text:
Database on admissions of films released in Europe
[European Audiovisual Observatory] [Presentation of the LUMIERE Database] [Other search]
Film Information
Storozh (RU) [Original title]

Link to IMDb

Directors :
Yuriy Bykov [IMDb Info]

Producing or Co-producing country : RU
Production year : 2019
Admissions (Market : Russian Federation)
Source 2019 Total since 2019
RCFA (RU) 26 676 26 676
OBS 26 676 26 676

© European Audiovisual Observatory

The data base LUMIERE provides a systematic compilation of available data on admissions of the films released in European cinemas since 1996. The data base is the result of the collaboration between the European Audiovisual Observatory and the various specialised national sources as well as the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.


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Saturday Seven: My Favourite Emily Dickinson Poems

Saturday Seven is hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Poetry was one of my favourite things in high school. I took a long break from it once I became an adult, but I’ve recently felt the urge to read it again.

I thought I’d dive back into this genre by revisiting some of the poets I enjoyed the most. Today I’ll share some short poems from Emily Dickinson that always make me smile or think. I once owned a very large book that contained every poem she’d ever written that still exists. (Sadly, some of her work was destroyed by her sister-in-law and other relatives after her death. We still don’t know for sure why they did that, but it was a terrible loss for her fans).

Yes, there’s an excellent reason why none of the below poems have titles. Ms. Dickinson actually didn’t bother naming the majority of her poems! They were given numbers instead or even written on scraps of paper and bundled together tidily.

My future Saturday Seven posts will shine a spotlight on other poets I enjoy. I won’t talk about poetry every week for this meme, but I’m tentatively hoping to do it about once a month in the future.

Poem #1:

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Poem #2:

I HAD no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love; but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought,
Was large enough for me.

Poem #3:

LOOK back on time with kindly eyes,
He doubtless did his best;
How softly sinks his trembling sun
In human nature’s west!

Poem #4:

The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth,–

The sweeping up the heart,
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.

Poem #5:

I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d banish — you know!

How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one’s name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

Poem #6:

Surgeons must be very careful
When they take the knife!
Underneath their fine incisions
Stirs the Culprit—Life!

Poem #7:

Two Butterflies went out at Noon—
And waltzed above a Farm—
Then stepped straight through the Firmament
And rested on a Beam—

And then—together bore away
Upon a shining Sea—
Though never yet, in any Port—
Their coming mentioned—be—

If spoken by the distant Bird—
If met in Ether Sea
By Frigate, or by Merchantman—
No notice—was—to me—

Are any of you fans of poetry? If so, which poems and poets do you like?

14 Responses to Saturday Seven: My Favourite Emily Dickinson Poems

  1. I’m not much of a poetry person Lydia except when reading Sylvia Plath’s poetry (which I have long forgotten) but I sure did enjoy reading the one’s posted on your blog. Thanks for such an interesting post.

    • Sylvia Plath was an incredible poet. I highly recommend rereading her work if you have the time for that. It gets better with every reread.

      I’m glad you liked the poems I shared today. Thank you for your kind words.

  2. I do enjoy poetry, and wrote quite a bit when I was younger (which morphed into song lyrics for a friend who wrote music). I typically only wrote it when I was depressed, though, so it was very dark. I’m not a huge fan of reading it, though, and I do require that the poetry I do read, rhyme. I don’t understand free form “poetry”. But that’s just me…

    Dickenson is one of my favorites. I have a huge book of her poetry on my shelf 🙂

    Thanks for visiting me earlier!

    • You’re welcome. I had no idea you were a fellow fan of Emily Dickinson. How neat!

      I don’t have strong opinions about rhyming vs. non-rhyming poetry. I’d be curious to know what other poets you like.

    • Wow, I sure wasn’t expecting to learn that so many other people are fans of Emily Dickinson’s work. This was a beautiful surprise this weekend.

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Daily news summary Daily news summary

Pirate MP calls for legalising prostitution, citing risks for sex workers

Pirate Party caucus head Jakub Michálek has proposed legalising prostitution. He said doing so would reduce health and safety risks for sex workers while fighting the grey economy.

Currently, the Czech Republic neither fully recognises nor explicitly bans prostitution. The Communists and Christian Democrats are likely to oppose the move, Mr Michálek said. But he is convinced it can move forward with the support of other parties.

An estimated 13,000 female prostitutes work in the Czech Republic, according to data released this month by the NGO Rozkoš bez rizika, which provides counselling for sex-workers. About half are single mothers, it said.

Farmers seek CZK 2.25 bn in compensation for drought

Farmers have applied for a total of 2.25 billion crowns in compensation for last year’s severe drought, the State Agricultural Intervention Fund (SZIF) said in a press release. The state has thus far earmarked 2 billion crowns for this purpose.

The government announced in February a new water management plan aimed at preventing drought from becoming a recurring long-term problem.

Minister of Environment Richard Brabec (ANO) noted that municipalities needed external drinking water supplies in February, an unheard of situation signalling the days of “water prosperity” are over.

Foreign film, TV crews spent CZK 5 bn in Czechia last year

Foreign film crews spent more than 1,000 days shooting at Czech locations and studios last year, spending 5 billion crowns, the Czech Film Commission says in its annual report. Series accounted for about two-thirds of overall foreign productions.

The Czech Republic in 2016 tweaked its incentives scheme to attract more foreign producers. It now offers a 20 percent rebate on qualifying Czech spend and up to a 10 percent rebate on qualifying international spend.

The Commission said that 2018 was one of the strongest years in terms of the number of foreign projects filmed here and amount spent. In total, 40 foreign TV series and films were shot.

Czech PM honours Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem memorial

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) visited the Yad Vashem Memorial to victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the second day of his ongoing visit to Israel.

He is also due to visit a lookout tower designed by Czech architect Martin Rajniš and the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv, following a working lunch with entrepreneurs and scientists.

On Tuesday, Mr Babiš met his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. On his agenda were bilateral trade, cybersecurity and water resource management issues.

ČSÚ: Percentage of women university graduates steadily rising

The percentage of university graduates has been steadily rising in the Czech Republic, especially among women.

By the age of 35, approximately 40 percent of women and 27 percent of men have earned a university degree.

Only among senior citizens do more men than women have higher education, the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) said.

Lawyer: No basis for stripping professor of title over plagiarism

Charles University academic Martin Kovář may not be removed from the post of professor despite being found guilty of plagiarism by an ethical commission at the university’s Faculty of Arts. The university’s vice rector and lawyer Aleš Gerloch says there is no basis in Czech law for stripping Mr. Kovář of the titles of professor or docent, a second qualification he holds.

Mr. Kovář, who is the head of the Institute of World History at Charles University, stood down as vice rector in December following accusations of plagiarism from three doctoral students.

Senate expected to reject Communist’s church restitution tax proposal

The upper house of Parliament is likely to reject a proposal to tax financial compensation awarded to churches in lieu of property that could not be returned in restitution.

The body’s constitutional and legal committee has recommended that Senators veto the proposal. The full Senate is due to discuss the draft, proposed by the Communists, next Wednesday.

The Communists have conditioned their tolerance of the minority government on its passing. Critics say the tax is unconstitutional.

Average mortgage rate in Czech Republic climbs to 3 percent

The average mortgage rate in the Czech Republic rose to 3.0 percent in January from 2.9 percent the previous month, according to market analysts Fincentrum. The average rate has been climbing since reaching a record low of 1.8 percent in December 2016. In January 2018 it stood at 2.3 percent.

The number of new housing loan contracts signed in January was the lowest in five years.

Average salary of automotive sector worker rises 8.7 percent

The average monthly salary in the Czech automotive industry rose by 8.7 percent last year to 40,865 crowns, or 31 percent above the national average.

