2D Wednesday BONUS- Brad Bird’s The Spirit pencil test

As a 2D Wednesday bonus, I had to post this cool, little pencil test directed by the talented Brad Bird back in 1980 or so. In general, the animation is nice if a little ‘soft’. I think our general sense of timing and pacing has greatly increased since this was made but it still looks like something that would have been fun to see!

From Youtube:

In 2008 as Frank Miller’s live action feature film based on Will Eisner’s “The Spirit” was being released I wrote a piece for the Los Angeles Times on the time, back in 1980, when I became involved with Brad Bird and Gary Kurtz (producer of the first two “Star Wars” movies) in trying to get into production an animated feature based on “The Spirit” In that piece, which you can read here:http://herocomplex.latimes.com/uncate… I spoke of a pencil test “trailer” for the  proposed film that was made by Bird along with several classmates from Cal Arts, most of whom were working at Disney at the time. Quite a few people who read the article contacted me about seeing the film. I did have it on an old VHS, but it was deep in storage at the time plus as I did not really own the film, I told them they would have to look elsewhere to find a copy. Later, I found the VHS and put it aside. Recently Andrea Fiamma, an Italian journalist writing on the subject, asked again if the film could be seen. As it is a small piece of animation history, I’ve decided to post it here.
Steven Paul Leiva

2D Wednesday- Stromae-Carmen

This week’s 2D Wednesday comes form the brilliant designer, writer and animator Sylvain Chomet who warns us about the hazards of being online and to actually look up at what’s around us! (Unless you’re reading Animationinsider.com, of course!)

You can read more about this week’s 2D Wednesday here on Buzzfeed.

2D Wednesday- Die Young

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnyPlRce64

For this week’s 2D Wednesday, we have a truly beautiful piece and it was even done as a personal project. Imagine THAT! I can’t even put into words how much I love this piece by Vivienne Medrano called Die Young set to Kesha’s song of the same name. It’s colorful, playful, well animated and well designed. If any of you know her we’d LOVE to do an interview with her!

2d Wednesday BONUS- Tie Fighter

Okay, granted I already posted the first 2D Wednesday video today but I HAD to share this crazy incredible feat on manliness by Paul Johnson which is blowin’ up the internet today called Tie Fighter! Now Paul is no newbie when it comes to animation and he’s got a long list of credits up on IMDB such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,  Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas and Fan Boy and Chum Chum to name a few, all animator credits I might add which makes me wonder if he’s overseas.

It seems there was some use of rotoscoping s well as some cell shaders for the ships but regardless it’s a MONUMENTAL amount of work!

 

From the Youtube post:

What if there was an Empire-focussed short Star Wars animation, drawn with the crazy detail and shading of classic 80s anime that’s all but vanished from Japan nowadays?
Well, I tried my best. Apologies in advance for not living up to Venus Wars standards.
Drawn and animated by yours truly over 4 years’ worth of weekends, with music by the living guitar solo Zak Rahman and sound design by up and coming audio technician Joseph Leyva. Fans of Lucasarts’ seminal 1994 TIE Fighter game may notice a few familiar sights and sounds. That “incoming missile” noise gives me horrible flashbacks to this day…

Official poster art: http://mightyotaking.deviantart.com/a…
“Interdictor,” the music track: https://soundcloud.com/zakrahman/tie-…
Story/character info pdf file: http://www.mediafire.com/view/cpnc1oj…

Special thanks to the good folk at Lucasfilm for encouraging people to get creative and make these kind of projects. It’s thanks to their extremely fan-friendly nature that we can enjoy IMPS: The Relentless, TROOPS, etc.

Don’t support me on Patreon, because I don’t have one! And don’t donate to my Kickstarter, because I don’t have one of those either. Instead, if you enjoyed this, give someone at your workplace, uni, school or whatever a random bar of chocolate or can of Coke or something. Seriously, it’ll probably make their day.
That would totally make my day.

2D Wednesday- Black Bear Moon

We’re starting a new feature here today on Wednesdays called 2D Wednesday. Yeah it probably should be a Tuesday or a Thursday but we’re using Tuesdays already for Tutorial Tuesday and we have something in the works for Thursdays as well so Wednesday it is!

Anyway, for our FIRST 2d Wednesdays we’re showcasing a beautifully animated 2d piece about a little girl and a paperweight bear that is more than meets the eye. I LOVE this painterly look animators are doing these days and hope to see an animated series someday in this style. In particular the backgrounds really stand out for me but also they blend so well with the characters and emotion in the scene.

Directors: Ta-Wei Chao, Tsai-Chun Han
Animation: Ta-Wei Chao
Art Design: Tsai-Chun Han
Advisor: Wei-Chung Chang
Music: Chien-Yu Huang
Sound Design: Yin He
Voice: I-Ming Yen
Color: Benett Kim, Shu-Yi Chiou, Hsiao-Hsuan Lin, Milan Hu, Chih-Chieh Hsu, Kuan Tien Chen, I-Ming Yen, Chiao-Mei Cheng, Yu-Chi Liu

 

If you have a suggestion for a 2d Wednesday focus, or you yourself have done a film you’d like featured give us a shout!

Valentina Tatti

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Hi! My name is Valentina Tatti and currently I’m working in a cinema set near Florence.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
In 2014 I’ve graduated in Animation 2d&3D and now I’M ending the specialization in Film Directing. Thanks to this, I’ve begun to work for film in live action, even if my destination is the Animation. The craziest experience that I’ve had has been when I worked as an character animator for a fiction. I’ve worked very hard for months and they disappeared without paying myself and taking possession of the rights of my jobs. I wanted to strangle everybody.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
All the projects to which I’ve been able to work make me proud. Do what I love is the most beautiful thing that can happen to me. That I’m to animate a character or to draw the cover of a book.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born in Prato,Tuscany . My parents always took me to the cinema and I fell in love of ” The Lion King” . When I was 3 years I decided I had to do the cartoons to make Continue reading