HOW SHOULD AN ANIMATION STUDIO LOOK INSIDE?

This is too big a question to address in just one post, but I'll hazard an incomplete answer. What should an animation studio look like? Why, maybe something a little like Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York. (above)! Click to enlarge.

Actually, Henson had a creature shop in Hollywood, too. That's it above, on the site of Charlie Chaplin's old studio. It's near me, but I'm ashamed to say I've never been inside.

Since Henson always had movies, commercials, TV shows, toys, theme parks and books to work on, there was plenty of employment for puppet people and artists.

It was an eclectic bunch. Mostly he'd hire on the basis of skill and experience, but sometimes he'd take a chance on charisma and an innate feel for entertainment.

Storyboards would be rushed to wherever Henson happened to be when he wanted to see them. It must have been great to pitch a story in a wonderland of puppet parts.

They must have made a lot of puppets that they never used. A good, risk-taking studio will have lots of interesting rejects to display.

The display above was designed for a department store that allowed kids to buy muppets that they designed themselves. It's easy to imagine an alternative use, as a work station in an animation studio.

How do you like the eye lamps hanging from the ceiling?



Those are puppet people above but the room reminds me of animation background departments I've been in. Before studios switched to computer color, I used to love to hang around places like this. The painters' area was full of color swatches, paints, paint splatter and works in progress, and I always got a million ideas there. In some ways paint is a more mystical and intuitive process than drawing. It's stimulating to be around.

A good studio will do half it's backgrounds using traditional wet color, not because there's anything wrong with computer color, but because every living studio needs a heart, a source of inspiration for the artists who work there. You need to see interesting art on the walls.

I love the clutter of Henson's work area (above). At least some animation work stations should be just as sloppy. You could hope that artists who have a knack for it would would make quick and dirty models of characters and scenes that they have a special feel for...sort of just fooling around to see if anything they come up with can be used in their work.

So that's it...a studio that would wow a Boy Scout troop if they came to visit. The public expects studios to be hot beds of conspicuous creativity. Maybe we should make an effort not to disappoint them.

IT's HALLOWEEN TIME AGAIN!!!!!

Heeeere we go again! It's Halloween time and, to judge by the terrific material that I see on the net, artists and collectors are really reved up for it.

I only wish there were a couple of first-rate horror films out. I'm really in the mood for it.

It would have been nice for Halloween fans if Sam Rami's "Drag Me to Hell" had been timed to debut in October, rather than the summer...and even nicer if the poster had actually attempted to illustrate the title of the movie. There must be a story behind that, but I don't know what it is. I haven't seen the film yet, but I imagine it'll be in the rental places soon.

I've been to the local Halloween stores, but they were still unpacking so it's a little early to speculate about how this year is going to shape up for collectors.

I'll have to stop by the drug stores to see what cardboard decorations are out this year.



Don't you love houses that look like faces (above)? This one even appears to have feet!

Wow! A beautiful vintage card (above)! Someone should re-issue them!

Proof (above) that a race of giants once walked the Earth!

Uh-oh! The attack of the giant Flash animation creature....

...maybe Wiener Man will think of a way to thwart it!

Let me know if you see anything good in the stores!

P.S. Most of these images come from two wonderful sites whose names I can't remember. Sorry for the ommision! When I find out their names I'll print them here and add them to my links.

JAMES GILLRAY: FATHER OF THE EDITORIAL CARTOON

British artist James Gillray is considered by many to be the father of the editorial cartoon.

Gillray worked in the late 18th and early 19th century, the age of Napoleon. He attacked the French relentlessly, and went at his own countrymen with equal ferocity.

My favorite Gillrays are his fashion parodies (above). Even men went for the wasp waist look, and everybody wanted to appear taller than they were.

Geez, I wish these pictures were bigger. The picture above won't enlarge, but about half of the others will, so give them a try.

He was a terrific caricaturist (above). and you know he would have been a good animator because he loved to caricature walks as well as faces.

It would have been fun to go with Gillray on his sketching tours of the parks (above). His focus was always on the people who visited the park, and not on the trees.

There must have been a lot of fat rich women (above) in Gillray's time.

Fat men, too.

Gillray wasn't the only British cartoonist of his day. Cruikshank and Heath (that's a Heath above) were contemporaries. You can see the influence that Heath had on Edward Lear, who came later.

This (above) is a beautiful picture when you see it large. It's full of movement and nice line. Gillray was an expert at etching, so he didn't have to pass his drawings on to an engraver the way some other artists did.

Haw!

He could be downright hilarious (above) when he wanted to be.