The number of employees in the sector increased by 3.8 percent to 133,000, according to the Automobile Industry Association (AutoSAP).

Production of passenger cars in the Czech Republic increased by 1.7 percent last year to a record of 1.437 million cars. It has grown for five years in a row.

Weather outlook

Rain is in the forecast Thursday for throughout the country, apart from the regions of Pilsen, southern Bohemian, and Zlín. Average daily temperatures should range between 5 to 10 degrees Celsius.


text:
The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

NHRA: Memphis Last NHRA Stop for Romine in 1998

8 October 1998

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NHRA Pennzoil Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, Oct. 9-11, will be Paul Romines final NHRA Winston Drag Racing appearance this season and he wants to finish on a positive note.

At the last NHRA event the CARQUEST dragster appeared, the NHRA Pioneer Keystone Nationals in Reading, Pa., Romine did not qualify, missing the field by one position with a best 4.78 ET.

"Reading was a disappointment for the team, but we came away with some positive results," Romine said. "At Epping (the IHRA event the week prior to NHRA Pioneer Keystone Nationals) and the few races prior to that, weve had some problems smoking the tires and I think we found some solutions at Reading. Unfortunantly we got a run behind and on the last qualifying attempt, we didnt have the balance of the car correct and it did a wheel stand."

This weekends race in Memphis will be Romines ninth and final NHRA event this season. The CARQUEST team has had a successful year competing part-time on the NHRA Winston Drag Racing trail. In nine appearances, Romine and the CARQUEST team have earned two semi-final finishes (Pennzoil Nationals in Richmond, Va. and Fram Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.) and a runner-up (Winston Invitational in Rockingham, NC).

To prepare for the NHRA Pennzoil Nationals, Romine and the CARQUEST team chose to test last weekend at the new Red River Raceway near Shreveport, La.

"We still have a chance to win the IHRA championship so we wanted to get a first hand look at the Shreveport track (host of the final IHRA event)," Romine said. "Also Clayton (Harris, the CARQUEST crew chief) wanted to test a few things before Memphis because we want to show we can be a player in NHRA competition."

Pro qualifying for the NHRA Pennzoil Nationals begins, Friday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (CDT). Qualifying concludes, Saturday, Oct. 10 with sessions at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled to begin Sunday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. ESPN2 will televise two hours of same day final round coverage Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m.

Results from the NHRA Pennzoil Nationals can be obtained on the World Wide Web at WWW.NHRAONLINE.COM. CARQUEST press releases will be posted at WWW.CARQUEST.COM

CARQUEST Corporation began 24 years ago with 100 auto parts stores. Today there are over 3,400 CARQUEST Auto Parts Stores serving North America. CARQUEST supplies the professional automotive service repair industry as well as do-it-yourselfers with replacement parts, tools and equipment. CARQUEST is committed to providing auto parts and services of the highest quality and greatest value to its customers. For the location of the CARQUEST Auto Parts stores nearest you, call 1-800-492-PART or check out CARQUEST on the World Wide Web: WWW.CARQUEST.COM CARQUEST Auto Parts is the primary sponsor of IHRA Top Fuel World Champion Paul Romine and IHRA title right sponsor of the CARQUEST Empire Nationals in Rochester, NY, the CARQUEST Northern Nationals in Stanton, MI, and the CARQUEST Nationals in Rockingham, NC. CARQUEST is also a primary sponsor of the 1999 Special Olympics World Games to be held, June 26 - July 3, 1999 in Raleigh, NC.


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Two carefree British backpackers, Liz and Kristy, party down in Western Australia then drive to the Outback with their Sydneysider cohort, Ben. The Outback, however, is no place for holiday. With its extreme climate and poisonous creatures, this vast and daunting land can prove deadly to tourists…especially if they come upon local Mick Taylor, the antithesis of Crocodile Dundee.w-2

Bloody Rundown

Written and directed by Greg McLean, also a co-producer, Wolf Creek is an independent grindhouse gore that claims to be based on actual events. While not completely accurate, the film parallels the true-life serial killers Ivan Milat and Bradley John Murdoch, both of whom, at different times, murdered tourists in the Outback.

Wolf 6

Wolf Creek’s gut-wrenching brutality is visceral and believable; the gore is uncompromising. Although regarded as an “Ozploitation,” Wolf Creek veers from archetypal exploitation insofar that there is nothing campy about this well-made realistic film. The unconventional narrative and cinematography lends to the gradual buildup of the suspense. Nothing is anticipated; even the antagonist does not appear until the film’s second half. McLean’s planning was impeccable; he storyboarded every shot. In spite of the meager budget, the cinematography, production design, special effects, along with McLean’s astute direction, culminated into an exceptional film.

Wolf 4

The realism of the film is due in part to the first-rate performances. McLean permitted his actors to improvise some of their dialogue. Surely this artistic freedom augmented their performances. McLean wanted to create an “iconically Australian bad guy,” a counterpart to Freddy, Jason, and Michael. To prepare for his portrayal as the sadistic serial killer, Mick Taylor, John Jarratt spent four months creating and honing his character’s signature laugh. A quintessential Method actor, Jarratt lived in the Outback and refrained from showering for six weeks.

wolf 3

(It should be noted that Jarratt also starred in McLean’s creature feature Rogue (2007).) Jarratt stated that the “portayals” of the three victims “are heroic” and reminded him of “veal.” Indeed, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, and Nathan Phillips delivered fully committed depictions of Liz, Kristy, and Ben, respectively.

wolf 15The desolate setting of the Outback serves as a fifth character, one that is just as inhospitable and sinister as Mick Taylor. Mysterious and otherworldly, the Wolf Creek Crater, which spans over a half a mile in diameter with a depth of almost 200 feet, is a fitting backdrop to the primal evil that befalls the characters. At the start of filming, it rained for the first time in ten years. McLean was able to work this last-minute oddity into the production, as it rained for twenty-one days of the twenty-five day shoot.  Wolf Creek is perhaps the scariest export out of Australia.

Die-Anne’s Diatribe

Convincing, relentless, and excruciatingly terrifying, Wolf Creek is too painful not to watch.

Plot Mutilator

Wolf 10

The film’s ominous prologue reads:  “The following is based on actual events. 30,000 people are reported missing in Australia every year. 90% are found within a month. Some are never seen again.” This statement imparts credibility to the film’s claim that it is based on a true story.

wolf 9

Set in 1999, the film begins in Broome, Western Australia, with a montage of three young adults reveling in the debauchery of their carefree vacation. Liz Hunter and Kristy Earl, two British tourists, team-up with their new friend, Ben, who hails from Sydney, for a road trip to the Outback. Ben buys a dilapidated station wagon and they head out to Wolf Creek National Park, which encompasses a huge crater created by meteorite.

Wolf 5

While in route, the trio stops at a “caravan park” in Halls Creek. Over a campfire, Ben discusses the alleged UFO sightings of the Outback. The next morning, they depart on their 6 ½-hour drive to Wolf Creek. During their final fuel stop in Emu Creek, Kristy privately goads Ben about his underlying crush on Liz. Prior to the trip, Kristy had teased Liz about this growing fondness. While Ben goofs off filming with his camcorder, the girls venture into the roadhouse where they are jeered by three Outback rogues. Ben arrives, and with his good nature, he is able to divert a brawl after the rogues request a “gang bang” with Liz and Kristy. The tourists then drive off, laughing off the tension.

