Commentary 14 Apr 2012 08:10 am
Some Things
- For so many years I’ve known Howard and Iris Beckerman as the couple who had their own studio, did a few commercials a year and usually had a personal film in the ASIFA East Festival each year. They always seemed to be doing what I hoped for my future, a world of animation – a world of Independence. In the recent past, Iris disappeared from the pair. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and needed help from a facility. Howard became more of a single at animation events, but he bore the pain of Iris’ illness well. He didn’t let on that there was any challenge in his life.
Iris died last Sunday, April 8th. She will be missed. Our thoughts are with Howard and their family, and all best wishes for them. There’s a wonderful obituary by Bill Lorenzo on the ASIFAEast site.
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More About UPA
- There have been a couple of good comments on the UPA videos since last week.
Mark Mayerson writes intelligently, as usual, about the bad cartoons on the 3 disc set. There’s a lot to say about them, and Mark cogently puts it all together.
Thad Komorowski also has some smart things to say on his blog. I don’t completely agree with some of his comments, but that’s irrelevant.
I just gave Tissa David a copy of the three disc set, and I’m looking to hear her comments. She probably hasn’t seen such good prints since they were originally screened in theaters. She’s also almost too candid in her thoughts about things she doesn’t like (maybe that’s where I got the bad habit of saying what I think without sparing the hurt.) When I get her comments, I’ll share them.
I hope to soon be doing some frame grab breakdowns of some of the films in the pack. I’ll enjoy studying them that way – especially the bad ones. It’ll be fun studying some of the Paul Julian backgrounds.
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David Levy
- David Levy sent me an email packed with information. The most immediately important concerns his short film, Turning the Corner, which is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival in NY. It’s part of a program called “Shorts in Competition” and is listed as a “documentary.” The film, if you haven’t seen it is about David’s father’s difficulty and path to get into Cooper U-nion School of Art. The film has a unique style combined with the typical looseness that is part of his approach. It’s a good film.
The times for the screenings are:
_____Fri 4/20 6:00PM AMC Loews Village 7 – 1
_____Sat 4/21 11:59PM AMC Loews Village 7 – 1
_____Mon 4/23 2:30PM AMC Loews Village 7 – 3
_____Sun 4/29 7:30PM Tribeca Cinemas Theater
Naturally, the film has its own Facebook page.
David also shared some personal information. I don’t think he’d mind my sharing the good news:
- I think I’m done for blogging for the time being. I feel like I’ve said everything I wanted to and it’s not giving me pleasure to keep up with it anymore.
After five years and a good run, I closed out my home studio recently because I took an exec job at Disney. I’m the animation manager for their apps and ebooks. It’s really been a great opportunity, and forces me to stay relevant in producing animation for the newest media devices and platforms. Floyd Norman just contacted our group to rave about our Jungle Book app. That made us all really proud. I’m gonna have lots of travel to California, but my main job is based in White Plains. The long commute made me have to give up freelancing and teaching, but it feels like the right time to do so.
David, who was a smart, affable and organized President of ASIFA East for quite some time, has the good will and interest of all of us in the animation community on the East Coast. I’m sure we all wish him the best of luck in his transition to Disney and the “E” world.
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Consuming Spirits
This also gives me an opportunity of stating, once again, the Chicago filmmaker Chris Sullivan has his Independenty produced feature Consuming Spirits premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The Festival catalogue states:
- Nearly 15 years in the making, Chris Sullivan’s Consuming Spirits is a meticulously constructed tour de force of experimental animation. . . The pacing of Consuming Spirits unfolds in a slow, deliberate fashion, akin to the work of such independent filmmakers as Dennis Potter, Terence Davies, Robert Altman, and John Cassavetes. Like these live-action filmmakers, every frame of Sullivan’s animation film is crafted with attention to intricate detail. The accumulation of these images builds to a great atmospheric effect, achieved through an adroit combination of inventive set design, ever-shifting visual perspectives, fluid camera movements, a vivid color palette, and a haunting music track. Sullivan succeeds in creating, with great artistry, a hermetic, self-contained world emanating from his own unique and vivid imagination.
“Dennis Potter, Terence Davies, Robert Altman, and John Cassavetes” That’s a specific breed of filmmaker they’re comparing him to. This film should be good. I’ve seen about a half hour of it and enjoyed what I saw quite a bit.
The times for the screenings are:
_____Mon 4/23 6:00PM Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 7
_____Tue 4/24 4:00PM AMC Loews Village 7 – 2
_____Wed 4/25 7:00PM Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 5
Gene Deitch and Crockett Johnson
- I’ve grown to love Gene Deitch‘s weekly posts to his website. They’re all stories focussing on a particular artist or person he worked with usually reporting the making of some film or project. Many of them are my heroes like Jiri Trnka and John Hubley.
This week he talks about working with Crockett Johnson on Harold and the Purple Crayon. I’ve been a fan of Johnson’s work since I was a child. I’d already animated The Carrot Seed for HBO years ago when I’d pitched adapting Barnaby as a series. It just so happens that Sony was also pitching Harold and the Purple Crayon as a series at the same time. Guess which series they went for. However, they demanded that I represent HBO as a pair of eyes to keep abreast of what Sony was up to. So, I entered as a consultant (I can’t remember what my official title was on the films.) It meant that they sent me a lot of artwork and I say yes or no. I think my biggest contribution was in bringing Van Dyke Parks to the show as the composer of the many songs as well as the score for the series.
