Dream Smashers, Dream Makers
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So, the end of another quarter is rapidly approaching, and I for one can NOT wait. I have so much animating that I want to do, that with school in the way (yes, it is all obese and blocking my sunlight) I can’t get any of it done. On top of that I’m totally HATING my background design class. It can’t even be called that. It’s more like conceptual illustration for live action movies. It SUCKS! Our teacher won’t let us o any organic work….WHAT!?The freakin entirety of the world is organic! He has us doing straight laced architectural illustration, but then has nerve enough to show us background scenes from lavish ORGANIC Disney films. I want my PHUKIN money back!…1..2..3..5..7..8.9.45…”sigh” okay I’m calm again.
I probably should have been blogging about this the entire time it was going on this quarter, but with the wonderful help of Vella Torres over at
Turner Studios… |
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this pic. does them no justice. LtoR (Jai, Sidney, Brian)
I was able to get three guest speakers to come to
| AIA and fill these young minds with knowledge. Spread over the quarter Jai Husband, Brian de Tagyos, and Sidney Brinson came armed with the weapons we will need to ease into this fast moving industry…and they entertained us as well. I didn’t take notes (‘cause I’m a slacker) {no, seriously, it was hard enough trying not to blow a gasket making sure everything ran smoothly enough.} I had help though from Derek Rhodarmer our department chair and Lee Crowe who is chief over The Animation Society. I’ll see if I can get a copy of Lee’s extensive notes and post them here and on the TAS website (which I have also been neglecting.) They each added to the wealth of insight into what is expected, what is needed, and what is realistic. They were SO professional, I felt like I was in the presence of like rock stars or something. And the one awesome thing about them all was, they were all young. What I mean by that is, they reflected the current and emerging face of animation. I mean if I had decided to go to art school 12 years ago after graduation, well… I would maybe be talking to some of those students I was sitting with. Or… not. (considering I arranged it, I can’t imagine who would be president of TAS right now.) (it would probably still be known as The Animation Club.) hmm….I really want to bring more guest speakers into the school to talk with the animators of the future. It’s good for them to get a small taste of the outside (real) world, when all you know of the industry is a college animation lab and some snot nosed anime freaks….well… you can easily become jaded. And jadedness is like a plague at our school. Mostly due to young artist not being prepared for the reality of just how much work goes into animation. For others, it turns out that they only love to watch animation; not create animation. Then there is an entirely different group who are in love with the idea of being an animator. You know, the kids who have like every episode of every animated feature and show released on dvd, can quote any of them at the drop of a dime, and know all this inside information about the people behind the scenes?…. We call ‘em FANBOYS in the comic book world. They just suck in the animation world…. kidding. …no I’m not…. Yes I am… no,…I’m not. I do feel that because I got such a late start in the animation thing, it’s going to be an uphill battle for me. (I mean more so, than usual) The average age for these students I go to class with is like 21-22 and a good majority of them are skilled (an even larger majority of them, are not. hee hee) It seems to be about right as far as animation history is concerned. These guys come in around their early 20s and become vets around 30. I’m already 31 (soon to be 32) and I can say 1. I wasn’t as skilled as some of these kids when I was their age. But I did know people who when I was 22 they were like 18 and would have rocked the socks off of half these guys (if they hadn’t been too preoccupied with pooping in diapers then) And now, well both myself and my friend AJ (yeah I was talking about you dude) have grown artistically. So, 2. in many ways I do have advantages over many of the students, but in some places I don’t (I suppose that’s one of the many the laws of nature. you can only be dominant over so many other animals, then you become the one dominated by some other animal.) -we’re aminolz- I just hope I don’t run into ageism when I get out there, because it looks like I’ll be around 34 when I finally do…”sigh” I’m tired just THINKING about that. joking. I hope my skills will keep doors open who would otherwise be looking for younger talent. I mean maturity has to count for something as well, right? Well, in the end it’s these great people like the ones who took time out of their busy schedules to come and talk do us dirty faced, snot nosed, skinned up knee having, punk kids that make the journey less horrid. Thank you Vella, an thank you Jai, Sidney, and Brian. Speaking of thank you… THANK YOU Jackson Publik and Doc Hammer for yet another AWESOME season of The Venture Bros. If you have yet to see this show, go watch it now! (what’s wrong with you!?) They just completed the 3rd season on Sunday and it was spectacular. This is by far the best animated show on television. It’s so smart and funny, without being pretentious and snobby. ( you know how some cartoons go off on an elitist tangent that only people in the “know” are capable of enjoying. don’t pretend…you’ve seen one or two.) But this show isn’t that. It’s just pure poking fun at old adventure cartoons like Johnny Quest and mystery cartoons like Scooby Doo (which I CAN’T STAND by the way) But at the same time they are creating an entirely new mythos for the action-adventure SLASH SciFi, SLASH comedy SLASH mystery….thing. I don’t think it can be put in a genre. It’s just, SLASH! The Venture Bros. and that’s enough. This is really the only animation I’m currently watching on television…and I’m not even watching it there, I watch it as it premiers on adult swim.com. I enjoy this show so much I’ve actual started creating my first fan-art since Final Fantasy 8 came out and I did a silly illustrated chibi version of Ifrit. I don’t “do” fan-art…too busy with my own characters to go off drawing someone else’s. But I really love these guys. They have developed so much in the last three seasons. I seriously can only see it running to about season 5 before it gets on Publik and Hammers nerves, but until then…I’m going to take it all in. I eventually want to draw the entire venture clan plus Dr. O, and Triana.