As they arrive at Wolf Creek, it unexpectedly begins to rain. After parking their car, they take an umbrella and supplies for the three hour hiking trail to the crater. They reach the crater and Ben explains, “You’re looking at one of the biggest meteorite craters on the planet. They reckon the explosion from the impact would’ve been like 200 nuclear bombs going off at the same time. Some guys discovered it scouting for an oil company in 1947.” The trio then smokes a joint and waits out the rain. Liz takes off for a walk; soon, Ben follows. They then kiss.

wolf 8

After heading back to the car, they discover that both Ben and Kristy’s watches have stopped at 6:30 pm. Furthermore, the car is dead. They settle in the car for the night and contemplate if these bizarre incidents are associated with UFOs.

Later, flashes of bright lights stream through their car windows. Freaked out over the possibility that this may be a UFO, the scared trio are briefly paralyzed with fear until they recognize that the lights are from a truck.

They are relieved to meet the affable and hilarious Mick Taylor, welcoming his help. Mick deciphers that the two “Sheilas” are from England, and then jokes that Ben’s hometown is the “Poofta capital of the world.” He tries to fix their car, but it is in need of a new part. Mick offers to tow them back to his camp to repair the engine, but they are reluctant as they don’t “have a lot of cash.”  Mick assures the tourists that the repair will be free of charge.

Baffled about the long drive, they finally reach Mick’s camp, an abandoned mine complete with various shafts, sheds, and garages. They set-up camp around a fire and Mick tells them tales of his life in the Outback. He explains that he used to work as an animal control hunter, killing various vermin, wild boar, and kangaroos, revealing that “roos” are “everywhere around here now. Like tourists.” They toast “Fair dinkhim” over cups of rainwater that Mick has drugged. The trio quickly falls asleep.

The next day, Liz wakes-up gagged with her feet and wrists bound. Startled and distraught, Liz finally cuts through the plastic cuffs with a piece of glass shard. While attempting to escape, she overhears Mick torturing Kristy in the garage. She sets the station wagon on fire and as Mick rushes to put out the flames, she goes to the garage to free Kristy. Mick returns, but Liz, armed with a rifle, shoots him in the neck. She tries to shoot him again, but the gun jams.

wolf 13

Liz and Kristy then break the number one rule in horror movies: They mistakenly believe the villain is dead. As they are about to depart in his truck, Mick appears with a shotgun, blowing out the windows. They try to run him over, but miss. Mick gets into another car and a chase ensues.

Kristy and Liz roll the truck off a cliff and hide by hanging beneath the ledge. Mick descends down the cliff to search for their bodies. Liz decides to sneak into Mick’s camp to find another car, and leaves Kristy, promising to return shortly.

wolf 2

In one of the sheds, Liz discovers personal items of several victims. She plays a video on a camcorder and watches Mick helping other tourists with car trouble at Wolf Creek.

She then views footage from the Emu Creek gas station on Ben’s camera where Mick’s blue truck is seen in the background. Evidently, he had been stalking them for some time. Liz then searches for Ben and climbs down a mine shaft to find several bodies in various stages of decomposition. She then rushes out of the shaft and into a garage where there are several parked cars.

Finally, Liz gets in a car but as she is about to depart, Mick, who has been hiding in the backseat, stabs her through the driver’s seat. Liz struggles out of the car where Mick slashes off three of her fingers. Mick head-butts Liz, screaming that she shouldn’t have destroyed his beloved blue truck. He then explains a Vietnam War torture method, head-on-a-stick, which was used to procure information from captive enemies. He severs Liz’s spinal cord, paralyzing her, and now rendering her a “head on a stick.” Mick inquires as to where Kristy is hiding.

The next morning, Kristy is staggering down the highway. An elderly man stops and helps her in the car. From afar, Mick shoots him dead. Kristy manages to drive off in the man’s car, only to be chased by Mick. She smashes Mick’s car off the road. Mick then shoots out Kristy’s back tire, flipping the car. Kristy crawls out of the car and she is shot by Mick. He then sets the car on fire.

wolf 12

Meanwhile, Ben awakens in a mine shaft nailed to a cross with two hungry, growling dogs in a cage across from him.  When he sees the half-devoured corpse nailed next to him, he realizes the victim was eaten by the dogs.  To escape such fate, Ben forcefully removes himself from the nails and flees the shaft. Finally, he stumbles near a road, where he collapses. Two tourists drive by and rescue him. He is soon airlifted to a hospital.

wolf 14

The epilogue states, “Despite several major police searches, no trace of Liz Hunter or Kristy Earl has ever been found.  Early investigations into the case were disorganised, hampered by confusion over the location of the crimes, a lack of physical evidence and the alleged unreliability of the only witness. After four months in police custody, Ben Mitchell was later cleared of all suspicion. He currently lives in South Australia.” The film ominously concludes with Mick Taylor walking in the sunset of the Outback with his rifle, a befitting set-up for a sequel.

Moral of the story: Don’t trek through the Outback.

Deadly Details

Director ∞ Greg McLean
Producers ∞ David Lightfoot and Greg McLean
Screenwriter ∞ Greg McLean
Music ∞ Frank Tétaz
Cinematographer ∞ Will Gibson
Editor ∞ Jason Ballantine
Special Effects ∞ Connelly Make-up FX Team
Studios ∞ FFC Australia/Film Finance Corporation; South Australian Film Corporation;
     403 Productions; True Crime Channel; Best FX (Boom Sound); Emu Creek Pictures; and,
     Mushroom Pictures
Release Date ∞ October 2005 (Australia); Christmas 2005 (US)
Running time ∞ 104 minutes (uncut)
Country ∞ Australia
Language ∞ English
Cast ∞
John Jarratt as Mick Taylor
Cassandra Magrath as Liz Hunter
Kestie Morassi as Kristy Earl
Nathan Phillips as Ben Mitchell
Gordon Poole as Old Man
Guy O’Donnell as Car Salesman
Phil Stevenson as Mechanic
Geoff Revell as Petrol Attendant
Andy McPhee as Bazza
Aaron Sterns as Bazza’s Mate
Michael Moody as Bazza’s Old Mate
Andrew Reimer as Flashback Dad
Vicki Reimer as Flashback Mum
Isabella Reimer as Flashback Girl
David Rock as Irish Backpacker
Jenny Starvall as Swedish Backpacker
Guy Petersen as Swedish Backpacker
Paul Curran as Pool Party People
Christian McMillan as Pool Party People
Sean Gannon as Pool Party People
Aaron J. March as Pool Party People (as Aaron March)
Eddie White as Pool Party People
Geoffrey Yu as Pool Party People
Amy Schapel as Pool Party People
Teresa Palmer as Pool Party People
Bow Vayne as Pool Party People
Renee Chomel as Pool Party People
Simone Duntone as Pool Party People
John Henry Duncan as Pool Party People
Chloe Gardner as Pool Party People
Greg Sara as Pool Party People
Renee Luna as Pool Party People
Michael Soang as Pool Party People
Niesha de Jong as Pool Party People
Leesa Millhouse as Pool Party People
Alex De Rosa as Pool Party People
Darren Humphreys as Detective
Peter Alchin as Police Officer
Rory Walker as Roadhouse Guy
Jon Blaikie as Roadhouse Guy (as John Blaike)


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Blackjack double 11 against ace

Blackjack double 11 against ace

Blackjack double ace

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Home / Tag Archives: SingleStory

Tag Archives: SingleStory

Single-Story 4-Bedroom The Drake Ranch (Floor Plan)

Loading... Loading... This is a single story ranch style house plan with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Shown is the kitchen featuring marble backsplash and a center island with a marble countertop. Find beautiful interior design and décor in this 2,494 sq ft luxury home. Get the full floor plan …

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CIMPA - IMH RESEARCH SCHOOL Hyperplane Arrangements: Recent Advances and Open Problems
Hanoi, March 11 - 22, 2019

Website: http://math.ac.vn/conference/CIMPA2019/

The theory of hyperplane arrangements is a very active area of research. In the recent years there has been a huge progress in the understanding of this subject. Some specific main problems are

  1. Are the monodromy operators or at least the Betti numbers bm(F) of the Milnor fiber F of a hyperplane arrangement A are combinatorially determined?
  2. Are the jump loci of the cohomology of the complement of A with coefficients in rank one local systems determined by the intersection lattice L(A)?
  3. Can there be torsion in the first homology group?
  4. Terao’s Conjecture: Is the freeness of an arrangement combinatorially determined?
  5. Matroids and Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials: Are the coefficients of the Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials associated to non-realizable matroids always non-negative?

