Animation Nation

Epic Games is developing a new video game entitled "Fortnite", an expansive original world that invites players to be creative, resourceful and collaborative by day and defend their prized fortress by night, all utilizing the latest Unreal Engine technology. The look of the game is intriguing as it embodies an appealing cartoony feel to the characters. Check out the trailer...

{youtube}2GSfjeYVpkQ{/youtube}

Positioning itself for Academy Award nomination by screening in Los Angeles theaters this week, 'Wrinkles' is a traditionally animated feature film based on Paco Roca´s name-sake graphic novel, published by Editions Delcourt. In 2008 the Department for Culture prized it with the National Comic Award and Italy´s prestigious Lucca Festival bestowed it the Gran Guinigi Award for best long story. Wrinkles has also won the top prizes for Best Material and Best Script by the Salón Internacional del Cómic in Barcelona 2008 and the Award for Best Spanish Comic Strip by the Diario de Avisos of Tenerife 2008.



Directed by Ignacio Ferreras, Produced by Perro Verde Films (España) ‏ / Cromosoma (España)  / ‏TVG (España) with Manuel Cristóbal and Oriol Ivern as Producers, Wrinkles deals with Alzheimers, a disease that affects many people and their families the world over. 



Here's a clip from the film. The teaser can be found here.

{youtube}Pk_5FoYmSXQ{/youtube}

We receive interesting articles regarding animation from a newsletter sent out by The Entertainment Economy Institute which are in turn posted on the Forums. Here's one that is intriguing since it involves the history of video games and in particular, Ralph H. Baer who is credited with being the father of the technology. Mr. Baer created the precursor to the Odyssey way back in 1967. The "Brown Box," a unit with corded controllers that had a number of games built in, including a ping-pong game similar to the legendary "Pong" that University of Utah graduate and Atari president Nolan Bushnell created five years later.  The now 89-year-old television engineer invented the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, in 1972 - five years before the Atari 2600 took the world by storm.

Here's a look at Ralph Baer playing video ping-pong on the Brown Box in 1969. Here's the link to the Forum topic.

{youtube}1LsRGUODHlQ{/youtube}

At this year's CTN eXpo in Burbank a couple weeks ago, there was a demonstration of an incredible new software. The kind that automatically makes you ask yourself, where are things going to next?

Sandde is the world's first freehand steroscopic animation system, and it is amazing. Ever doodle in air to visualize an image? With Sandde, it goes without saying cuz that's how the software is utilized. Take a look at this video and you'll see what I'm talking about. Then head on over to their website to find out more.

{youtube}g91mTEh2uV4{/youtube}

And as I've done for the past few years, earlier today I made a pilgrimage to the grave of Walt Disney to pay my respects and show love on the occasion of his birthday. This is the place where his mortal remains are interred, along with his wife, his son-in-law and a marker for his daughter whose ashes were scattered. Walt's body was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California and placed here. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on December 5, 1901, marking 110 years ago today. The light colored flowers in the picture below were placed there by yours truly. Follow this link to see more photos from my visit to Walt Disney's gravesite.

A big congrats to everyone involved with "Chico and Rita", especially to our friends at HoBSoft which provided the production system for the movie. The Spanish film directed by Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal and Toño Errando took home the prize for Best Animated Feature at the 24th European Film Awards in Berlin. It beat a number of exceptional nominees including A Cat in Paris, and The Rabbi’s Cat. Chico & Rita  is also one of the 18 films that have qualified for the Best Animated Features for the Oscar as well.

To celebrate, let's take a look at the trailer which was released last year.

{youtube}ZTWxB9hRjwI{/youtube}

A leading figure in our community in developing an independent aspect to their career, Stephen Silver is an outstanding character designer, teacher, motivator, author, publisher, and world renowned caricature artist. His latest publication is yet another masterful work. PoseBook is an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve their fundamental skills and advance artistically.

Stephen produced PoseBook by taking photos of costumed models and rotating them. It's full of excellent reference as well as specialty content. Posebook is iPad and iPhone ready. There's more info concerning Stephen's creations here. Mr. Silver describes his latest work in the video below.

{youtube}1dQCgrs_j4w{/youtube}

The trailer for a highly anticipated movie is finally out. The upcoming "John Carter' from Walt Disney Pictures has been a topic in development for some time on the AN Forums with stills from the film, movie poster designs and other items. Now there's the trailer to enjoy.

Oscar winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton brings us a sweeping action-adventure epic on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on the series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs and tells the story of a war-weary military captain who is inexplicably transported to Mars and becomes embroiled in a conflict amongst the inhabitants of the planet, whose destiny lies in his hands.

{youtube}nlvYKl1fjBI{/youtube}

And for a special treat, how about a look at some animation from the 1930s intended to be a production of the same title. Narrated by the great Bob Clampett, you can see it here.

It's never been easier to produce animated music videos than it is today thanks to Aniboom. Independent musicians can now collaborate with thousands of animation professionals from around the world to see their music video become an animated reality at the Aniboom Animation Marketplace.

Aniboom is the world’s first virtual animation studio. They've recently launched the Aniboom Animation Marketplace, an online database to post a project or concept and collaborate with thousands of animation professionals from around the world. You can post your song title and track, description, video concept, character designs or whatever you've got, in the Aniboom Animation Marketplace right now to start receiving offers from qualified animators. Click here to access the Create a Task form. There's more info about this exciting news from Aniboom here.

I've been developing a content oriented topic on the AN Forums for a while now dedicated to animated short films featured through Aniboom on YouTube. Click here to see a variety of excellent animation I've accumulated thanks to Aniboom.

Check out this animated short film. It made the festival circuit last year and won 8 major awards including Best Short Film at the Savannah Film Fest 2010, Palm Springs International Shorts Fest 2010, Sprockets 2010, Seattle International Film Festival 2010 and the Audience Award at the New York International Children's Film Festival 2011. From Arc Productions in Canada, written and directed by Rob Silvestri, there's a Facebook page associated with the film. Forum topic is here.

{vimeo}27256955{/vimeo}