Art

Three Times

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I have been on a mini hiatus from this blog. With school starting up, and work keeping me busy (especially in this economy…yeesh!), it’s hard to keep up with all the animation, cartoons, and comics that come my way. The reviews that I want to write are waaaay backed up (I have about 4-5 animated movies I want to write about). Add to that all the Bootleg Classics, the Set the VCR moments, the film studies, Filipin@s, and all the animated shorts I want to plug, and I’m really backed up (at least I never run out of material to write about).

Anyway, let’s begin again. Here’s an animated music video for “Three Times” by Giacomo out of the UK. I enjoyed the beat, and the paper cut-out stop-motion animation gave this piece a surreal kind of vibe to it.

Giacomo “Three Times” /Plasic Horse Films/ 2009/ UK


Isang Bagsak: One more down…

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What’s up good folks! I’m about to start another exciting term at school, but before I venture out, I thought I would show you my progress from last class. Keep in mind it’s not the greatest animation in the world, in fact, its pretty crappy, but hey I’m learning! Isang Bagsak! One more down!

SIFF 09: Egon & Dönci

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Egon & Dönci/ dir. Ádám Magyar/ 2008/ Hungary

3949How does one make a movie an experience? When a movie stops being about story, plot, and characters and the  focus is so much about the visuals, the sights and the sounds that we, as an audience, really don’t give a damn about the story.

That’s what Egon & Dönci attempts to do. This quirky Hungarian animated feature (apparently Hungary’s first CG animated movie) has no dialogue whatsoever, and uses gestures and sounds to communicate its characters thoughts and ideas, a technique that is not new by any means to the animation field, but still powerful when done right. Continue reading →

Voltron: The SLR Camera! (1985)

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I have a slew of reviews that should be upcoming (busy with school and work), so to break the monotony, I thought I would quickly post this:

In 1985, this came out…

voltroncam

It is a fully functional, transforming Voltron SLR –wannabe 110 film camera. Let me repeat in ALL CAPS and bold for emphasis. FULLY FUNCTIONAL AND TRANSFORMING VOLTRON SLR!

How come I didn’t know about this? And how do I get one now? I’m willing to switch from digital to 110 film (Do they even make 110 film anymore?)

Anyway. DO WANT!

From Gizmodo

SIFF 09: $9.99

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$9.99/ dir. Tatia Rosenthal/ 2008/ Australia/ Israel

411px-Nine_ninety_nineIt’s that time of year, the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) has started and I am planning on seeing all the animated features at SIFF this year. So I decided to take off early from work last Thursday and head to  small theatre at the end of Broadway, the Harvard Exit. The first animated movie I saw was $9.99.

I have wrote this before, but stop motion is a bitch and I give much credit to those animators who are working in that medium. I also appreciate a film maker who is willing to take a chance and make an animated movie that is NOT geared towards children. $9.99 is an all stop-motion animated film that is not for children. Right from the spectacular opening scene, you know that $9.99 is not filled with cuteness and fairytales, but is filled with real people with real life problems. Continue reading →

Review: Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology

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Secret Identities/ Edited by Jeff Yang, Perry Shen, Keith Chow, & Jerry Ma/ 2009

secret identitiesThere is a tremendous amount of Asian American talent in the comic book industry. From writers to editors, and inkers to pencilers, more than likely you’ll find some dope Asian American artists. Even more than that, many of the die-hard fans of comic books are Asians Americans. One of my favorite comic book artists growing up was Jim Lee and I have stated many times that my favorite era was the 90’s where Jim Lee’s X-Men designs always held a special place. 

Even though there are plenty of Asian American artists in the comic book industry, and many more Asian American fanboys, there is very little representation of Asian American characters in the comic book universe. It seems a little strange that a huge portion of the brightest artists/ writers and the greatest fans in the comic book world do not have a set of superhero characters that is ingrained in the Asian American community, that they can claim as their own. 

Actually it’s not that strange. Take a gander at current movies and television and you’ll more than likely see that the Asian American community is overlooked. Our characters are limited to secondary characters, but never the main person. So it makes sense that it translates to the comic book world as well. 

The creators of Secret Identities, Jeff Yang, Keith Chow, Jerry Ma, and Perry Shen, hoped to take the first step in changing this perception by bringing together some of the best Asian American talent to create an anthology of 26 stories revolving around Asian American Superheroes. The result is a truly inspiring collection of stories that feature the Asian American community. It is a must read for any comic book fan. (Hit the jump for the rest of the review) Continue reading →

Ill Bill feat. Immortal Technique & Max Cavalera “War Is My Destiny” Music Video

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There is a start up animation company  from Pennsylvania called “More Frames” that has produced some dope animation. Their latest is this beauty, it’s the animated music video for Brooklyn’s Ill Bill feat. Immortal Technique (one of my favorites) & Max Cavalera. The song is called “War is My Destiny.” Watch it here:

“War Is My Destiny” /Ill Bill feat. Immortal Technique & Max Cavalera/ 2009

Right from the opening with the dude dropping from the sky, this video had me on the edge of my sheet. I’m glad that “More Frames” was able to do the whole video as an animated piece. As much as I would’ve like to see Ill Bill, Immortal Technique, & Max Cavalera on screen, I think for art and story purposes, keeping it all animated was a great idea. There really isn’t much color to this piece, which works since this is all about the bleakness of war and revenge. Of course the color that does stand out is that red bloodshed (as it should be!). The character designs are nice and simplistic, which makes things easier for the animators (more muscles and lines = more work!), and the action scenes are nicely paced. Plus, I enjoyed the song too. Good work “More Frames” I will look for your name in the future (since I may be looking for a job =P)

Pathway & Juxtaposed

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In my never-ending quest for inspiration, I found these two short animated films (via animationblog.org) by students at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Both seniors and both films as thesis projects, Sandy Hong and Alex Myung (Wagner) are on their way towards bright careers. I appreciate their creativity and I love both stories that they tell. I won’t go in depth or do any analysis of their films just yet. We are all starting out, and sometimes all that needs to be done, is just watch and be inspired… Enjoy!

Pathway/ Dir. Sandy Hong/ 2009

Juxtaposed/ Dir. Alex Myung (Wagner)/ 2009 

Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons

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IMG_0034Since I am currently (and will always be) a student of animation, when I heard that the exhibition, Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons, was coming to Seattle’s MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry), I knew I had to make time to go see it. 

Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons gives a little insight into the history of Warner Bros. Cartoons. The exhibit does a good job of showing the process in which Warner Bros. Cartoons were made. There are character model sheets of your favorite Looney Tunes personalities. There are also animation cells, animation drawings, background paintings, story concepts, etc… 

The exhibit is simple and straightforward, and for me truly inspiring. If you have read some of the other posts on this blog, you know that I hold these Looney Tunes shorts in high regard. Not only do they bring back memories of childhood, they are also classic examples of top-notch animation. I would put these shorts against any of the cartoons that come on TV nowadays. 

Suffice to say I spent a good hour/ hour and a half in this exhibit alone. 30 minutes of which was just me watching old Bugs Bunny shorts. After that, I was ready to do what was necessary to keep on following this far-fetched dream of mine. Warner Bros. Cartoons has this great legacy, and I was ready to start making my own legacy. And how would I do that, I headed to the library to study and do my homework… 

(hit the jump to see pictures of this exhibition) Continue reading →