The aim of this CIMPA school is to introduce this fascinating area of mathematics to researchers from Viet Nam and neighboring countries in Asia. The above problems are among various aspects of Hyperplane Arrangements will be introduced at this CIMPA school through 6 carefully selected courses. The school is primarily oriented towards PhD students and young researchers working in the area of Algebra, Geometry and Topology.

The school is followed by a 2 days workshop, where most recent progresses in the field will be presented by experts from all over the world. The school’s participants are also encouraged to participate in the workshop. They can take this opportunity to exchange ideas with experts, as well as to approach some concrete and open problems which can be the subject of their research in the future.


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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Pixar and Miyazaki

"At the same time, though, Miyazaki's presence points up the limitations of Pixar, which are the limitations of American commercial entertainment generally. Pixar landed on this list, and in the penultimate slot, not strictly on its own merits (which are, as I've said, considerable), but because of its imaginative dominance of family entertainment, and its capacity to shape future moviegoers' sense of what animation (and entertainment) should be. Pixar represents the best of what American commercial filmmaking is. But Miyazaki shows what might be possible without Pixar's inhibitions (or constraints, take your pick).

"Factor out the few dark and disturbing moments in Pixar's films this decade (there haven't been many, really) and you're looking at a body of work that's fairly easy for even the youngest children to grasp and process, and ultimately not challenging compared to Miyazaki. In Pixar films, good characters sound (and usually look) conventionally lovable. Good and evil are clearly defined, and no "good" character's goal is left unmet. And no potentially confusing or disturbing apparition, incident or twist is left unexplained for long.

"Contrast this with Miyazaki's much freer and deeper approach to family entertainment, and you start to see the aesthetic gulf between his work and Pixar's (and, by extension, between the splendid array of animation that thrives internationally and the homogeneous, Pixar-inspired type that dominates U.S. screens). Miyazaki's films are just as visually imaginative as Pixar's and often more so — more painterly and less beholden to the rules of "realism." More importantly, they are never content to define characters as good or evil, or even mostly good or mostly evil, and be done with it. Through a canny combination of sharp draftsmanship, clean animation and simple dialogue, Miyazaki throws children (and often adults) off balance, leaving them unsure what to make of a certain character or situation and forced to grapple with what Miyazaki is doing and showing."

Read the whole article here.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

A Revised Survival Kit

I got an email from Amazon, informing me that there is now an expanded edition of The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams. The cover is above and the contents for the additional material are below. If anyone has a copy of the revised edition, please leave your thoughts about the new material in the comments.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A Swedish Holiday Tradition

When I was growing up in New York City, every Thanksgiving and Christmas, Channel 11 would run March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel and Hardy. In those days before home video, it was the only way to see the film so you didn't want to miss your chance. As a result, the film became a local holiday tradition.

You may be familiar with the Disney TV episode "From All of Us to All of You." It first ran on December 19, 1958 and was re-run for years. It's a clip show, using old shorts and feature excerpts. Apparently, the show is a huge holiday tradition in Sweden. It's been running for nearly 50 years and is still attracting one third to one half of the TV audience on Christmas Eve day. Jeremy Stahl discovered this when he traveled to Sweden to celebrate Christmas with his fiance's family and has investigated the phenomenon in this article for Slate.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Txesco's Season's Greetings

I've written about Txesco, an animator who worked on the Pocoyo series, before. He's created this beautifully designed and animated holiday greeting. Take a look.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The Archive Series: Animation

This book, the second in the archive series after Story, is a collection of animation drawings from the entire history of the Disney animation studio. Except for the introduction by John Lasseter, there is no text to speak of in the book beyond the captions identifying the drawings, which are the real stars of this book.

A book like this is at once both a revelation and a frustration. The revelation has to do with the craft and beauty of the drawings. Animation drawings generally have more life than the image that results from them on screen. The evidence of the human hand is all over them, where that evidence tends to get lost by the time the drawings are pushed through the production pipeline to arrive at the final image.

The frustration comes from the drawings that aren't in this book. Every drawing is a reminder of other scenes from the same film that one wishes to see.

There is no credited editor, so it's impossible to know how these particular drawings were selected and if there was an agenda behind the selection. The period up until The Rescuers is represented by a much wider selection of animators than I would have suspected. Besides multiple images from the nine old men (and somebody really likes John Lounsbery, not that I'm complaining), there are drawings by Ub Iwerks, Dick Lundy, Jack Campbell, Fred Moore, Norm Ferguson, Art Babbitt, Dick Huemer, Frenchy de Tremaudan, Ham Luske, Robert Stokes, Bill Tytla, Grim Natwick, John Sibley, Marvin Woodward, Bill Justice, Hal Ambro, Jerry Hathcock, Blaine Gibson, and Ted Berman.

It's the post-Rescuers films that present a much narrower selection. There are drawings by Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Eric Goldberg, Nik Ranieri, Pres Romanillos, Anthony DeRosa, Bolhem Bouchiba, Randy Haycock and Bruce Smith. There are, for instance, no drawings by James Baxter, Tony Fucile, Ruben Aquino, Chris Buck, Ken Duncan, Darlie Brewster, Will Finn, Dale Baer, etc. It's also interesting to see what features have been ignored. There's nothing from The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Atlantis, Brother Bear and Home on the Range. Of course, there are multiple pages devoted to The Princess and the Frog. Disney never misses an opportunity to plug their latest product.

Some of the drawings are clearly animator roughs while others are clean-ups. It may be impossible to identify the assistant animators at this point, but they deserve a great deal of credit for some of the drawings in this book. Similarly, there are some drawings that include effects, and the effects animator is uncredited.

There are a few errors in the book. A Mickey drawing from The Little Whirlwind is credited to James Moore instead of Fred Moore. Some drawings from The Three Caballeros by Ward Kimball are credited to Gerry Geronimi, who had most certainly stopped animating by the time of that film.

There are some mysteries here, too. There are two drawings from Duck Pimples credited to Fred Moore, though he's not on the credits of that cartoon. Credits are rarely complete and I'd dearly like to see the animator draft for that cartoon to know who did what on it. It is one of the most interesting Disney shorts of the 1940s, both in terms of story and animation.

There's also a pair of King Louie drawings from The Jungle Book by Frank Thomas that are extremely rough. They are from a song sequence when Louie is bouncing to the beat and it may be that the drawings are there to refer to earlier drawings in the bounce cycle. However, whoever included them didn't do Thomas any favours as they are unquestionably the worst drawings in the book and don't leave a good impression of Thomas.

This book will provide pleasure to anyone who enjoys looking at Disney art, whether a fan or an artist. The artist will also benefit from the draftsmanship and technique on display. This book isn't a guide on how to animate, but it most certainly is a guide on how to draw for animation.