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To spice things up even more this season, the guys at
| AstroBase Go! Put together a shirt club, where they sold a new episode specific shirt with each new episode. But you only had ‘till the next episode to buy it. BRILLIANT! Needless to say, I didn’t get any…but I do have the entire collection of images from the shirt club. The best shirt is the Guild of Calamitous Intent shirt
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My characters will probably rock them in different future ‘toons as a tribute to the awesome toonage might of VB. Alright, now that I have finished geeking out, I wanna’ talk only slightly serious about something animation related. ANIME!
Yes, this is Smars; on the subject of Anime.
I want to talk about this because it may not be happening just where I am, but all over the country. See, at my school anime is like a bad word. Not a small ass here, or an meager damn there. No. This is full on hauling off MOTHER PHUKING, PHUK PHUKER! (or something to that affect) It’s a bad…BAD word. The thing is, we have a lot of otaku at our school (I’m sure I’ve touched on this in the past) They’re into everything from the mangas, to the CTCG, to the cosplaying to…ugh! It’s exhausting. Whatever, to each is own. I suppose in the animation world it really comes down to a generational thing. Y’see, our teachers are from an older generation that came up on things like LooneyTunes, Fleischer shorts, and Disney features. So, we’re talking 60’s kids who were teens in the 70’s and got out of college and into animation in the 80s. That’s were I come in. I grew up in the 80s and was in high school in the early 90s. This was right when the first couple of anime were being imported. This was before the explosion on TV. ( you had to mostly go to conventions like
| Dragon Con, to get VHS copies of both old and current shows that were airing over there. Anyway…my point is, Anime shouldn’t be treated like the dirty taint of the animation world. I mean honestly, without all the anime that was imported here (both on TV and bootlegged at Cons), animation would have been in its death throws right now. I know, “HOW SO?” you ask. See, programming had become scarcely thin when Cartoon Network hit the scene. Suddenly it was CN and Nickelodeon. These two giant, radio active monsters; stomping around the city, stumbling into one another causing major collateral damage. And who suffered?…the viewers. Yeah, I know…we still had cartoons. But when I was coming up we had ABC, NBC, CBS, and eventually FOX, and Paramount. “what does that mean?” other than, that I’m an ole fart who has “back in my day” stories to tell? It meant variety. Everyone wanted you to watch their show, so they pulled no punches and bombarded us with animated programming. YAY! (healthy competition) But in the end what happened? Well, Fox headed to the east, while ABC, CBS, & NBC became extinct. (Disney tried to keep ABC on life support with really brilliant shows like Pepper Ann, The Weekenders, Recess, Loyd in space, and Filmore. But it wasn’t enough) The anime invasion was here and Pokemon was on the front lines, ripping cartoons a new one left and right. ( it was a MONSTER of a franchise, but animation isn’t firstly about marketing) Now, as of the last two or three years I’ve watched things like Naruto with my (at the time) girlfriend’s daughter. {she’s the future of fanaticism} “gasp” And I can honestly see the appeal. NINJAS DOING AWESOME ASS SHIT! C’MON! I had the ninja turtles in the late 80s, but Naruto blows them away. Really. He’d be eating soup made of them, out of their shells. (gross.) Tons of good anime exist, but there are tons of BAD anime. Especially now that the entire Island of Japan is aware that other countries (including if not especially the U.S.) go absolutely ape-scheisse over it. But seriously, my problem with anime isn’t the way it’s animated. I don’t mind the odd stills, sliding, canted frame, shots engulfed by speed lines out the wazoo. No. I understand those things are now a part of Japanese animation tradition. Born out of necessity, and humble beginnings were they had no budgets. They’re paying homage to the anime pioneers. (albeit, in a sort of perverse exaggerated way.)
