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Every other month, Animation Resources shares a new Reference Pack with its members. They consist of e-books packed with high resolution scans video downloads of rare animated films set up for still frame study, as well as podcasts and documentaries— all designed to help you become a better artist. Make sure you download this Reference Pack before it’s updated. When it’s gone, it’s gone!
This month’s RefPack is very special. We’re celebrating Members Appreciation Month, so we’re throwing open the doors to share this one with as many people as possible. Check the website about our Dollar Days special where non-members can get a week’s access to the current RefPack and Bonus Archive for only a buck! We think that when you see all the treasures Animation Resources shares with its members each and every month, you’ll want to join and become part of our organization.
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The latest Animation Resources Reference Pack has been uploaded to the server. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll find when you log in to the members only page…
VIDEO SEMINAR:
Action Analysis: Acting For Animation
Animated Discussions 014 / Hosted by Davey Jarrell with Stephen Worth
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Animators have been referred to as "actors with a pencil," but most classes in animation and articles on technique deal more with the pencil mileage than acting. In this special two hour episode of Animated Discussions we set out to change that. What *is* acting anyway? What constitutes *good* acting? Is acting the same in live action as it is in animation? How does an animator put across personality and action through acting? We’ll be addressing those questions and many more.
We’ve been working on this seminar for a couple of years. It’s jam-packed with useful information and all the concepts are illustrated with amazing video clips. You’ll want to download this program and save it for future reference.
PDF E-BOOKS:
Best of The E-Books
A Sampler of the First 10 Years of RefPack E-Books
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This pair of e-books gather together some of the highlights from the first 50 members only e-books. It is provided to the general public to give prospective members an idea of what they will receive when they join. Totaling over 500 pages, these books will give you an idea of the breadth of material Animation Resources has shared over the years.
VIDEO PODCAST:
Best of Videos 1 to 50
Sampler Reels of the First 10 Years of RefPack Animation Videos
In the past decade of Reference Packs, Animation Resources members have had an opportunity to see rarely seen films of all types, from century old silent shorts, to stop motion puppet films, animation from China, Poland, Japan and Russia; animated commercials from the early 1950s; classic theatrical cartoons; experimental animation and rare industrial training films… Our intent is not to bring back a “golden age” of animation. We encourage artists to build on the past as a foundation for surpassing it.
This pair of reels runs over 2 1/2 hours and they gather together some clips of the highlights from the first 50 members only Reference Packs. They are only shared on special occasions to give prospective members an idea of what they will receive when they join. You’ll want to download these while you can.
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HD VIDEO:
VIP: My Brother Superman
Bruno Bozetto / Italy / 1968
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Bruno Bozzetto is an Italian animator known for his parody of Fantasia titled Allegro Non Troppo. His other feature films include a superhero parody called VIP My Brother Superman and a spaghetti western parody titled West And Soda. Bozzetto’s work is often satirical and political in nature, championing the common man and lampooning government inefficiency and oppression. Bozzetto’s work is not as well known in the United States as it should be, but it is recognized and appreciated across Europe.
VIP: My Brother Superman was Bozetto’s second animated feature. The film features two superheroes- SuperVIP, a strongman who is irresistible to women, and MiniVIP, a small not-so-superhero who is an ineffectual nebbish. The villain of the story, Happy Betty is a lady industrialist who has her eye on ruling the world. It was financed by American investors who objected to the depiction of the Asian slaves working in Happy Betty’s sweatshops and demanded that Bozetto paint them green. But the satirical jab at American exploitation of cheap labor in third world countries is still clear.
SD VIDEO:
Two Early German Commercials
Sun In The House (1932) / Song Of The Mill (1934)
In this Reference Pack, we are sharing two rare animated theatrical commercials from Germany. One of these was made by Hans Fischerkoesen, a pioneer in using animation as a medium for advertising. The other was directed by the team of Bernhard Huth and Wintzer von Tresckow, film makers who worked in the Nazi era making short advertising and propaganda films for UFA.
Hans Fischerkoesen was often referred to as “the Walt Disney of Germany”, but truth be told, his talent wasn’t for long form storytelling animation, but rather cartoon advertising shorts. His advertising career began in 1921, and until his death in the early 1970s, he produced over a thousand animated commercials, most of which are lost. By the 1930s, his work had achieved widespread fame throughout Europe.
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SD VIDEO:
Wolfgang The Intrepid
Mikhael Tumelya / AnimaFilmCenter / Russia / 1991
Mikhael Tumelya is a Russian animator based in Belarus. Born in 1961, he has had a prolific career directing a variety of both long and short form films, commercials and TV series. He studied under Edward Nazarov and Yuri Norstein. He currently teaches at the SHAR School and Studio in Moscow.
Tumelya’s short film, "The Song Of Wolfgang The Intrepid, The Glorious Destroyer Of Dragons" is a remarkable example of his work. It opens with an impressive multi-layer pan, and the style of movement perfectly matches the design of the characters. The anatomy of the main character is divided into segments that separate from each other, but the movement is always handled as one unit. Even though this isn’t built from an object library, Flash animators interested in making their animation less stiff would be well advised to study this film carefully.