I'm always interested in showcasing the work of lesser-known Disney artists, mainly because the famous ones had no monopoly on talent. Here are some images from the book (click to enlarge them). Above is Wendy as drawn by Hal Ambro. The beautiful linework in her face -- the soft thicks and thins -- adds a genuinely delicate quality to her appearance.

Below are two Goofys drawn by Bill Justice. Both poses are vigorous, with strong lines of action and the straights in the arms and right leg contrasting with the curves in the spine, the left leg and the golf club. Plus, if you haven't noticed, they're funny!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Princess and the Frog

In retrospect, it was the height of ignorance to think that because multinational corporations abandoned drawn animation, the medium would die. It may not have been as visible in North America as it once was, but smaller studios were happy to keep making drawn films as if nothing had happened. The Princess and the Frog is the third drawn feature I've seen this year (after Miyazaki's Ponyo and Tomm Moore's The Secret of Kells) and had circumstances not prevented me from going to the Ottawa festival, I would also have seen Paul and Sandra Fierlinger's My Dog Tulip.

Of the three I have seen, I'm sorry to say that The Princess and the Frog is the least interesting. Disney's return to drawn animation is also a return to Disney clichés. With the exception of race (and I want to come back to that), there's nothing in this film that Disney hasn't done before.

The truth, as everyone now acknowledges, is that people weren't tired of drawn animation, they were tired of being served the same stories over and over. That's why it's so disappointing that Disney has gone back to those stories. Without going into spoilers, the film is a gumbo of Broadway show tunes, Disney mysticism, lightweight romance and cartoon slapstick. The tone lurches all over the place and the film looks over-worked; it's as if the crew was so desperate for a hit that they pushed everything too far.

Except for one thing. One of my problems with Disney is that they choose settings for their art direction possibilities and then ignore everything else connected to the setting. This film is set in the 1910s and '20s in New Orleans. Racism was pervasive, not only on the personal level but also on the institutional level. It was in 1896, in the case Plessy v. Ferguson, that the United States Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites was constitutional. In reality, the facilities (including schools) were most definitely separate but never equal. There is no question that African Americans of the time were victims of a white society that used the law and violence in order to maintain a class system based on race.

I would suggest anyone interested in the truth of New Orleans during this time period read Louis Armstrong's autobiography My Life in New Orleans (and what an opportunity the film makers missed by not using Armstrong's recording of "A Kiss to Build a Dream On"). Armstrong's triumph over poverty and racism is far more interesting than this film. But let's be clear: this film doesn't exist to reveal any truths. It exists to capitalize on an under-served market segment: African-American girls who want a princess of their own.

I hope this film makes money because so long as Disney continues to make animated films, there is always the chance that a good one will result. A box office success will result in more employment for artists. But this year, besides Ponyo and Kells, I'd say I also prefer Sita Sings the Blues, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Mary and Max to this film. All five of those films are more individual and more emotionally engaging than The Princess and the Frog.

If nothing else, this year has shown that animated features are bigger than just the multinationals, and the so-called "death" of drawn animation was not only exaggerated, it was also an opportunity for new voices to be heard. Perhaps this year we have entered a post-Disney or post-multinational age of animated features. Wouldn't that be nice?

Monday, December 07, 2009

The Peter Pan Wars

Greenbriar Picture Shows has a very interesting article on the fight between distributors and exhibitors over setting ticket prices for films in the early 1950's. Apparently, Peter Pan was point of contention between RKO, Disney's distributor at the time, and theatre owners. The U.S. Department of Justice got involved, holding hearings to determine if there was any collusion on setting prices.

John McElwee, the author, wonders if Disney's dissatisfaction with RKO's handling of the situation had anything to do with Disney setting up its own distributor, Buena Vista, shortly afterwards.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

A Guilty Pleasure

A guilty pleasure is something that's not good (or good for you) but that you like anyway. I have to admit that early Van Beuren sound cartoons are a guilty pleasure of mine. No one would compare them to the animation produced by the best of American studios, but they are the definition of the word "quirky." While occasionally, there are well drawn or animated scenes, the majority of them are clumsy, but they are clumsy in a way that provokes amazement, disbelief and most of all, laughter.

Steve Stanchfield's Thunderbean Animation has now collected the complete Van Beuren Tom and Jerry. These are not the cat and mouse cartoons that most associate with the character names, they are a human, Mutt and Jeff-like pair who starred in cartoons from 1931 to 1933. Because of the name confusion, when the cartoons were released to the home movie market, they were renamed Dick and Larry. The Van Beuren studio went out of business in 1936, so the cartoons became orphans and slipped into the public domain. They have suffered from endless duping, editing and retitling until Stanchfield began restoring them.

What makes these crude cartoons entertaining is their randomness. There is little logic in the cartoons from 1931 and '32 especially. Characters do things without reason, so you never know what's going to happen next. Tom and Jerry are barely developed. They seem to have different voices in every cartoon and their personalities and relationships are perfunctory at best. Often, they seem to be bystanders in their own cartoons, watching other characters carry the story and action.

However, the cartoons are driven by Gene Rodemich's jazz soundtracks and the animation, though weightless, is funny. These characters and cartoons are not believable in any sense of the word, but they amuse me. Animation is one of the least spontaneous art forms, requiring enormous planning. These cartoons come closer to being spontaneous than any others I can think of; many appear to be made up drawing by drawing, with no thought to what comes next.

Why, in Barnyard Bunk (embedded below) is there a skeleton in the outhouse? Why do ducks hatch from chicken eggs? What strange compulsion drives the mouse with the "Danger" sign? Does it matter? The walk cycles and dancing in this cartoon are ludicrous, but they make me laugh. These days, animation is either overly refined (see just about any recent feature) or barely expressive (see any recent TV animation). Funny movement seems to be a forgotten art. (Wait a minute. I'm sounding like John K. here...) When Grim Natwick said that many a cartoon was saved by a funny walk, he could have been talking about these.

And these cartoons may have been more influential than they are credited for. The cartoon Rabid Hunters looks like a warm-up for Porky's Hare Hunt, the first proto-Bugs Bunny cartoon. The Haunted Ship (one of four Waffles and Don cartoons on the set as a bonus) contains a quartet of drunk turtles singing "Sweet Adeline," and I have to wonder if that influenced Tex Avery's drunken fish singing "Moonlight Bay" in Porky's Duck Hunt.

Steve Stanchfield has searched for years to find the best prints of these cartoons, going to great lengths to restore original titles and missing footage. The gem on this set is a beautiful copy of A Swiss Trick, transferred from a 35mm original. This two disk collection contains every Tom and Jerry cartoon, liner notes and rare publicity artwork. No one but Stanchfield would have gone to the lengths he has to show off these cartoons.

This is not the first time he's laboured to revive the Van Beuren cartoons. He's also compiled the complete Cubby Bear, the complete Little King and a set of Toddle Tales and Rainbow Parade cartoons from that studio. Stanchfield has also put together sets of TV commercials, World War II propaganda films and various other collections. You can order Thunderbean collections here. I recommend them all.

If you're not familiar with Tom and Jerry, enjoy Barnyard Bunk below. The copy on the DVD set is better than this version I took from YouTube.

Friday, December 04, 2009

Two Contrasting Features

Within the space of a week, I had the opportunity to see two of this year's animated features, The Secret of Kells and Mary and Max. The first is directed by Tomm Moore of the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon and the second is the work of Australian Adam Elliot.

Both films were excellent, but for different reasons. Kells is one of the most beautifully art directed films I've ever seen. In some ways, its a feature that UPA should have made; it revels in flat design and is a riot of textures. It doesn't look like any feature that's been released to theatres in the recent past and stands out as a result.

