AWN Oscar Travelogue

Oscar Showcase 08 Chocolate Foscas Photo Gallery

oscartour — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:38:01 +0000

The night before the Big Night was a chance for the animation community to come together for the 18th annual Chocolate Fosca party, which was hosted by Marilyn Zornado and Libby Simon at the home of Renate Kempowski and Paul Demeyer. The annual event was originally started by Mike Gribble, the co-founder of the Spike & Mike festival, as a way to celebrate the animated shorts nominees. Originally called the Chocolate Oscars, the event was renamed after Fosca, a character from Marv Newland’s Anijam, after the Academy objected to the creation of chocolate Oscars. View the fun that was had by all.

My Love producer Dmitri Yurkov translating for Alexander says that the director feels the animation community in Russia is like family and is thrilled that he can come to L.A. and feel the same way. © 2008 AWN Inc.

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Oscar Showcase 08 DreamWorks Brunch Photo Gallery

oscartour — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:16:40 +0000

The day before the Oscars DreamWorks hosts a brunch at Campanile. Look at the animation who’s who gallery.

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Oscar Showcase 08 DreamWorks Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:32:04 +0000

On Thursday, Feb. 24th, the Oscar Showcase tour pulled into DreamWorks. View the fun we had there.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Acme/AWN Party Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:27:53 +0000

Oscar-winner Suzie Templeton (2nd left) hangs out in front of Joseph's with animator Rosto (l), along with BUF producer Lucie Bloze and Even Pigeons Go To Heaven producer Simon Vanesse. © 2008 AWN Inc.

After a long day at Disney, the evening of Feb. 20th was for fun. Check out the photos from the annual Acme/AWN Oscar party.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Disney Photo Gallery

oscartour — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:25:15 +0000

On Feb. 20th, the day belonged to Disney on the Oscar Showcase tour. Here is the photographic evidence.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Academy Screening Photo Gallery

oscartour — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:08:45 +0000

On the evening of Feb. 19th, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences hosted a screening of the animated and live-action shorts. Check out the pictures from the star-studded event.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Fox Photo Gallery

oscartour — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:19:09 +0000

The second stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour was on Tuesday, Feb. 19th at 20th Century Fox. So here are some more pics.

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Oscar Showcase 08 Sony Animation Photo Gallery

oscartour — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:35:54 +0000

Here are some more pics from the first stop on the L.A. leg of the Oscar Showcase tour - Sony Pictures Animation.

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DreamWorks Day on the Oscar Showcase Tour

oscartour — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:03:47 +0000

With the Oscar Showcase beginning to slow down, Thursday marked our chance to see DreamWorks L.A. While the screening was taking place, John Tarnoff, the head of the DreamWorks’ “incubator” department, showed us around the facility. After seeing production art from Bee Movie, Kung-Fu Panda and Madagascar 2, we got to see some production art and CG characters from DreamWorks’ 2009 releases Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon. Being that Monsters vs. Aliens is the studio’s first stereoscopic production and the release date was moved up to March, the production is in furious mode. In regards to the challenges of working in 3-D, John said that DreamWorks looks at stereoscopic as they do stereo sound – a subtle enrichment of the movie going experience. Though the release will not be in 3-D, a test was done using the opening action sequence from Kung-Fu Panda to discover the limits to which they could push the technology. David Verrall, the exec producer of Madame Tutli-Putli, who has a hand in every English language film produced at the NFB, said they have artists working on eight foot screens for stereoscopic productions so they can get a better idea of how the mind processes the images as they are working on them.

When it comes to development of stories, John said they have the entire story department brainstorming on the projects at the beginning then pare down the writers on each film. He added that usually the scribes will be the first on the project and can stay involved with the project as late as three months before release.

When it came to research on their films, karate demos were done for Kung-Fu Panda, and John said that one of the lead animators is a karate guru, making him the go-to guy for any questions. For Madagascar 2, a group of 25, including the producers, directors, art directors and department heads, took a trip to Africa where they went on photo safaris to help inform the design of the film. Peter and the Wolf producer Hugh Welchman asked if any of the staff got in any trouble while there, because while in Russia doing research on Peter, director Suzie Templeton was picked up by the police, thinking that she might be an eco-terrorist, for taking photos in the wrong spot. Lucky no such incidents happened in Africa for the DreamWorks crew. The look of Monsters vs. Aliens is very influenced by the work of Jack Davis and Mad Magazine, while How to Train Your Dragon is trying to stay true to the illustrations featured in the original young adult novel by Cressida Cowell.

Because some of the tour crew missed the screening at PDI/DreamWorks, we caught the clips from Madagascar 2 and Kung-Fu Panda a second time, in addition to the opening sequence from the latter film. Next up the filmmakers had a chance to see the “magic” conference room that I had told them about, which we weren’t able to see up in San Fran. An entire wall of the room is a screen, which is directly linked to the Northern California campus with no delay. John said that they often have parties in the room uniting the two studios clear across the state. Unlike Pixar and Disney who use different software, PDI/DreamWorks and DreamWorks in L.A. do share staff on projects with members working at both locations sometimes on the same film.

