Month: February 2006

  • UPDATED WEBSITE! www.fwakanimation.com.au
    We have removed most of the links to animation, as it was all such old stuff from years ago, anyway. Added bits and pieces from various old and new projects, including personal fun stuff to give a feel for what we’re interested in. Hopefully, everything is more cleanly organized now, and future updates won’t require too much work. (Don’t want to update for at least another year! ).

    P.S. And here’s JUKEBOX no. 7!  Enjoy! – Lili



    Eddie:


    Every day… I am sure of 3 things…

    1. The sun will rise
    2. The sun will set
    3. Someone will email me a link to the Nacho Libre trailer with the message: “Have you seen this?”

      No disrespect, but yes, we have known about this for at least a year and a half now.  Personally, I’m finding it hard to get excited about Jack Black and lotsa jokes about men in tights.  With this movie and the general portrayal of Lucha Libre as comic relief, I feel the need to get back to Tijuana to see the real deal…

    1. Rooty Toot Toot!

      ASIFA  is presenting a Tribute to UPA @ The Egyptian on Mar 26th. We have loved these cartoons forever. Even long before they were accessible on video. (It was always so hard to find stuff in Australia). One of our all-time favorite animated shorts is Rooty Toot Toot by John Hubley (1952). Thanks to some very basic home recording technology (ie, TV monitor, tiny camera and tripod) here it is… A lo-fi version…


      Go see it on the big screen!


      How To Jitterbug!

      (10 mins approx)

      Thanks to the anonymous person who sent me this awesome link! I am collecting more fun YouTube dance-related videos HERE.


      BLDG BLOG:  Architecture, Landscapes…and these photos by Lori Nix with miniature landscapes, are amazing.

      Below: The Whaleboy toy prototype designed by Patrick Morgan is muy cool. (Thanks to Brian for the link)



      All Systems GO

      Killer Watts (mentioned on this blog not too long ago) is an international Audio-Visual project that Fwak! is contributing to this year.

       




      Cut-aways of a bigger picture
      (Designed by Lili)

      The project is still very much in “cocoon phase” but we can’t resist sharing some preliminary work-in-progress portraits of the group. You can also see these pics and profiles on Otis Fodder’s Myspace page under “Killer Watts”.


    2. There are some spots unique to L.A. that really have to be seen to be believed. Even though you have read about them in the tourist L.A. guide books, the surrealness doesn’t hit you till you are there.


      The Museum of Jurassic Technology



      …is a dimly-lit little labyrinthian house with lots of glass-box miniature displays. There are hologram characters; vintage trailer models; amazingly-detailed microscopic collages; taxidermied animal parts; video documentaries about obscure scientific/medical theories; rotting dice (?); and many more ‘esoteric Victoriana’ sculptural displays next to plaques of quoted ancient text, that keep you wondering WTF am I looking at?

      One of the ancient medical displays proposed that (I can’t remember the details of where and when)  – If a child cuts his nails before he turns 11 and buries them under an Ash Tree, he will be gifted with a powerful singing voice. The display included an eerie choral recording – apparently, of children from that bygone century with nails buried under an Ash Tree! 

      I’ll admit that most of the uber-esoteric stuff went whoosh over our heads even though it was fun to be pushing buttons and peering through special eye-glasses and microscopes…


      My favorite display was a microminiature figure of Pope John Paul (and Goofy!) in the eye of a needle. (there’s a book on the subject)

      Definitely worth a repeat visit, or several. There was also a room with an ecclectic collection of old books for visitors to browse through freely. Then go and have dinner at India’s Sweets and Spices on Venice Blvd for cheap authentic curries and sweet treats.

      Links:
      -       Museum website
      -       Wikipedia: Museum of Jurassic Technology
      -       Someone has a blog post on this Museum with pictures


      The Magic Castle



      …up in the Hollywood Hills is one of those exclusive member-invite only mansions and I was very lucky to receive an invitation via a friend of a Magical Arts Society hotshot. Here again – another piece of Old Hollywood kitsch!  Photography wasn’t allowed inside, so this one was taken in the lobby….


      The bookcase moves when you say “Open Sesame”.

      Inside there is a restaurant, several olde-worlde bars, and dark-wood / velvet-curtained parlour rooms where the magic stage acts are performed. On the walls are posters of Houdini and magicians I had never heard of. And paintings of swarthy-looking gentlemen wearing fezs or turbans, handling cheezy magic props that you remember from your childhood,  like “cup and ball” and “handkerchief”.

      Well, what can I say about the Magic Shows… The typical magic stuff mixed in with stand-up comedy. Playing card tricks, escape-from-bondage acts, materializing stuff out of thin air (like white doves, eggs and flowers), making things appear and disappear, comedy interaction with audience etc.

      The funniest part was when a very drunk guy who volunteered for the Chainsaw Act freaked out and forgot he was in Hollywood.

      The Houdini Seance might’ve been interesting but that was outside our budget. After seeing two Magic Shows, we headed downstairs to visit Irma, the Resident Ghost. (we were told that she can play ANY tune you ask for)  But alas… at 1am, she had already retired for the night. Damn!


      Would I go back? UM…. I don’t know….