I was frankly surprised at how expressive the animation was given the design. Some of the animators worked with a completely graphic approach while others kept to the designs, but moved the characters dimensionally. In both cases, the designs hold up and the characters come to life for the audience.

The Book of Kells is an actual illuminated manuscript of the gospels created circa 800 A.D. It currently is on display at Trinity College in Dublin. The illuminations in the book are the basis of the film's design. The film's story has to do with the people of Kells being threatened by a Viking invasion. The Abbot of Kells, himself a former illuminator, has decided that their best hope for survival is to surround their village with a wall to keep out the invaders. Brendan, the young nephew of the Abbot, is fascinated with the work of the illuminators and when an illuminator fleeing the Vikings arrives with the unfinished book, Brendan parts ways with his uncle over what their priority should be.

The film's story is not its strongest point, but it is far from weak. It is typical of coming-of-age stories where a youngster asserts his own values and attains independence from his elders. While most film protagonists perform heroic actions to defeat villains, Kells takes a more nuanced approach, counseling that sometimes flight is better than fight. The point of the film is that a society is more likely to survive by spending its resources on its art and culture rather than on defense. I wonder if this is the film makers' sly comment on the war on terror.

Mary and Max is a stop motion film about two outcast characters half a world apart. Mary is a young girl in Australia suffering from dysfunctional parents and a birth mark on her forehead which makes her the target of ridicule. Max is a middle-aged loner living in New York with a weight problem and Aspergers syndrome. These two become unlikely pen pals and manage to provide each other with comfort and advice while trying to survive in worlds where they don't fit in.

Adam Elliot previously won the Oscar for his animated short, Harvie Crumpet (2003). Like Chris Landreth (Ryan, The Spine), Elliot dwells on dysfunctional characters, but where Landreth displays them as an excuse to show off his technique, Elliot is genuinely sympathetic to his characters. The warmth he feels for them is what powers the film.

Stephen Rowley has written an excellent review of Mary and Max and his thoughts on Elliot's strengths and weaknesses mirror my own.
It is therefore not intended as a put-down to return to the thought that I started with, and note that Mary and Max is also carefully built around Elliot’s limitations. Elliot is a skilful writer and a designer, and as in his breakthrough short Harvie Krumpet he plays to those strengths by overlaying narration on top of his striking imagery. The whole story is driven by this approach, with most characters all-but-completely mute, except when we hear their written exchanges through voiceover. Elliot studiously avoids dialogue wherever possible, and he mostly makes it work because the writing is good and the approach thematically suits the story he’s telling here. Yet there are gaps (notably in Mary’s relationship with her husband) where the near-complete absence of verbal interaction between characters seems contrived and a little distracting. Actually staging a scene and telling us his characters’ feelings through actions and words, rather than a Barry Humphries voiceover, is a challenge Elliot seemingly doesn’t want to tackle.

Elliot seems, then, to be an animation director who actually animates only reluctantly, and in Mary and Max his other immense talents make it work. It will be interesting to see whether he can make a different kind of animated film, one in which he goes beyond the safety net of voiceovers and striking design. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he instead makes a Tim Burton-style transition to live-action, where he might be able to still use his strengths but shake off his limitations as an animator.
These features contrast in various ways, but I believe that they both point to viable approaches that are better than simply trying to make low budget versions of Hollywood films. Kells is based on local history and culture. Hollywood animated features regularly send their crews to foreign climes for research, but it tends to show up in art direction more than infuse the entire film. Kells is certainly more Irish than Disney's Hunchback is French.

Mary and Max could really take place anywhere. It's not location but point of view that sets this film apart. Adam Elliot's personality permeates the film. If a film has to work within a relatively low budget, a strong script and point of view can compensate for monetary limitations.

I suspect that when we look back at 2009, we'll see it as a banner year for animated features. Not only have the major studios released films (Up, Monsters vs. Aliens, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs), we've also seen new work by veteran directors like Hayao Miyazaki (Ponyo), John Musker and Ron Clements (The Princess and the Frog) and Henry Selick (Coraline). What's most exciting is that there are first features such as The Secret of Kells and Mary and Max that show that smaller players with something to say can make worthy films. That's what I find most exciting and I hope that we see more of it in the years to come.


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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Ottawa Festival Report

My visit to the Ottawa International Animation Festival got off to a bad start. I usually walk from the bus station to the hotel, but it was pouring rain when I arrived. As the walk would have been a half hour, I would have been thoroughly soaked, so I was forced to take a cab.

The wireless at my hotel was not working when I arrived, which was frustrating. The first program I attended was the International Student Showcase, which was a unrelieved depression and boredom. It may be the choice of films or maybe students are actually this depressed, pretentious and boring, but I was contemplating never coming back to the festival during this screening.

Fortunately, this was the low point and things rapidly improved. The next thing I attended was Amid Amidi's presentation on Ward Kimball, a teaser for his forthcoming book Full Steam Ahead: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball.  Amidi covered things I didn't know about Kimball's childhood and his artistic evolution.  Kimball's father had repeated business failures and seemingly moved the family to a new location after every one.  It prevented Kimball from forming long-term friendships and made drawing more attractive as it was one of the few areas of his life that Kimball could control.  Amidi talked about the influence of T. Hee on Kimball, moving Kimball's art more towards simplified design.  The talk was illustrated by unpublished paintings, drawings and home movies.  Amidi has the cooperation of the Kimball family, including access to the journals that Kimball kept during his time at Disney, so he had access to a rich source of material not common in other Disney books.   I pre-ordered the book as soon as Amazon listed it, and I am even more anxious to read it after seeing this presentation.

I started Saturday seeing part of an interview with Elliot Cowan conducted by Richard O'Connor.  Cowan is at work on an independent animated feature starring his characters Boxhead and Roundhead, the star of several shorts.  It's great that so many animators are tackling the challenge of a feature either solo or with small crews.  It's more likely we'll see artistic and thematic growth in these films than in mainstream animated features.

That was followed by a panel discussion of professional etiquette for job seekers and people pitching in animation.  I've attended several of these panels and they all hit the same notes: research who you're talking to and make sure you're a good fit, be brief, get to the point, and network like crazy.

Ralph Bakshi

Ralph Bakshi's talk was easily a highlight.  Unfortunately, it was not well-attended and people missed a tremendous opportunity to hear an important figure.  Bakshi readily confessed to the shortcomings of his films, but stressed the conditions they were made under.  He couldn't afford pencil tests and there was no room for retakes.  He talked about the incessant battles over money, ratings, distribution, etc.  His attitude has always been that it's better to say something in a flawed way than to say nothing new in a slick package.  By coincidence, I was re-reading Sam Fuller's autobiography A Third Face during the festival and I realized that Bakshi is animation's Fuller.  Fuller stuck with low budgets in order to have creative freedom (though I suppose that Bakshi didn't do that by choice), and Fuller's style was always blunt and direct.  There are similarities between Fuller's films Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss and Bakshi's films set in New York.

Bakshi is currently doing shorts for YouTube.  Here is Trickle Dickle Down.  The animation is repurposed from Coonskin, which caused Jerry Beck to reject running it on Cartoon Brew.  Bakshi was very vocal in his disagreement over this, stating that the message was more important than the re-use.

Following Bakshi's talk, I caught up with Paranorman, which I had missed in theatres.  Made by Laika, the company behind Coraline, I actually liked it better than their first feature.  While I felt the designs could have been more attractive and that the second act seemed padded, the film worked and had strong themes.  The fear of those who are different and the mob descent into violence are themes that are as relevant to the film's supernatural world as they are to international politics.