With a bit of time remaining before the Q&A, the lure of more ping-pong was hard to resist. After hearing great praise about Hugh’s skills at Disney TV yesterday, Ron Diamond, the owner of Acme Filmworks and host of the tour, challenged the Peter and the Wolf director to a match. Though Hugh kept his title as the tour’s reigning table tennis champ, Ron gave him a run for his money. Next up James Braithwaite, illustrator on I Met the Walrus, demanded a rematch against Hugh for the honor of Canada. However, the game was interrupted when famed children’s book author and illustrator William Joyce walked out of a door close by and James and Walrus director Josh Raskin couldn’t pass up the chance to meet him.

The Q&A touched on some old and some new questions. With the directors not there, producer Marcy Page handled the #1 Madame Tutli-Putli question – how did you do the eyes? Next up Josh was asked what was his process in developing the look of his film, replying that he listened to the tape of producer Jerry Levitan’s interview with John Lennon hundreds of times, and played many games of ping-pong. The Peter and the Wolf producers Hugh Welchman and Alan Dewhurst where asked how they controlled the boiling effect that happens in stop-motion with furry characters. Hugh said that they used a great deal of digital clean-up, and Alan added that hairspray help a lot as well. Lola did the clean-up and few CG touches for the film. Because the print of Alexander Petrov’s My Love has no subtitles and is in Russian, Ron explained that the story follows a young man, who falls for a servant girl, but spurns her for the town beauty. But when he discovers that the beauty is not perfect, he falls into a fever and the servant girl promises to God that if he saves the boy she will become a nun. In the end, the boy lives and loses both his loves. “A very Russian story,” as Ron described it.

After the Q&A, we had lunch with some of the DreamWorks staff. We were joined by tour veteran Sharon Colman, who was nominated in 2006 for Badgered. She claims that the tour is responsible for why she is now working in the story department at DreamWorks. Hugh asked John Turnoff about their indie label Go Fish and John said that various people in the organization want to bring it back from its dormant state as a venue to release foreign produced animated features in the U.S. The lunch was also an opportunity for old colleagues to catch up. Marcy and David chatted with former NFB artist Dave Burgess and Hugh and Alan had worked with Rejean Bourdages, head of story on Shrek the Third, in the past.

After the lunch, the tour moved on to our next stop the William Morris agency. Check back for a peek at the Q&A and some photos.

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An Afternoon with Disney TV

oscartour — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:47:57 +0000

After a nice long break where some filmmakers, like Madame Tutli-Putli directors Maciek Szczerbowski and Chris Lavis, Peter and the Wolf director Suzie Templeton, and Even Pigeons Go To Heaven director Samuel Tourneux and Pigeons producer Simon Vanesse, had to run off to do interviews, the ones who were able to stay chatted with the inquisitive artists at Disney TV Animation. Many of the questions were similar to questions asked before, but new insights did emerge.

Because no one from Pigeons was there to answer the question on what was the inspiration behind the films, Peter and the Wolf producer Hugh Welchman answered the question on behalf of Sam and Simon, saying that Sam had created the characters and sets for a story he did not like and then had to form a new story around what he had already created. He also added that Sam had said in another Q&A that he wanted the film to “reek of France.” But Peter producer Alan Dewhurst said it was more like “smell of France.” As for Alexander Petrov’s My Love, Madame Tutli-Putli producer Marcy Page, who worked with Petrov on The Old Man in the Sea, said that it’s amazing to watch the filmmaker move paint around on glass with his fingers creating a Rembrandt with each frame. When asked how long the films took to make, Ron Diamond, the organizer of the Oscar Showcase tour, joked six weeks for the 20+ minute My Love.

A new question for the Peter and the Wolf team was how they came about designing and animating the animals. The main goal of the design was to not make them caricatures. Hugh said the duck was the toughest and the look they chose was based on how goofy the breed looked, which would help create instant sympathy for the doomed character. As for the crow, Hugh was reluctant to choose the iconic bird for all the negative connotations that it brings. However, a smaller bird would have been too difficult to create using puppets, so they decided to use the hooded crow, because it was a good balance between tone and practical production demands. As for the spoiled feline, Hugh said Suzie always envisioned it as a fat cat. When it came to the wolf, Hugh felt right from the start that Suzie would be able to make the forest hunter scary. She wanted it to look wild with its matted fur and intense blue eyes. She also insisted it be female, even including pups in one of the 17 versions of the script. Each puppet was created in silicone instead of latex, which will help preserve them over time, and the clothing was made out of silk and other common clothing materials. For the animation, she was specific with the animators about the movements, creating very details animatics for them to work off of.

Following the Q&A, Disney TV hosted a reception for the filmmakers, where the studio artists had more opportunities to chat with the nominees. Alan Bodner, art director on The Iron Giant, took a break from working on Kim Possible to meet with the animators. I Met the Walrus director Josh Raskin and illustrator James Braithwaite were very pleased to meet artists who still work on paper. Dan Povenmire, the creator of Disney’s new series Phineas and Ferb, dropped by to visit as well, saying that earlier in the day he was impressed with the ping-pong playing skills of Hugh. As the studio heavyweight, Dan said it was nice to have a tough challenger, exchanging phone numbers with Hugh so they can play again.

The day finished up with the AWN/Acme Filmworks Oscar party where the filmmakers enjoyed good food, good company and good fun. Check back soon to see the pics from the event.

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