Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

– John Schnall has to be one of the most creative guys working on the internet. He’s made a number of extraordinary short films, but when the internet took hold, he came into his own.

His latest creation is the Zombie Tabernacle Choir. As the name might suggest you get a choir of Zombies. Move your cursor across them and they float in 3D with the foreground going out of focus as you alight on one in the rear row. Click on individual zombies and they sing for you. Then scan the scale from left to right and they shift the pitch from front to back. You move furiously trying to keep them all in song, and the faster you go the bigger the sound. It’s crazy and a lot of fun.

John Schnall has always brought a smile to me, and I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of it, too.

While you’re there, check out the rest of his site. There’s plenty to keep you occupied.

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- Others might have their version of fun by chcking out the new site Frank Forte has started. This is a blog devoted to the art of Hanna-Barbera’s feature, Rock Odyssey. Rock Odyssey is an animated feature movie produced by Hanna-Barbera that was theatrically released in 1987. The film was directed by Robert Taylor but Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera took the credit; Taylor remains uncredited. (You’ll remember Robert Taylor as the director of The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat – the non-Bakshi sequel.) Storyboards are by Pete Alvarado. Animators included: Hal Ambro, Rudi Cataldi, Chuck Downs, Spencer Peel, and Irv Spence.

To be honest I barely remember the film; I certainly didn’t see it. However, Frank says he has thousands of drawings from the film, so there could be interesting artwork posted (at least if they look like the drawing above.)

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- Emily Hubley has a lot of film showings about to happen. She sent an email, and I thought I’d just give you that post – in her own words:

I’ve recently completed a music video titled, Hail. The piece was commissioned by Vic Campos/Creative Outlet Productions, for inclusion in a full length documentary about the musician, Hamell on Trial. The song is about 3 hate-crime victims meeting in heaven.

Hail will show at 2 upcoming Black Maria Film Festival screenings:

Friday, February 4 7:00 PM NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY
OPENING NIGHT / AWARD CEREMONY
Margaret Williams Theatre, Hepburn Hall Culver Ave. at John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Jersey City, NJ 201-200-2043

Sunday, Feb 6 2pm
Essex Green Cinemas in West Orange (unfortunately, due to a family commitment, I can’t be there).

Here‘s the link to the festival website. There are many local screenings and Hail won’t show everywhere, but I strongly recommend this festival. Great and diverse work that’s hard to see elsewhere.

ALSO ON 2/6 (SUPER BOWL SUNDAY):
The Toe Tactic will screen at the Museum of Modern Art Theater 3 (The Celeste Bartos Theater) @ The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building — 4 West 54th St at 5 pm.

This screening is part of the On Line: Drawing and Film Series which accompanies the exhibit, On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century. We plan to view the art in the galleries and then attend the screening. Norman McLaren’s Blinkety Blank (1985) is the short. I know many of you have seen the film, but if you have friends who have not and won’t be watching football, send them our way!

Finally, I’ve made some interstitial pieces for the fun play In Mother Words, which starts previews at the (LA) Geffen Playhouse on Feb 15. Created by Susan Rose + Joan Stein, Directed by Lisa Peterson. Too many impressive playwrights to list. Cast: Mary Birdsong, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Jane Kaczmarek + James Lecesne.

Go here for info.

I’ll be there 2/15 and 2/16 if you want to say hi.
cheerio, emily

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– I just had the opportunity of seeing Mike & Tim Rauch‘s latest film in their StoryCorps series to be aired on the POV series. Like all the rest of the pieces, it’s a gem. Excellent animation by Tim Rauch, Bgs by Bill Wray, and production by Mike Rauch. They’re hoping to get picked up for another round; let’s hope they do. This is some of the best work coming out of New York. They mix humanity with cartoon so brilliantly, you forget that they don’t normally intertwine in today’s world.

You can watch several of these films on line here.
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