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But, I digress.
In the end, my gripe is this. The way the Japanese culture go about telling a story. It’s very much about the patience of the duel. It’s theatrical and very chess like. It’s a take on the old samurai duel, where two men simply take stance and you can see the outcome of the battle just based on how a fighter holds both himself and his sword. But see, the ancient art and wonderful imagery of samurai sword dueling works brilliantly for a Kurosawa film, or even a 17th century bushido “warrior”.(yeah, I went there) But not for a flying, screaming, spiky haired, super powered ninja kid; who’s so bad ass he sneezes, and the entire solar system collapses in on itself.
Zuh!?
It’s too drawn out, and too much. I’m not impatient, no. But I’m saying that the negative result of this path is that this kind of anime (which is the largest portion, and most overexposed) gives off the appearance of cheap, lazy animators, and writers. Which they’re not. I know this because if it were not for all the extra fluff, about 75% of them would be ABSO-PHUKIN-LOOTLY BRILLIANT!
But, as it stands…I can’t taste the cake ‘cause theirs too much icing on it! (SWEET!!)
Now American animation, don’t think you’re off the hook just because I gave anime a good spanking. American animation has become a direct reflection of its environment. Self centered, pompous, bloated, and pretentious.
Example: Disney got WAY too big for their britches, as did most of the feature producers. (and what happened?) They split their pants. (fatty, fat, fat, fat!) Why does everything have to be comedy with us. Can we take NOTHING serious. Are we so depressed and suppressed that we have to distract ourselves with stupid dick and fart jokes? Ooh… you’re edgy, you just showed a guy humping a dead fetus. Ooh…edgy. (it never happened, but with the way things are going…it’s all becoming comedic shock value “gags”.) It’s either self servicing highbrow potty humor, or sick lowbrow potty humor. But it’s not funny. So, then kids jump ship and go east for serious stories that cross all genre platforms. Can we PLEASE get some variety here!? I want to see some serious animation in the states. Something that gives me goose bumps, or makes my mouth drop open in awe at the very idea being presented. The entire world treats animation as an art form. With the variety of an art gallery thoughts are always being provoked while being entertained. Here in the states we’re running pony rides for snot nosed brats.
(Shetland pony rides!)
(what a joke!)
I feel that no animator can really call themselves an animator, and expect to be respected as an artist unless they become open to the idea that animation is a global event. They have to quit being region specific. (and yes I understand that all kids want to draw nowadays is manga and anime styled stuff)…I say, give them something else to get excited about. Stop bitching and moaning and give them something that really sucks them in and makes them say OH, RAD! Wait…wait… kids don’t say rad anymore. COOL! (the ol’ timeless standby) Seriously, give them a reason to prefer American animation over the stuff coming out of Japan. Until we do this… we simply have to hope that it’s just a faze and that they’ll grow out of it in time to save animations next generations.
I’m done.
Live Love and Eat fruit.
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Hi Shadrick! You know I think you are the coolest and I don’t think you are old. You look like you are 20, seriously! Just don’t tell anyone how old you are and no one will know. Like everyone I talk to thinks you are a young’n.
OMG Venture bros is so fucking awesome! I still missed part of the season but I saw the episode on Sunday. Awww poor little number 23(is it 23 I can never remember their numbers). Anywho he will be missed but I am totally enjoying your fan art.
Oh and this might just be me but your blog font is super tiny. Hard to read. So are you going to be at Dragon con? If so I will see you there!
Comment made on August 28, 2008 @ 9:11 pm | Edit This
anime ninja…
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Trackback made on September 8, 2008 @ 12:02 pm | Edit This