I only saw one shorts competition this year.  These programs are always a mixed bag and all you can hope for are enough films you like to make the program worthwhile.  Films I enjoyed in this program included I Am Tom Moody by Ainslie Henderson, Melissa by Cesar Cabral, Pythagasaurus by Peter Peake of Aardman, Night of the Loving Dead by Anna Humphries, Una Fortiva Lagrima by Carlo Vogele (using a 1904 recording by Enrico Caruso), and The People Who Never Stop by Florien Piento.

Due to arriving on Friday and various schedule conflicts, I only got to see one feature in competition, Le Tableau, directed by Jean-Francois Laguionie.  It is set inside an unfinished painting, where the figures form a class system based on their level of completion.  While this film also had a meandering second act, it dealt with fascism, ethnic cleansing, the search for God and God's responsibility toward his creations.  The film combines cel-shaded 3D with painterly 2.5D backgrounds and while I could think of ways that characters could have been more developed, I was still highly impressed with the look and the thoughtfulness of the film.  See it if you get the chance.

I regret missing Arrugas, directed by Ignacio Ferreras, a feature set in a retirement home and which won the grand prize at the festival.  If anyone has seen it, please comment below.

Barry Purves

Sunday, I started with the Barry Purves retrospective.  Purves, a brilliant stop motion animator, introduced his work and then returned to answer questions at the end.  Besides running clips from his TV work, he ran Next, Screen Play, Riggoletto, Achilles and Gilbert and Sullivan.  Purves is clearly in love with opera and operatic voices.  Riggoletto and Gilbert and Sullivan are built entirely around them.  However, I wonder if the music and singing are too broad for the intimacy of film.  On stage, the audience is a distance from the action and there is no cutting or close-ups possible.  When the audience is only inches from a character's face, the operatic delivery often overpowers the visuals.  Purves would be horrified at the idea of redubbing his films, I'm sure, but I wonder how they would play with more intimate arrangements and singing.  None of this takes away from his mastery of performance, though.

I ended my festival with the screening of children's films.  Every year I look forward to this, as the films are the antithesis of most of the shorts in the festival.  They are bright, funny, well-paced and are clearly concerned with how the audience will receive them.  While all the films were worth watching, my favourites were Stick Up For Your Friends by Anthony Dusko, My Strange Grandfather by Dina Velikovskaya, From Point A to Point Z by Karl Staven, Why Do We Put Up With Them? by David Chai and Thank You by Pendleton Ward and Thomas Herpich.  I was pleased to see that two excellent films were from Toronto: The Fox and the Chickadee by Evan DeRushie and Beethoven's Wig by Alex Hawley and Denny Silverthorne of Smiley Guy Studios.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Ottawa International Animation Fest Winners

OTTAWA (September 23, 2012) – The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) came to an end Sunday, with closing ceremonies held at the National Arts Centre. Organizers announced the winners of the official competition during the ceremonies.

This year’s event, held September 19th-23rd, was a tremendous success with packed screenings, sold out workshops, high profile networking events such at the Television Animation Conference (TAC) and a strong weekend of professional development.

The OIAF is a major international film event that attracts 1500 industry pass holders from across Canada and around the world with a total attendance of close to 30,000. Although the final numbers are not officially in, there are strong indications that this year’s Festival reached its highest attendance to date.

The 2012 international jury for Short Program, Student and Commissioned Films included: Mike Fallows (USA), J.J. Sedelmaier (USA) and Sarah Muller(UK). The international jury for Feature Film Competition and School Showreels included: Barry Purves (UK), Hisko Hulsing (Netherlands) and Izabela Rieben (Switzerland).

The Festival also featured a special jury made up of local kids to select the Best Short Animation Made for Children and the Best Television Animation Made for Children. This year’s kids jury included: Jordan Quayle, Evelyn Abacra, Lucas Kelly, Jakob Boose, Zoe Monogian, Conall Sloan, Eleanor Simonetta, Jacob Cooper, Chantalyne Leonhardt and Lauralee Leonhardt.

List of WinnersNelvana GRAND PRIZE for Best Independent Short AnimationJunkyard– directed by Hisko Hulsing, Netherlands

GRAND PRIZE for Best Animated FeatureArrugas (Wrinkles), directed by Ignacio Ferreras, Spain

Walt Disney GRAND PRIZE for Best Student AnimationI Am Tom Moody– directed by Ainslie Henderson, Edinburgh College of Art, UK

GRAND PRIZE for Best Commissioned AnimationPrimus "Lee Van Cleef" - by Chris Smith, USA

Best Animation School ShowreelSupinfocom (France)

BEST Narrative ShortA Morning Stroll - by Grant Orchard, STUDIO AKA, USA

BEST Experimental/Abstract AnimationRivière au Tonnerre – directed by Pierre Hébert, Canada

Adobe Prize for BEST High School AnimationThe Bean – by Hae Jin Jung, Gyeonggi Art High School, South Korea

Honourable Mention:La Soif Du Monde (Thirsty Frog) – by a Collective: 12 Children, Camera-etc, Belgium

BEST Undergraduate AnimationReizwäsche - by Jelena Walf & Viktor Stickel, Germany

BEST Graduate AnimationBallpit – directed by Kyle Mowat, Sheridan College, Canada

BEST Promotional AnimationRed Bull 'Music Academy World Tour' – by Pete Candeland, Passion Pictures, UK

BEST Music VideoThe First Time I Ran Away - by Joel Trussell, USA

BEST Television Animation for AdultsPortlandia: Zero Rats – by Rob Shaw, USA

BEST Short Animation Made for ChildrenBeethoven’s Wig, directed by Alex Hawley & Denny Silverthorne, Canada

Honourable Mentions:Au Coeur de L’Hiver - directed by Isabelle Favez, Switzerland
Why do we Put up with Them? - directed by David Chai, USA

BEST Television Animation Made for ChildrenRegular Show: Eggscellent - by JC Quintel, Cartoon Network

Honourable Mention:Adventure Time: Jake vs. Me-Mow - by Pendleton Ward, Cartoon Network, USA

The National Film Board of Canada PUBLIC PRIZEIt's Such a Beautiful Day - directed by Don Hertzfeldt, USA

Canadian Film Institute Award for BEST Canadian AnimationNightingales in December, directed by Theodore Ushev, Canada

Honourable MentionsBallpit – directed by Kyle Mowat, Sheridan College, Canada
MacPherson - directed by Martine Chartrand, National Film Board of Canada, Canada

BEST Canadian Student Animation AwardGum - By Noam Sussman, Sheridan College, Canadaa

Honourable MentionsBallpit - By Kyle Mowat, Sheridan College, Canada
Tengri - By Alisi Telengut, Concordia University, Canada

The Ottawa Media Jury AwardFor the best short competition film, as deemed by the local Ottawa Media, consisting of:

-Peter Simpson (Ottawa Citizen)
-Sandra Abma (CBC)
-Fateema Sayani (Ottawa Magazine)
-Denis Armstrong (Ottawa Sun)

I Am Tom Moody– By Ainslie Henderson, Edinburgh College of Art, UK

About the OIAFOIAF 2012 was held September 19-23rd, 2012 in Ottawa. Events at the OIAF included screenings, panels, workshops, parties and the Television Animation Conference. The OIAF is a leading competitive animation film festival, featuring cutting edge programming, catering to industry executives, trend setting artists, students and animation fans. For more information about the OIAF, please visit www.animationfestival.ca.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

100 Years of Chuck Jones

September 21, 2012 is the 100th birthday of Charles Martin Jones, arguably the greatest director of animated shorts in history.  While there will be justifiable celebrations of his life and work this day, his career strikes me as a very curious thing.  There was a period of brilliance, but there was also a period of decline which lasted much longer.