      Links:
      - Magic Castle website
      - Fortean Times review
      - Article: How To Get Into The Magic Castle

      And for more L.A. kitsch, here is Eddie’s report on…

      Clifton’s Cafeteria


      Yes, that’s turkey mashed potatoes, peas, fruit punch & JELLO!
       

      Ah, Clifton’s — the legendary eating place that just screams ‘old Los Angeles’.  For full effect, you need to park near 4th and Broadway, and walk the couple of blocks down Broadway, past the cut price electronics and fashion stores.

      Suddenly there it is, a little oasis of yesterday in downtown LA.  Inside you get your tray and make your way through the rows of food on offer.  They had at least six different types of Jello, and I was torn…

      The dining area is awesome; Clifton’s has a rustic ‘backwoods’ feel.  Three levels of logs, bear, waterfall (!) and beaver.  There’s also a small chapel  you  can walk into, look at a small forest scene, press a button, and hear the voice of God. 

       
      Will I be back?  Is the Pope a former Nazi?

    3. stuff/links…


      Minimiam  do amazing culinary photographs with little action figures!
      (via ODK)



      Maxwell Paternoster       does some cool illustrations
      (via Illustration Mundo)

      Lambretta Amphiscooter 

      The nerd in me thinks these Google features are pretty cool.  Did you know you can now CHAT with other gmail-users within gmail? No need to download any applications. And Google-SMS! Great for getting addresses, driving directions, movie showtimes etc. when away from the computer. Just send a text message to GOOGL (46645).

      www.pandora.com Another great internet time-waster (as if YouTube and Myspace weren’t addictive enough :) ) The downside is that you can neither download nor rewind…

    4. …and we’re BACK!


      Looks like normal server service has been resumed

    5.   A message from our webhost:

      We are sorry to report the server you are hosted on has crashed and is not recoverable. A new one is being put online now and domains and e-mail addresses are being added. It will take up to 12 hours to restore all files from backup however. We apologize for this. We are working hard to get the sites online.

      AAAAHHH. Hope it gets sorted soon! In the meantime, please don’t send messages to our @fwakanimation.com.au email addresses, and we apologize that our website  is not happening at all.

      Contact details: eddie dot mort at  gmail dot com   OR lili dot chin at gmail dot com.

    6. ¡Mucha Lucha! Valentine’s Day Fan Art!


      link


      link

      link
      This one cracks us up.

    7. Los Campeones!

      Members of MySpace can get a sneak preview of one of the projects we are currently developing; ‘Los Campeones de La Lucha Libre’. 

      We’ll be using the MySpace profile to post news and work-in-progress designs, storyboards and layouts from the project.  NOTE: The designs posted on our MySpace blogs are restricted to people on our ‘friends’ list. 

      Oh, and a few things to clear up…

      • No, we aren’t officially in production just yet
      • Yes, it is a proposed feature film
      • Yes it will be done in Flash
      • No, it doesn’t have any connection to ¡Mucha Lucha!

    8. The Annies


      The Annies Awards night was an interesting experience and we are honored to have participated in this year’s grand event.

      Tom Kenny was hilarious as the MC, and it was a hoot to see William Shatner (in miniature, from where we were sitting) amongst other animation legends. If we hadn’t rushed to the banquet afterwards to avoid the long queues,  we might’ve seeked out Shatner for his autograph…

      Some thoughts and questions that spring to mind, and this is purely subjective, of course.

      Would it be fairer if …
      … separate voting categories were assigned to 2D and 3D shows? (2D = hand-drawn/traditional/flash, 3D = CG/stop motion) How does one compare a music video like Bastard Wants to Hit Me with a live-action/CG commercial like GE “Tower” in the “Best Animated Commercial” category? The two nominations seem worlds apart. And in the “Best Animated Feature” category, how does one choose between a Miyazaki and an Aardman?

      But having said this… If The Annies were to split things up into 2D/3D it might lessen the magnitude of the “Best Animated Feature” or “Best TV Production” awards. e.g., if Wallace & Gromit got best 3D Picture, that doesn’t mean they were the BEST overall animated film.

      … separate voting categories were assigned to demographic-related TV productions? There were over 60 submissions for the “Best TV Production” category…ranging from Saturday morning kids’ fare, to pre-school, adult comedies, and primetime family sitcoms. And to complicate the judging process, there was 2D, 3D, rotoscoping, you name it.

      In any Annie Awards, it seems unlikely that a well-made ‘movement-limited’ CG preschool show (regardless of whether we would personally watch it) would ever get a chance of being nominated next to a cartoony “6-11 Action” hit. Would it be fairer if Preschool and Adult animation had their own voting categories? How does one nominate or vote for “Best Writing in a TV Production” knowing that writers for adult shows abide by different limitations imposed on writers for kid shows?

      … there was a “Best Foreign Animation” category? 99% of the submissions appear to be American productions. It would be great to see more international productions added to the mix, but not only this, does it not seem fair to have American features compete with Japanese features given that these are two very culturally/philosophically different storytelling traditions? (Hmmm… would Wallace & Gromit be considered a foreign feature?)

      OK. Will get off soapbox now. Thanks to ASIFA for an enlightening and inspiring experience!

    9. Why We Love Cartoon Brew

      “The wisest bet would be for Disney to hire the WB folks who were responsible for marketing THE IRON GIANT. That’ll guarantee nobody ever sees THE WILD.”

      Zing! Pow!  Bada-Bing!  End of story…