Needless to say, I never got to meet Crockett Johnson; he died in 1975. But it was fun to read Gene Deitch‘s report on making shorts of Harold for Weston Woods and his working with the author. As I say, these are all great stories worth reading.
- The Polish electronic jazz group Baaba will perform live to a selection of Polish classic animated films. The program includes Academy Award-winner Zbigniew Rybczynski‘s New Book, auteur Walerian Borowczyk & Jan Lenica‘s Banner of Youth, Miroslaw Kijowicz‘s Cages (Grand Prix at Annency, 1967), as well as the visually innovative Stairs by Stanislaw Schabenbeck and Chair by Daniel Szczechura.This compilation offers a chance to see examples of “The Polish School of Animation.”
Apr 18, 7 pm
NEW YORK – Part of UNSOUND Festival
BAMcinématek
ANIMATORS
30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217
Tel 718-636-4100
Tickets: $15 general public, $10 members
Apr 27, 7 pm & 8:30 pm
DETROIT
Detroit Institute of Arts
BAABA
5200 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202
Tel 313-833-7900
Tickets: Free with museum admission.
$8 Adults, $6 Seniors, $5 Youth (6-17).
Free for children, members and Detroit residents.
Apr 29, 8 pm
LOS ANGELES – The Cinefamily
ANIMATION BREAKDOWN: Masters of Polish Animation
611 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tel 323-655-2510
Tickets: $14 / Free for members
on 14 Apr 2012 at 10:48 am 1.Stephen Macquignon said …
Just wanted to wish David good luck with his new job.
Don’t forget us little people
on 14 Apr 2012 at 3:01 pm 2.The Gee said …
http://vimeo.com/16781367
The “Consuming Spirits†trailer
Where is independent animated feature film at right now? I hope that isn’t an obtuse question.
That description for the “Consuming Spirits†feature made me think of live action film makers who try to do storytelling in animation. It can be a mixed bag, even if they are only doing a strip and are serving as the director.
Obviously, movies like “Rango†are recent examples of it done well enough that there’s audiences and some acclaim. There doesn’t seem to be a large push for indy features by those live action people though. Maybe one exception–a glaring, higher profile one– is the movie that Salma Hayek is producing, “The Prophet.†http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640718/
I’m not sure how that is being produced other than there are animation directors heading each part of the story, from what little I have read.
But, for animated features with smaller budgets, true indy features, where are they at?
on 14 Apr 2012 at 3:14 pm 3.The Gee said …
Here’s part of the reason I’ve been wondering about it.
There’s been an ongoing trend in recent years involving adapting comics to film and TV. When it comes to animation, there’s “Persepolisâ€. But, it seems like for years a lot of the adaptations have been from graphic to live action.
I don’t feel very good about that. But, I dont’ know if I’d feel better if those works were all adapted as animation either.
Say what you want about Richard Linklater but at least “Waking LIfe†approached a different type of story than a lot of animation. It might be jarring visually and boring at stretches. But, I’m not sure if those types of animated features are attempted as often as they could be, with smaller crews and not rotoscoped, like Linklater’s two films. The thing is they were going for a comic book aesthetic in the look and design of the film, very graphic.
Is there anything, especially, anything with an original story/script, that is being made or has been made recently? Slated or tossed around?
I guess there should be more. The budgets are manageable if everything is done right, I’m almost sure of that. Convincing the money men this is true would be tough. But, from what I’ve been told that is always the toughest part of pre-production.
on 14 Apr 2012 at 4:08 pm 4.Thad said …
My condolences to Howard.
on 14 Apr 2012 at 4:26 pm 5.Rudy Agresta said …
Very sorry to hear of Howard’s loss. My father passed away last May at 85 leaving my mother who also has Alzheimer’s Dementia to the care of my two brothers and myself. Toughest thing I ever had to deal with and I practiced medicine for nearly 25 years, so I know the toll it takes on loved ones. My sincere thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family Howard.
on 14 Apr 2012 at 7:45 pm 6.David Nethery said …
The Gee – you wrote: “There’s been an ongoing trend in recent years involving adapting comics to film and TV. When it comes to animation, there’s “Persepolisâ€.
But I’d like to mention the recent film “The Rabbi’s Cat” which was adapted from a graphic novel to an animated film.
http://vimeo.com/23253306
However, you’re right, it seems like many graphic novels which would naturally lend themselves to be made as drawn animation get adapted to live-action or cg animation.
on 15 Apr 2012 at 12:18 pm 7.David Levy said …
Lovely tribute to Iris Beckerman. And, thanks for the warm wishes on my news too, Michael.
on 15 Apr 2012 at 6:48 pm 8.The Gee said …
“The Rabbi’s Cat†Thanks for that, David.
My condolences to all who knew Iris Beckerman. Loss is tough. The years dealing with Alzheimer’s is tough, too.
I wish everyone the best.