The Prince of Wales is said to have disliked this picture (above) so much that he paid to have the plates destroyed. It's beautifully composed.



More fashion caricatures (above). Is this picture by Cruikshank or Gillray? The two did park pictures that are almost interchangeable.

Anyway, catch the padded jacket and knee-high boots on the guy on the right. Wouldn't you like to see him do an animated walk?

Boy, Gillray caught that gloomy look that some Englishmen have. The pants of that day framed the crotch like a puppet theater and he caught that, too. But what's with the dainty little shoes?

Here he depicts a wealthy mother (above) who takes two minutes out of her busy schedule to breast feed her child.

Unbelievable (above)! This guy is SO funny!

Poor Gillray. for years he lived happily and prosperously with the woman who published his pictures... then his eyesight began to fail. When he found he couldn't work any more he made a botched suicide attempt which left him with injuries which may have driven him insane.

BATTLE OF THE BURGER TITANS (REVISED)

"Hi! Uncle Eddie here! Labor Day's coming up and I thought I'd post again about the best way to make a burger. The best burger I know of is John K's "Manly Cartoonist Burger." I put up the recipe way back in August of 2007.

Rather than print that all over again, I thought I'd discuss it side by side with Kenny Shopsin's burger theories. Shopsin wrote a cookbook that I'm perusing called "Eat Me," which features recipes from his famous New york restaurant. I thought you might find the contrast interesting."

"Um...a word of warning: burger theorists are feisty people. If John hears what he considers burger heresy, there's half a chance that he'll trash the place while I'm shooting."

"Okay, let's start! Well, to begin with, both cooks agree that you want ground beef that's 20-25% fat. Don't worry about the high fat content, it cooks away. John puts islands of chopped sirloin around the paddy so you get different flavor sensations with every bite, but the restaurant guy uses one type of meat overall.

John says add an egg (1 egg for 4 people), but don't compress the meat much when you put it in and never squeeze it, because that makes the cooking more difficult. It's good to have some air inside. A little pepper, chopped green onions, garlic, and chilli pepper, but never salt. Salt dries out the meat. If you want salt, add it after the burger's cooked."

"It's important to let the burger cook for five minutes undisturbed, except to turn it over at the midway point. You don't want to poke it more than necessary because that lets the juices escape."

"Uh-oh! Aaargh! This brings us to our first major disagreement."

Gulp! Gulp!

"Well, John passionately insists that burgers have to be cooked on hot charcoal, with a lid on half the time . The restaurant guy says no...it has to be on a really hot, pre-heated iron frying pan with a lid. Charcoal and frying pan: that difference defines the two types of people that exist in the universe. I hope these guys never meet because they'd probably kill each other."

"Anyway, after 5 minutes the restaurant guy relies sticks a meat thermometer right in the middle of the burger. 120 - 125 degrees for rare, 140 - 145 degrees for medium."



"Okay, that leaves one more subject...the bun!"

"John says you need a fresh pastry shop bun, something with sesame or poppy seeds. The book recommends Martin's Potato Buns, which you can probably get at the supermarket.

Mmmm, I gotta give it to John on this one. You can't beat a nice, fresh Kaiser roll. Besides, the restaurant guy owns a business and he's gotta be tempted to cut corners."

"You put a little butter on the roll to help it toast better, and something on top of it to press it down on the pan. You only toast it lightly so it's soft on the inside and crispy on the outside."

"Now the burger is assembled and spatulaed onto a plate. You take it over to stove where mushrooms have been cooking in bacon grease. Ladle some mushrooms and bacon on, then move to the condiment table, which contains Romaine lettuce, pickles, raw radishes, celery and fresh onions."

"Here we go with the controversy again. John prefers his onions raw and juicy. He says that's because you need to feel a little pain with your pleasure. He slices the onion only when it's ready for use.

The restaurant guy likes his thin sliced and fried in peanut oil til they're a gnarly brown/black that don't even look like onions anymore.

"And that's it. As I said, John's Manly Cartoonist burger is the best I've ever had. It even looks good! Even so, I'll try Shopsin's burger next time I'm in New york. All this reminds me that a good burger is a thing of beauty. It's not given to man to lay his eyes on a better Labor Day meal!'

"Bellisimo!"

P.S. At the supermarket where I usually score my Kaiser rolls, they tell me that Poppy seeds have been discontinued on rolls. Kali's Dad speculates that even though the seeds can't get you high, they can put something in your system that responds positively to drug tests.

P.P.S. Vincent Waller ate at Shopsin's and describes it in a comment.

P.P.P. S. I'M OFF FOR THE WEEKEND! 'BE BACK MONDAY NIGHT!