Toren Atkinson

Now I bet you’re wondering what Toren’s hero in marine biology, Dr. Steve O’Shea – you know, the guy to whom The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets’ album “The Shadow Out of Tim” is dedicated, sounds like? Specifically if he was lecturing on results of the dissection in April of the colossal squid in Te Papa, New Zealand?

Here is a direct link to the mp3.

It gets more interesting further on when the audience start asking questions about how it tastes, how it hunts, whether it can change colour, etc.

Geoff presents:

Slackademics – Writing Fiction

Three hours is just enough time to scratch the surface of writing fiction, but in that time, I hope to pass-on some of what I learned during my year in SFU’s The Writer’s Studio. I’m going to focus on three main areas: how to improve your writing practice, how to improve your narrative, and how to get inside your character’s heads. The evening will include practice exercises, lecture, reading, and small but delicious portions of fun.

Where: Geoff’s place in Kitsilano (Details to be provided to confirmed attendees)

When: 6:30pm, Thursday, June 19th.

Kolja, you comin’? I know I’ll be there.

Caution: Educational.

Sadly, I have never been able to work on films with a Hollywood-level of staffing, schedule or budget… outside of my advertising work that is. I have attempted to do this in my time of course but in my experience ‘artistic integrity’ and ‘creative independence’ do not go hand-in-hand with mainstream funding. Consequently, every film I’ve produced has been short and infused with a ‘stone soup’ philosophy… i.e. working from home, often entirely alone, with no time or money to play with. Partners, friends and students have been so supportive when help has been most needed. But essentially, everything you’ll see here has been achieved through a great deal of personal self-sacrifice, passion and stubbornness… in addition to an intense love of the traditionally animated artform! I therefore hope you will enjoy what you see here and will appreciate the ‘stone soup’ ethic that went behind it all.

See also…
http://youtube.com/user/TonyWh iteArchive
http://blog.animaticus.com
Name: Tony

I am a British Academy Award-winning animator, living and working in the Seattle region of the USA. I have made over 200 TV commercials (many award-winning), directed several short films, was responsible for The Pink Panther Strikes Again movie titles (thru the Richard Williams Studio) and have written two best-selling books on animation… ‘The Animator’s Workbook’ and ‘Animation from Pencils to Pixels ~ Classical Techniques for Digital Animators’. I am Chair of the art/animation department at the DigiPen Institute of Technology, WA. I am also founder of the ‘Animaticus Foundation’, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, education and evolution of the traditional 2D animated artform in the digital age. I also host the ‘2D OR NOT 2D Animation Festival’ in Seattle each November.

Country: United States
Occupation: Animator/Director/Educator/Writer
Companies: DigiPen/Animaticus Foundation
Interests and Hobbies: Animation! Animation!! Animation!!!
Movies and Shows: All the classic Disney films that were made when Walt was alive (and making films the way they should be made)… especially PINOCCHIO, BAMBI and FANTASIA! Hayao Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY, Sylvan Chomet’s TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE and Brad Bird’s IRON GIANT. ALL Pixar movies… especially Brad Bird’s! Many independent films outside of the Hollywood mainstream ‘straight jacket’, such as Chris Landreth’s RYAN… but really too many to mention here!
Music: All!
Books: Read? Who has time to read? There’s just too much drawing to be done! I do believe that Richard Williams’ The Animator’s Survival Kit is the ‘bible’ for all animators though! :^{)}=-
Website: http://www.animaticus.com

Good t-shirt design? Should I go the other direction and do one of these http://www.davenetics.com/picts/ipod.JPG with an isopod silhouette instead? Is this just asking for an Apple lawsuit?

This amazing photo shows the Phoenix lander, still protected inside its backshell and heat shield, stretched out below its parachute (at the top of the image). It was taken by the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Phoenix descended, a speeding bullet photographed by a speeding bullet.