the preliminary storyboards and test shots for his third NoirLand film. Not more than once during the afternoon, I was kicking myself for not bringing my digital audio recorder from home and continuing last February's interview.

After dinner, I was tired from yet another day of walking, so I picked up a drink on the way back to the Grange and watched the latest simulcasted episode of "A Certain Scientific Railgun S" on Funimation's iPad app. Again, sleep came easy that night as I reflected on the main advantage of being wired in to the net: 24/7 access to animation, be it through Crunchyroll, Funimation, the NFB's iOS app, or a plethora of other services more than willing to take my money in exchange for sending me animated film wherever I am in North America.

Monday morning rolled around sooner than expected and it was time to go, though I probably could've used another day or two in Toronto. There were still several used bookstores that I hadn't visited, but they would have to wait until this Fall when I stop through on my way to the Ottawa International Animation Festival. I bade farewell to the Grange for another few months and took the streetcars to breakfast at Marche Movenpik--one of the few landmarks still remaining from the days back in the '70's when my parents would bring me and my sister here for vacation. On the way back, I walked past the former location of 'Ginsburg & Wong', a Jewish deli/Chinese restaurant that was one of the three restaurants that my family would always visit on our vacations. With TAIS moving their offices away from the waterfront, the NFB Mediatheque closing their center on John Street, and the Silver Snail moving their store to Yonge Street, I drove home wondering how many places in Toronto that make it feel like a home away from home will soon only live in my memories?