Mike Nguyen's Animation Blog - RAINPLACE

Animation Students:

If you don't know about Mike Nguyen's animation blog RAINPLACE , then get it on your bookmarks list and visit regularly. Mike has some of the most detailed and thoughtful pieces on the nuts & bolts of animating that you will find on the internet ---

RAINPLACE - Mike Nguyen's Animation Blog

Recent topics included : Fielding a Scene (the effect of field size on the perception of an action) , Amount of Extremes to use when animating a scene, Phrasing , Squash & Stretch Applications.

[Copyright © 2010 by Mike Nguyen, July Films]

Great stuff ! This is one of a handful of blogs that I would gladly pay a monthly subscription fee to view. However, Mike is such a generous , giving spirit that he is giving it away for free. (seriously, Mike you should at least put up a PayPal "tip jar" for those who would like to contribute to support your efforts)

In case you don't know , Mike is directing and animating an independent , self-funded feature length animated movie "My Little World".

Chinese master traditional animator Te Wei 1915 -2010

(via Jerry Beck on CartoonBrew.com) --

"The master of Chinese animation, Te Wei (Sheng Tewei), has passed away at age 95.

Te Wei, a pioneering animator and cartoonist, was one of the founding fathers of the Shanghai Animation Studio. His most significant film of the 1950s was 'The Conceited General' .

In the 1960s his animation style was influenced by the painter Qi Baishi. His 1963 film , 'The Cowherd’s Flute' (Part 1 below), and his masterpiece 'Feeling from Mountain and Water' (1988) are two of the most beautiful animated films from China - or anywhere"

(watch the films full-screen)

Saul Bass on Art and Commerce

(found via Alan Cook's page) --

Saul Bass:

"I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares"

This excerpt from a documentary about the legendary designer Saul Bass is worth watching several times. I haven't seen the whole documentary, but it now goes to the top of my list of DVD's to track down.



If you don't know who Saul Bass is you should find out.

You may have seen his title sequences on classic films and not been aware of his name:



(for a high-quality version of the Vertigo title sequence go to The Art of the Title Sequence web site: Art of the Title : Saul Bass titles for Vertigo

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