I've wrote about Jones' career back in the '90s and while my knowledge of Jones has been augmented by many interviews with his co-workers (see Michael Barrier's site for many of these), my opinion has remained constant.

Whatever your opinion of Jones, there are worse ways to spend the day than to watch some of his films.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Shifting Distribution Patterns

The world of film distribution is changing.  What we take for granted, and have for years, may soon no longer be the case.  Movies open in theatres.  Three months later, they're on DVD.  Then they move to pay TV and finally free TV.

Theatre audiences in the U.S. and Canada are shrinking.  Hollywood has compensated for this by raising prices, so that the overall theatrical grosses go up while the number of people buying tickets goes down.  Last summer was a disappointment in that everything went down.  Deadline Hollywood reports that the summer movie season ended with grosses in the U.S. and Canada down 2.8% over last summer and the number of tickets sold dropped 4.3%.  And that was with a rise in ticket prices of 1.5%.

Just like studios have gone to digital projection as a way to cut their distribution costs, they're now shifting to downloads to cut their costs on DVD manufacture and distribution.  DVD sales have gone down in recent years, so the move to downloads is a way to increase the profit when people pay to see the movie at home.  Variety reports (and the article is behind a paywall):
In a first for the studio, 20th Century Fox is making Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller "Prometheus" available for HD download Sept. 18, three weeks before the release of the physical discs.
Pic marks the inaugural film in Fox's strategy of carving out a new digital window for homevid releases. Studio will make all of its films available for HD download about two weeks before the titles hit store shelves. The three-week jump for "Prometheus" window is an exception. The next few pics in Fox's queue are "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days."

And the digital versions will be cheaper: Retailers will offer the digital version of "Prometheus" for less than $15, rather than the $20 they usually offer films through the electronic-sell-through category.

On the day of "Prometheus'" launch, the studio will also make 600 of its library titles available through the new service. Those include mainstream movies like "Avatar" and "Rio," but also less readily available DVD fare like the original 1968 version of "Planet of the Apes" and "French Connection." The price point for the studio's library titles may vary slightly from its upcoming releases but will hover around the $15 mark.
We're reaching a tipping point.  As theatrical revenues decrease (even with rising ticket prices) and DVD sales go down, the studios are hungry for cash.  By making downloads available before DVDs go on sale, Hollywood is saying "screw you" to retailers like Wallmart.  They're throwing retailers under the bus, not caring if they reduce the retailer's take so long as they increase their own.

It's only a matter of time before some studio decides to do the same to the theatres.  We are quickly reaching a point where a studio will make a download available the same day a film opens theatrically.  There may be some pushback.  Perhaps a major retailer like Wallmart will tell Fox that they'll no longer carry their DVDs or a theatre chain will boycott movies from a particular studio.  However, that may simply drive more business directly to the studios.  If you want to see a Fox film and can't find the DVD, why not download it?

Just like record stores have mostly disappeared and physical bookstores are suffering, movie theatres may be next.  While they won't vanish entirely, we could be looking at a drastic reduction in the number of theatres.

The theatres are not blameless in this.  While multiplexes are the standard, their selection of films is limited to mainstream releases.  That has narrowed the audience that goes to the movies.  Theatres have done nothing to police their patrons with regard to talking during films and because audiences have been shrinking, theatres have inflated the cost of tickets and their concessions in order to bolster their own bottom lines.  Combine all that with a soft economy, and audience has many reasons to stay home.

It would be ironic after theatres have invested heavily in digital projection at the request of the studios if the studios walked away from them, but it wouldn't surprise me.  I don't doubt that Hollywood bean counters are staring at the numbers right now, deciding at exactly what point the revenue from downloads will be comparable to the revenue from theatres.  Once they reach that point, it's the end of movie theatres as we know them.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Toronto Urban Film Festival

If you're riding the Toronto subway between Sept. 7 and 17, check out the electronic message boards for the Toronto Urban Film Festival.  Films are screened in the subways, so while waiting for your train, you have the chance to see one or more short films.

Three of this year's films are by Sheridan students.  Yeti by Eva Zhou, Amare by Katarina Antonic and Bygone Bounce by Shen Ramu.

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Facundo the Great

Here's another Storycorps short animated by the Rauch Brothers. Storycorps is raising money through Kickstarter to do a half hour special.  The goal is only $25,000, so I don't know if the money is to simply top up a budget or if they're going to do a slight amount of new animation to wrap around the work they've already done.

In any case, I'm a fan of their work and look forward to them doing more.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Persistence of Vision Preview

I've written previously about Kevin Schreck's documentary on the making of The Cobbler and the Thief, Dick Williams' ill-fated feature.  Above is more preview footage of the finished documentary that is making the rounds at festivals.  If you're interested in finding out where it will show, you can check the film's Facebook page.

(I really wish that Schreck would identify the people on screen in these clips.  I'm sure that they'll be identified in the final product, but I'm frustrated not knowing who I'm looking at.  That's Greg Duffell at the 25 second mark, but I have no idea who else is on screen.)

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

R. Crumb on Ward Kimball

Amid Amidi recently posted this picture of (L to R) Robert Armstrong, Ward Kimball and R. Crumb on the blog 365 Days of Ward Kimball.  If you're interested in Crumb's thoughts on Kimball, you can go here and scroll down.  Crumb also comments on Matt Groening and Ralph Bakshi on the same page.  You'll have to scroll down to find them, but he also talks about Winsor McCay and Walt Disney, among many other people of note outside animation.


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General Information About Georgia
General Information About Georgia

Georgia – საქართველო, Sakartvelo
Borders Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia
Territory – 69 700 km²
Population – 4 500 000
Capital – Tbilisi (population 1 400 000)
Political system - Parliamentary Republic
Official language – Georgian
Religion – Georgian Orthodox Church

Historical Sights and Museums
Churches and Monasteries

Georgia is one of the oldest Christian countries. St. Andrew is believed to have preached on Georgian land. However, it was St. Nino from Cappadocia, who introduced Christianity officially in 337.

Cave Towns and Fortresses

There are three cave cities in Georgia, built in different epochs for different purposes, with different architectural styles. The oldest among them is Uplistsikhe, located in the central part of the country.

Georgia, one of the ancient countries, keeps a big amount of amazing historic and ethnographic artifacts in its national museums. There are, also, quite a few art galleries and museums of prominent people.

Diverse Nature of Georgia
Diverse Nature of Georgia

Georgia is famous for its stunning natural beauty. It has a great variety of climate zones, from Mediterranean to subtropical, as well as natural landscapes, both at the seaside and high mountains, deserts and vineyards, forests and glaciers.

Georgian Gastronomy and Wine
Georgian Cuisine

Georgian cuisine is likely to be a great discovery for gourmets. It is believed that the secret of high life expectancy in Georgia lies in unique balance of various food and moderate use of wine.

Georgian Wine

Georgia is the cradle of winemaking. One of the most popular and widespread methods of making wine has always been, so-called, Kakhetian, during which wine is kept in a pitcher.

Georgian Feast Traditions

The Georgians are exceptionally hospitable nation. They say 'A guest is from God', therefore, try to offer the very best to guests.

Georgian Singing and National Dances
Georgian singing and National dances

The key to appreciating Georgian culture lies in its musical folklore. Georgian polyphony and national dances express the beauty of Georgian nature, national temperament, everyday life and traditional values. It perfectly expresses a traditional attitude of men to women, their role in society, as well as incorporates various forms of rituals and ceremonies.

Argonauts In Search of Golden Fleece
Argonauts In Search of Golden Fleece

According to an ancient Greek legend, Argonauts led by Jason headed for the Kingdom of Kolkhis (on the territory of western Georgia) to take back the Golden Fleece earlier belonging to them.