NOTE: In order to consolidate space on our VIP Download Page, from here on we are including the Early Anime downloads within the International section.
SD VIDEO:
Gaboten Island Ep. 8 & 12
Studio / Japan / 1964
Adventure On The Gaboten Island was based on a manga by Fumio Hisamatsu, and was animated by Eiken Studios. It aired from April 4th, 1967 to December 26th of the same year. In total, thirty nine half hour episodes were produced.
The story begins when Ryuta and his sister Tomato sneak on board a submarine docked at an amusement park. The amusement park’s son Iago and his friends Cucumber and Cabo enter the submarine and get in a fight with Ryuta. In the tussle, a switch is flipped and the submarine heads out to sea. Unable to steer it and running low on fuel, the children wreck the sub in a storm and end up shipwrecked on an island in the South Pacific. Ryuta and Tomato befriend a myna bird and a gorilla. Together, the group struggles with each other and nature for survival.
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SD VIDEO:
Lumiere!
Thierry Fremaux / 2016
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One of the best ways to discern the essence of an artistic medium is to look at the very first works created in that medium. We are so inundated with movies, TV shows and commercials nowadays, it’s not easy to imagine a world without film or video. Today Animation Resources is sharing a collection of films by Auguste and Louis Lumière, brothers who were manufacturers of photographic equipment and innovators in the earliest days of film making.
The films of the Lumiere brothers are very basic- no editing, the camera is in a fixed position and doesn’t zoom, truck or pan. There is no attempt at narrative. They are designed to simply capture a moment, and they do that brilliantly. The appeal of the films fall into two categories: recognizable imagery (everyday scenes on the street, children playing with their parents, etc.) and remarkable imagery (exotic locations, dramatic industrial scenes, etc.) Animated film works with these same two categories. Cartoon characters perform small secondary actions that the audience recognizes and identifies with, creating a bond between audience and character to help suspend disbelief. And animation depicts remarkable things that could never exist in the real world- animals that talk, inanimate objects coming to life, the laws of physics bend and broken at will.
There’s a tendency in movies and TV today to always keep things moving for fear that the audience will lose interest if the plot isn’t moving forward or the pacing slows down. But these short unassuming films prove that “stopping to smell the roses” can also draw in viewers. The core element of film is observation. You might want to think about how you can use this kind of observational technique to enhance your own work.
HD VIDEO:
Pickups
Curated By David Eisman
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Up to this point, there have been a total of fourteen published breakdown articles, discussing a range of topics, from hair and fur, to weight, resistance, and camera moves. While most of the articles seemed relatively complete at the time, post-hoc, I frequently discover examples that would, if included within their articles, have deepened analysis of the respective categories. Thus, it makes sense that the occasional addendum would be needed, as to provide analysis of these new breakdowns, and perhaps discuss them with a deeper level of understanding, built upon all the theories discussed in the fourteen articles previous. Instead of focusing on one particular theme or principle, the article will provide examples for the following: fur simulation, camera moves, morphs, and resistance.
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Available to Student and General Members
- EBOOK: Boris Artzybasheff: As I See
- VIDEO: Cheburashka 1971
- VIDEO: Dental Hygiene Dilemma 1971
ANIMATION RESOURCES ANNUAL MEMBERS: Bonus Reference Pack 8 is now being rerun and is now available for download. It includes an e-book of the incredible anthropomorphic imagery of Boris Artzybasheff, a charming Russian stop-motion cartoon, and a rarely seen animated sequence from Frank Zappa’s "100 Motels". These downloads will be available until March 1st and after that, they will be deleted from the server. So download them now!
If you are currently on a quarterly membership plan, consider upgrading to an annual membership to get access to our bonus page with even more downloads. If you still have time on you quarterly membership when you upgrade to an annual membership, email us at…
membership@animationresources.org
…and we will credit your membership with the additional time.
Click to access the…
Downloads expire after March 1st, 2024
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Whew! That is an amazing collection of treasures! At Animation Resources, our Advisory Board includes great artists and animators like Ralph Bakshi, Will Finn, J.J. Sedelmaier and Sherm Cohen. They’ve let us know the things that they use in their own self study so we can share them with you. That’s experience you just can’t find anywhere else. The most important information isn’t what you already know… It’s the information you should know about, but don’t know yet. We bring that to you every other month.
For the past decade, Animation Resources has been serving artists working in the fields of animation, cartooning and illustration. Our volunteers and members have pulled together to raise the bar for our art form, and it’s time to celebrate… It’s Members Appreciation time again!
During the month of February, Animation Resources expresses our appreciation for to members with a very special Reference Pack, and we invite you to become a member too. For the next 30 days, we will be sharing reasons why you should join us. Our benefits of membership far exceed the cost of our annual dues.
This year, we are trying something new to encourage new memberships. You can join for a one week trial membership for only A DOLLAR! Yes, you get access to everything our annual members get for seven days for only a buck. (Click here for the details on our Dollar Days.) What are you waiting for?
You can find out what our members get at the Member Appreciation Page. It’s easy to join. Just click on this link and you can sign up right now online…
JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/
Haven’t Joined Yet?
Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!
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